Chapter 3

Chu Aiguo took a breath, glancing at the bag that Chu Huan had placed at the door of the hospital room, his voice trembling, as faint as a wisp of air: "You bastard, truly a case of the lewd seeing the lewd... I mean, you should come out more and see the world outside, don’t just think that doing your own part is enough, that life and death are irrelevant. No one is putting burdens on your shoulders now, so don’t keep getting stuck in your own thoughts. If you really can’t bear it, go to the hospital, get some medicine, it’s not shameful, don’t just tough it out... Huh? In the future, when I’m not around, no one will be able to manage you, sigh... Huh? In the future, when I’m not around, no one will be able to manage you, sigh..."

Chu Huan lowered his head to look at his attire, bent down, and said to his adoptive father: "Isn't this just about to bid farewell to the world? Is this appropriate for a festive occasion?"

What happened to the big wooden pillar? With a circle of mountains and rivers tattooed on it, it can stand tall and firm. Chu Aiguo glared, "But standing tall and firm... does not mean you have to hold up the sky by yourself"

Although the old man spoke in a hoarse voice, he exuded a leisurely and content demeanor: "Hey—wait a moment, where is your set of belongings?"

Chuan Huan rolled up his sleeves and lay on top of the dusty wardrobe for a while, unable to articulate the feelings within him. Suddenly, his phone rang; he picked it up and saw a text message from the caregiver: "It's time, come say goodbye to me."

Chuhuan said without blinking an eye: "Absolutely not."

Chu Aiguo: "Where is there such a perfectly seamless matter... I am about to die."

Chu Huan held the hand that had just crossed the border between life and death, still warm to the touch, and closed his eyes as well. He seemed to hear the sound of the wind drifting into the room from afar, faint and ethereal, and within his heart, a profound loneliness settled like frost upon the ground.

Chu Aiguo: "I plan to marry the King of Hell and bring him back to be your stepmother"

Chu Aiguo ignored his joke, staring at him in silence. After a long while, Chu Huan finally succumbed under the old witch's piercing gaze, being the first to look away, his smile gradually fading: "... just that once"

Chu Huan could no longer tolerate it and interrupted him: "Please spare me, I looked it up in the dictionary, and that thing just means a big wooden pillar, right?"

Chu Aiguo: "The part about choking to death on love for the belly."

"How absurd, celebrating while alive and celebrating even in death." With every breath, Chu Aiguo emitted a terrifying sound from his chest, as if his lungs were failing. He struggled to say, "I refuse to listen to that nonsense about 'so-and-so will always live in your heart.' Wouldn't that make me a stubborn resident? Where would I place my daughter-in-law in the future?"

What will happen if you leave, and who will take care of it?

He felt a sense of lightness in his head and heaviness in his feet, as if, apart from the two arrogant ghosts that had yet to be captured, the world was left with only this single word "good" weighing heavily upon him, anchoring him to the ground beneath his feet

Chu Aiguo laughed with a sound reminiscent of a broken bellows, his sparse eyebrows raised, faintly revealing a rebellious spirit that neither age nor time could diminish

Ah," Chu Aiguo sighed while chewing on a toothpick, "this is bad, what a sin, even in death I have dragged a little female cat to accompany me in my demise

Chu Huan paused for a moment, took a piece of napkin from his pocket, folded it a few times, then pulled out a steel needle from his sleeve, bent it by hand, and inserted it into the napkin to secure it, quickly crafting a simple little white flower, which he pinned to his collar. He adjusted his black suit jacket in front of the window, completing the look for this "tomb visit," before stepping over to the old man's bedside

Chu Aiguo: "Why didn't you jump later?"

Chu Aiguo's murky eyes widened, unexpectedly revealing a hint of intimidating spirit: "What kind of expression is that? You... you need to be more festive, more festive."

Chu Huan paused and said: "Big Mi has passed away peacefully."

Chu Aiguo was quite dissatisfied with the unskilled host and scolded, "Do you have any good words left? Who the hell would want that?"

Mr. Chu Aiguo

Chu Huan said softly: "Father, that may not be up to you."

Chu Aiguo asked: "What should one do when encountering difficulties?"

Chu Huan gazed at his lifeless face in the cage, choosing to omit the fact that Da Mi was a eunuch, thus preserving the old man's fantasies of romantic entanglements and bestial desires

"Alright, alright, marriage it is," Chu Huan quickly surrendered and asked in a low and humble voice, "So, who do you plan to marry?"

He is going to visit Chu Aiguo

"Goodbye," he said to the person who could not hear.

Chu Huan took half a minute to realize what "choking love belly" referred to. He sighed, feeling quite melancholic, and attempted to reason with Chu Aiguo: "Dad, that is for marriage."

Chu Aiguo let out a long sigh: "Once, I saw you standing by the window, looking as if you were about to jump down..."

Chu Huan: "Just kidding?"

Chu Huan nodded and said, "Yes, I will leave in a few days. I need to take care of some matters first"

It must be.

Chu Aiguo was enraged upon hearing this, his emaciated fists striking the hospital bed with a loud bang, lamenting with a sense of despair: "Isn't this just because I have only a few minutes left to live? This means that no one will care for me anymore, no one will pay attention to me, I have become like a rotten old cabbage left in the vegetable field..."

Chu Huan was completely impressed by his father's determination to die rather than give up being a kept man: "Dad, given your spirit, it seems that you might not be able to reunite with my stepmother anytime soon, it's a bit like asking heaven to lend you another 500 years."

