Chapter 446: Rains Fall During the Qingming Festival

Chapter 446: Rains Fall During the Qingming Festival

Chapter 446: Rains fall heavily during the Qingming Festival (Thanks to the Silver Alliance of Xixi Valley)
After saying goodbye to her boyfriend, Yu Xian went upstairs and returned home, and found that not only her grandmother had not rested, but her father was also there.

After Lao Yu broke up with Tang Xiangyue last year, he had been sleeping in the Zhusigang community. Later, he forgot which day it was after the Chinese New Year, but he suddenly moved away.

Yu Xian lives on campus, and also has to prepare for the competition, so he has much less time to return to Zhusigang.

Besides, even if they occasionally meet, a daughter is too embarrassed to ask her father: "Where are you living recently?"

What if it involves another emotional dispute, should I listen or not?
"grandmother."

Yu Xian greeted Grandma Yu first, and then when he bent down to change his shoes, he greeted, "Dad."

Yu Xiaoliang noticed the Nokia N95 box in his daughter's hand and asked curiously, "Is this a new phone?"

"No."

Yu Xian shook his head: "I'm having dinner at Chenzhe's house tonight. Aunt Mao sent it to me."

"Oh……"

Yu Xiaoliang looked a little embarrassed.

He also bought a new mobile phone last year and wanted to give it to Yu Xian, but was ruthlessly rejected. He didn't expect that his daughter would actually accept the gift from Chen's family, which made him, as a father, seem like an outsider.

However, Yu Xiaoliang was afraid and felt guilty towards his daughter, and he was also cowardly by nature, so he did not dare to ask more questions.

Grandma was different. She asked directly, "Why do you need such a precious thing?"

When he opened his mouth, he spoke the familiar Sichuan and Chongqing dialect.

"I don't want it, but Aunt Mao forced it on me. I don't want to go against the wishes of the elders, so I plan to buy them some gold items at the end of the year."

As Yu Xian spoke, he picked up a bottle of medicine from the cabinet and poured it carefully into his palm: "Is there any medicine to take?"

As she gets older, her body functions deteriorate. My grandmother doesn’t have any major illnesses, but she has a lot of minor problems that she usually needs to take medicine to improve.

"Don't eat it."

Grandma picked up the pill with her chubby fingers and stuffed it into her mouth, muttering, "Gold goods? Your child has never given me any gold!"

"I'll give it to you this year!"

Yu Xian coaxed her grandmother to take the medicine in a sweet voice. She ignored her father and went back to the house to wash up.

The current state of the father and daughter cannot be described as "reconciled". Although they can communicate normally, they cannot sit down and have a good chat anyway.

This is because Sister COS is too kind-hearted. If it were someone else, based on the stupid things Yu Xiaoliang had done in the past, it would not be so easy to forgive this father.

"Xian, Xian sister!"

Seeing his daughter about to leave the living room, Yu Xiaoliang summoned up his courage and shouted, "I'll come pick you up early tomorrow morning when we go to the graves. Do you want me to?"

This time, the attentiveness was rejected by the cos sister again: "No, Chen Zhuo stays with me."

"Oh oh oh."

When Yu Xiaoliang heard that Chen Zhuo was also there, he felt sorry but it was expected. He could only dryly remind him, "Then you guys go first. I'll go later. Also, we'll be busy erecting a monument after the holiday. Don't let it conflict with your school affairs."

"got it."

Yu Xian responded, but before closing the door, she thought for a moment and added, "When we erect the tombstone, Chen Zhe's parents might come over to help."

"what……"

Yu Xiaoliang was stunned for a moment, and said to himself in a somewhat tangled manner: "Will that be too much trouble for others?"

Yu Xian didn't hear it, she had already closed the door and washed up.

"Xian Mei'er will be their daughter-in-law in the future, so why should she be afraid of trouble?"

Grandma looked at her timid son and was furious: "You are even more timid than a mouse. Even Xianmei has more experience than you!"

Old Yu was not angry after being scolded a few times. He was such a good-tempered person. Before leaving, he even went to the kitchen to pack up the garbage and took it downstairs.

……

At this time, there were already signs of rain outside.

