Chapter 38 Funeral (Part One)

  The road is the same as when I came, but the sky has already changed from deep autumn to early winter. The wind has covered the treetops with a layer of white, so white that it makes people feel anxious. At the corner of the street, the dim yellow streetlights flicker with weak light, in the midst of the vast expanse of snow, silent.

  Life came and went, in fact, it was just a fleeting moment. People who once laughed and cried together, people who once loved and hated each other, yesterday they promised to grow old slowly together, promised each other peace and happiness, but suddenly looking back, they found that things have changed, people are gone.

  Tears, without a word, fell like rain. Who was it that reminded me of the person at the dance party, who had extended an invitation to dance together, who had gently led my slightly disheveled steps, and who had strolled with me under the starlight? The deep blue night, sparkling with stars above, was beautiful yet desolate in this snowy dawn.

  As they passed by the foot of Wanfo Mountain, Gu Huanli gazed intently out of the car window at the thin layer of ice and snow covering the surface of the river. The white birch forest along the riverbank had long since shed its green leaves, leaving only a silvery coating that made it impossible to distinguish between the whiteness of the snow and the tree bark itself, exuding a desolate atmosphere.

  Fate has rested, and fate is at rest. What people seek in the world is to cultivate fate; if there's a predestined connection that can be cultivated, then why must this winding river have such a sorrowful name?

  It's all just a matter of time before people leave, no matter how reluctant or attached they are, it's all just the end of an era...

  Gu Huanli didn't know whether to say it was a broken love, a completed love or an enduring love. People are different, their emotions differ, who can truly understand someone else's story, and who can genuinely comprehend another person's heart?

  Just like Kui Rong.

  She used up all her strength to love, and at the time of death, she was still unwilling.

  After rebirth, I just want to put it down, but always meet unexpectedly at the corner.

  If everything could be like this snowy expanse in front of me, how wonderful it would be. But looking at the children around her age laughing and playing, seeing the deep and shallow footprints that suddenly appeared on the pure white snow, and some dirty things on the originally pure surface... Gu Huan Lian couldn't help but let out a light laugh, even responding with a cold hum.

  Cassidy, who seemed to have noticed Gu Huan's disdain, turned his head and smiled shallowly, "If it were the white roses that bloomed like clouds in the garden, they wouldn't be tainted as easily as these snowflakes."

  Gu Huanli raised her eyes to gaze at the sky outside the window, which was in stark contrast to the snowy ground. The golden clouds and the soft glow of dusk slowly drifted by, as she said, "Even if it blooms to its most beautiful state, it will eventually wither away."

  "Miss's thoughts are too pessimistic." Cassidy's eyes flashed with a hint of puzzlement, and after a while, he continued to smile and said, "Just like the snowfield in front of us, Miss, have you ever thought that under the white snow, there is a strong power accumulating, and when spring comes, it will burst out."

  "Is it?" Gu Huanli replied ambiguously.

  Cassidy raised his head and said in a low voice, "Stop the car."

  "Huh?" Gu Huanli stared at Cassidy in surprise as he held her hand and led her down from the car. The convoy ahead had already disappeared into the distance, and the cars behind them sped past, leaving only the two of them trudging through the snow. It wasn't until they reached a certain point that Cassidy finally let go of her hand.

  The surface of the snow had no footprints on it, but was stained with a thin layer of gray dust.

  "You brought me here just for this?" Gu Huan Lian was somewhat displeased, had she endured the cold just to take a look at snow that hadn't even been swept clean?

  "But what's below?" Cassidy seemed not to be in a hurry for Gu Huanlin's reaction, still with that holy smile on his face, an expression that could save the suffering people of the world. He gently brushed away the snow on the surface, and inside, those pure white snowflakes had not yet melted, while underneath them were the wheat grains that had fallen into a deep sleep.

  Suddenly, Cassidy clearly captured the stiffness on Gu Huanli's face, because from her expression, he guessed that she already knew his so-called intentions. Perhaps, she had known all along, but just didn't expect him to present it in this way before her eyes.

  This is also beyond expectation.

  Angels' hands gently placed on chest, slowly, yet with deep meaning, "Ants are powerless, yet they prepare for summer; sand-martins are weak, yet they build houses in the rocks."

  He smiled and closed his eyes, his tone seemingly becoming exceptionally gentle and soft without realizing it. "Just like you."

  The angel opened his eyes, his tone as always, "Although those seemingly filthy memories are hard to forget, yet in the memories, there will always be a kind of forgotten beauty that has been there all along."

  "But beneath that simple goodness is your pure and kind heart as well as the dreams you have yet to fulfill."

  Before one knows it, dark clouds gather again.

  Light snowflakes fall from the sky, fluttering and swirling, delicate and gentle.

  In the midst of a snow dance, the black car parked on the road seemed somewhat out of place. Although it was snowing, it couldn't completely cover up that hint of darkness. Gu Huanli slowly curled up the corners of her mouth and smiled, "Cassidy, are you thinking again that if the snow is big enough, not just a car's blackness, but even the entire world's darkness can be covered?"

  Cassidy listened to her words with a hint of loss and self-mockery, bent down again, and gently brushed away the snow. "Miss, look, they're still here."

  Gu Huanli took off her gloves, bent down to scoop up the snow, and then looked at how the snow had frozen her fingers bright red, with water dripping from them. "Yes, they're all here."

