Jiang Qin was still in a meeting at the company when he received Su Qing's call.
That sentence.
"Qin Qin, your father was passed away."
The voice was neutral, neither joy nor sorrow could be discerned, and it was as gentle as ever.
Jiang Qin's phone slipped from his hand.
He couldn't believe it. Hadn't the old couple just returned from Changbai Mountain? How could it be so sudden?
And two days ago, when he returned home, Jiang Sui had sarcastically said he couldn't find a partner.
Why so sudden?
Jiang Qin didn't know how he'd ended up inside the Jiang Hospital building.
His parents had lived here their entire lives, never moving.
His mother was nostalgic, and his father, like his mother, followed suit. The old couple had achieved great success in their careers, but they'd lived here for over sixty years.
Although Jiang Qin had the key to the house, Jiang Sui had said that he always had to knock and only enter when no one was home.
So, as always, Jiang Qin raised his wrist, but he couldn't lower it.
In his eyes, Jiang Qin held a hint of solemnity and fear.
He knocked twice.
The one who opened the door was Su Qing, dressed simply in a short-sleeved shirt and black pants, with graying hair and a pair of reading glasses. She looked at Jiang Qin with a sort of trance.
"You're here."
Jiang Qin knew it was probably because he looked too much like his father.
The funeral home staff had already arrived.
When Jiang Qin entered the bedroom, Su Qing stood by, watching the people at the funeral home clean up after his father.
"Let me do it."
When Su Qing sat down beside the bed, the funeral home staff were stunned.
"My husband is a mysophobe and doesn't like anyone touching him."
The old lady insisted, so the funeral home staff didn't make things difficult.
After a simple tidying up, they could only see that the person lying on the bed had lost all his former vitality and energy, yet still had that same stiff expression, looking cold and unapproachable.
The body would be cremated and couldn't be kept for long.
Jiang Qin had taken care of all the funeral arrangements.
The cemetery had already been chosen.
Over the past few days, Su Qing seemed to remain the gentle, powerful, simple, pure, and strong mother Jiang Qin had always imagined.
Her face had become thinner, and from her constant toil, her graying hair had turned almost completely white, with not a single strand of black left.
"Mom, don't be too sad. I'll stay with you for a few days."
Jiang Qin looked at Su Qing, feeling a pang of pain in his heart.
"I'm fine. Your dad hates me crying the most. He's taking advantage of me this time. Before, he was the one who was sad and I was the one who died first. Now, he's the one who's gone first. I know he's counting on it. He fell in love with me first, and he wants me to like him more."
Su Qing sat on the sofa, hugging Jiang Sui's photo, a smile piercing his eyes.
Hearing this, Jiang Qin felt even more distressed.
"Go ahead and do your thing. I'm fine. Your father left me with a lot of things to do."
Su Qing repeated this several times before Jiang Qin finally left.
He was still worried.
But the next day, he heard from the secretary that Su Qing had left with the lawyer his father had left behind.
Jiang Qing realized what was happening just as he was getting worried.
It turns out his dad was truly clever.
He left behind such a massive project.
He hopes many of primary schools had Su Qing's name listed as the principal, so Su Qing had to handle these matters.
For all those years, Jiang Qin hadn't been aware that his dad had donated so many schools under his mother's name.
Jiang Qin didn't know, and it wasn't just him who didn't know.
Even Su Qing didn't know.