School Beauty's Invincible Martial Expert

"Ah!" Liu Xiaolei was stunned.

"Spend as much time as you can with the patient, I'm afraid these are the last couple of days!" the attending physician sighed and said, "Well, life, aging, sickness, and death are something everyone goes through."

"I..." Liu Xiaolei bit her red lips; how could she bear such pain? She covered her face and sobbed, "My mom... My mom has worked hard and endured so much hardship her whole life. Just when our family's situation finally started to get better, she's about to leave..."

Xiao Han held Liu Xiaolei tightly and comforted her softly, "Silly girl, your mom will be very happy just to see you all before she passes."

The attending physician allowed them to visit the patient's room.

Given the current stage of the illness, it's basically in the hands of fate. How long she could live was entirely up to the heavens. If the heavens decided it was her time to go, it's likely that her life could not be prolonged. Of course, if the heavens allowed her a few more days, then that was her fate too.

The family entered the patient's room, where Grandma Liu seemed rather spirited.

"You all came?" Grandma Liu rarely showed a smile and said, "I'm very happy to see you all."

"Mom..." Liu Xiaolei rushed over and said, "Mom, you'll get better soon. The doctors said you could be discharged in a couple of days."

"Silly girl!" Grandma Liu caressed Liu Xiaolei's face gently with her hand that was as dry as dead wood and then said, "I know my own fate. Just now I felt Yama calling for me. I don't have much time left."

"Mom..." As soon as Liu Xiaolei heard this, she immediately choked up.

Indeed, it was the last flash of lucidity before death.

Grandma Liu's complexion even seemed a bit ruddy. Sitting up in bed, she looked at her husband and said softly, "Old partner, I think I'm about to go."

"Go ahead, go ahead. I'll join you soon enough," Old Liu sighed and said, "At our age, it's been worthwhile."

"Yes!" Grandma Liu nodded and said, "After I'm gone, you should take care of yourself, and if possible, find someone else. Being alone is too lonely. It's so dreary."

"Don't talk nonsense," Old Liu shook his smoking pipe and then said, "You're still fine."

"Sigh..." Grandma Liu sighed deeply.

The family gathered together. However, Liu Dajun's daughter hadn't come, perhaps the greatest regret of Grandma Liu. But with Liu Dajun and his wife having clashed so badly earlier, how could his wife possibly let their daughter come here?

The family stayed by Grandma Liu's side.

Just as expected, at three o'clock that afternoon, Grandma Liu never awoke from her nap. In her sleep, she kept calling out, "My child, my child..."

The sound was sometimes hurried, sometimes gentle.

"Mom... Mom, we're all here!" Liu Dajun and Liu Xiaolei hurriedly held onto Grandma Liu's hand.

"Wah..." Old Liu suddenly burst into tears, a flood of tears of old age. Tears that would not fall unless the heart was deeply touched. At this moment, Old Liu revealed a big secret, "Actually, the first child your mother and I had... didn't survive."

"What?!" The family was shocked.

This was a secret no one ever knew. Liu Xiaolei quickly asked, "Then... where is the oldest child now?"

"Back then, we were poor, and I hadn't been assigned to work at Fuxing Factory yet; we were still farming in the countryside. I wanted to sell the family ox to get treatment for the child, but your mother absolutely refused..." Old Liu sighed and said, "Later, the child was gone, and for a time your mother was like she had lost her mind. Later on, we had your older brother, and your mother's heart disease got somewhat better. I never dared to mention it, fearing it would upset your mother. I didn't expect... she always felt guilty inside..."

This was a lingering affliction in Grandma Liu's heart. Absolutely something she could not let go of, something unforgettable.

Now, as Grandma Liu was gravely ill and nearing the end, she was still thinking about it, showing just how heavy this matter had weighed on her all these years, like a stone pressing down in the depths of her heart.

"Was it an older brother or older sister?" Liu Xiaolei asked.

"It was a boy," Old Liu sighed.

"Mom, big brother won't blame you," Liu Xiaolei hurriedly comforted.

Before long, Grandma Liu shouted out loud, "My child..."

Following that cry, Grandma Liu completely left the world and went to heaven.

In the hospital room, a torrent of wailing erupted.

The doctor immediately went to the hospital room for a symbolic resuscitation, but in the end, she passed away. The resuscitation was ineffective. Grandma Liu's body was sent to the morgue.

The Liu family members cried as if they were made of tears. Although Xiao Han was a bystander, Grandma Liu had always been around him since childhood, and his heart was somewhat grieved by her sudden departure.

