Chapter 155: Memorial
The memorial service officially began at eight o’clock. When Xia Qian Ge got out of the car, the hall was already filled with many people, all of whom were strangers to her. They gathered together, whispering to each other, and the hall was very noisy.
She stood in a corner, her head lowered, silently staring at the tips of her shoes, not saying a word.
Alone and desolate.
Xia Changhe seemed to be very familiar with those people, greeting them one by one. Xia Qian Ge, on the other hand, was the one who was out of place. She stood alone in such a noisy place, the gazes of others like knives scraping against her cheeks, followed by a few whispers. She couldn’t hear them clearly, nor was she interested. She stood in a corner, her gaze numb.
Xia Changhe must have said something to those strangers, because the gazes fixed on Xia Qiange grew increasingly bold and intrusive. Their emotions suddenly became abundant. Those so-called relatives came over one by one to offer their condolences. Xia Qian Ge’s indifferent expression still couldn’t break their enthusiasm. They were very thick-skinned, repeatedly emphasizing that she had to be strong, saying that her mother was a kind person and that she shouldn’t be too sad.
Xia Qian Ge’s lowered eyes were dark and cold. She was like a wolf lying in ambush in the bushes. Even when the lamb had already come to her, she still had the patience to hold her breath and hide her claws and fangs. What she needed was a fatal blow, to bite the other party’s neck hard until the prey’s heart stopped beating.
She said thank you in a soft and gentle voice, enduring her frantic and impatient nature as a tool for them to pour out their false feelings.
Soon, sporadic weeping broke out in the hall, spreading like a contagion. More and more people were crying, and the cries became more and more intense. Xia Changhe also pretended to wipe away a few tears, deliberately showing his face in front of Xia Qian Ge.
The funeral home was almost like an assembly line. As long as you had money, you didn’t have to do anything. There were even special people to handle the wailing at the funeral.
Xia Qian Ge had no tears to shed. She watched those people covering their faces and crying with a polite but cold expression, putting on a show in front of the portrait in the center of the hall.
The memorial service officially began. Xia Changhe held a few drafts and stood on the stage to read the eulogy. A few closer relatives also went on stage to mourn, saying that the deceased was a kind and gentle person. It was just a few monotonous words, which were boring to listen to, but the crying below was even louder, filling the entire hall.
She watched with a cold eye, but she couldn’t find a single bit of empathy in these overly enthusiastic emotions. She felt that her mother was not someone worth mourning. From the moment her mother had fallen in love with this man named Xia Changhe, her life had lost its due meaning. Her endless submission and compromise had been exchanged for a ruthless abandonment. In the end, it was just her own fault.
Suicide… was the best ending for her mother. Weak people never deserved happiness. She would not repeat such a mistake, never.
After the eulogy, it was time to say goodbye to the deceased.
Xia Qian Ge was pulled to kneel in front of the coffin, surrounded by those false feelings of mourning. She complied with Xia Changhe’s wishes and knelt silently for a while with her eyes closed, then made an excuse to go to the bathroom and left the hall.
…
Xia Qian Ge leaned against the cold white ceramic wall of the bathroom in a daze, her numb and silent gaze cutting the ceiling into a bloody mess. She had never known that one could be so sad for someone who was usually irrelevant, crying as if their features had been distorted. She suddenly felt a little envious of the people in the hall, because she couldn’t squeeze out a single tear. In the eyes of others, they thought she had already cried her tears dry, which was so comical that it made one want to laugh.
She washed her face under the faucet. The cold, clear water splashed on the corners of her eyes, making them wet. When she walked out later, the cold wind would blow, and a faint red would appear on her porcelain-white, delicate skin, as if she had cried.
It was not until the farewell to the deceased in the hall was almost over that Xia Qian Ge walked out of the bathroom, but she bumped into a strange mother and daughter.
She hesitated for a moment, then quickly lowered her eyes and made way, leaving a large enough space for the other party to pass. But the girl with pigtails held her head high, her two pigtails swinging. Her shoulder still bumped into Xia Qian Ge. She stumbled back a few steps, her voice low, not saying a word. She was about to leave when she was suddenly called out.
“You are? Xia Qian Ge, right? The daughter of Xia Changhe’s wife who committed suicide?”
Xia Qian Ge turned her head and looked at the mother and daughter. They were both heavily made up. The woman with the thicker foundation and more vulgar makeup was obviously the older mother. But both of them had a strong smell of rouge, especially the gaudy perfume, which was nauseating.
“You are?”
Xia Qian Ge frowned with her delicate eyebrows and stood in the cold sunlight. Her skin was pale and transparent, without any makeup. Her well-behaved and beautiful appearance aroused the jealousy of the other young girl. She stared at her face, as if she had to find a flaw.
“Zhou Lan. I’m the wife who is going to marry Xia Changhe. Your… stepmother.”
The woman also stared at Xia Qian Ge with a hostile expression. She felt more and more that the girl in front of her looked like the portrait hanging in the hall. This soft and gentle, pitiful appearance was disgusting to look at, and she wanted to tear the girl’s face apart.
The woman knew very well what kind of person Xia Changhe was. They could only get married but not get a marriage certificate. She wouldn’t get a single penny of the money Xia Changhe had earned in his business all these years. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had a daughter with the surname Xia, she wouldn’t even be his wife in name.
“Auntie Zhou, then this one… should be surnamed Xia.” Xia Qian Ge heard the clear hostility in the other party’s words and smiled softly, a mocking smile on her thin lips. “It seems that father’s taste is not as good as before.”
“You… what are you? A bastard that no one wants.”
The girl was young and arrogant. She, Xia Xinnan, was never one to swallow her anger. Usually, when she saw a beautiful girl who completely outshone her, she could only comfort herself in private that her face was not fake. But the smirking girl before her also shared Xia Changhe’s blood—and anyone with eyes could see how wretched she and her mother were.
“Is that so? My mother hadn’t divorced my father before she died. It seems that I am Xia Changhe’s daughter in name. As for who is the bastard… haha.”
“Who are you calling a bastard? Your dad is not here now.”
Xia Qian Ge’s faint chuckle made Xia Xinnan completely lose her temper. She opened her heavily made-up eyes and rushed up hysterically, her hand raised high, and fell heavily on the girl’s fair and delicate cheek.
Suddenly, the howling wind in her ear stopped. A merciless slap was caught by someone.
“Who are you? Let go of me!”
Xia Xinnan looked at the handsome and beautiful boy in front of her, stunned for a moment. Her wrist, which was trapped in the other party’s palm, lost its strength for a moment, and then a torrent of anger rose again. Her face was flushed red, but she still couldn’t break free from the other party’s palm.
Xia Qian Ge watched as the boy held Xia Xinnan’s hand, the sea in her dark eyes churning with fierce waves. She quietly hid behind the boy and gently pulled at the corner of his clothes, swaying. The wetness at the corners of her eyes was now dried by the cold wind, and a large patch of red from crying appeared, as if she had been frightened by this scene, looking very scared.