  "Miss." Cassidy's voice was unusually solemn, even indifferent. "What you're holding is the sorrow that melted under the snow, just like the tears you've been hiding in your heart."

  Gu Huan Lian was stunned, she didn't understand why Cassidy, who had always been gentle, would use such a tone, and the meaning behind his words made her body tremble slightly.

  "Sorrow will eventually melt away, just like spring will surely arrive no matter how late it is. The snow water in your hand is like a teardrop. And the white snow is like sorrow, no matter how heavy the sorrow is, there will be a day when it melts." Cassidy said, "And the tender shoots of hope will also emerge from the soil..."

  Gu Huanli suddenly bit her lower lip tightly, because she knew that Cassidy must have secretly peeked into her inner thoughts again. If it weren't for the fact that every week she had to go to her brother's school to cheer him on, if it weren't for the fact that every week she had to see Luo Yichen, perhaps now she should be cheering and jumping for joy at their successive victories.

  "Miss." Cassidy pulled out a handkerchief and gently wiped away Gu Huan's tears, then helped her put on her gloves. He sighed, "You need to learn how to make yourself happy."

  Happy?

  How ironic.

  Having obtained the rebirth opportunity that others yearn for, why isn't she happy?

  Is she now finding pleasure in hardship?

  Escapism is not a solution, but leaving the place that makes her sad is a good therapy. Because of the improved relationship with her brother, the wall in Gu Huan's heart has been opened up by her brother, and now warm sunlight can enter through the window. And Ye Qinglan is like a climbing tiger on the windowsill, that green that sways in the wind but won't leave, melting away her sadness, her fears, and the occasional hatred that rises in her heart.

  She could even smell the fragrance of happiness and sunshine.

  Yes, Ruo Yu Chen will always exist and will forever be. Even if that day comes when he dies, in her memory, this person will always be there.

  But those things, they're no longer love.

  She just wants to negate hate, negate the two sides of love and hate as one.

  She's just afraid, afraid that there is hatred in her heart, which also means there is love.

  She devoted herself to death and turned to dust, using determination to exchange for letting go, it should be letting go.

  She wanted to melt all her sorrow, she didn't want to live in such pain anymore. Although every encounter made her breathless, this time, she really wanted to let go.

  As Cassidy said, the melting of sadness is only a matter of time. Let her disgust and hatred for Luocheng also melt away slowly like sorrow.

  Under the snow, if it's not spring, she'll create her own.

  Back in the car, Gu Huan Lian raised her eyelids, with a hint of fatigue, listening to the sound of wind and snow outside. The old snow had turned into ice mixed with new snow, but it wasn't too slippery, and the car was driving very smoothly.

  Time that had just slipped away seemed to be reversing, engraving itself in Gu Huan Lian's mind drop by drop, unable to be shaken off. Silently clenching her fists, she thought of the purpose of her trip, and only a faint bitterness remained in her heart, slowly spreading. As if heaven and earth had turned upside down.

  But...

  She is still happy. Only because the things she worried about have been quietly and smoothly resolved by her brother, and the unhappiness of the past has long since dissipated with the wind.

  "Cassio." Gu Huanli's voice added a hint of life to the silent and dead carriage.

  "Miss, what's wrong?"

  "How's the lawsuit between Auntie and Mrs. Shen going?"

  “...” Cassidy glanced at the driver in the front row, then turned his head to look at Gu Huanli and said in a low voice, “The lawsuit is not difficult, Mrs. Chu should have a good chance of winning. However, in my opinion, forcing Ms. Shen and her mother into a desperate situation like this is not the greatest victory.”

  "After all, Auntie is still in a state of anger at this moment, so even if there are some irrational behaviors, it's also normal for people. " Gu Huanli said in a low voice, "Besides, it's not that Auntie is forcing Mrs. Shen and her daughter, but rather Auntie is fighting for justice, dignity, and sympathy, throwing away the so-called face, and going to court."

  Cassidy shook his head slightly and said seriously, "Control your anger, abandon your resentment. Don't harbor grievances, lest you do evil."

  "Cassio, when you think Auntie is cruel, have you ever thought about how cruelly she was treated by others? Evil can't be stopped by evil, but when good people are hurt by evil, what other way is there to seek fairness and justice besides through the law?" Gu Huanli raised her eyes to look at him, her dark pupils sinking deeply without a glimmer of light. "Conscience? Morality? If everyone were guided by conscience and morality, then Shen Mouran wouldn't exist, and neither would the child in Mrs. Shen's belly! If everyone spared the evil-doers out of pity, would there still be goodness in this world? The law is already the last thread of hope for seeking justice in this society; how can it solve all the suffering and pain that exists?"

  "People's hearts are fragile, but we all have to learn to be strong. However, being strong is not limitless, even the softest silk will break one day. Water may be formless, but when it's poured into a container, it flows with the waves." Gu Huanli said, her eyes filled with tears, but she didn't want to complain, nor did she want to lament. She was used to being silent, used to licking her wounds alone after getting hurt.

  "Miss, you've misunderstood." Cassidy stretched out his hand and gently stroked her hair, saying slowly, "I just hope your aunt can leave a way for Mrs. Shen and her daughter, as well as the unborn child. After all, death is easy, but living is so hard."