Three Women in the Cage

During this period, Yang Zheng also came to visit Yang's father. Every time he came, he gave Yang's father a hundred yuan. Although it was not much, it was a token of his appreciation.

Father Yang accepted it gladly. After all, this was his grandson's filial piety, and he had no reason to refuse.

This year, Huanhuan graduated, and the county's traditional Chinese medicine hospital happened to be recruiting pharmacists. Originally, the hospital did not want an inexperienced college student like Huanhuan, but since Huanhuan had all the pharmacy grading certificates, the dean made an exception and hired her, giving her a management-level position.

Huanhuan happily came to report and officially became a hospital employee. When Huanhuan's work became stable, she would come to visit her grandfather during her breaks.

Every time he would bring a lot of supplements to grandpa, it seemed that at this moment, Father Yang had waited for the success that Yang Yu had talked about.

Since Huanhuan graduated, Yang Yu's burden has been lightened a lot. Now she only needs to pay for Yaya and Xinxin's tuition. If she can hold on for a few more years, she will be able to put down the burden completely.

However, when everything was getting better, Yang's father still couldn't survive the few years that Yang Yu promised him. He finally fell ill and was admitted to a nursing home the year Huanhuan started working.

After receiving the news, Huanhuan immediately took leave and came to the nursing home. Looking at the old man dying on the bed, Huanhuan knew that he would not survive this year.

The director was afraid that the old man would die here, so he asked Huanhuan to send him to the hospital. That night, Huanhuan sent the old man to the hospital where she worked, and she used her own salary to pay for the medical expenses.

Afterwards, she called Yang Yu, and also informed Ma Mei and Yang Su. She did not inform Tian Yun, but Yang Zheng rushed over after hearing the news.

When everyone rushed to the hospital, they thought that the so-called critical illness meant that the patient was about to die. This was the last time they would see him/her, and they were there to see him/her off. From then on, all the burdens would no longer exist.

However, after the hospital's emergency treatment, Yang's father's condition stabilized again. They were a little surprised to see the old man still alive on the hospital bed.

Finally, Ma Mei and Yang Su said a few words to Yang's father and left in a hurry. Yang Zheng stuffed a hundred yuan into Yang's father's pocket and left as well.

They came and left in a hurry without asking about the medical expenses of coming to the hospital. They tacitly agreed not to ask about what happened before or after.

Yang Yu had no choice but to stay and take care of her old father. During the one-month care period, Yang Zheng came again. He couldn't let go of his father. This time, he suggested to Yang Yu: "Aunt, why don't you let me take grandpa back! It's not a good idea for him to waste time in the hospital like this. It's better for him to go back and have us take care of him than to stay in the hospital..."

Yang Yu thought to himself, "Before he got sick, he didn't want to take him back. Now he doesn't know how many days he can live. If he wants to take him back, it must be Tian Yun's instigation. He wants to take the old man back to die."

They were afraid that if they stayed in the hospital for too long, the expenses would increase, and Yang Yu would ask them to share the costs, so they wanted to take him back early to avoid wasting more money.

Wouldn’t it be like waiting for death if I took him back?

Thinking of this, Yang Yu couldn't help but angrily asked Yang Zheng: "Was it your mother's idea? How could she be so cruel? Your grandfather is already like this, and she is still plotting?"

"Don't think I don't know. Taking him back is just to let grandpa wait for death! What problems will there be in taking him back? Can you solve them? He can only use these things in the hospital to maintain his life now..."

Yang Zheng knew that taking him back would mean waiting for death! But what was the point of wasting time like this?

What Tian Yun meant was that the old man must die at home and not in the hospital. The sooner it ends, the less trouble everyone will have. Otherwise, if it drags on like this, if he passes away one day, they will have to travel thousands of miles back and delay their work.

Yang Zheng sighed and said, "Aunt! Look, Grandpa is already on his last legs. Old people always die. Staying in the hospital is a waste of time. Not only is it a waste of time and money, but it also makes everyone suffer..."

