#46: Embarking on a Long Journey

Qin Yuan said nothing, glanced at his phone, and hurriedly left in the middle of the memorial service. Seeing this, Chu Yao’s heart sank.

After the memorial ended, the family had just prepared a gratuity to thank Chu Yao, but when they looked up, he was gone.

Chu Yao made a call, learned the situation, and requested leave before rushing to the hospital.

Many old neighbors and retired police officers came, all with worried faces.

Seeing him arrive, Mother Chu waved him over and whispered, “It was a sudden cerebral hemorrhage; she collapsed on the way home and hasn’t woken up. Now it depends on what her daughter decides.”

“Not waking up” meant literally that the person would never wake up unless a miracle occurred. Otherwise, she would remain in a vegetative state, her life sustained only by a ventilator. If the tube were removed, her life would end.

Chu Yao remained silent for a long time before asking, “Has Aunt Xiao Xiao been contacted?”

“No, there’s no answer from her side. We’ll have to wait a few days. It has already been decided that a few old neighbors will help take care until Xiao Xiao returns.” Mother Chu said, “By the way, the former director will be here soon. There will be many people, so keep an eye on Beibei. The child’s emotions seem off.”

Jiang Beibei sat inside the ward, hands resting on her knees, head bowed. Her grandmother sat beside her, face calm again, one hand resting on Jiang Beibei’s hand as if to comfort her.

No one in the entire ward spoke.

Chu Yao walked over, and Grandmother gently shook Jiang Beibei. She snapped out of it, raised her tearful eyes to see Chu Yao, and all the fear of fragile life and those unspeakable emotions weighing on her heart immediately found an outlet. Like seeing the beacon symbolizing safety in a vast sea, Jiang Beibei tightly clung to Chu Yao and began to cry, suppressing her sobs.

Chu Yao lightly patted her back, silently being her support, bolstering her delicate emotions.

Aunt Xiao Xiao had just returned overseas less than a week ago and received this news, crying all the way back.

When she returned home during the New Year a few days ago, her husband was still working, and her son was traveling in Northern Europe with classmates enjoying the holiday. Thus, she had visited her mother alone that time. This time, her husband and son accompanied her back home.

No one mentioned it, but everyone knew that this return was to bid farewell to a loved one—a sorrowful journey.

Jiang Beibei didn’t like Xiao Xiao. From the start, they seemed to live in two different worlds. Though they were old neighbors and Xiao Xiao’s younger brother was a comrade-in-arms of Jiang Beibei’s parents, their joys and sorrows never aligned.

Xiao Xiao represented another kind of success. Her resume was dazzling, adorned with glittering jewels. She navigated a different kind of human relationships and walked a different path. In Jiang Beibei’s mind, she was the quintessential self-serving elitist.

But disliking Aunt Xiao Xiao didn’t mean having no feelings towards her. She realized her vision was clouded by prejudice. Birds of a feather flock together, and people naturally form groups. They inevitably harbor some bias toward groups they don’t intersect with.

For a long time, Jiang Beibei thought Xiao Xiao was ostentatious and arrogant. Though she hadn’t done anything wrong, her words and actions always annoyed and provoked criticism from Jiang Beibei.

Xiao Xiao always carried herself with an air of innate superiority, a frivolous arrogance that disregarded others’ warmth and showed indifference to society.

She was excellent yet conceited, cold and merciless.

However, this time, Jiang Beibei faced the woman’s heart-wrenching pain and finally let go of her prejudices.

In the face of life and death, emotions are universal.

Aunt Xiao Xiao’s sorrow resonated deeply with Jiang Beibei.

The doctors had a heavy conversation with Xiao Xiao. Considering the family’s feelings, not removing the tube and maintaining life—keeping respiration and heartbeat going, allowing the patient to ‘live’—was one option. However, given that the immediate family resided abroad, with home and career across the ocean, it required substantial effort and financial resources.

“It’s up to the family’s decision. The hospital will respect their wishes.”