The rain was not heavy, but my skin could feel the coldness. Between the tall buildings in the city, low clouds wrapped in water vapor were surging, and the ground was gradually becoming slippery.

Lao Yu was driving back to the company. He usually sleeps in the office now.

One reason is that there are often work calls at home in Zhusigang, and he was afraid of disturbing his mother.

two is……

"In your heart, the bright stars fly freely, wandering forever..."

The phone suddenly rang.

Nowadays, the ringtones on middle-aged people’s cell phones are basically a song by internet singers such as Daolang, Phoenix Legend, or Pang Long.

Most of the young people are Jay Chou, JJ Lin, SHE and so on.

Yu Xiaoliang glanced at the screen of his mobile phone. Although it was an unfamiliar number, he remembered that the string of numbers belonged to Tang Xiangyue.

This is also the second reason why he doesn't want to live in Zhusigang. He is worried that these calls from Tang Xiangyue will make his mother unhappy.

"...the direction along the way, shining in my heart..."

Yu Xiaoliang didn't want to answer it, but the phone kept ringing.

He had tried to block her before, but they were in the same company and office, so Tang Xiangyue forced him to block her the next day.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Yu Xiaoliang had no choice but to answer the call, trying hard to act as if he was "unfamiliar".

However, Tang Xiangyue seemed to see through Yu Xiaoliang's pretended indifference. If it had happened before the incident, Tang Xiangyue would have definitely mocked him or even scolded him.

But now, she just said pitifully: "Old Yu, the light at home is broken. It may be because of the rain that the fuse has poor contact. Can you come and take a look?"

"I do not have time."

Yu Xiaoliang refused at first.

Recently, Tang Xiangyue always says "the kitchen water pipe is blocked, the washing machine is broken, I'm sick and lying in bed..."

In short, I just want Yu Xiaoliang to go back.

"But the light is really broken. The room is dark and it's raining. It seemed someone knocked on the door just now."

Tang Xiangyue continued to speak softly, "Xiao Ye and I are helplessly hugging each other. Lao Yu, are you really not going to come back and help? I beg you..."

Yu Xiaoliang imagined that scene, and his compassion almost wavered. However, he was worried that Tang Xiangyue would cheat, so he finally said firmly: "I'll find an electrician to come to your house."

"Asshole Yu Xiaoliang!"

Hearing her husband hang up the phone in a hurry, Tang Xiangyue couldn't help but complain, then walked to the power switch in the living room and turned on all the switches with a "click".

In the pitch-dark living room, lights suddenly came on.

It turns out that these problems were all caused by her herself.

"mom."

Liu Ye, who was about to graduate from elementary school, didn't understand this and couldn't help asking, "Mom, didn't you look down on Yu Xiaoliang the most before? Why do you keep asking him to come back now?"

"What do you know!"

Tang Xiangyue refuted unhappily at first, but later felt that the tone was too light and did not have a warning effect.

She simply glared at him and said sternly, "Yu Xiaoliang is still your father in name, and we haven't divorced yet! Even if we divorce, he was so good to you in the past, providing you with food and clothes, shouldn't you call him "Dad"?"

"what?"

Liu Ye didn't understand why her mother's attitude changed so much.

Seeing the question in her daughter's eyes, Tang Xiangyue didn't want to say anything at first, but after hesitating for a moment, she was worried that the child would say something wrong again in the future, so she decided to explain it clearly.

"Look at this."

Tang Xiangyue took out three newspapers from the drawer.

It was wrinkled, as if it had been seen many times.

On a page of the first newspaper, Liu Ye saw a headline titled "Yu Xian, student of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, won the first prize in the 2008 Provincial Spring Festival Cup College Students' Calligraphy and Painting Competition."

The specific content is that Yu Xian used "Chen Zhuo" as his pen name and won the first prize in the competition.

"What does it mean?"

Liu Ye knew who Yu Xian was, she was Yu Xiaoliang's daughter, but she didn't know her mother's intentions.

"I don't have much to do at work, so I like to read the newspaper and even checked it out."

Tang Xiangyue's expression was more serious than usual when she told Liu Ye to study hard: "This competition is very valuable. It's like the first place in the provincial math competition. You will definitely be able to go to a key junior high school in Guangzhou. Yu Xian will have a bright future..."

