Qingming

Li Baozhai came up with a plan to find out who her enemies were. It did not matter to her how unethical it was. She and Jianyu had both lost their lives. Besides, they were the ones doing unethical things… to drug her to the point of breaking. How unethical can her little action be?

If they were speaking about illegalities, Doctor Chu had said those drugs were illegal and mere possession could cause one to end up in jail so her actions were mild indeed.

Li Baozhai told herself all these to steady her heart that was telling her how wrong her actions were.

…

It was just over 10 AM, the sun was hidden behind the clouds. The warm April temperature and picturesque spring scenery was in sharp contrast to the solemn atmosphere that shrouded the graveyard.

The cemetery was located at the foot of a mountain. Furthermore, Cypress trees lined the place. The combination of these, made for a good spot to bury the dead.

The members of the Li family gathered by the graves of the recently deceased Li Wenyan and Fu Biyu.

Among the people gathered, everyone save for Li Fu and Jia Ying were confused by the sight they met. The graves were already swept and there were even willow branches on them.

Especially so to Li Baozhai because in her previous life, when they arrived, the graves were not as kept as they are now. To her knowledge, no one had gone to visit her parents before the family arrived. So what changed?

Li Fu and Jia Ying offered wine and lit up incense. They stood quietly for a few minutes before moving away. They actually had nothing to say… their words couldn't bring back the dead and with the situation in the company, they were afraid to report to their children how they had placed this heavy burden on Li Baozhai. This made them feel guilty but they had no other choice in order to guard their company from green-eyed wolves.

Once they stepped aside, Li Baozhai's Second Uncle and Aunt went up to pay their respect. Her Second Uncle was holding a bottle of Maotai while her Second Aunt took out disposable cups and handed it to her husband.

Li Yuanju began, "Elder brother, I brought you your favourite wine." He poured the wine into a cup before placing it on the grave. He poured into another cup before gulping it down in one go.

Li Baozhai's thoughts drifted off immediately, did her uncle really take out his most prized wine in her last life or was it also a new development? She couldn't recall as she had been too depressed to pay attention.

By the time she regained focus, her Third Aunt and Uncle had taken their position in front of the graves, so she did not hear whatever her Second Uncle and Aunt had said after drinking the wine.

Li Baozhai decided to try and observe her family members more. Li Qin, her third aunt, was busy speaking, she knew for a fact that Li Qin and her father never agreed because of Li Qin's husband, Zhuge Duyi.

She wondered if that was enough reason to harm her. She shook her head. She had said she would observe but her mind was constantly drifting off.

After the elders moved away, the children were next. As Li Baozhai was the eldest, she was supposed to go next but she signaled Li Jiayi and the others to pay their respects because she wanted to be alone with her parents.

Subsequently, the five other children went according to their age to pay their respect before returning to the cars parked not too far from the gates of the cemetery, leaving Li Baozhai behind.

In truth, Li Baozhai had not paid her parents a visit after the first Qingming in her previous life. A few years had gone by already. Even though she was reborn, to her who had lived twice, it felt like decades had since passed.

She quietly stood by their graves for a few minutes. Undoubtedly time had healed her because she did not feel as suffocated as she was when she first came to see them which made her refuse to return.

The wind blew a flower to their graves breaking her from her reverie. Li Baozhai sighed deeply.

She bent to pick up the flower, "It seems your death…"

To her who had returned against all odds, it indicated they were meant to die. If not, she would have returned to the time before their accidents and prevented it from happening.

A lump in her throat threatened to choke her as she swallowed. "I'm sorry I didn't visit you before. You must have missed me, right?"

Saying those words, she stuck the flower to their graves before getting up. "You don't need to worry about me anymore, I'm fine now."

Those were the only words she could say. On their way to the cemetery, she had thought about what to say. She felt there were a lot of things she wanted to say to her parents. However now…

Even though she wanted to go on and on, those words seemed to have disappeared without a trace.

Li Baozhai could only convey that she was doing alright. She continued standing in front of their graves after which she made a silent promise to remain safe before turning to leave.

On seeing Li Baozhai, the five SUVs that usually transported the Li family when they were all going out roared to life. As she got in, they began speeding away.

As her parents were dead, she was the only one sitting in her car as they drove home. Her mind drifted off to a person she hadn't seen in years… the last time she saw him was on the day her parents were buried and before then, she didn't see him for what? Eight years? She wouldn't have remembered him if not for the striking resemblance to her father.

Li Baozhai had assumed that after their deaths he would return to challenge her but much to her surprise, till the day she died, she had no news of him… of what he became or where he was.

Did he also die? Did he live on? She had no idea.