Later, Duan Dongwei secretly informed Yang Jinzhi. Yang Jinzhi scolded him for breaking his promise and allowing Xiang Yanhua to pass away a week earlier.
Duan Dongwei just shrugged indifferently, his words laced with a hidden threat. "I've done as you asked. I didn't expect the medicine to have such a strong reaction. Now, we're in the same boat."
"Lin Jinran is on the verge of a breakdown and is stubbornly staying by her mother's side. What should we do next? You said I wouldn't have to worry about the rest."
Yang Jinzhi calmed her anger and sneered. "You have the contact information of Lin Jinran's father, Lin Cheng, don't you? Tell her father and then inform Lin Jinran that you've already done so. Then just follow the normal procedure."
Duan Dongwei did as he was told. After hanging up the phone with Lin Cheng, he told Lin Jinran about it.
Lin Jinran glared at Duan Dongwei hatefully, her voice hoarse. "Duan Dongwei, why did you tell Lin Cheng?"
Duan Dongwei apologized. "It's the normal procedure. You're still a student. We're obliged to inform other family members. The hospital will issue a death certificate soon. It's getting warmer, so we suggest you arrange for a hearse to take your mother to the funeral home for cremation as soon as possible. We'll move your mother's body to the morgue now. I hope you can understand."
Her mother's body?
Such a strange term.
Lin Jinran's legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground. The nurse rushed over to help her up.
Without giving Lin Jinran a chance to refuse, Duan Dongwei signaled to several nurses to take Xiang Yanhua to the morgue.
Lin Jinran watched as a white sheet was placed over Xiang Yanhua. The ward door opened, and she was carried out by two nurses.
No, no. Lin Jinran gritted her teeth and struggled to get up. She pushed the nurse away and staggered after them.
Duan Dongwei quickly grabbed Lin Jinran and shouted at her. "Lin Jinran, your mother is gone. You have the college entrance examination in a few days. Do you really want to face it in this state? Your mother definitely wouldn't want to see you like this!"
The college entrance examination?
Lin Jinran let out a bitter laugh. Her pale face was illuminated by her bright glassy eyes. She stared intently at the man in front of her and slowly pried his hand off. "In my eyes, my mother is the most important. What do you know?"
Xiang Yanhua, her mother, was one of the few remaining relatives in this world.
Finally, she managed to break free from Duan Dongwei's hand and flung it aside. She stubbornly tried to follow the stretcher carrying her mother to the morgue.
Duan Dongwei frowned and followed closely behind her, afraid that she might do something irreversible.
Suddenly, Lin Jinran's phone rang in her pocket. She ignored it and continued to follow the stretcher unsteadily. She almost fell several times, but Duan Dongwei managed to catch her in time.
But Lin Jinran just gave him a cold look, pulled her hand back, and continued following on her own. Her phone rang several times, and then gradually stopped.
Then, Duan Dongwei's phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was Lin Cheng.
By then, they had reached the morgue. Xiang Yanhua had been taken inside, and Lin Jinran was forced to stay outside. She stood there blankly, her eyes dull.
Duan Dongwei answered the phone.
"Hello. Is Lin Jinran with you? I have something to tell her," Lin Cheng said in a deep voice.
"Sure. I'll give the phone to Lin Jinran. Please wait a moment." Duan Dongwei held the phone out to her, but she didn't respond. He sighed and held the phone close to her ear, whispering, "Lin Jinran, it's your father on the phone."
Lin Jinran turned her head slightly and looked at the phone screen.
"Mr. Lin, please go ahead. Lin Jinran is listening. She's... a bit unstable right now," Duan Dongwei added.
Lin Cheng replied with a simple "Okay." Since there was an outsider present, he wouldn't make things awkward with Lin Jinran. He stated the facts and offered a practical solution. If she wished, they could bury Xiang Yanhua's ashes in Wannan City.
Lin Jinran's eyes flickered slightly, and she agreed to the solution. The funeral home would handle everything.
Wannan City was where Xiang Yanhua used to live. Her relatives were there.
After the call ended, Lin Jinran couldn't bear the grief any longer. Her vision went black, and she fainted.
Fortunately, Duan Dongwei was there to catch her and prevent her from getting hurt. He got a ward for her to rest.
In her dream, all Lin Jinran could see was a thick darkness. She ran alone, lonely and desperate.
No one came to save her, and no one even remembered to.
She ran in the endless darkness for a long time until she was exhausted. Suddenly, the sky brightened, and the scene of her mother jumping off the building flashed across the sky like a movie. Thick red blood spread around her feet. She screamed and screamed until her throat was hoarse, but no one came.
After the scene of the jump, it changed to the moment of her mother's death. The world was filled with a thick white fog. The heart monitor showed a straight line. Her mother was gone. She knelt on the ground, silently in pain.
When Lin Jinran woke up, her head was throbbing. There was a faint glow of dawn on the horizon, slowly spreading.
She stared blankly at the glow, lost in thought. Then she remembered her mother's last face, and her heart ached.
The hope that was once within reach was shattered. Despair gradually accumulated. It felt like a huge stone was pressing on her chest, making it hard for her to breathe.
She sat there numbly on the hospital bed, her eyes empty.
In her despair, she seemed to have a hallucination. She saw her mother floating in front of her, smiling and opening her arms, waiting for her to embrace.
Lin Jinran stared blankly, hardly daring to blink, afraid that if she did, her mother would disappear forever.
Her mother still stood there, smiling and waiting.
Lin Jinran's eyes welled up with tears. She quickly threw off the quilt and crawled towards the end of the bed. Her mother was still waiting. She seemed to hear her mother's soft voice. "Ranran~ I'm here. Why aren't you coming? Do you hate me?"
No, no. It was impossible. How could she ever hate her mother?
As the distance between them got closer, Lin Jinran had reached the end of the bed, but there was still a little way to go. She kept crawling forward as if she didn't notice.
Her hands reached out into the air, and her body fell to the ground with a thud. The pain shot through her body like an electric current.
She let out a muffled groan and finally burst into tears.
She was wrong. She really was. She did have complaints about her mother leaving her. She hated her for leaving her alone as a child and wandering around.
The home was broken. She was always the extra one.