At this point, Tang Xiangyue suddenly sighed. When people are depressed, even their high cheekbones don't seem so harsh.

"Your stepfather's daughter is both beautiful and capable..."

Tang Xiangyue said quietly.

Liu Ye probably understood that her mother thought Yu Xian would have a bright future, so she began to change her attitude towards Yu Xiaoliang.

"Then there's no need to please him like this."

Liu Ye was angry and somewhat dissatisfied.

The little girl, who was in her early teens, was just awakening to the concept of "beauty and ugliness". Tang Xiangyue praised other girls for their beauty, but unexpectedly, the first one to be stimulated was Liu Ye.

"To please?"

Tang Xiangyue sneered: "I would like to please them, but they won't give me the chance!"

Liu Ye was dumbfounded. She really didn't understand why her mother was so humble.

Until Tang Xiangyue spread out two other newspapers.

On the more prominent page, there were two headlines that Tang Xiangyue had specially circled:
"Chairman Chen Zhuo, who is still a freshman in college - a boundary breaker in the ivory tower, spends tens of millions to connect technology and people's livelihood"

The First College Student to Start a Business: An Interview with Chen Zhuo

"This is Yu Xian's boyfriend."

Tang Xiangyue pointed at Chen Zhuo's name in the newspaper and said, "You've seen him too. He was the boy standing next to Yu Xian on your tenth birthday."

Liu Ye recalled and only vaguely remembered that the boy was quite handsome.

Liu Ye was too young to know much about what happened in the second half of her birthday.

But she knew that after that day, her uncle disappeared inexplicably, and there were big conflicts between her mother and aunt.

"Is Chen Zhuo very powerful?"

Liu Ye thought that since it was reported in the newspaper, he must be a big shot.

"superb!"

Having said that, Tang Xiangyue simply let go, not caring whether Liu Ye could understand or not, and said directly:
"Xiao Ye, your stepfather is indeed not worthy of my favor, and Yu Xian is not worthy of it now, but her man is. Liu Ye, if you want to have a promising future, you must learn from your mother to improve your relationship with Yu Xian!"

“How can I improve…”

Liu Ye already felt ashamed and inferior in front of this glamorous and charming "sister", and now he had to kowtow again, which was even more unacceptable to his self-esteem at such a young age.

"It's easy!"

Tang Xiangyue had already thought of an idea: "Next month, Yu Xian's mother will erect a tombstone. You should lie down in front of the tomb and cry loudly. Yu Xian has a kind heart. Once you cry, she will forgive what your uncle and I did before."

"Yes, uncle!"

Liu Ye seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw: "If we do this, what if our uncle finds out?"

Before, Tang Quan had always advocated taking over Yu Xian's house.

Tang Xiangyue was silent for a moment, then as if making some kind of choice, she took a long breath and said:

"Your uncle is in jail. It will take at least two years for him to get out. I guess he won't associate with us after he gets out. Xiaoye, the adult world is very complicated. If you don't listen to me, don't go to school or study. Just go out and work."

"My uncle is in jail?!"

Liu Ye was in great shock. When she came to her senses, Tang Xiangyue's unquestionable warning to "drop out of school and work" rang in her ears again.

Tang Xiangyue used to have a bad temper, so Liu Ye was quite afraid of her. However, she did not want to bow down in front of her "sister" Yu Xian, so she screamed, "What if I can't cry?"

"Mom, why don't you wait a few years? I might be prettier than Yu Xian when I grow up!"

Liu Ye tried to hold her head high and chest out: "Then... I can find a boyfriend who's even better than Chen Zhuo."

Tang Xiangyue glanced at her daughter, who was dark and thin and looked like an African pheasant. The corners of her mouth twitched as if she wanted to say something, but she was worried about undermining the child's self-confidence.

"Xiao Ye Zi, I suggest you just cry."

Tang Xiangyue advised earnestly: "This is really the simplest way."

……

The next day was April 4th, Qingming Festival.

"During the Qingming Festival, rains fall heavily, and pedestrians on the road are heartbroken." This poem seems to be absolutely correct.

It always seems to rain during Qingming Festival.

