Disobedience To Control chapter 55

Silver pin

The funeral was scheduled for the third day.

Fu Xuehua was in poor spirits, unable to get out of bed. People at the hospital said that Song Ping had also taken a long leave and they didn’t know where he went. Most of the other elders of the Song family were abroad or in other cities, and couldn’t rush back in time. The funeral arrangements fell on Song Siheng’s shoulders.

Li Ke remained silent and accompanied him throughout the process. However, after that day, he never glanced at Song Qin’s coffin again. He only occasionally caught a glimpse of his stiff, pale wrist as he passed by.

A customized tombstone required a photo to be given to the cemetery staff in advance, and Li Ke chose the photo.

Song Qin rarely took photos, and there was only one group photo with his classmates in his circle of friends. Li Ke downloaded that photo and cropped Song Qin’s portion.

It was a photo from about ten years ago, of Song Qin who was less than twenty-four years old, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, lips slightly curved into a smile, and wearing a rare white sweater.

After Song Qin turned himself in, the police received detailed evidence. The actual perpetrator was quickly apprehended, and with Song Qin’s death, Yang Xiaobei’s case was closed as well.

Yang Xiaobei waited at home for Song Siheng for two days before learning the news.

Song Siheng tried to maintain a calm tone over the phone, while there was silence on Yang Xiaobei’s end for several seconds before he replied, “Got it, take care of yourself.”

After two busy days, Song Siheng also managed to get a few hours of rare sleep. At five o’clock the next morning, he woke up again and found a new message on WeChat.

Yang Xiaobei: “Send me the address, I’ll come over.”

Three minutes later, Song Siheng replied, “No need, your health hasn’t fully recovered yet, stay home and rest.”

However, the reply came back immediately: “Address.”

The tone was stubborn and not open to argument.

Song Siheng could only comply and sent him the location of the suburban funeral home.

At six o’clock in the morning, the black business car set off from the garden villa. Song Siheng followed in his own car behind the business car. There were almost no pedestrians on the deserted street, and everyone in the car remained silent.

Li Ke rested at home for two hours, changed his clothes, shaved, and then drove over, following the convoy slowly.

Only a few relatives of the Song family who were still in Jiangcheng attended the farewell ceremony.

When Song Siheng parked the car, there was a hint of dawn in the sky. He parked the car and saw a young man in a black coat waiting for him under a tree by the roadside.

Seeing the headlights ahead, the young man waved to him.

“Why aren’t you wearing more?” Song Siheng walked towards him after getting off the car.

“I didn’t find any suitable clothes at your place.” Yang Xiaobei said as he zipped up his coat.

“Find a warm place to stay, I estimate it’ll take a while inside.” Song Siheng pointed across the road to a convenience store, “You can sit there for a while, go buy yourself a cup of hot cocoa.”

“No need, I’ll wait for you here.” Yang Xiaobei stubbornly shook his head.

But when Fu Xuehua got out of the car, Yang Xiaobei suddenly paused, not saying a word for half a minute. It wasn’t until Fu Xuehua walked away alone that Yang Xiaobei grabbed Song Siheng’s sleeve.

“Is Doctor Fu your relative?”

Song Siheng was taken aback. He had forgotten to tell Yang Xiaobei about their relationship.

“She’s my mom,” Song Siheng said quietly.

Yang Xiaobei didn’t catch his breath, raised his hand to his temple, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!”

“There’s nothing to tell. Besides, the surgery went smoothly, telling you would only add to your psychological burden.” After explaining, Song Siheng waved his hand and walked forward.

Yang Xiaobei stood still, lost in thought.

The farewell ceremony began twenty minutes later.

Song Siheng asked Li Ke if he wanted to go in together. Li Ke hesitated for a few seconds, then shook his head, “I won’t go.”

The relatives of the Song family walked into the farewell hall along the narrow aisle. By now, it was already dawn outside, but the thick clouds made the air still chilly.

As the farewell hall’s door was about to close, a staff member stuck their head out and asked if anyone else wanted to join. At the last moment, Li Ke walked out from the crowd. He followed at the end of the line into the hall but kept his head down the whole time.

The ceremony was brief. After the family laid flowers, the staff announced the end of the ceremony.

Song Siheng glanced back, seeing Li Ke standing at the back, lips pressed together without shedding a tear, but with bloodshot eyes.

The joys and sorrows of the past decade ended up as ashes.

The cemetery was not far from the funeral home, situated on a small hill. Fu Xuehua picked a green spot on the sunny side of the mountain for him. However, it was overcast that day, and the once lush green hillside seemed shrouded in mist.

Song Siheng’s car went out first, with Fu Xuehua sitting in the passenger seat and Yang Xiaobei in the back. Yang Xiaobei remained silent the entire time, not looking at his phone in his pocket, just staring at Song Siheng’s back.

Fu Xuehua hadn’t communicated with anyone for nearly three days. On this day, she wore a stern expression, put on a pair of black glasses, and suddenly spoke softly from the passenger seat, “I’ve been thinking for a long time…”

Song Siheng glanced at her eyes through the rearview mirror.