Xiao Xiao’s husband waited for her decision, saying he would support her no matter what. He also mentally prepared himself, ready to help her through any choice she made.

Jiang Beibei watched Aunt Xiao Xiao kneel by the bed, wailing loudly, saying she had money, could hire caregivers, find the best hospital, and even give up everything she had painstakingly built over twenty years abroad. But she couldn’t let her mother stop breathing.

Yet, reason told her that it wasn’t just about financial expenditure. Many hardships of the world remain unseen and unfelt until you enter the hospital.

This is where human warmth and cruelty converge—a place reflecting the harshness and tenderness of life. Life is merely about grappling with life and death. Painful living, painful dying, but whichever path is taken, neither is truly a way out anymore.

The lady, nearing fifty, already had an answer in her heart. She had actually made her choice long ago, but it was too painful, the answer too cold, and she couldn’t bear to let go.

“Help me... help me!” At this moment, she called out the names of her father and younger brother, begging them to tell her what to do.

Jiang Beibei helped her up, and she staggered a few steps before softly saying, “Let’s remove the tube.”

Jiang Beibei wanted to say something but ultimately didn’t. She wasn’t a naive child; such a choice couldn’t be criticized. Those words were too light. The heavy burden would never be on outsiders who could criticize the family for making such a decision.

The nurse came and then left.

Grandma Liu was still breathing; they could hear the sound of her breath, which gradually faded into silence.

Aunt Xiao Xiao softly called out “Mom,” then suddenly collapsed onto the person on the bed, hugging her and sobbing loudly.

“Mom… I have no family left… I don’t have a mom anymore…”

Her mixed-race son stood behind her, tears streaming down his face, belatedly realizing that his Chinese grandmother had left him. This farewell meant they would never meet again.

Jiang Beibei had imagined countless times what Chu Yao would look like at work, but she never thought that the first time she saw him working would be when he was grooming and dressing Grandma Liu, preparing her for her departure.

Aunt Xiao Xiao never spoke again. She leaned weakly against Yao Lan, staring blankly at her mother in the coffin. Her tears had dried, but those inside never stopped.

Jiang Beibei quietly watched as Chu Yao combed Grandma Liu’s hair, dressed her in new clothes, and gently added touches of color.

There was no expression on Chu Yao’s face, neither sadness nor indifference. His eyes were calm, yet always warm.

Aunt Xiao Xiao pushed away Mother Chu and stumbled toward the coffin. She leaned over it, gazing at her mother’s peaceful face, and burst into loud sobs.

After finishing his work, Chu Yao gave a slight bow and softly said, “Rest in peace.”

Jiang Beibei reached out with her cold hand, trembling as she grasped his. Chu Yao hesitated for a moment, then tightened his grip, slowly and firmly.

Her hand stopped shaking. Mother Chu signaled for everyone to leave, allowing Aunt Xiao Xiao some time alone with Grandma Liu. After gently consoling Aunt Xiao Xiao, Mother Chu was the last to exit, closing the door behind her. Turning around, she saw Jiang Beibei hugging Chu Yao, her face buried in his chest, softly sobbing.

Chu Yao seemed to hesitate for a moment, sighed, and lightly patted her. Lowering his head, he placed a kiss in her hair.

Mother Chu sighed as well, shook her head, and withdrew herself.

After composing herself, Jiang Beibei nestled against him and softly asked, “After seeing so much death and departure, does it stop hurting as much?”

“It will always hurt, but eventually, you make peace with the sorrow and find calm.”

“Is this your first time sending off someone you know personally?”

“The third time.” Chu Yao’s gaze drifted far away as he answered, “I’ve sent off my middle school teacher and also my college classmate...”

“Why do people die?” Tears blurred her eyes again, soaking his warm shirt.

“Everyone dies.” Chu Yao replied.

It wasn’t a flippant statement about the cycle of life, sickness, old age, and death being natural. Rather, it felt like a response with weight, a serious reply.

