The living must live on well.

The Living Should Live Well

"The epidemic is over. We've won!" As I browsed short videos, a sense of joy welled up in my heart. My mind was filled with countless thoughts. Finally, I could take Grandma Wang to Wuhan to see the cherry blossoms in March and fulfill the wish that her daughter had left unfulfilled.

Someone in the neighborhood owner group posted, "Does anyone have ibuprofen? I'm willing to buy it at a high price." I didn't pay much attention. Suddenly, "Little Li, can you come over and help me adjust my phone? It seems to be broken." "Ding", "Grandma, I'm here!" During the epidemic, I was busy volunteering every day. Grandma Wang would take my dog out for walks every day. "Little Wang, come here quickly and take a look at my phone. What's wrong with it?" "Why aren't any messages being updated?" She said to me anxiously. There was a faint scent of incense in the room. Grandma Wang's husband had passed away due to cancer several years ago. Three years ago, to support City W, her daughter also left on New Year's Eve that year.

That night, when I walked into her room, there was a neatly laid table with food. She was sitting there in a daze. The Spring Festival Gala was on the TV. Only the door and a few lights were on in the room, making it very dim. Only a few fireworks occasionally lit up the place. But this room seemed isolated from the outside world. Joy didn't belong here. All that was left here was endless sadness and hesitation. "Grandma Wang?" "Oh, Little Li is here!" "Grandma Wang, I'm here to celebrate the Spring Festival with you." "Oh, come in, come in." Finally, a hint of a happy smile emerged on her sad face. On that night when the lights of thousands of households were shining brightly, I spent an extremely unforgettable year with her. The noise of the world didn't belong to us. From time to time, the sound of ambulances could be heard on the road downstairs, which made people's hair stand on end.

"Hey, Little Li, what's wrong with you?" She asked me. My thoughts were instantly pulled out of that night. "Oh, nothing!" After saying that, I picked up her phone and saw that her daughter had been reporting her safety to her every day. But all this ended on that day. That morning, I had just finished the nucleic acid test. I took the vegetables distributed by the community and walked upstairs in the elevator. When I got home and listened to the promotion of COVID-19 knowledge outside the window, I was hugging the dog and wondering when all this would stop. Just then, my neighbor's daughter called me. As soon as I answered the call, there was a heavy voice mixed with the noisy voices of the hospital. "Sister, I might not be able to come back." She said to me with a sobbing voice. My hands trembled violently. "What's wrong?" "I... I... just now when I was treating a patient... a... little... kid... snatched my mask off." I was so shocked that I couldn't speak for a long time. Clearly, before I left, she had promised me many times that we would travel together after the epidemic ended. Clearly, she graduated from the Medical University this year and would have a better life. Clearly... Everything was so sudden. With a "bang", along with the sound of the phone falling to the ground, only the buzzing sound of electricity remained on the other end. Then, I tried several times to call her back, but all I got was a mechanical response. In the following days, I seemed to live in a daze every day, and her figure would always come to my mind from time to time and gradually fade away. With a "dingling", the ringing of the phone pulled me out of this distressed numbness. Seeing that it was her call, I excitedly picked it up. "You..." "Hello, madam. This is XX Hospital. I'm very sorry to tell you that she passed away yesterday. According to her last will, we called this phone number to you. Then we will send you a farewell video." "Those who have passed away are gone. The living should live well." Click... The phone was hung up. The other party's tone was so cold and seemed to have no sympathy at all. Maybe such things happened too often and they had become callous. But not for me! I clicked on the sent video. In the picture, she was lying on the emergency bed.