Last year on Qingming Festival, it rained a little in the morning, but this year it rained all night.

Chen got up at 5 a.m. It was pitch black outside. Although his parents didn't get up, there were two bags of paper money and a windproof lighter on the table.

This was prepared by Mao Xiaoqin, one bag of paper money for Yu Xian's mother, and one bag of paper money for Chen Zhuo's grandparents.

Chen's grandparents passed away very early and he has almost no memory of them. When he was in junior high and high school, his studies were very busy, so it was often Old Chen and Mao Xiaoqin who went to pay their respects during the Qingming Festival.

Now that she has more time at university, Mao Xiaoqin reminds her grandparents to remember to cook one for them.

I took these things and went downstairs. The S600 was parked wet in the open-air parking lot of the community. The rain kept washing the shiny car body, making it look a little lonely.

He got in the car, started the engine and stepped on the accelerator in one go. On the way from Donghu North Hospital to Zhusigang, Chen found that although it was quite early, there were still many cars on the road.

One after another, the cars broke through the rain curtain and drove towards the cemetery.

We Chinese have a long tradition of worshipping ancestors, heroes, or martyrs.

It may not be the continuation of bloodline, it may also be the inheritance of spirit.

Perhaps this is a kind of feudal superstition in the eyes of foreigners, but it is this "feudalism" that has allowed the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation to find its roots and is no longer an empty slogan.

The S600 was driving on the road, the wipers were swinging quietly, and the occasional fallen flowers, plants and leaves were lying quietly in the depressions on the sidewalk.

A sparse curtain of rain and a garden full of light flowers, this is probably the artistic conception.

When they were almost at Zhusigang Community, Chen Zhuo called Yu Xian and asked her to get ready. "I'll be downstairs now."

Yu Xian said hurriedly.

"Not so fast."

Chen smiled.

"I don't want to keep you waiting."

Yu Xian replied crisply.

So Chen tried to speed up, but he didn't expect that he was still a step slower in the end.

A blurry and slender figure holding an umbrella was standing gracefully at the entrance of the community.

Seeing the s600 coming, she waved first, then folded her umbrella and trotted over.

"slower!"

Chen was worried about stepping on the uneven ground, so he couldn't help but remind them.

Later, she remembered that she was in the car and Yu Xian couldn't hear her at all, so she turned on the headlights to illuminate the road clearly for her.

The yellow light spread in the rain, hazy and gentle.

One was worried that he would wait too long, and the other was worried that she would fall.

Both of them care about each other first, just like when rain meets light, romance takes shape.

After getting in the car, Yu Xian sat in the passenger seat. When Chen was the driver, there were very few people who were qualified to sit in this position.

But I can definitely cosplay.

She casually shook her long chestnut-colored hair, and a few tiny drops of water, mixed with a faint fragrance, silently hit Chen's face.

I wiped it without noticing it, and it felt cool and comfortable.

"What do you want to eat first?"

Yu Xian asked as he fastened his seat belt.

She also held two bags in her hands, one of which was filled with paper money.

The other bag contained piping hot breakfast, all made by her.

"Corn."

Chen thought for a moment and said that on the same day last year, he also ate the corn steamed by Yu Xian first.

"Okay!"

Yu Xian stretched out his long legs, placed his breakfast on his knees, and took out a golden corn from it.

She tried the temperature first, and it might have been a little hot, so she pinched the two ends of the corn with her slender white fingers, put it to her mouth and blew gently.

She has a small mouth and pink lips, like cherry blossoms in early spring. She secretly drank half a cup of plum wine.

Chen glanced sideways and suddenly felt that if a person is beautiful, even if he or she is just doing a small thing in life, it will have a pleasing effect.

"hungry?"

Yu Xian seemed to have noticed it, and she fluttered her long eyelashes, shaking off a few hidden diamond dust particles.

"After I went to college, Dr. Mao basically stopped making breakfast for me."

Chen said with a smile, then opened his mouth: "But I'm driving, you have to feed me, ah..."

This is also the behavior that Chen Zhuo did in front of the Sichuan girl during the Qingming Festival last year.

In fact, the fact that I wasn't slapped at that time showed that the seeds of love had already been germinated.

