April 5th, Qingming Festival.
The puddles on the road reflected the sign of Funing Garden on Taipei Road, and the falling raindrops created circles of ripples. Occasionally, a speeding vehicle ran over it, and the broken water splashed in all directions.
Today is Friday, just after 7:30 in the morning, the streets are already noisy, and street shops are opening for business.
Next to the guardrail on the street, a young man stood under a tree and yawned. He was only seventeen years old at most. His black hair was messy and scattered, vaguely blocking his eyes. His face was as clear-cut and angular as a sculpture.
He just looked sickly and slightly decadent.
"Thirty years old, lawyer."
"Forty-two years old, coal boss."
"Fifty-seven years old, surgeon."
"Twenty-five years old, dance anchor."
"Twenty-one years old... duck!"
Gu Jianlin was distracted, scanning the pedestrians on the street with the corner of his eye, passing the time.
They seemed to be illogical words, but the passers-by looked at him in surprise. Some felt baffled, others looked like they were crazy, and a few people had suspicions on their faces. Especially the handsome guy at the end who was dressed up in flashy clothes. He looked shocked and angry. He spat lightly and left quickly.
"Neuropathy."
Gu Jianlin didn't care, as if it wasn't a scolding of himself at all.
He glanced at the time and saw that the cemetery was about to open. He picked up his large and small bags and was about to leave.
At this time, his cell phone rang, and a WeChat message came in.
"Xiao Lin, today is Qingming Festival. I will accompany your Uncle Su back to his hometown in Jiaoxi first. I transferred a thousand yuan to you through WeChat. You can save some money. Don't forget to visit your father's grave. Don't Buying flowers in the park is exorbitantly expensive. Okay, mom is going to pick up her luggage and get in the car. You have just been discharged from the hospital, so go home and rest early." A woman's voice played in the voice.
With a thud, it stopped suddenly.
"I didn't expect mom to still remember it."
Gu Jianlin said softly.
He put away his cell phone, nodded and smiled at the security guard at the door, and entered the park.
The security guard looked at the child and saw that he was wearing the uniform of Fengcheng No. 2 Middle School, carrying a large schoolbag, carrying a suitcase in his left hand, and carrying several large bags of tributes in his right hand. He was obviously a resident student.
There was a typhoon last night, and traffic in the entire city was stopped. For safety reasons, the school will definitely not let anyone go.
Fengcheng No. 2 Middle School is the best high school in the city, with top-notch educational standards, but it is more than thirty kilometers away from here. This child came so early, he must have run out of school early in the morning.
The security guard was a little emotional.
He has worked as a security guard in this park for more than ten years and has witnessed the changes of the times.
The more advanced the times, the less human touch becomes. These days, fewer and fewer young people come to the cemetery to visit the graves of their family members. Of course, we can’t blame them, life is inherently difficult. When people are busy, they are either nine or seven. They go out early and come back late all day long. After finally taking a vacation, it is time to rest at home, even if it is to play games.
This is the first time in more than ten years. This is the first time that a child has come to visit a family member’s grave by himself. It’s really strange.
Gu Jianlin didn't know what the security guard was thinking. He just wanted to do everything well out of habit.
Many years ago, his father would take him to this place to worship his family every Qingming Festival. It was this time every year. If you arrive a little later, the streets will be blocked, and people are crowded at the entrance of the park, so you can only move forward little by little.
So his father would wake him up before six o'clock every time, and he was still reluctant at that time.
Now that my father is gone, my mother has already started a new family, and he is the only one left in the family.
When my parents divorced, their relationship was very tense.
I thought that after my father's accident, my mother would soon forget about her ex-husband when she moved into a new life.
He didn't expect that she would come to remind him about visiting the grave.
Gu Jianlin shook his head and laughed, and climbed up the hillside along the path in his memory. There are many cemeteries in this park. His father's tombstone is at No. 13, West District. There is a small fountain next to it, which is easy to recognize.
A black Mercedes-Benz was parked at the entrance of the cemetery. The driver's seat glass lowered, revealing a face with dark circles under the eyes.
This was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a police uniform, smoking silently in the car, then waving out the window, yawning and saying, "Xiao Gu, here."
Gu Jianlin was stunned: "Inspector Zhou? Why are you here?"
In the back seat of this car, there were two young agents sitting, holding flowers in their hands.
