Chapter 237 - Everything Would Be In Dust

The moment lunch was over, everyone took a break as Qing Zihao went back to his room to make sure everything he needed was packed. 

Qing Chen wondered around the house and found himself at his mother's small shrine. His father had this custom made out of white marble and glass. It was in a small room with a single couch. Her ashes were in a jade urn with a golden plating of a flower on the sides and the cap. His mother would've hated it. She had never indulged herself with the riches and kept things simple.

The rest of the room was in a light yellow. There were a few huge vases with flowers in it that kept the air smelling fresh. The windows were open and the weak afternoon light was pouring in, bathing it in a soft glow.

His mother had always loved sunlight. On random days, their mother would pull them out of school and they would go to the nearest beach, sink their toes in the sand, and splash water around. 

"You must be in one of those beaches, huh?" he asked her picture and opened the glass compartment. He pulled out the little airplane his mother had painted for him, carefully not touching its side where most of the painting was. There were three little children in loose nightclothes carrying lanters in the middle of night in a garden. "This is how the world feels like without you, Mother. Like we're trying to see the entirety of it but we can't. It's like you took the sun with you."

He placed the plane back to its place but turning it on the side of the family. Soon enough, it would only just the three of them. Illness and old age would soon claim their grandmother and father.

Qing Chen pushed it to the back of his mind. He was not ready to have that conversation. Not even with himself.

"Are you going to be the one who will fetch him on his deathbed?" he asked. "Can you please hold back for a moment? Just let us get our bearings straight first?"

But knowing his mom, when she wanted it that moment, she would get it that moment.

"You're about to see him soon." He said farewell to his mother's forever frozen smile and went out.

While walking back to the front of the house, he passed by his grandmother's bedroom who was also double-checking everything. It was a last minute decision to come along. Now it would be really just them who would handle EVERYTHING.

He was about to walk away when he heard some sniffling and went back a few steps.

"Are you okay, grandma?"

"Yes," she raised a hand. "I'm fine."

Qing Chen learned that she had been complaining about a cold for the past few days—the reason why his brothers were not really worried by how their grandmother seemed to age too much. "Can I help you with your baggages?"

"No, the help can bring it down." She released a tired breath and sat down on her four-poster bed. Qing Chen entered her room and sat down.

"Are you sure you want to come with him?"

"Yes," Xie Changying replied, like it should've been the most obvious answer. "Look at me," she said and lifted his face. Qing Chen saw that her eyes were bloodshot. "No parent should outlive their child. Because no parent deserves the pain of burying their baby." She started shaking her head and Qing Chen thought he might start crying. "He can't die while I'm still alive. Do you understand that? If he goes first, I would soon follow. It would kill me."

Her last words were almost a whisper and she dropped on the shoulder of her grandson. Qing Chen's arm wrapped around her while her grandmother's body racked with tears and sobs.

And he thought he was in pain.

**

Finally the bags were hauled into the SUV and people were getting ready to say goodbye. Wuming had his arms crossed over his chest, Qing Lok was yawning, and Qing Chen had his hands in his pockets.

"When are you guys going to be back?" Qing Lok asked.

"Why?" asked their father, checking the contents of his bag.

"I don't want to be alone in the house."

Their father chuckled. "Then don't stay in the house. Take that nice pretty girl out. Spend your days with her. You can even bring her here if you want to." He turned back and faced his youngest. "Want me to put in a good word for you with Feng Lizhao?"

Qing Lok was alarmed. "No, Father! What are you talking about?" he bowed his head but it was too late. Everyone saw that he was blushing.

Wuming clapped him on the back. "Why not, Lok? Father's matchmaking skills seemed to have worked with Chen and Feng Xuan. Maybe the two of you are going to be great together too."

Qing Lok didn't answer.

"Father," Wuming said, a sly smile on his lips, "when you get back, do you think you can set me up with someone?"

Qing Chen noticed the flash of sadness in his father's eyes and he thought "go on and tell them what's going on". But the words out of his father's mouth were, "Of course! I will find you a nice girl who would carve you up when you do something wrong."

"Just the kind that I want."

Wuming went in first for the hug which was strange, then it was Qing Lok. When their father got to Qing Chen, if was as if he didn't want to look his son in the eyes but he did anyway. "I leave everything to you. When I get back, I expect nothing to be in flames."

"Or everything will be in dust," he forced himself to smile and they all said goodbye. "Have a safe flight."

Qing Chen wondered if it would be the last… forever.