Inside the hospital room.
Old Nie's brows were tightly furrowed, his face pale.
He had finally regained consciousness, but when he saw that there was no one around him, the pain in his body mixed with the sorrow in his heart, and tears began to stream down his face.
His clouded old eyes were filled with grief. He knew he did not have much time left. At the end of his life, with his child not by his side, he felt regretful and a little wronged.
Just then, the hospital room door was suddenly pushed open.
Old Wang slowly walked in. After taking a look at Old Nie's condition, he forced a smile and said,
"You really don't know where your good fortune came from. They actually called in specialists for a consultation. Impressive. On that front, I, Old Wang, have to admit defeat!"
"Nie... Nie Xing!"
Old Nie parted his dry lips and weakly called out Nie Xing's name.
For him now, even saying the two words "Nie Xing" felt difficult.
He struggled to turn his gaze toward the hospital room door, wanting to find Nie Xing's figure there.
"You, you... all you ever think about is that adopted son of yours!!"
Old Wang said with a complicated expression, unable to tell whether he felt happy or sad.
As soon as he finished speaking,
a familiar figure appeared outside the hospital room.
Old Nie had been staring at the door. The instant he saw that figure appear, a light seemed to ignite in his drooping eyes, and tears flowed uncontrollably down his face!
His trembling lips parted in excitement.
"Nie Xing!"
"Dad!"
Nie Xing immediately rushed over and dropped to his knees beside the hospital bed. Looking at Nie Yunfeng's haggard, pale face, his lips trembled.
"I... I came too late!"
His voice choked up, and father and son clung to each other and wept bitterly.
Seeing two grown men crying before him, Old Wang did not feel good either. He silently left the hospital room, giving the two of them a chance to be alone.
There was not the slightest trace of blame on Old Nie's face. He looked weakly at Nie Xing before him. In his eyes, Nie Xing was still that child from back then.
His rough, large hand was placed with difficulty against Nie Xing's face, brushing over the swollen red patches there. His voice trembled.
"You've gotten thinner!"
"Dad! I was wrong!"
Hearing his father's words, Nie Xing's tears surged forth once more. They flowed endlessly as he said guiltily.
Just as Uncle Wang had said, his father had been ill for an entire year. When his illness had been at its most painful and critical, Nie Xing had told him that he was going to search for his biological parents. That had undoubtedly been a double blow to both his body and mind! Every ruthless departure had been the greatest hurt to his father!
But with the nation's secrets and regulations before him, he could not violate them in any way!
Leaking even the slightest bit of information could render the efforts of countless secret operatives futile and even bring about an even greater crisis!
Loyalty and filial duty could not both be fulfilled. This was not a pain an ordinary person could bear.
"Xing'er, over the past half month, I've thought it over carefully too. If you... if you want to find your biological parents, then that is only right. I shouldn't have stopped you!"
Tears flowed from Old Nie's clouded eyes as he lay on the hospital bed and spoke slowly.
He looked utterly weak, as though every word took all his strength.
Nie Xing wanted to say something, but Old Nie interrupted him and would not let him speak.
"Let me finish. I'm afraid that if I don't say it now, I won't get another chance!"
"The place where I found you was that wasteland in front of the factory. You were wrapped in a bright red swaddling cloth. If you go looking for your family, that should help you somewhat. I have no regrets in this life. If I had to name one, it would be that I never got to see you marry and have children with my own eyes, nor did I get to hold a grandson. What I regret is not agreeing sooner to let you look for your biological parents. Maybe then you would have come back to see me earlier."
As Old Nie spoke, a smile would appear on his face whenever he spoke of the past.
When he spoke of regrets, he could only smile bitterly.
Yet tears kept flowing even as he smiled.
Listening to his father's words, one after another.
Nie Xing knelt before the hospital bed, his body trembling uncontrollably as he lowered his head and cried.
Everything his father had suffered over the past three years seemed to appear before his eyes. Even as he was about to leave this world, he was still thinking about him!
His biological parents might have been an excuse, but they had become a thorn deeply lodged in his father's heart.
He knew that perhaps he would never be able to explain those words in this lifetime.
Until finally,
Old Nie asked earnestly,
"I know I won't live much longer. There's just one thing I want to know!"
His face was pale, his voice trembling!
Nie Xing hurriedly looked up, his voice thick with tears.
"Dad, tell me!"
"Over these past three years, why didn't you come see me?"
Old Nie forced out a smile and asked through tears.
As soon as the words fell,
Nie Xing choked up, unable to answer.
He could not reveal the real reason. No matter what excuse he came up with, it would seem pale and powerless at this moment!
He did not want to lie, but he could not tell the truth either.
Tears fell from the corners of his eyes, one drop after another.
Seeing Nie Xing lower his head in silence and cry without stop, Old Nie smiled in relief and said with difficulty,
"Good child!"
He wanted to reach out and stroke Nie Xing's face again. That weathered yet resolute face seemed, in Old Nie's eyes, to gradually overlap with the little baby from back then.
His trembling hand reached halfway.
Drip!
A smile still hung on Old Nie's face as he left this world just like that.
His unsupported old hand went limp and fell, striking the hospital bed.
Sensing something, Nie Xing looked up. His expression changed drastically at once!
"Dad!!"
Nie Xing let out a heart-wrenching cry. Boundless grief, resentment, and bitterness tangled together within him~
The sound carried out of the hospital room.
Old Wang, who was standing outside the room, heard the cry and hurriedly looked inside.
For no reason at all, his legs went weak, and he nearly toppled over!
Fortunately, Young Wang beside him reacted quickly and caught him.
"Dad, what's wrong?"
"Old Nie's gone... Old Nie's gone..."
Old Wang muttered blankly to himself, as though he had lost his soul.
After a moment,
he suddenly smiled again.
"Good. Good, it's good. He came back to see you. There's nothing left for you to regret when you go!"
"Wait for me down there!"
"I still have to see you off!"
He seemed to have gone a little mad, talking to himself.
Su's Funeral Company.
Su Chen was still organizing the information about Nie Yugang that the system had provided, carefully storing every client's information in the files. This was a standard he set for himself.
At the same time.
Nie Yugang's death was synchronized to the system!
The third mission target: Nie Yugang has passed away. The funeral will be held in three days. Please prepare to see him off!
The system's voice rang out in his mind~
His movements froze, and he opened the mission exchange shop with a grave expression.
Every time he opened the shop, his mood was incomparably heavy.
Su Chen's gaze was complicated.
A funeral...
What meaning did it truly hold for people?
Before you continue