bioinnovel Chapter 588 I'm sweeping my own grave?
Chapter 588 I'm sweeping my own grave?
Thinking of this, Zhang Jianguo couldn't help but raise his hand to wipe his eyes, then locked and unlocked his phone screen again...
After checking his phone several times to make sure he wasn't mistaken, and that the time was just a few minutes ago, not a payment message he had missed before, he slowly put down his phone, his breathing becoming noticeably heavier.
As a 21st-century materialist, he knew very well that this was absolutely impossible.
He watched as the child's body was pushed into the crematorium. Like his mother, he lay forever asleep in a small urn.
It was he who personally took the child's ID card and processed the cancellation of the account.
But once this thought pops up, it grows wildly like weeds, and you can't suppress it no matter what you do.
He sat in the chair, silent for a moment. Then he picked up his phone and dialed the number of the comrade-in-arms who was closest to the martyrs' cemetery according to the itinerary.
"Old Liu, are you free now? Go to the Martyrs' Cemetery first, and I'll call Old Chen and Old Jia later. We'll be there soon."
The person on the other end of the phone was visibly taken aback: "Now? I'm still inspecting the work, and didn't we just go there this morning? Why did you suddenly bring it up—"
"We'll talk about it when we get there."
Before the other person could finish speaking, Zhang Jianguo had already stood up, grabbed his coat from the hanger, and moved twice as fast as usual. With a mixture of barely suppressed anticipation and unease, he continued, enunciating each word clearly.
"I have a feeling... if we don't go now, or if we go too late, we'll definitely regret it for the rest of our lives!"
……
Let's turn to the other side of the story.
……
Riley, carrying the bouquet of white chrysanthemums and fruit, climbed the stone steps.
As Riley ventured deeper into the area, the playful noises that had been lingering in his ears had long since faded into the distance.
The surrounding environment was very quiet, with only the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the pines and cypresses. Occasionally, a few gray sparrows would flutter their wings and fly up from the branches, landing on the edge of the monument further away, tilting their heads to examine this unfamiliar visitor.
He walked slowly, each step treading on the rhythm of memory.
He had traveled this route countless times.
When he was little, his uncles would hold his hand. On the way, they would always nag him, teaching him what to do when visiting graves, or telling him some interesting stories about his father when he was alive.
Later, as he grew up, he would come over by himself every few days.
With so many visits, he could count with his eyes closed which step was missing a corner and which cypress tree was a later addition.
His father's tombstone is on the east side of the martyrs' cemetery. Near it is the pine tree that he and his uncles planted years ago, which he remembers was only about a meter tall.
Today, that pine tree has grown to over four meters tall. Its canopy is like an open umbrella, and its shade falls on Peng Zhiyong's tombstone.
The surface of the monument was wiped clean, and even the moss in the crevices was carefully cleaned.
Several bunches of white chrysanthemums were placed in front of the monument. Their bright colors and fragrant aroma were clearly fresh.
Next to it was an exquisite white wine glass, upside down in front of the tombstone, and a plastic bag containing salt and pepper peanuts.
According to his uncles, that was his father's favorite snack to accompany his drinks, and it later became Riley's own favorite snack to eat with his drinks.
But rather than being attracted by its good quality and low price...
Rather, it's more accurate to say that Riley was trying to use this method to get closer and closer to her father...
That's why, seeing this familiar setup made Riley's lips curl into a slight smile.
"...Dad, I really didn't mean to not come to see you. The journey home was quite long this time, and I even thought I wouldn't make it back... Please forgive me this time, considering it's my first offense?"
Riley stood in front of his father's tombstone for a long time, as if trying to firmly imprint the black-and-white image of Riley Parker, which had become somewhat blurred to him, back into his heart.
Then, with a rare hint of unease and ingratiating tone, he spoke to himself as if to himself, carefully placing the white chrysanthemums he held in his arms on the base of the monument, and then neatly arranging the fruit one by one.
Only then did he step back, bend his knees and kneel down, controlling his strength, and kowtow three times deeply to his father's tombstone.
The movements were very precise and the range of motion was very deep.
Each bow was like making up for the anniversaries of his death that he had missed.
After the ceremony, Riley knelt on the ground, picked up the upside-down wine glass in front of the monument, unscrewed the bottle of Erguotou he had bought from the old lady, poured half a glass into it, and gently spilled it on the ground. He then poured a large glass again, tilted his head back, and downed it in one gulp, as if to have a long-awaited drink with his father.
The entire set of movements was fluid and graceful, as if it had been rehearsed countless times.
In fact, they had rehearsed countless times.
This was the same procedure he followed when he visited the grave in his previous life.
In my dreams, I've reviewed it repeatedly throughout my life, afraid of missing any step.
After doing all this, Riley changed his posture, sat down cross-legged in a carefree manner, and started talking to himself in front of the tombstone.
Before his sacrifice, he explained how he found the last crucial piece of intelligence and how he persevered through all the torture inflicted by the drug dealers without ever begging for mercy, thus not disgracing his father.
He was chosen by the system and reborn into another universe, becoming the "Rie Parker" he is today. By a twist of fate, while raiding a drug cartel, he personally saved his "father" in that universe, resolving a lifelong emotional knot in his heart.
As if afraid that the person in front of him was sleeping too soundly and wouldn't hear him clearly, Riley spoke very slowly.
Time slips away quietly...
After telling his father about his experiences, Riley stood up and habitually glanced around.
His gaze quickly stopped.
Next to his father's tombstone, less than two meters away, stands another tombstone.
The surface of the monument was also wiped clean and decorated with the same fresh flowers and fruits.
The names engraved on the monument and the photos embedded in it felt both familiar and strange to him.
Peng Jinghui.
Riley's name in his previous life.
Riley's eyes became exceptionally complex at that moment.
He was only around thirty years old when he sacrificed himself in his previous life, and he had no wife or children.
According to the customs of my hometown, unmarried young people without children should be buried in the ancestral graveyard in their hometown after they pass away, and be cared for by their elders.
In retrospect, his uncle couldn't bear to leave him all alone, buried deep in the mountains, so he made this decision for him...
So that he could return to his father's side after his death...
He returned to the family he had longed for day and night while dealing with ruthless drug dealers.
"Although I couldn't enjoy the feast at my own grave, sweeping my own tomb is a rare achievement in itself..."
Thinking this, Riley's expression softened even more.
He walked to his own tombstone, looked down at the sun-drenched, warm surface, and remained silent for a long while. Then, with a self-deprecating smile, a slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth, revealing a relieved expression.
He slowly poured the remaining Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) in front of the tombstone.
Then, he took a step back and bowed deeply three times to his own tombstone.
The golden inscriptions on the monument shone brightly in the sunlight.
Name, dates of birth and death, and a brief inscription: "Eternal Glory to the Anti-Drug Heroes"...
The strokes are powerful and clear, as if they were carved just yesterday.