"Huh~"

This time, Yu Baibai pretended to be disgusted and said, "Dudu, you don't even need to be fed. You are not even as good as the kids in kindergarten."

Having said that, the corn in his hand had already been stuffed into Chen's mouth.

When I took a bite, it tasted sweet in my mouth.

Corn is sweet, but it’s not just the corn that is sweet.

……

Half an hour later, Chen and his team arrived at the cemetery's parking lot, which was almost full of cars.

The cemetery was filled with wisps of rising white smoke, which mixed with the continuous drizzle and transformed into clouds of mist-like gauze.

But the scenery in the rain is really nice. The cemetery is full of plants and trees, with slender green grass and lush green leaves. The fresh scent of plants and trees is lingering in the air, which is refreshing.

Chen Zhuo was carrying a few bags of light paper money, and Yu Xian was holding an umbrella. They walked along the winding path and came to a marble tombstone.

Chen looked up and saw that normally, the stone tablet should have information such as the ancestor's name, native place, date of birth and death, etc.

If you are more particular, you might also write the identity and achievements of the ancestor on the back.

However, the stone tablet in front of him was empty and smooth, with nothing on it, which meant that the tablet had not been erected yet.

[Erecting a monument] does not mean to put up a monument, but to engrave on it the relatives' recognition and remembrance of the deceased.

Although there is no monument yet, it does not affect Yu Xian's thoughts.

Yu Xian slowly knelt down with his knees touching the ground, letting the rain seep into his pants.

Although Chen Zhuo felt distressed, he did not stop it.

On the contrary, he knelt down straight like this. Fortunately, it was April, so the feeling of damp and cold was not that severe.

"Director Chen..."

Yu Xian blinked her iris-like red eyes and looked at Chen Zhe with her lips pursed.

There was also heartache, surprise, emotion and dependence in his eyes.

"this is necessary."

Chen nodded gently. This was not the right time for any teasing or superficial jokes.

He opened an umbrella to protect the two from the rain, took out a windproof lighter, and whispered to Yu Baibai: "Tell Aunt Cheng that we are here to see her."

Yu Xian’s mother’s name is Cheng Yuzhi, a name that sounds a bit “rustic” as it should be in that era, but it’s also quite nice to hear.

Chen Zhuo had seen a photo of his mother-in-law at his home in Zhusigang before, and now he was in front of her grave. He unconsciously combined the name with her appearance, and a sense of respect for his elders arose in his heart.

"Mom, Chen Zhe and I are here to see you..."

Yu Xian murmured softly and lit a stack of paper ingots.

Chen Zhuo stood beside them in silence.

When we Chinese people "burn paper money", we don't just burn the paper money and leave. We also need to tell our ancestors about our own situation, family development, achievements, or difficulties we are facing...

Although it was drizzling, Chen could still vaguely hear his name several times from Yu Baibai's mouth.

"Maybe he's reporting on our romance."

Chen thought to himself.

I don’t know how much time has passed. Chen Zhuo didn’t even take out his phone to check the time. He just stared quietly at the paper money burning out.

Then, he followed Yu Xian and kowtowed four times respectfully.

When he stood up, not only were his trouser legs wet, but there were also water stains on his forehead.

However, the people who come to sweep the graves today, no matter they are well-dressed leaders, fashionable stars, or wealthy people, are basically in this "embarrassing" state.

"I forgot the tissue in the car."

Yu Xian was wearing a long gown. She pulled down her sleeves and used her hands to wipe the rain off her boyfriend's face.

Chen looked down and saw that the cos sister's bright eyes seemed to be covered with a thin layer of water, which caused ripples when she blinked.

"There's water in your hair, too."

Chen Zhu was about to wipe Yu Xian as well.

Suddenly, I heard a voice saying "Hello" from behind me.

Chen raised the umbrella a little higher and found that it was a middle-aged couple.

They are neatly dressed and have good temperament. The brands of the handbags and clothes they carry indicate that they have a certain purchasing power.

But it also rules out the possibility of leaders within the system, as people in official circles generally do not show off their wealth.

Of course, they are not super-rich. There is no confidence of an industry overlord in their eyes, only the easy-going attitude of being content with a small fortune.