“I was so stubborn before, wanting to help him, was I also controlling him… You’ve all been living so hard. I should have let go long ago.”

Song Siheng sighed softly, “There’s no need to bring up these things now. Besides, it’s not your fault.”

Fu Xuehua took off her glasses and gently rubbed her nose, “I’m almost done with the divorce proceedings with Song Ping. The villa belongs to me, and he only took a small amount of savings.”

Song Siheng almost pressed the wrong pedal on the accelerator under his feet, and suddenly turned his head to look at her, “When did this happen?”

“Last month, after the uproar at home… I went to see a lawyer and drew up the agreement.” Fu Xuehua’s tone was very light, “This family had already fallen apart, and such a marriage lingering on was meaningless.”

“It’s just a pity that I couldn’t stop Song Ping from sending him to Ming’an.” She sighed softly and looked out the window.

It seemed like she hadn’t spoken for too long, staring out the window absentmindedly as she continued, “I met Song Ping during his interval in the United States. He came back to China for a seminar at that time. I was young and reckless, and soon became pregnant. After he returned from the States, we hurriedly got married, and it wasn’t until much later that I found out about his deceased ex-wife…”

At this point, Fu Xuehua stopped talking.

The red light turned green, and Song Siheng pressed the gas pedal again, moving the car forward.

When the group got out of the car, it suddenly started to drizzle, patter-patter. From the parking lot to the cemetery, they had to walk a hundred or two hundred meters along a path. There were many wildflowers on both sides of the path, white and yellow, drooping under the rain.

Fu Xuehua held an umbrella, dressed in plain black clothes, standing at the forefront of the crowd. Her tears seemed to have dried up, and there was no more expression on her face. She mechanically completed the final steps, wiping clean the photo on the tombstone, carefully placing the urn in the compartment under the tombstone, and then placing the bouquet of white flowers she brought in front of the tombstone.

Song Siheng stood at the end of the line, with Yang Xiaobei holding a black umbrella standing beside him. People came and went in front of them, and they didn’t speak at first.

It wasn’t until five minutes later that Yang Xiaobei said in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Where he’s gone, he probably won’t hate anyone anymore.”

Song Siheng turned his head to look at him, “Don’t you hate him?”

Yang Xiaobei’s lips twitched downward slightly, “Honestly, when I heard the news that day, I felt relieved for two seconds.”

Song Siheng lowered his eyelids at his words, remaining silent.

“But it was only for those two seconds.” Yang Xiaobei shook his head, “I’ve died once before, I know that feeling isn’t pleasant. And I…”

He stopped halfway, and Song Siheng raised his eyes again to ask, “And you?”

Yang Xiaobei adjusted his breath and replied softly, “I’ve hated too many people, and I can’t hate anymore.”

Under the cold daylight, Song Siheng suddenly raised his head and blinked gently. A flock of unknown gray birds flew past the hillside, fluttering through the woods with a rustling sound.

The continuous fine rain fell on the grass, and soon the ground became muddy. Someone in front complained about the terrible weather, wiping the mud off their shoes with tissues. Song Siheng, however, stood still without moving.

Following his gaze, Yang Xiaobei saw that the gray flock of birds had flown away, and the woods returned to calmness.

Song Siheng looked up at the blank sky and suddenly spoke, “Actually, I’m a person with very little emotion.”

Yang Xiaobei also looked up, his Adam’s apple rolling in his throat. After a while, he replied, “You’re not.”

Song Siheng suddenly turned his head to look at him, but Yang Xiaobei lowered his head, avoiding his gaze.

The rain gradually increased, and Fu Xuehua completed the final procedure, turning to look at the tombstone one last time. The group gradually dispersed, each returning to their respective cars.

Yang Xiaobei tilted the umbrella ten degrees toward Song Siheng’s side and then asked, tilting his head, “Shall we go?”

Song Siheng nodded, “Let’s go.”

As the two approached the car, Yang Xiaobei suddenly asked, “Where’s Secretary Li?”

Song Siheng turned to look, and Li Ke hadn’t left. He remained in the cemetery, standing about two meters away from the tombstone.

He was wearing a black suit, with a leaf-shaped Silver pin pinned to the collar of his suit.

“Should we go and call him to leave together?” Yang Xiaobei followed his gaze.

After a moment of silence, Song Siheng shook his head, “Let’s go first and let him be alone for a while.”

Ten minutes later, everyone had left the cemetery, and the vehicles gradually left the hillside, their exhaust dissipating into the air.

In front of the tombstone, Li Ke’s shoulders began to tremble slightly, and he let out restrained sobs. The rain grew heavier, with large raindrops falling on the grass, on the tombstone, and on Li Ke’s shoulders.

The surrounding sounds became increasingly noisy, and Li Ke’s crying no longer held back, almost venting loudly in the rain.

He didn’t use an umbrella, plopping down in front of the tombstone, tears continuously flowing from his eyes, as if they would never stop.

Half an hour later, the rain gradually stopped, the heavy clouds became thinner, and it seemed like the sun was about to break through the clouds.

And in front of Song Qin’s tombstone, there was an additional Silver pin, faintly shining.