Three days passed quickly.
Old Nie's funeral proceeded as scheduled, held at Pingzhuang Public Cemetery in Qingyang County.
News of his passing had come suddenly. Many relatives and friends had only arrived over the past three days to pay their respects and attend the funeral.
White wreaths stood before the gravestone, while white mourning banners fluttered in the wind.
Soft funeral music played in the background.
The entire funeral was solemn and sorrowful.
A group of people stood there, all having come for the funeral. They were Old Nie's friends from when he was alive, or distant relatives.
With simple white flowers pinned to their chests, they lined up and approached the gravestone one by one to pay their respects.
Nie Xing stood to one side with a grave expression, returning their bows. His eyes were slightly swollen and red, and he looked terrible.
Over the past three days, whenever he closed his eyes, he saw his father lying in that hospital bed, asking him:
"Why hadn't you come to see me even once in these three years?"
When his father was about to pass, he had not been able to answer that question. Nor had he dared to.
It had remained a knot in his heart, leaving him unable to sleep peacefully.
At that moment,
Old Wang carried a bottle of liquor over to Old Nie's gravestone and sat down.
He poured two cups of liquor, one for himself and the other for Old Nie.
"I never thought you'd just up and leave like that. You hadn't touched a drop in the half year before you went. You must've been craving it like crazy, huh?"
"Then again, you always listened to that son of yours. Whatever he said, you were willing to do!"
"Now that you're in the ground, he can't control you anymore. Let's have a good drink together, brother!"
Old Wang looked at the portrait and muttered to himself beside the gravestone.
As though Old Nie were still sitting beside him, listening to him speak.
He downed the liquor in his cup in one gulp.
The other cup was poured onto the ground before the grave.
Seeing Old Wang sitting beside the gravestone and talking like that, several elders of the Nie family secretly wiped away tears.
"Dad!"
Young Wang's expression changed slightly, and he wanted to stop his father.
Who sat beside someone else's gravestone drinking?
Just as he was about to step forward, an elderly Nie family relative stopped him.
"Don't go. Let him talk to Old Nie!"
After those words,
Young Wang was a little dumbfounded. Talk?
Talk about what?
Some of the older people nearby explained,
"Young people don't understand. Back then, when we buried someone or visited a grave, we'd sit beside the gravestone and have a chat like this, then offer a jug of liquor to express our grief."
"I remember that we even ate in front of the gravestone back then, as if the deceased had never truly left. We'd pour our hearts out to them, sometimes sitting there for an entire morning."
"Yeah. Unlike people these days, who visit graves without any feeling, casually burn some paper, pour some liquor, then pat their butts and leave."
"Times have changed. Perhaps funerals will become even simpler in the future."
"Ah..."
The words around them made the atmosphere at the funeral grow even more oppressive.
"Old Nie, you must've been hiding something from me! I saw it when you were about to go. Those experts who came to consult on your case had medals of merit hanging from their shoulders!"
"It's strange, really. Everyone said you were well-connected and had lots of friends! I never expected you, of all people, to know those big shots!"
"On that point, I, Old Wang, truly admire you. I admire you!"
Old Wang sat beside the gravestone like that. After only a few drinks, his face had reddened and he was drunk.
His speech became slurred as well.
Tears kept streaming down his face.
He struggled to suppress his sobs.
At that moment, he did not even know what he was saying, but he simply wanted to say a few more words before Old Nie's gravestone.
Grief welled up in his heart, mingling with the liquor in his mouth, bitter and aching.
Before he completely lost control, Young Wang could not bear to watch any longer.
He hurried forward to support his father, helping him to his feet and leading him aside.
"Dad, don't be too sad. Uncle Nie definitely wouldn't want to see you like this down there!"
Perhaps because of the alcohol, Old Wang's tears would not stop. He stood there with his head lowered, crying in muffled sobs.
Even his body trembled slightly.
Though he had always disliked being comforted by his son like this, he nodded at that moment, tears continuing to fall uncontrollably.
Seeing Old Wang in that state, everyone present felt a pang of sorrow.
Many people's eyes had reddened.
Besides relatives and friends, some neighbors had also come to pay their respects.
In everyone's eyes, Old Nie had always been a kind and warmhearted good man. No matter who he dealt with, he was always sincere and honest.
With such a good man gone, everyone felt more or less grief-stricken.
Nie Xing stood before the gravestone, looking at his father's portrait, wanting to cry but unable to shed tears.
He could only kowtow heavily twice.
Then he remained kneeling, unable to rise.
Seeing this, some nearby friends began whispering and sighing.
"Ah, what a good man. Gone just like that!"
"People are fragile. They can't endure too much hardship. Old Nie worked hard all his life, and he suffered even when he was dying."
"Yeah, I heard Old Nie had been sick for over a year. His life was truly bitter. He underwent two or three surgeries before he finally passed!"
"Over a year? No wonder he looked worse and worse this year! I hadn't really noticed at the time."
"No filial son stays by the bedside of the long-term sick. Although Nie Xing was adopted, he still seems fairly filial now!"
Some neighbors who knew the Nie family's situation could not hold back when they heard that and interjected in lowered voices.
"What do you people know? Nie Xing only came back three days ago. His father had been sick for over a year, and he only came back for one last look when his father was about to die!"
"What? He only just came back?"
"That's right. He'd been gone for three whole years!"
"Three years!? His father was sick, and he never came back to visit even once?"
"They said he was busy with work. Old Nie called him many times, but I heard that later, he simply couldn't get through at all. Even so, Old Nie kept covering for him and wouldn't let others know what that kid was like. He was protecting him!"
"What kind of job keeps someone from coming home for three years straight? Who does he think he is, some company's CEO? Would the whole company stop functioning without him? I never thought that kid would be this kind of person. What a disappointment. I thought he was filial!"
"Come to think of it, Old Nie had been stubborn his whole life. He insisted on having that adopted son! People advised him so many times, but he wouldn't listen. In the end, wasn't he the one who suffered? Still, I heard from people who visited Old Nie in the hospital that his identity was anything but ordinary. The hospital director personally showed up, and more than a dozen military district experts jointly consulted on his case!"
"That really happened? Impossible, right? Old Nie was an ordinary worker just like us. How could he have had the chance to know people that important?"
"You never know. Didn't you hear what Old Wang said while he was drunk just now? Those consultation experts even had medals of merit on their shoulders!"
"He was drunk and talking nonsense. Do you actually believe that?"
"Forget it. Stories like this get passed from one person to ten, then from ten to a hundred. How could any of it be true?"
Meanwhile,
Su Chen stood not far away, watching Nie Yugang's funeral proceed from beginning to end. He lowered his head and glanced at his watch.
The time had come!
Time to make an entrance
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