20demayo Chapter 197 Losing a Close Relative
Chapter 197 Losing a Close Relative
The anxiety she felt throughout the journey almost suffocated Zhou Yanruo, but she forced herself to refrain from asking any more questions, because she knew that even if she did ask, the three leaders from Tsinghua and Peking Universities beside her might not be able to provide any more useful information.
The plane weaved through the clouds, and Zhou Yanruo's thoughts raced along with it. Such a large-scale operation clearly indicated that this accident was no small matter. Could her parents be seriously injured? This thought barely surfaced before she forcefully suppressed it. She dared not think further, and could only pray that she was overthinking it.
Perhaps this was truly just a minor incident that unexpectedly disrupted the experiment's progress. After all, Tsinghua and Peking Universities have always placed great emphasis on scientific research achievements, and any experimental failure could attract the university's close attention. Therefore, the fact that leaders were dispatched to the scene immediately to handle the situation is likely due to the importance of the experiment, rather than the severity of the incident itself.
Yes, that must be it! Zhou Yanru kept reassuring herself, and with that thought, her mood calmed down a little.
After getting off the plane, we saw a car from Sunan University waiting on the tarmac. The group drove straight to Xida Hospital...
Zhou Xidi sat upright on a bench in the hospital corridor, accompanied by Vice President Qin of Sunan University and two girls who looked like students. At this moment, a boy hurriedly ran from the stairwell and whispered a few words in Vice President Qin's ear.
Upon hearing this, Vice Principal Qin immediately stood up and said to Zhou Xidi, "Old Su has arrived."
Zhou Xidi asked blankly, "Did you even notify him?"
Vice Principal Qin quickly explained, "Such a big thing has happened, even if we don't say anything, we can't hide it. If Old Su finds out, he'll blame us."
As they were talking, several people escorted an elderly man as he walked briskly towards them. Walking in the middle, with a slightly unsteady gait, was Su Bingyin, one of the founders of Sunan University, whom they referred to as Old Su.
Su Bingyin walked up to Zhou Xidi. Just as Zhou Xidi was about to get up, he gently pressed her back down: "Xidi, sit down, sit down."
After Vice Principal Qin and the others greeted Elder Su, they left on their own, leaving the two elderly people alone.
Zhou Xidi had suffered a series of blows in a short period of time, and was still in a daze, her expression somewhat indifferent. She responded softly, "Thank you, Bingyin. What brings you here? You're not feeling well either."
Su Bingyin sat down beside Zhou Xidi, held her hand tightly, and said affectionately, "How could I not come?" He paused for a moment, then continued, "The accident has already happened, you... please accept my condolences. There are still many things waiting for us to deal with, and we will face them together. But first and foremost, you must take care of yourself."
At this moment, Zhou Xidi's eyes gradually reddened, and her voice became hoarse: "They just left like that, leaving me, an old woman, to bury my young. How can I bear this?"
Su Bingyin covered Zhou Xidi's hand tightly with his other hand and pressed it down hard as a form of comfort: "For things we can't change, we can only choose to accept them. That's what we've been doing all these years, haven't we? This time... is no different. It's just that you've endured too much, that you've suffered so much."
Zhou Xidi lowered her head, and tears finally slid down her cheeks silently.
At this moment, Vice Principal Qin walked over and said softly, "The car that's there to pick up the child is almost at the hospital gate."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xidi stood up abruptly, swaying slightly before regaining her balance. She said urgently, "I need to go to the door to meet Ruoruo. I need to tell her myself; I can't scare her."
As soon as Zhou Yanruo got out of the car, she was surrounded by several people. A girl reached out to help her, but Zhou Yanruo inadvertently shook her off. The tense and solemn atmosphere around her made her even more uneasy.
She pushed through the crowd and finally saw her grandmother standing solemnly at the hospital entrance.
Zhou Xidi clasped her hands tightly in front of her, her gaze fixed and solemn as she stared straight ahead.
Zhou Yanruo rushed to her grandmother's side and asked anxiously, "Grandma, what happened? Are my dad and mom badly hurt?"
Zhou Xidi held Zhou Yanruo's hand tightly, her voice low and heavy, and said, word by word, "Ruoruo, your father and mother... are no longer here."
……
A few days later, on the seventh day after Zhou Fang and Yang Man's death, their funeral was also scheduled for that day. Zhou Yanruo suppressed her grief and attended the funeral. After returning home, she collapsed onto her bed and fell into a deep sleep, only waking up slowly the next afternoon.
The long sleep left her feeling unusually weak and limp, as if she barely had the strength to stand. She was incredibly thirsty and wanted to go downstairs for a drink, so she forced herself to stay awake and slowly made her way to the stairwell. However, as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard a cacophony of noise coming from the lobby downstairs, a mix of men's and women's voices and children's voices, all speaking in various regional accents, creating a chaotic scene.
Zhou Yanruo frowned, a surge of inexplicable irritation and unease rising within her. She sighed helplessly, turned back to her bed, and pulled the covers over her head again. She closed her eyes tightly, silently repeating to herself, "Sleep, sleep, everything will be alright once I'm asleep."
In her sleep, Zhou Yanruo was awakened by a gentle rocking motion. When she opened her eyes again, a dim twilight was already spreading across the sky. In the dim light of the room, she could vaguely see her grandmother sitting on the edge of the bed, gently stroking her head with one hand and gently rocking her shoulder with the other.
"Ruoruo, wake up, child, stop sleeping and get up to eat something." Grandma's voice was full of heartache.
Zhou Yanruo gently shook her head, her voice hoarse and weak: "Grandma, I'm not hungry, I really don't want to eat."
"Get up quickly and listen to me, Grandma has something to tell you." Grandma's tone was firm and unwavering.
Hearing her grandmother say that, Zhou Yanruo had no choice but to sit up on the bed with difficulty, looking at her grandmother with a blank expression.
"Get up and tidy yourself up. I'll wait for you in the hall." Zhou Xidi said, slowly standing up and walking unsteadily towards the door. In just a few days, her back had already become somewhat hunched. The "thump-thump" sound of her coming downstairs struck Zhou Yanruo's heart like a heavy hammer, making her heart tighten.
Zhou Yanruo struggled to get out of bed and put on her coat. The black armband pinned to her sleeve stood out starkly in the twilight, as if constantly reminding her of the pain of losing her loved one. Tears involuntarily streamed down her cheeks. She quickly sniffed, trying to calm herself down, telling herself she couldn't act like this in front of her grandmother anymore, because she knew that if she was sad, her grandmother would be even more heartbroken.