Her face had long lost its rosy color of the past, but she still forced a smile at us. "Sister, having you and my family is really good. My promise might not be fulfilled." She smiled. Her smile was full of bitterness. "You must take good care of my mom. Thank you. My mom only has you now." With a "snap", the video showed no more pictures. Only the anxious rescue sounds of the medical staff and her last words remained. "The patient was declared clinically dead at 7:00 p.m. on February 7, 2020." I had just climbed out of that abyss, but it seemed that I had fallen into an even deeper abyss. At that moment, my life was dark. Even the brightest light couldn't illuminate it. I cried every day. A few days later, I found that the area downstairs in my building was cordoned off with police cars and ambulances parked everywhere. Just when I thought there were positive cases again, a notice from the community property group came like a bolt from the blue. "Dear owners, the lockdown is temporary. Please maintain a good attitude towards this matter." I hurriedly scrolled down the screen and then saw "The pregnant woman in Room 19 jumped off the building last night." "It is said that her mother lives in another city. She gave the rider 200 yuan to send some daily necessities to her mother. As a result, she was cyberbullied by netizens. Coupled with the lockdown, she finally couldn't bear the pressure and jumped." "Sigh..." I heaved a heavy sigh.

Oh, Grandma Wang, it's normal. Your daughter is in Wuhan. The signal was bad during the epidemic, so there was no news. It's normal. "She nodded half-understandingly. I forced a bitter smile and thought: Only such a naive statement could deceive her. Then I walked out of her house. The creaking sound of the door seemed to be her pity. I closed the door and sighed. After going back, I sat on the sofa in a daze. My relatives passed away in the SARS epidemic in 2003. That year, I also got infected with SARS. If it weren't for her, I might have... Since then, every time I think of this, my tears flow again. One natural disaster or another has taken away too many people's lives. Another New Year's Eve came. "Grandma Wang, I wish you a happy New Year." Her face was very happy. "You're here! Come in quickly!" When I entered her room, the loneliness and coldness of the past seemed to have disappeared by more than half. "Grandma, let me help you." I helped Grandma wrap dumplings. The smile on her face was so healing that it seemed to make people forget all their troubles. The snow outside the window was falling gently. The fireworks flew into the sky and burst open, making people intoxicated. The light of the fireworks dispelled the bitterness in my heart. The sky was filled with fireworks. People were very happy celebrating the end of all these hardships. The room was also filled with warmth. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Along with the chiming of the New Year's bell at midnight, I said to her with a smile, "Happy New Year." "You too, you too." We both laughed. How happy we were. Fireworks are short-lived, but my company with her is long-lasting.

After the epidemic ended, she sent me messages every day and greeted me. She said, "If I don't send you a message for two days, you must come! In case something unexpected happens to me." I smiled and said, "It's impossible. You're in such good health. How could something unexpected happen to you?" I seemed to have long since let go of everything during the epidemic. Grandma Wang was extremely excited that day and shared a lot with me. I also knew that Grandma Wang's husband had wanted to take her to City W back then, but who would have thought that during the critical period, her husband was diagnosed with cancer. She said she was very confused that day and didn't know what to do. I borrowed money everywhere I could, but in the end, her husband still passed away unfortunately. Before he died, he said, "Old lady, blame me for being useless. I didn't take you and your daughter to see those beautiful cherry blossoms." When Grandma Wang said this, my tears welled up and rolled down my cheeks. "Oh, my dear child, don't be so sad. Everyone has to leave one day, either earlier or later. The living should live well." She wiped away my tears with her warm hand.

Half a month before going to City W, she called me to her home. "Little Li, thank you for coming." She smiled. "Come and help me see which dress looks good." I hadn't seen Grandma so happy for a long time. "Sure!" I quickly agreed. Grandma smiled as she tried on one dress after another and happily asked for my opinion. The room was filled with so much joy that it seemed about to overflow. "I must wear the best dress." She smiled. "I'll take you to the shopping mall and dress you up beautifully." "No way. How can we waste this money?" "Grandma, your daughter told me that if you don't wear a beautiful dress to take pictures with her, she won't want you anymore." I joked with a smile. "Okay, okay." Grandma smiled. The sun was shining brightly, warming the room.

In the mall, I carefully looked at the price of each dress. The luxurious look of the mall seemed to make her feel uncomfortable and confused. Then, I saw that she really liked a dress. Her eyes didn't leave it for a moment. But after she carefully checked the price, she shook her head and gave a bitter smile. "Do you like it, Grandma?" "No. I'm just an old woman. Why do I need to wear such an expensive dress? And this dress isn't that nice either." She smiled. Although she said so, I knew in my heart that she really wanted that dress. So after we left that store, "Grandma, I'll go to the restroom for a while. Don't move here." "Okay, go ahead!"