Chapter 31: A lifetime to get over
Jiang Zhaoyu knelt beside Jiang Su and patted his shoulder.
Jiang Su, as if finally unable to hold back, burst into tears.
He cried and blamed himself, “Big Brother, it’s my fault…”
He repeated this sentence over and over.
Jiang Zhaoyu keenly sensed something was wrong: “Xiao Qi, look at me. It’s not your fault. The heavy snowstorm closing off Jian’an Mountain was something beyond our control.”
Jiang Su shook his head: “It’s my fault…”
If Huo Qingyan hadn’t left him alone at the hot spring resort, he could have driven to the hospital with Huo Qingyan after receiving the call in the middle of the night, and he could have seen Grandma one last time.
Just one minute earlier.
No, even half a minute earlier at the hospital would have been enough. If only he could have seen Grandma one more time.
But there are no “ifs” in the world.
Lin Siyue’s call for help not only caused Huo Qingyan to leave him alone in the deserted hot spring resort but also almost strangled him.
Even if this happened a thousand, ten thousand times, the result would be the same.
He should have realized it earlier.
If he hadn’t been so stubborn, so self-deceived, clinging to his fantasies about Huo Qingyan.
If he had left Huo Qingyan earlier, wouldn’t this have happened?
Wouldn’t Grandma have died without regrets if she had seen him one last time?
Jiang Lichuan arrived, seeing this scene. It seemed Jiang Su didn’t get to see his grandmother one last time.
Of all the Jiang siblings, Jiang Su was the kindest.
Jiang Lichuan thought, Jiang Su might never get over this.
…
After walking through the snow, and overcome with grief, Jiang Su fainted by the bed.
He woke up at noon.
Jiang Lichuan was watching over him.
Seeing Jiang Su wake up, Jiang Lichuan breathed a sigh of relief: “You’re finally awake.”
Jiang Su lifted the blanket to get out of bed.
Jiang Lichuan hurriedly stopped him: “What are you doing?”
“I want to help Big Brother with Grandma’s funeral arrangements,” Jiang Su pushed Jiang Lichuan away, his face pale as paper, but his eyes were unusually firm.
Jiang Lichuan’s grandmother had passed away before he could remember, so he didn’t have much of an impression of her, nor much feeling for her.
But he remembered Jiang Su, as a child, frequently running to him with a bunch of things to show off, saying this was made by Grandma, that was bought by Grandma…
Jiang Lichuan let go of his hand: “Fine, I won’t stop you, but you have to eat something first.”
Jiang Su didn’t have much of an appetite, but still nodded: “Okay.”
…
Jiang Su’s grandmother was a very organized person and had made arrangements for her own funeral well in advance.
Grandma had only one daughter, Jiang Su and Jiang Zhaoyu’s mother.
Therefore, her funeral arrangements were handled entirely by her two grandsons, Jiang Zhaoyu and Jiang Su.
Although Grandma had made some arrangements while she was alive, she was an influential figure in Qingyang City, so there were still many things to arrange for her passing.
Following tradition, they consulted a feng shui master, and the funeral was set for three days later, the day before New Year’s Eve.
After the feng shui master left, Jiang Zhaoyu asked Jiang Su, “Did you inform Huo Qingyan?”
No matter how much he disliked Huo Qingyan, Huo Qingyan was still married to Jiang Su. Grandma’s death warranted his attendance.
Jiang Su didn’t answer directly: “Big Brother, can I stay at your place for a while?”
Jiang Zhaoyu was taken aback: “Sure.”
Jiang Su’s words were quite revealing.
His non-answer implied that he hadn’t informed Huo Qingyan.
And his request to stay at his brother’s place indicated he had no intention of informing Huo Qingyan.
Furthermore, Jiang Su didn’t want to go home.
Had Grandma’s death been such a blow that he had suddenly awakened?
Jiang Zhaoyu only thought about it and didn’t dare to ask.
His younger brother was very sensitive and prone to overthinking.
For the next three days, Jiang Su stayed at Jiang Zhaoyu’s house, helping him with Grandma’s funeral arrangements.
…
The first thing Huo Qingyan did after waking up was to go to the kitchen, as usual.
As in the past few days, Jiang Su was not there.
He then realized that Jiang Su hadn’t returned home since their trip to the hot spring resort.
This was already the third day.
Jiang Su still hadn’t come home and hadn’t called or texted him.
In the two years of their marriage, this was the first time Jiang Su hadn’t contacted him or come home for so long.
Huo Qingyan finally realized something was wrong.
But he didn’t think much of it, assuming Jiang Su was just throwing a tantrum, trying to force him to take the initiative by not coming home.
Sometimes he wondered if Jiang Su was fourteen or twenty-four; he wouldn’t admit to doing something wrong and still dared to throw a tantrum.
Although Huo Qingyan believed he understood Jiang Su’s psychology perfectly, during a company meeting, he was unusually distracted.
Zhou Fu noticed Huo Qingyan’s distraction and asked him after the meeting, “Mr. Huo, are you thinking about how to comfort Mr. Jiang?”
Huo Qingyan’s tone was questioning: “Comfort him?”
Zhou Fu was first puzzled, then asked in shock, “Don’t you know about Ms. Shu Nan?”
Shu Nan was Jiang Su’s grandmother’s name.
In her youth, she was a prominent businesswoman in Qingyang City, highly respected by young people.
Huo Qingyan’s heart skipped a beat: “What happened?”
Zhou Fu’s expression was complex: “Ms. Shu Nan passed away.”
Mr. Jiang’s grandmother passed away, and Mr. Huo didn’t know??
“When did it happen?” Although Huo Qingyan didn’t pay much attention to Jiang Su’s affairs, he knew how close Jiang Su was to his grandmother.
Moreover, Jiang Su’s grandmother was indeed a highly respectable elder.
Zhou Fu recalled, “It seems it was early morning three days ago.”
Early morning three days ago…
Wasn’t that the morning after he and Jiang Su went to the hot spring resort?
Such a big event, and Jiang Su hadn’t told him.
Huo Qingyan felt inexplicably uneasy: “When is the funeral?”
“This afternoon.” Zhou Fu felt he had just learned some explosive news.
Mr. Jiang, who had always been obedient to Mr. Huo, hadn’t told Mr. Huo about his grandmother’s funeral.
Huo Qingyan couldn’t describe how he felt.
Everything felt wrong.
He was extremely agitated.
He found Jiang Su’s number and hesitated whether to call when his phone rang.
It was Huo Zhenheng.
He originally didn’t want to answer.
But he thought Huo Zhenheng might be calling about Jiang Su’s grandmother’s funeral, so he answered.
“Attend Ms. Shu’s funeral with me this afternoon.”
Sure enough, Huo Zhenheng was also calling about Jiang Su’s grandmother’s funeral.
Huo Qingyan pondered for a moment: “Mm.”
“The driver will wait for you downstairs at the company.” Huo Zhenheng was satisfied with Huo Qingyan’s response.