This couple should be of middle class level. In terms of occupation, they may be owners of small or medium-sized enterprises.

It has to be said that Director Chen has seen countless people. He can basically guess the other person's identity just by meeting them, and he rarely makes mistakes.

"I guess he recognized me and wanted to take the opportunity to come over to chat and find an opportunity."

Chen felt somewhat helpless.

He never shows his face during interviews, but I didn't expect that he is still cared about by people.

However, in a place like a cemetery, Chen Zhuo had no way of rudely refusing. He could only sigh and say, "I'll give you one chance. Whether you can seize it depends on your performance."

"Hello."

Chen walked over confidently and stretched out his arm to shake hands.

However, the other party's reaction was a bit strange. The couple looked at each other in surprise at first, and then stiffly but politely touched their palms with Chen.

"Ok?"

Chen Zhuo frowned. Is this the attitude to make friends with an important person?
"Hello, Painter Xiao Yu."

However, the middle-aged couple's next words shocked Chen Zhe.

Yu Xian tilted her head and looked at it. She felt that it seemed familiar, but she really couldn't remember where it was.

"When Professor Guan was with you in the capital, we met once at Professor Kong's dinner party."

The middle-aged couple first introduced their origins, but found that Yu Xian was still confused and bewildered.

They didn't take it seriously and said with a smile: "We were sitting at the end of the table, and Professor Kong and the others kept talking to you, so you might have forgotten."

"Ah... I'm sorry."

Yu Xian really didn't remember.

She is different from Chen Zhe. Chen Zhe has a reflex arc (actually it is trained) that allows him to remember people's names, appearances, social identities, and even information about family members.

But cos sister’s brain is not sensitive to this information at all.

"It doesn't matter."

The middle-aged wife was not angry, and said gently: "We also came back to visit the graves. It's such a coincidence that we met here. We didn't dare to confirm it at first. We greeted you rashly just to say that we like the works of painter Xiao Yu very much. The colors and composition of your paintings are so lively that they transcend reality..."

"It's not for me."

Chen was stunned.

He has always felt that he should be far ahead of Yu Baibai in his career.

Actually, this is quite good. Since Sister COS is a family-oriented person, she can live like a beautiful canary in a beautiful fairy tale town.

In short, I am responsible for everything.

Chen Zhuo never thought of this possibility - that cos sister would surpass him in career one day.

Although this chance encounter today doesn’t mean anything.

But he still had a feeling of "uncomfortable":

Maybe she is not a canary, but a peacock that will bloom sooner or later. She already has the ability to stand on her own, but she has not realized it yet.

"Director Chen, what are you thinking about?"

Yu Xian suddenly pulled his arm.

Chen looked up and found that the "couple fans" had left.

They are indeed true fans. They didn't ask for phone calls or autographs, they just wanted to express their love. Even though they could see that Yu Xian was not feeling well at the moment, they didn't even ask to have dinner together.

"have they gone?"

Chen asked.

"Yes."

Yu Xian nodded: "I heard that you are my boyfriend, and I said hello when I left, but you ignored me."

"Well……"

Chen was too embarrassed to tell the truth, as that would seem too narrow-minded, as if he could not tolerate the fact that "his wife is better than him".

As a last resort, he made up an excuse: "When I was burning paper just now, I seemed to hear you say my name."

"That one~"

The Sichuan girl took her boyfriend's arm, walked up the steps to the outside of the cemetery, and said calmly but seriously: "I'm asking my mother to bless you."

Chen felt a tightness in his chest.

But before he could say anything, Yu Xian said sadly, "When I visited the graves with my mother before, she always asked for blessings. Director Chen, why is it her turn now?"

Chen felt even more uncomfortable and couldn't help but turn his head to look again.

The paper money has been burned, but the wind is blowing, the rain is falling, and the ashes are swirling in the air, as if they have received the letter from this side.

The raindrops dripped on the ground with the sound of firecrackers.

Chen Zhuo seemed to understand something.

Why does it rain during Qingming Festival?

Maybe these are the fireworks set off by our ancestors.

They are relieved that we are here to see them again.

······
(Happy May Day everyone! Thanks to the Silver Alliance of Xixi Valley! There should be more tonight!)

(End of this chapter)