Xiao An: "But Qingsong's funeral..."
Father He waved his hand: "Those so-called relatives and friends of ours in Qing'an County are actually not real relatives. I came from my hometown, and the relatives here are all from Qingsong Niang's side. She and them usually also She doesn’t move around much, she is an adopted daughter…”
Perhaps he felt that there was no need to explain these household matters to Xiao An too clearly, so Father He changed the subject and continued: "Anyway, there is no need to buy the shop. We will take Qingsong back early tomorrow morning. I have made appointments for the carriage and horses before."
"After returning to my hometown, the funeral will be arranged according to the rules of my hometown. For people like Qingsong who died before getting married and died in a foreign land, everything should be kept simple when they return and they can just enter the ancestral grave."
Xiao An shook his head and refused to take back the banknote.
"Uncle, please accept this bank note!"
"We have money to live on, you keep it for yourself!"
Father He resolutely put the banknote back into Xiao An's hand.
This expression and action seemed to be an attempt to draw a clear line between him and Xiao An.
Xiao An felt even more uncomfortable. After thinking about it, she begged again: "Uncle, please let me accompany you back to your hometown tomorrow!"
Father He smiled bitterly, "Xiao An, why are you doing this? Hey, I'll just tell you the truth."
"Qingsong Niang's health is not good. When she sees you, she thinks of Qingsong, and she becomes even more sad when she thinks of Qingsong.
My whole family is going through a difficult time at this point. If something goes wrong again, I, a bad old man like me, can't handle it! "
"But……"
"It's nothing, kid. We appreciate your kindness. If Qingsong and your brother have a fight, just send them here!"
Father He interrupted Xiao An's words, sighed heavily, and turned back to the backyard to take care of Mother He.
Xiao An was left standing there, stiff and lonely.
He Lian'er secretly looked at Xiao An, a little unbearable.
But as a daughter, she cannot go against her parents' decisions.
What's more, not only my mother, but also myself can't help but think of my own brother when I see Brother Xiaoan.
He Lianer wiped her tears and said to Xiao An: "Brother Xiao An, thank you for bringing my brother back all the way. We will return to our hometown early tomorrow morning. Brother Xiao An, please take care!"
He Lian'er bent down and bowed to Xiao An. When she stood up, she came to the door of the house and stretched out her hand to make a gesture of invitation.
This is to follow the parents' orders and ask Xiao An to leave.
Xiao An opened his mouth, but hesitated several times.
Finally, he took a deep look at He Qingsong's ashes jar, turned around and walked out slowly.
When passing by He Lian'er, he suddenly stopped.
"Sister Lian'er, I want to ask you one last thing..."
…
Xiao An did not go too far after leaving the He family, but wandered back and forth by the river.
Sometimes I would stop and look at the surging river in a daze, and sometimes I would continue walking with my head down, taking a few steps and squatting down, covering my face with my hands and choking silently.
Yang Ruoqing and Liu Xueyun followed him from a distance.
"I have never seen him like this since I was a child. This little brother of mine also lost half his life."
Liu Xueyun looked worriedly at the lingering figure in front of him, "How about I go and persuade him?"
Yang Ruoqing shook her head.
"There's no point in persuading him. What he needs is time."
During the time she came back from Camellia oleifera village, she tried all kinds of persuasion, but to no avail.
Xiaoan's problems come from his own inner knot.
He felt that Qingsong died for him. He felt guilty but could not make up for it.
Especially today at the He family, the He family probably said something, which further aggravated Xiao An's psychological burden, so he was stuck in the corner and couldn't pull it out.
At this time, what he needs is time. Time is like an eraser. No matter how deep the scar is, it will slowly fade away.
"Sister, if Xiao An looks like this, don't we do something?" Liu Xueyun asked again.
For example, go to the He family and tell the He family about Xiao An confronting the wolf and protecting He Qingsong with his life?
Yang Ruoqing once again rejected Liu Xueyun's proposal.
"The He family doesn't need any explanation now. Losing people is the worst outcome."
"Let's just follow Xiao An from a distance to prevent him from doing stupid things. We won't do anything else for now."
Liu Xueyun nodded and followed silently to protect Xiao An.
Xiao An was walking when he suddenly fell to the ground with a thud.
…
At dawn, two carriages stopped in front of He's shop.
Holding the jar of He Qingsong's ashes, He's mother got into the carriage in front with the help of He Lian'er.
The two carriage drivers were busy helping to move the luggage to the carriage behind.
Liu Xueyun was standing beside the carriage, directing, and the two carriage drivers treated him respectfully.
In He's shop, Father He was talking to someone, and that person was Yang Ruoqing.
"...Uncle He, I have said everything that needs to be said. I have also said what Xiao An didn't let me say."
"I don't mean anything else, I just want to tell you that Xiao An has tried his best."
Father He's eyes were red and bloodshot.
Especially after hearing that Xiao An didn't eat or drink for three days to protect He Qingsong from the wolves, who was uncertain about his life or death, and finally collapsed and almost had his neck bitten off by the wolf king, He's father was so shocked that he trembled.
"This kid, this kid didn't say a word to us. He just took all the responsibility on himself. This silly kid..."
Yang Ruoqing also quietly turned her face away and wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes.
He turned around and continued: "Originally, he was definitely going to come over today to deliver me, but he fainted last night and has a high fever now, so he really can't come over."
"I am his biological sister. I am here to send off my brother Qingsong for him and our whole family."
Yang Ruoqing spoke sincerely, and the sadness on her face came from the bottom of her heart.
Father He was deeply moved.
…
For three whole days, Xiao An remained unconscious.
Xiaoyu came here several times to see Xiaoan, and invited several famous doctors from Qing'an County to come and treat Xiaoan. He took various prescriptions and medicines, but with little effect.
Yang Ruoqing did not dare to send the news back to Changping Village, so she discussed with Yang Huazhou and found a carriage to take Xiaoan to Changhuaizhou for medical treatment.
At this moment, Xiao An's fever miraculously subsided and he woke up.
Yang Ruoqing was simply ecstatic.
But he looked gloomy, refused to take medicine, was not interested in food, and could not say more than three sentences throughout the day.
Yang Huazhou talked to him, but he ignored him.
In order to make Xiao An laugh, Yang Yongqing told jokes until his throat became inflamed, but Xiao An didn't react at all.
He didn't go to practice, let alone go back to the military headquarters. He would either sleep. When he woke up, he would lie quietly on the bed in a daze, as if he had built a wall for himself to seal himself in.
"Xiao An has lost his soul. He is awake, but he is no different from a walking corpse."
Finally, Yang Yongqing gave this conclusion with a "deep" look.
Yang Huazhou was also worried. It was a pity that his nephew, who used to be so sunny and cheerful, became like this after a trip to the south.
If the third brother and the third sister-in-law found out, I don’t know how sad it would be!