Yang Yu said unwillingly: "No matter what, I can't accept giving up. I can't let him go back and wait for death. Just give up on this idea..."

In the end, Yang Zheng had no choice but to go back first!

After hearing what they said, Yang's father said with tears in his eyes: "Go back! Don't waste your time on me. If you want to die, die in the old house, not here. Remember to bury me and your mother together..."

Yang Yu wiped her tears, her eyes full of unwillingness and regret: "You just have to hold on a little longer. You said you would wait for me. Huanhuan is already working. In two years, Yaya will be out. Then I can accompany you to see the outside world. You will be successful soon. Don't leave. Don't leave like this..."

Father Yang seemed tired and exhausted. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm tired and miss your mother. Life is too hard and I don't want to endure it anymore..."

Finally, unable to resist Yang's father's repeated requests, Yang Yu had to agree to let him go back.

That day, Yang Zheng came to the hospital early and took his father back home. However, within two days, his father passed away.

When Yang Yu and several children arrived, they were not even able to see their father for the last time. All they could see was his cold body lying on the bed.

Father Yang finally passed away in the old house, so quietly and without leaving any memory.

Yang Yu threw herself on her father's skinny body and burst into tears: "Dad! Wuuuuu..."

In the end, all her regrets could not be made up in the slightest. She could no longer repay her parents' kindness. They left her one by one, leaving her alone in the rest of her life, full of regrets.

This old house has finally lost its former atmosphere. Everyone has left. Looking at everything that is familiar, nothing has changed...

Yang Yu choked with sobs and cried, her heart broken. Her parents could not escape the suffering of fate...

She felt sad for them and felt that they were not worth it...

This funeral was more grand than any previous one. Funeral music played non-stop all night long, wreaths circled the courtyard wall, and the sound of firecrackers could be heard incessantly.

On the day of the funeral this winter, wisps of white snow began to fall again, falling on the coffin one by one, as if to see him off.

Looking at the falling snowflakes reminded Yang Yu of last winter. It was such a cold winter that took Yang's mother away in the cold. Now, it was such a winter again that took her father away as well.

As if they had made an appointment, they both left in the coldest winter. The coldness invaded their bodies. I wonder if their bodies were colder or their hearts were colder at that time.

Maybe both!

The funeral procession formed a long queue, the snowflakes fell heavier and heavier, and gradually a light snow accumulated on the road.

It seemed like last winter had come again, with such heavy snow and such biting cold. The funeral procession approached Yang's mother's grave step by step in the heavy snow.

After a while, we arrived at Yang's mother's grave. The grave was now overgrown with weeds and no longer as colorful as it was last year. It exuded an air of desolation everywhere.

I didn’t expect that in just one year, it would become desolate and completely forgotten. Every trace of it was buried in the years and no one cared!

The snow was still falling like goose feathers, covering the green grass on the grave. Youth was piled up on the grave by the snow, dotted like stars, inlaid with the vitality of the old grave.

A bright red coffin was slowly placed in the pit next to the old grave. The coffin was as red as blood and was soon covered by white snow. The bright red and the dazzling white complemented each other, and soon, it was submerged in the golden soil.

Finally, a new grave was built next to the old grave. The new grave was still as gorgeous as before, surrounded by layers of wreaths and filled with deafening firecrackers. Everything was so familiar and yet so strange.

It's like being in a dream, so illusory!

An old grave is connected to a new grave at the foot of the mountain, gazing from afar at the lonely grave halfway up the mountain that has been forgotten by people for years. In the heavy snow, they are looking at each other from afar, as if calling each other, or as if saying goodbye.

The heavy snow made it hard to see clearly. Is the grave before me a new one or an old one?

All I know is that there are three graves in front of me, their shadows vague, as if they are right in front of me, and yet as if they are on the horizon.

Reaching out, but unable to touch...