Dad is a profiler specially hired by the police station. He has no other social contacts except work. If he is to be seen after his death, the only ones who will visit him are his colleagues who are detectives.
"I've told you so many times, just call me Uncle Zhou."
Zhou Ze smoked against the car window and said with emotion: "Your father and I have known each other for more than 20 years. Many of the cases we took on were solved thanks to his profiling. His matter is my matter. Besides, , whenever you have a holiday these days, you are always going to stay with me at the police station, so why not bring it to your door myself?"
"Here, these are all young agents your father trained."
He pointed behind him: "You should all know each other, right?"
"Little Gu is so filial and filial. He goes to the police station every day for Professor Gu's affairs. It's hard not to recognize him."
The two young agents said with a smile.
Gu Jianlin nodded slightly as a greeting.
Detective Zhou is the captain of the Fengcheng City Police Station. He holds an important position and is busy with official duties. He may not be able to return home even if he is busy for half a month. He did not expect to make a special trip.
"Sorry for causing you trouble these days."
Gu Jianlin thought about this period of time when he went to the police station every day to trouble others, and he felt a little apologetic: "If you are really busy, you won't have to do it. Anyway, you two are so familiar, and my dad won't blame you."
"It's no trouble, no trouble."
Zhou Ze shrugged, opened the door and got out of the car, and put out the cigarette butt: "Then I have to come and see you? He is only a son like you, so you have to take good care of him. Speaking of which, you have recently How are you recovering from your injuries?"
Gu Jianlin touched his forehead and replied: "It's okay. Anyway, when I was discharged from the hospital, the doctor said it was fine."
Zhou Ze looked at his face, felt a little relieved, and said sadly: "That's okay. When I found you, your father was already dead, and you were unconscious with blood all over your head. The doctor said that even if he could recover one, It can also cause brain trauma. So you should get more rest and stay at home during the holidays. Don't go to the Sheriff's Department all the time."
"knew."
Gu Jianlin recalled the car accident four months ago and the hazy experience he had during this time.
It feels like a nightmare, and I still haven't woken up from it.
Zhou Ze patted his shoulder with relief and said softly: "Let's go, don't hang around here. Go see your dad and the others first. You don't have to queue up to buy flowers. I'll have someone bring them to you." Well…be mentally prepared and don’t get too excited.”
Gu Jianlin sighed inwardly.
Many years ago, he would always listen to the elderly people lamenting that things in the world are impermanent, that people meet and part ways too quickly, and often things have changed by the time they meet again, and time passes silently.
He didn't feel much about it at first, after all, he was still young.
But now he understands.
Because Gu Jianlin never expected that when he saw his father again after four months, the grass on his grave would be half a meter high.
·
·
There are five tombstones in the cemetery, arranged neatly from left to right.
Grandpa, grandma, second uncle, third uncle, dad.
The photo engraved on the tombstone looks like he passed away peacefully.
Fortunately, my mother is alive and well, otherwise it would really be an orphanage.
The whole family worships heaven, and the magic power is boundless.
Gu Jianlin glanced at the small open space at the bottom and felt that it was just for him.
If one day I burp my fart, I will bury it here.
The family is neat and tidy.
Gu Jianlin put down his suitcase, followed the procedure in his memory, took out flowers and tributes from the bag, placed them on the tombstone one by one, then knelt on the ground with his hands clasped together to express his deep condolences.
It seems that everything is no different from the past Qingming Festival.
Only this time a new tombstone was added.
There are one more bouquet of flowers to buy.
There is one more person to miss.
Zhou Ze silently lit a cigarette. His best brother died young, and he felt uncomfortable.
The two young detectives also felt very sorry. After all, Professor Gu was the most powerful profiler in Fengcheng City. He had helped solve many major cases over the years, but he died so young.
The only good thing is that Professor Gu left behind a good and filial son.
However, in the next second, they suddenly heard the young man's whisper.
"You said that you are a professor of psychology, but instead of working for a high salary, you insist on working as a profiler for the police station. Not to mention the low salary, you also travel everywhere. Wherever there is a case, you will be there. What are you trying to do?"
"In the end, I didn't have much money saved, and there were no people. My mother was right back then. Apart from being good-looking, you don't seem to have any advantages. But what I didn't expect was that when I grew up, you would be like this too. .”
