Chapter 235: Wait for My Return

Si Rong had just arrived home when she received a call from the nanny, Xiao Jing.

"What?"

The phone dropped with a "clatter," hitting the floor with a loud sound.

Empty, terrifying.

"Jiang Cheng~" Si Rong heard her own voice trembling.

Jiang Cheng had already rushed over; he knew how careful his wife usually was when answering the phone, terrified of breaking it.

It must be something that panicked her greatly.

Jiang Cheng immediately hugged her and soothed, "What's wrong? Don't be afraid, I'm here."

"Dad, he is in the hospital for emergency treatment."

Jiang Cheng immediately bent down to pick up the phone, then grabbed a coat and the car keys for his wife, "We are rushing over now, which hospital?"

Along the way, Si Rong's heart was in complete turmoil.

Everything was fine during the day, how could it suddenly be like this?

Nothing will happen, it must be fine.

When the two of them arrived at the hospital, both older brothers had already arrived.

Mother Si was waiting anxiously, accompanied by Xiao Jing.

Seeing her children, she truly could not control her emotions, "What should we do? Your father will be fine, right?"

"Yes, Mom, don't cry; Dad will feel bad if he sees you like this when he comes out."

Si Han comforted her, then helped her sit down on a chair, "Don't scare yourself first; I will discuss with Big Brother and Little Sister to see if we can invite that expert from the Third Hospital."

"Okay, okay, you discuss it." Mother Si forced herself to calm down; her children were trying to find a way to save her husband, she absolutely could not hold them back now.

After the three siblings discussed it, Si Han drove to the hotel himself to invite the expert from Jing Shi to the hospital.

However, it was already too late.

Father Si could not be resuscitated.

Mother Si's spirit suffered a heavy blow; not a single tear fell.

"Stop crying, all of you," she said as she stood up, "Your dad is waiting for me at home. He always gets up at night, I have to go back and watch him so he doesn't drink so much water before bed."

Si Rong could not stop crying and could only try her best to comfort her mother, "Mom, don't be sad."

"Why would I be sad?"

Mother Si acted as if she had no idea that Father Si had already been taken to the morgue, and was ready to go straight home.

"I will stay at the hospital with Big Brother to handle the funeral arrangements; you accompany Mom home to rest," the eldest brother instructed.

Si Rong nodded; her vocal cords seemed to have suddenly been damaged, becoming hoarsely unrecognizable.

Because of Father Si's sudden departure, the whole family seemed to be shrouded in a layer of sorrow.

After Si Rong coaxed her mother to sleep, she herself could not sleep all night.

One moment she thought of the scene from her childhood when her father bought her peanut brittle.

The next moment she thought of her father putting her on his shoulders and spinning her around, "My little princess is the best in the world!"

She was clearly good for nothing, yet in her father's eyes, she was the one and only in the world.

But her father was also the one and only good person in the world.

How could God have the heart to take him away?

"A person as good as Dad must have gone to heaven," Jiang Cheng said, heartbroken as he pulled his wife into his arms, "I heard that after people die, they turn into stars, watching over their loved ones from the sky."

At this moment, they could see an extremely bright star from the window of their bedroom.

This explanation was very beautiful.

But sadness is like a dense, fine rain; at first, you only feel the dampness, but the longer it lasts, the colder it gets, until you are chilled to the bone.

Si Rong whispered from time to time with a hoarse voice about the memories of her father that were deeply etched in her heart, and Jiang Cheng listened quietly the whole time.

He responded occasionally and finally summarized.

"Dad loved you very much, so you must take even better care of yourself. Don't let Dad, who has turned into a star, worry. Get some rest; tomorrow we still have to take care of Mom."

The departure of a loved one cannot be comforted by a few words; it is like a rain that lasts for years—even if the sky clears, that sense of dampness will never disappear.

Si Rong took Jiang Cheng's words to heart and dozed off for a while at dawn; she had to take good care of Mom.

Mother Si seemed to have become a different person.

She used to be very elegant; even when her peers danced in the square, it could not stop her from listening to classical music and sipping coffee on rainy days.

But now, she squatted on the ground, disregarding her dress trailing on the floor.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Si Rong adjusted her emotions slightly before walking behind her mother.

"Shh!" Mother Si held her index finger to her lips, "I'm watching the ants move house."

Si Rong felt very sad; she knew her mother was very heartbroken over Dad's passing and was escaping reality.

But for now, Si Rong would rather she escape, so she coaxed, "Then let's finish eating before we watch, okay?"

"Okay."

Si Rong fed her mother with great patience, just as her mother had once taken care of her when she was a child.

Unfortunately, she no longer had the chance to take care of her father like this.

Mother Si's condition continued until the day Father Si was buried.

After the man who was once 1.8 meters tall died, his ashes were only a small handful.

Watching the urn being slowly buried, Mother Si threw herself onto it and wailed.

The husband she had chosen for herself had left her alone in this world from this day on.

No matter how filial her children were, they were not him, and no matter how many people there were in the world, none of them were him.

Si Rong's mother fainted from crying before her husband's grave.

Yet even so, life still had to go on.

There are simply too many people in this world; apart from those close to him, it seems that gradually, no one remembers a person named Si Yanxiu anymore.

Time flew by quietly.

Si Rong was in low spirits for more than half a year, and all Jiang Cheng could do was keep her company as much as possible.

Other than time being able to heal this kind of pain, there is no other solution.

The two children also became much more sensible; knowing their mother was sad, Jiang Sinian raised his academic grades to the top ten in his grade.

Jiang Siyu would help her mother massage whenever she had free time.

In this world, besides those who have passed away, there are still many living people, and Si Rong slowly began to come to terms with it.

Perhaps her father had arrived in this world before her, and maybe this time he left first to set up a new home in another world.

Life moved forward warmly and peacefully.

One day, suddenly, the entire city of Huaiyang was placed under martial law.

The news reported that the F Virus had broken out, and all patients with fever and coughs were required to be quarantined.

Everyone put on masks.

Almost overnight, the world changed again.

Schools were suspended.

Loudspeakers on the streets broadcasted from time to time: "Unless necessary, reduce going out; join hands to fight the F Virus together."

At home, Wu Ma followed the street committee's requirements to disinfect by burning bricks with vinegar every day, and the pungent smell of vinegar was everywhere.

Occasionally, one would hear people saying that some relative or neighbor had been taken away for having a fever and cough.

For a time, people were in a state of panic.

It was at this time that the organization arranged for Jiang Cheng to lead several Regimental Commanders to provide protection in areas needing support.

As a soldier, military orders are like mountains.

As a husband, Jiang Cheng looked at the tears in his wife's eyes in the rearview mirror, his heart aching as if being cut by a knife.

"Stop the car!"

Jiang Cheng ordered the driver, "Wait for me for two minutes; I need to say goodbye to your sister-in-law again."

"Yes! Commander, we have plenty of time, no need to be that rushed," replied the driver, Xiao Zhao.

Jiang Cheng jumped out of the car, walked quickly a few steps, and wrapped Si Rong entirely in his embrace.

"Wait for me to return," he kissed the top of Si Rong's head.

It could only be two minutes; any longer and he wouldn't be able to bear leaving.