Chu Aiguo turned a deaf ear, his murky gaze fixed intently on him: "Is there?"

Chuan Huan : `` ... ... ''

Chuhuan: "Dad, you have already been buried in the yellow earth up to your head, can you stop being so unserious at your age?"

"Good, good, it must be good..." Chu Aiguo shook Chu Huan's hand, as if he had exhausted his last bit of strength

Chu Huan pondered for a while, and a stingy smile appeared on his face: "Just teasing you."

Chu Huan replied: "The two ghosts have not been caught yet"

Chu Huan hesitated for a moment before responding cautiously, "I will do my best"

Chuhuan scoffed, "Impossible, throwing it on the ground would pollute the environment. Do I seem that lacking in public morality?"

Your concern is truly long-term; your daughter-in-law still does not know whose child she is carrying. " Chu Huan paused and, after some consideration, said, "Which part do you intend to listen to?"

Chu Huan: "Are you willing to leave behind this... this world teeming with people, bid it farewell, never to see it again, never to yearn for it, like discarding a tattered rag, and in the days to come, regardless of whether it is at peace or in war, filled with songs and dances or ravaged by destruction, always to forget it, to lose and be forgotten by it, until this world forgets you as well?"

In the center of the circle, the words "Just kidding" are inscribed in a style full of artistic flair, creating a rather unappealing effect.

Chu Huan moved a chair and sat down beside him, softly asking: "Not borrowing? Have you had enough of life?"

Chu Aiguo's hospital room is a single room. After Chu Huan entered, he closed the door behind him. Just as he was about to walk in, he was stopped by an old man on the hospital bed, who was as thin as a zombie.

Chu Huan changed into a set of black clothing, organized his belongings, then took out an old shoebox, placed the cat inside, and covered its body with paper ash, leaving only a round head exposed outside.

Chu Aiguo is an extraordinary person. Many people say he resembles the renowned crosstalk performer Mr. Ma Sanli. As more and more people made this comparison, Chu Aiguo became a fan of the elder Mr. Ma, often holding a small radio to listen to his performances. He also learned to mimic the speech patterns and tone, becoming a super star lookalike who could easily pass for the real thing when he spoke.

Chu Huan: "Which one?"

Chu Huan's eyes twitched slightly: "Dad, since you have nowhere to flaunt your rogue demeanor, you can only direct it at me, right?"

Chu Huanding stared at him for a moment, pondered for a while, and then spoke in a measured tone: "Mr. Chu Aiguo, may I ask if you have come here in response to the summons of the King of Hell to undergo the sacred final rites?"

In the early morning, Chu Huan swept the ashes into a pile, then stood on a stool to lean over the wardrobe and took a glance, discovering the cat's already cold and stiff body— it had unusually come onto his bed yesterday, seemingly to bid farewell.

Chu Aiguo raised his emaciated hand and grasped Chuhuan's wrist: "I have no expectations for anything, no desires for life, it seems I can never feel happy, my head aches and I feel dazed, I am even too lazy to do anything..."

"What I am experiencing is merely a fleeting moment of brilliance." Chu Aiguo cast a lingering glance at him and said, "Don't flatter yourself."

Well, the last page

The old man spoke, slowly raising his eyes

Chu Huan and the caregiver lady in her fifties do not have any improper relationship beyond their employment. This nonsensical information clearly comes from Chu Aiguo, who somehow managed to get hold of her phone number.

Chu Aiguo asked: "Can you live to be seventy or eighty years old?"

This time, he remained silent for a long while, his gaze behind the lenses indistinct, merely very dark and heavy. After a considerable time, he finally tugged at the corner of his mouth and said nonchalantly: "It's just occasionally; no one does it every day, as it is harmful to one's health."

Then, his body suddenly stiffened, as if all his worries had been resolved, completely unburdened. He uttered several "good" words and closed his eyes for good

At that moment, the aged gaze met the youthful one; the young man's eyes were tranquil, drawing one in at a glance, evoking an involuntary chill in the heart

The old man and the young one fell silent for a moment; it seemed that the old man's earlier outburst of energy had been exhausted. He could feel his life rapidly slipping away.

Chu Aiguo said: "There are words, do you see them?"

Chu Aiguo tightened his grip and said, "To be honest."

He buried the cat under the large pine tree downstairs, then adjusted the brim of his hat, hailed a taxi by the roadside, and went to the hospital

The first ring he ever wore in his life surprisingly came from his bald father. Chu Huan found this fact somewhat cruel, yet he obediently placed it on his middle finger

Chu Aiguo looked at him with great concern and said, "Are you going on a long journey?"

Chu Huan remained silent, seemingly having taken it in, yet it also appeared that he had made up his mind to comply outwardly while contradicting inwardly

Chu Aiguo nodded with difficulty and said: "Just kidding—let me ask you, do you... do you still have that feeling recently?"

The sunlight streamed in through the window frame, creating a day of clear light and shadow. Chu Aiguo's lips moved: "You... put on the ring."

Chu Aiguo listened, fell into a moment of daze, and murmured: "Well, you open my... that bedside table, there is a box inside, bring it to me."

Chu Huan suppressed his overwhelming lethargy and responded softly, "Mm."

Chu Huan: "It has grown a bit larger."

Chu Huanyi found the box mentioned by Mr. Chu Aiguo. Upon opening it, she saw a plain platinum ring inside.

Chu Aiguo closed his eyes and said: "The fact that you can still remember this indicates there is hope. You... you remember, the virtuous are the pillars of the nation..."