"Back when you were in this business, I would advise you to buy more insurance. After all, it is too easy to offend people, and it is easy to be unknown in your old age. If you buy more insurance, if it disappears one day, my life will be easier. But you If you don’t believe in the nonsense of Sun Banxian downstairs, you think you can live past eighty. What happened? Something happened at the age of forty."
"Later I went to confront Sun Banxian and asked him to refund the money. But he said that he was a half-xian and could only tell half of the fortune. I asked which half was right? He said that even if half of the lifespan was right, he would have to refund the money. , I can only retreat half of it.”
"If you are really dead, please show your spirit quickly and take Sun Banxian downstairs with you. I have made an appointment with his son to buy him some large insurance policies. When he goes downstairs, we will split the shares equally. "
"You're such a superstitious person, you don't want no one to burn paper for you after you die, right?"
When Gu Jianlin presented the tributes, they all came according to the share, but when it came to his father's place, it was different.
Take out an apple, take a bite, and then put it on the table.
He took out another piece of bread, bit off half of it first, and then threw it up.
There was also a grilled fish, which he chewed down to a skeleton, so he put it on top as well.
The detective stared blankly at the child frantically eating his father's tribute at the grave. He was really filial.
Zhou Ze couldn't help but complain: "Xiao Gu, you also come to visit the grave. Why is there such a big difference between your painting style and others'?"
Gu Jianlin raised his head, and before he knew it, it was already past eight o'clock, and there were a few scattered waves of people coming to the cemetery.
His ears were filled with the cries of those people, and there were some silent faces everywhere he looked.
At first glance, they all look sad.
"So what's normal?"
Gu Jianlin glanced at a woman lying on the tombstone crying and said lightly: "Is it like this?"
Zhou Ze followed his gaze and sighed: "It's so sad to cry. Every family has sutras that are difficult to recite."
It was a tombstone built like a rockery. A woman in her prime was kneeling in front, crying heartily while holding her photo. Her family members watched silently from behind, with expressions of numbness or sadness, depending on the situation.
"Are you sad?"
Gu Jianlin said calmly: "But I see she is smiling quite happily."
Zhou Ze was stunned for a moment: "Laughing? When did she laugh?"
You must know that this is Qingming Festival, and no one in their right mind would laugh on someone else's grave unless they want to be beaten.
"My dad often says that you can't always judge people by their appearance, and you can pretend to be sad."
Gu Jianlin glanced over there again and shook his head: "The one in the grave is her husband, but he is too old. The tombstone says he was born in 1970. He is already fifty-two this year, and this woman is twenty at most." 4. She came to visit the grave, but she was dressed up so exquisitely, with so much make-up, and brand names all over her body. The bag was worth 80,000 yuan, and it was all filled with makeup cosmetics."
He paused: "The man in the grave is rich and married to a young wife. This woman doesn't love him. It would be a good thing for her that he is dead."
Because there is a large amount of family property to be divided.
Zhou Ze was stunned for a moment and then became happy: "Are you still studying your father's profile? How many times have I told you that profiling requires a lot of life experience and knowledge. How can you learn it so quickly? ? Besides, your basis is wrong, so you’re not happy that this woman is someone else’s daughter?”
Gu Jianlin didn't say anything. He had many reasons.
For example, the men standing behind all called "Dad" in front of the tombstone, and they were obviously the sons of the deceased.
But the problem is, this woman looks nothing like them.
For another example, the way those men looked at this woman was full of resentment and disdain, and it was obvious that the relationship was not good.
This woman has a ring mark on her ring finger, but she is not wearing a wedding ring today.
The smell of perfume wafting in the wind, the brands of clothes and bags, the posture when walking before, the charming demeanor of Yan Shixing...
Of course, these details are not the focus, nor are they absolutely convincing.
The reason why Gu Jianlin said that the woman was smiling was because he really saw it.
In his eyes, the woman holding the tombstone was trembling all over, grinning slightly at the corners of her mouth, suppressing her proud laughter, laughing so hard that she obviously had a pretty face, but when she smiled she looked like a green-faced, fanged person. Female ghost.
"ha."
"Hahaha!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
It was such a harsh laugh.
Logically speaking, if she smiles so nervously, she would have alarmed the people around her. However, the fact is that neither the family members behind her nor the people around her seemed to notice her abnormality.
Gu Jianlin was already used to this.
Of course they can't see it.
Because this is the picture he drew from his profile.
