novelraw Chapter 84: Zhongnanhai in the Cemetery
Chapter 84: Zhongnanhai in the Cemetery
The next day, the sky was overcast.
Jiang Ci woke up very early, or rather, he had barely closed his eyes all night.
He politely declined his mother Chu Hong's suggestion to accompany him.
Some words, in the end, could only be spoken by one person alone.
That eye-catching red Audi Q7 once again started its engine under the watchful eyes of the early-rising, grocery-shopping neighbors.
Unlike the clamor when he arrived, this time the neighbors' gossip was much quieter.
Jiang Ci ignored those gazes, steadily drove the car out of the residential complex, and headed towards the direction of the city's outskirts.
The scenery on both sides of the road slowly changed from low-rise residential buildings to continuous fields.
Finally, the car stopped outside a cemetery on the outskirts of the city.
A martyrs' cemetery.It was quiet and solemn here, with pine and cypress trees evergreen throughout the four seasons, completely isolating the hustle and bustle of the outside world.
Jiang Ci got out of the car. He didn't bring anything with him, only carrying a small square box in his pocket.
He followed the stone steps, walking inside step by step.
The cemetery was empty, with only the rustling sound of wind passing through pine needles.
Rows upon rows of neat tombstones stood in silence.
Behind every name was once a vivid life, a heroic story.
Jiang Ci walked among the rows of gray-white tombstones. His pace wasn't fast, but his goal was clear.
Finally, he stopped before a tombstone.
The tombstone was kept very clean; clearly, his mother visited often.
On it, three characters were engraved in the simplest font.
Jiang Yanjun.
A black-and-white photo was embedded in the stone. The man in the photo wore a police uniform, looking very young, with a heroic air between his brows and eyes, smiling at the camera.
His gaze was firm and bright, exactly as Jiang Ci remembered him.
The epitaph used the simplest words to record his life.
Detective Jiang Yanjun, in 2008, while carrying out "Operation Thunderbolt" and assisting in the arrest of the leader of a major transnational drug trafficking syndicate, was unfortunately shot and killed while covering for an undercover colleague whose identity had been exposed, ensuring their safe withdrawal.
He was thirty-two years old.
Jiang Ci stood before the tombstone for a very, very long time.
Then, he crouched down.
He reached out, carefully wiping away a few fallen leaves and dust that the wind had blown onto the tombstone with the sleeve of his trench coat.
His movements were slow and gentle.
After doing all this, he finally took the small square box out of his pocket.
Inside were three cigarettes.
Zhongnanhai, his father's favorite brand when he was alive.
He placed the three cigarettes side by side on the cold stone of the tombstone, lighting them one by one with a windproof lighter.
"Click."
The flame danced in the breeze.
Pale blue smoke curled upwards.
Jiang Ci just crouched there, watching the three flickering embers.
For a long time.
He finally spoke, his throat terribly dry.
"Dad, I came to see you."
No one responded.
Only the sound of the wind.
"After you left, Mom had it really hard."
"I... also had a pretty twisted time."
He smiled self-deprecatingly, reaching out to flick some dust off his trousers.
Jiang Ci paused for a long time before speaking again.
"Dad."
"You probably won't believe it."
"The work I'm doing now... is actually a bit like yours."
"Both are about saving people."
Jiang Ci's fingertips trembled slightly.
"Only, you saved others."
"I'm saving myself."
He looked up at his father's young, righteous face on the tombstone. An unspeakable sense of grievance and exhaustion instantly overwhelmed him.
"I have to make others grieve for the characters I play, make them shed tears for the characters I play, make their hearts break."
"Only then can I survive."
"Tell me, isn't that absurd?"
The wind blew through the cemetery, making a low, moaning sound, sweeping up fallen leaves from the ground.
No one could answer him.
After saying all this, Jiang Ci felt as if a giant boulder that had been pressing on his heart for months had been shifted aside a little.
An unprecedented sense of relief washed over him.
Even though the problem remained.
The countdown was still there.
But he could finally stop carrying this secret alone.
He just sat there in front of the grave, keeping his father company, keeping the three cigarettes company.
Until the tobacco burned out completely, leaving only three short filter tips.
Only then did Jiang Ci slowly stand up, patting the dust off his clothes.
He stood straight in front of the tombstone.
Then, just as his father had taught him when he was a child, he bowed deeply to the hero.
...
When he returned home, Jiang Ci's whole being exuded a kind of relaxed ease, like the clear sky after rain.
That aura of melancholy and exhaustion that had surrounded him due to the KPI and the life countdown had dissipated a great deal.
He reverted to his previous self in front of Chu Hong—a bit lazy, but still fairly sunny.
Chu Hong was busy in the kitchen. Hearing the door open, she peeked out to look.
When she saw the no-longer-tense expression on her son's face, she didn't ask anything, just silently pulled her head back and continued chopping vegetables.
This trip home, counting all the time, wouldn't even amount to two full days.
Jiang Ci had originally thought about spending more time with his mother.
But Director Wei Song's invitation waited for no one.
He decided to leave tomorrow.
First, drive back to Shanghai to return this Q7 to the company, then set off for the capital.
Thinking of this, he took out his phone and called Sun Zhou.
The phone rang twice before being answered.
Sun Zhou's energetic, loud voice came through: "Ci-ge! I heard you went back to your hometown. What are your orders now!"
"The day after tomorrow, the capital. Can you make it?" Jiang Ci got straight to the point.
Sun Zhou on the other end of the line was clearly taken aback.
He had thought Jiang Ci would take a break for at least ten days or half a month on this trip home.
How many days had it been? Not even four days!
"The... the capital?"
"Ci-ge, your efficiency is way too high! 'Chu Wuchen' just wrapped!"
Sun Zhou was internally screaming; truly his Ci-ge, the king of workaholics!
However, he instantly reacted.
The capital!
This timing, this location!
A rumor that had been circulating within the industry, which he had half-believed, suddenly became incredibly real!
"Ci-ge! Holy shit! Could it be true? Director Wei... Director Wei really contacted you?!"
Sun Zhou's voice changed pitch.
"Yeah." Jiang Ci acknowledged. "Director Wei asked me to go over and discuss the script."
"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!" Sun Zhou was already incoherent on the other end of the line. "Yes! Absolutely yes! Forget the day after tomorrow, I can fly over tonight! Ci-ge, wait, I'll book the hotel and flight tickets right away!"
After hanging up, Jiang Ci looked at his phone and shook his head helplessly.
During dinner that evening, Sun Zhou sent over the hotel booking information, his efficiency astonishingly high.
Early the next morning.
When Jiang Ci woke up, the sky wasn't fully bright yet.
He walked out of his room and found his somewhat worn suitcase already standing by the door in the living room.
The clothes inside were folded neatly.
Ms. Chu Hong, wearing an apron, was preparing breakfast for him in the kitchen—a bowl of egg noodles.
"Eat before you go."
She placed the bowl of noodles on the table, offering no extra instructions, no sentimentality of parting.
Jiang Ci silently sat down and slurped up the entire bowl of noodles.
"Mom, I'm leaving."
"Mhm, be careful on the road."
Chu Hong saw him to the door, watching him pick up the suitcase.
"When you get to the capital, don't skimp on money. Stay somewhere nice, eat well."
"Got it."
Jiang Ci changed his shoes and immediately went downstairs.
In the quiet morning of the old residential complex, that red Audi Q7 looked particularly conspicuous.
The roar of the 3.0T engine echoed between the silent buildings.
The car soon drove away, disappearing around the corner of the complex.