“Because of death, life gains meaning and joy; living becomes precious.” Chu Yao said, “Life has warmth. Birth is the beginning of life, and death is its end. Once this journey ends, there must inevitably be parting.”

“I don’t want to part… I don’t want the people around me to leave me.”

“Everything has an ending.” Chu Yao released her, “Whether willing or not, the outcome will come.”

Jiang Beibei raised her head and looked at him earnestly, saying, “Chu Yao, I heard Grandma Liu call my name. I know she was saying goodbye to me. From New Year’s until now, Grandma Liu hasn’t come to see me, but I know she thought of me. I heard her asking my grandma how my foot was doing over the phone. I know everything...”

Jiang Beibei said, “From now on, I can only think of her in my heart.”

“As long as you remember her, it’s enough.”

Chu Yao once again presided over the memorial service.

Many former old police officers came—these were all wartime comrades and colleagues of Grandma Liu’s late son.

Tang Xizhou and Deputy Lin also came. They specifically took leave from the team to attend, holding their police caps in hand, saluting the coffin.

After the memorial ended, Aunt Xiao Xiao clutched Chu Yao’s hands tightly and broke into sobs.

Chu Yao should have said “please accept my condolences,” but the words changed to, “She has embarked on a long journey. Life is a beginning, and death is also a beginning.”

Birth marks the start of one’s presence in this world, and death marks its end, but also the beginning of a journey into the unknown.

Aunt Xiao Xiao lowered her head, tears streaming, a thousand words and emotions condensed into one: “Thank you...”

Grandma Beibei’s blood pressure was unstable after these days of excessive grief and was resting at home. Jiang Beibei didn’t go anywhere, lost interest in playing, and stayed home to accompany her grandmother, even offering to cook three meals a day.

But Jiang Beibei, with her delicate constitution, couldn’t handle chores. Sweeping strained her back, mopping cramped her muscles, chopping cut her hand, and cooking invariably resulted in burns from the pot or oil splatters.

Grandma couldn’t bear it any longer and threw her out of the kitchen to cook herself.

While opening the fridge, Grandma saw half a jar of pickled vegetables and laughed, saying, “Beibei, do you eat these pickles?”

The pickles were brought by Grandma Liu during the New Year.

Jiang Beibei hobbled over on her injured leg, leaning against the doorframe. After looking at the jar of pickles for a long time, she finally replied, “Yes, but just a little bit. Grandma Liu’s pickles are extremely salty, almost like she killed the salt seller! One bite turns you into a salted fish!”

Grandma burst out laughing, “Old Liu doesn’t hold back with the salt!”

With two patients at home, Chu Yao finished work an hour early every day, returning directly to Jiang Beibei’s house to cook and chat.

One time, before eating, he didn’t inform his mother across the hall. Mother Chu shouted from the balcony, “Beibei, tell the guy surnamed Chu that I don’t want him anymore. Let him be your son-in-law!”

At the time, Chu Yao was breaking hot steamed buns apart in the living room for Jiang Beibei. His hand paused, muttering, “What difference does it make? It’s the same. Even if I return to your house, it’s like being a son-in-law.”

Jiang Beibei collapsed laughing on the sofa until her stomach hurt from laughter.

That night, the son-in-law stayed overnight on Jiang Beibei’s sofa and was awakened in the middle of the night by Jiang Beibei shaking him.

“Chu Yao, I dreamed of Grandma Liu. She spoke to me.”

“What did she say?”

“She told me to thank you.”

Chu Yao softly hummed in acknowledgment.

Jiang Beibei said, “And also...”

“What?”

“...When we catch that fugitive someday, we must tell her.”

“Alright.”

An airplane flew over the city, leaving the land behind and heading toward foreign lands.

On the return flight, Aunt Xiao Xiao woke from a dream, opened her eyes, and was momentarily dazed. Slowly collecting herself, she smiled faintly, tears slowly sliding down her cheeks.

She raised the window shade and gazed at the brightly lit land below, softly saying, “Mom, thank you too. Rest in peace, and may you be happy.”