Why must people go through birth, aging, sickness, and death?

Why must they experience the torment of illness?

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Humans,

why must we experience the trials and tribulations of this world, why must we endure the tumult of this mundane life?

Xiao Han left the hospital ward and exited the hospital.

Standing under the sunlight, for the first time Xiao Han felt how insignificant and uncertain human life is. Compared to the vast universe, a person's life is nothing more than a leaf floating on the boundless sea—no, not even as much as that.

Life is such a tragedy, such a sorrow.

Xiao Han's expression was incredibly somber; his mood was as heavy as his expression. The sun was blinding, and although the outdoor temperature was high, he felt waves of cold air hitting him.

Grandma Liu and Xiao Han were not related by blood; at best they were just neighbors.

But there's a saying, "Distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors." Moreover, the relations between Liu family and Xiao's family were particularly good. Initially, when he had lied to Mother Xiao and she kicked him out of the house, he knelt outside in the snow and ice. If Old Liu hadn't purposely checked on him, he probably would have died in that snow and ice and wouldn't be here today.

So, even though Grandma Liu's family were not relatives, they were better than relatives.

Xiao Han was very affectionate towards Old Liu's family.

Now, with Grandma Liu's passing, one could only imagine the impact on Xiao Han's heart. Even when Yang Lu's mother passed away from liver cancer, it had not caused him such immense pain. Xiao Han, who had always been very strong, found himself with tears streaming down his face after leaving the hospital.

......

He didn't know how he had made it back home.

Mother Xiao was already preparing dinner when Xiao Han entered the house and went into his room, where he lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, as if he had lost his soul.

"Eh, where is he?" Mother Xiao came out with a dish in hand, but Xiao Han was nowhere to be seen.

She searched inside and outside the house but couldn't find Xiao Han. Fortunately, she found him in his room.

"Xiao Han, what's wrong?" Mother Xiao hurried over and asked, "Are you sick?"

As she spoke, Mother Xiao put her hand to Xiao Han's forehead to check his temperature and found he didn't have a fever. However, her worries were not assuaged, and she pressed, "What's wrong? It's time for dinner."

"Mom…" Xiao Han called softly.

"What's wrong?" Mother Xiao sensed that Xiao Han's emotions were off.

"Grandma Liu just passed away!" Xiao Han suddenly embraced his mother, sobbing softly, "I never realized people could be so fragile!"

Upon hearing this, Mother Xiao gently held her son, sighing softly, "Silly boy, life is filled with birth, aging, sickness, and death. Everyone has a day when they must leave this world."

"Yes," Xiao Han nodded, "but I just can't accept it all of a sudden."

"As people grow older, they'll gradually come to accept it."

Mother and son had been each other's sole support from a young age.

Today, as he watched Grandma Liu pass away, Xiao Han began to worry. He suddenly feared the unbearable heartbreak he'd feel if one day his mother left him.

Liu Xiaolei's mother may have passed away, but she still had her father.

If his mother were to pass away, then there would be no close kin left in this world. With this thought, Xiao Han felt an unspeakable sadness well up inside him. He held his mother tightly, tears streaming down his face.

"Silly child, you're so grown up, yet you still cry?" Mother Xiao smiled.

"Mom, never leave me!" Xiao Han clung tightly to his mother, refusing to let go, like a toddler who had just learned to walk, afraid that he couldn't keep up with his mother's steps, only able to hug her legs tightly and coax her to slow down with his whining.

"Silly boy, I will never leave you!" Mother Xiao smiled and said, "You are my only son; how could I bear to leave you?"

"Mm!" Xiao Han nodded and said, "We, mother and son, depend only on each other!"

"Yes!" Mother Xiao nodded and replied, "I have only you as a son; who else would I depend on?"

Xiao Han held his mother, resting his head against her chest, as if returning to a childhood memory. Whenever he encountered setbacks or difficulties as a child, he would curl up in his mother's arms, his head on her bosom, enjoying the extraordinary softness and warmth. This had nothing to do with eroticism or sensuality but rather was a familial love and, more so, a spiritual reliance.

Mother Xiao had become the spiritual anchorage of Xiao Han. Without her, Xiao Han felt that he absolutely could not go on living.

And so, Xiao Han fell into a heavy sleep.

"Silly boy, he's actually fallen asleep," Mother Xiao whispered as she gently laid Xiao Han's head on the pillow, allowing him to sleep peacefully. Xiao Han slept soundly. Yet his hand tightly gripped Mother Xiao's arm, as if even in his dreams he worried about his mother leaving him.

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