Chapter 977 - Visiting The Brother...

The next morning the entire mansion was quiet. During breakfast, no one talked much.

"Is there any news about Yuyan?" Elder Lu asked.

"She went to village home last night and stayed there," Lu Jinhai replied.

"And Lijun?" Grandma asked.

"He didn't go home….." Lu Jinhai replied.

"Did he lost the way or what?" Ning Jiahui asked worriedly, interrupting her husband.

"He is not a kid. He stayed at the lodge just a few kilometers away from the village," Lu Jinhai explained, and everyone felt relieved.

"Lu Feng and Lu Han returned home last night. Where are they?" Lu Chen asked Su Hui.

"This day is the same for them just like it is for Yuyan," Su Hui replied, "They must have gone to that place like every year."

Others understood what that place was.

"We should leave too. Everyone must be waiting for us," said Grandma.

After breakfast, the family members went to the orphanage, sponsored by Lu Corporation, and they celebrated Lu Qiang's birthday every year as Lu Qiang made that orphanage.

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In Ming Mansion.

"Grandpa doesn't look good today," Ming Rusheng commented when he came downstairs for breakfast and saw his grandpa sitting quietly in the living room.

Elder Ming sighed, "How can I be good when my friend must be sad today?"

Ming Rusheng sat on the sofa next to his grandpa, "Grandpa Lu?"

"Hmm."

"What happened?"

"Today is Lu Qiang's birthday," elder Ming replied.

Ming Rusheng understood, and then something clicked in his mind. Lu Lian was on leave that day. 'So this was the reason,' he concluded.

"I should accompany my friend," said elder Ming as he stood up.

"Grandpa, I'll take you there," Ming Rusheng stood up too.

"Don't you have to go to the office?" elder Ming asked.

"There is nothing important. It can wait," Ming Rusheng explained.

Elder Ming agreed, and the two left after breakfast.

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At the village cemetery, Morning time…

The atmosphere was calm, pleasant, and brightened with morning sunlight. The cool breeze passed across, making it even pleasant.

A white car parked in front of the gate and the young man in a black suit stepped out of it carrying a flower bouquet.

A perfectly fitted black suit with a white shirt inside, a black-tie around the neck, pair of black shoes in feet, hair combed neatly, and the young man's sharp feature brightened even more with the morning sunlight.

He stepped inside the cemetery gate and observed it for a while to know where he needed to go. Though so many years passed by, he could remember the particular place in that cemetery by heart because someone dear to him rested there.

Walking across the many graves along the narrow stone pathway, the young man reached the middle of the cemetery where all the tombstones showed the Lu family members' names who had left this world.

The young man stood up in front of one Grave, staring at it calmly.

The Grave, made of white marbles with a semi-circle tombstone at one end with Lu Qiang's name written on it with the date indicating his time on the earth. The green lawn grass grew around all the graves, which were groomed and appropriately watered.

"Happy birthday, brother," finally he spoke.

Putting the bouquet in his hand on the Grave, he lowered his head apologetically, "Sorry for being late," and then looked at the Grave, "I wanted to come here so many times, but I couldn't. I hope you are not upset with me...well, that's impossible, though..."

His eyes turned a bit moist, not knowing how to express himself, "I hope I didn't disappoint you in any way. I tried my best to do everything that you wished me to and lived like that. I'm still trying it, and I will do my best not to fail you."

He then held his jacket's sides and tightened it as he asked, "Am I looking good in a suit?" he chuckled, "Of Course I am. I know you would have said my brother is the most handsome." A light smile pointed on his lips, but his eyes showed the pain of loss.

Though he tried to smile to avoid the tears rolling down his eyes, he failed.

"These damn tears, it's making me look weak in front of you. I tried not to, but they won't stop. I really hate it, but you know I'm not weak, right?" Lu Lijun tried to stop the tears, but he couldn't and continued talking.

"I wish only if I could hear you. I wish to hear you saying how proud you are of me and how well I did. I wish you to praise me. I wish...only if you were with me…." shedding tears, he then touched the left side of his chest, "I miss you, brother. You are always here."

Standing silently to let the tears stop, he wiped them, and those emotional expressions on his face turned into a determined ones.

"From now on, I'll take care of everything that you had left behind. I'll protect everything and everyone."

Spending some time standing there and talking once in a while, Lu Lijun stepped towards the tree opposite to Grave, which was across that narrow stone pathway.

There was a wooden bench under the tree, facing the Grave's opposite side and on the tree's other side.

Lu Lijun leaned back on the bench and closed his eyes as he reminisced Lu Qiang's memories. He was so immersed in it and didn't know what's going on around him.

In a while, a black car stopped in front of the cemetery gate. The woman wearing a white knee-length elegant dress stepped out of the car, holding two bouquets. One was big while the other one was small. Along with the bouquets, she carried a small, decorative bag.

She didn't look here and there as she looked immersed in her own world and stepped inside the cemetery. The car driver noticed the familiar car parked on another side of the gate and realized who it belonged to.