Four days later, at four o'clock in the afternoon, in Longcheng Paradise Garden Cemetery.
The weather was a bit gloomy, with dark clouds everywhere and drizzling rain having been falling all day.
Kong Zhenghui stood in the rain with a dull look in his eyes, watching the old man's urn being slowly placed into the tomb.
Old Mrs. Kong was standing nearby, crying her eyes out, and was supported by her two children.
Yu Mingyuan, Zhou Tonghui, Su Tianbei, Wawa, Wen Xiaorou and others all came and stood around the cemetery, wearing black suits and holding umbrellas, to attend the funeral of the old man of the Kong family.
"Fill in the soil!" Mr. Yin Yang urged.
Kong Zhenghui came to his senses, held the shovel in one hand, and shoveled the first shovel of soil for the grave.
This is a local custom and the responsibility of an eldest son, and it is also a way to find some peace for the elderly after their death.
It was difficult to shovel the soil smoothly with one hand. Kong Zhenghui's forehead was covered with sweat, and he gritted his teeth and exerted force.
At this time, Kong Zhengqi stepped forward and helped his cousin hold the shovel handle, and the ceremony was successfully completed.
The children of other families then came forward, picked up shovels and filled the grave.
Kong Zhenghui was standing nearby, watching all this with a gloomy expression, his eyes turning red again.
The whole ceremony lasted for nearly an hour. After Mr. Kong was buried, everyone walked outside and returned to the Kong family.
…
Around seven o'clock in the evening, at the Kong Family Compound.
Kong Zhenghui brought his family and thanked the relatives who came from afar, and finally sent them all to the car.
These relatives do not live in Longcheng. Many of them live in other places or do business outside. They all come back from afar to attend the funeral.
After sending them all away, Kong Zhenghui loosened his tie and walked over to Yu Mingyuan and the others.
At this time, Yu Mingyuan and his group were sitting in the corner chatting. When they saw Kong Zhenghui, they all stood up and greeted him.
"Thank you for your hard work these past few days." Kong Zhenghui's attitude was somewhat relaxed as they were all acquaintances of the same age, but he also expressed his gratitude: "The funeral is over, I'll treat you tonight, invite Dabai to come too, and have a meal together."
Because the funeral was crowded and chaotic, Dabai did not come.
"Okay." Yu Mingyuan thought for a moment and suggested, "Let's stay at the Huarong Hotel. We have reserved a private room there, and the security is also OK. After all, Dabai has a special status, and it's not convenient for him to go to other places."
Hearing this, Kong Zhenghui smiled and said, "Haha, yes, it's different now, my status has gone up."
No one responded, Yu Mingyuan just patted him on the shoulder and changed the subject: "Let's go, everyone bring an umbrella, it's been raining all day."
"Okay, I'll call Zhengqi along as well."
Under the protection of the guards, the group drove towards Huarong Hotel.
…
At around nine o'clock in the evening, the convoy arrived at Huarong Hotel.
Yu Mingyuan led everyone to a private room on the third floor. The room was not big, with only one table and sofa seats on both sides, which was very elegant.
After all, it was a wedding, and many friends from other places would come over. In order to entertain some friends, Yu Mingyuan and Tan Mingchao had booked a private room early in case of emergency.
After ordering some food, everyone sat here, drinking and chatting while waiting for Dabai.
At the banquet, Kong Zhenghui was still in a low mood, but he forced himself to talk to everyone.
After waiting for almost half an hour, the dishes were ready and Dabai also arrived.
He pushed open the door of the private room and said a little embarrassedly: "Sorry guys, I came a little late. I was talking to some people from the administrative department."
"Are you showing off in a low-key way? I know you are the Minister of Foreign Affairs!" Yu Mingyuan said with a smile, "Okay, sit down quickly. We are waiting for you to start the meal."
"Look, you guys always bring this up, making me seem like a pretentious person. Stop saying this in the future..." Dabai sat down.
The doll beside him asked with a smile: "Oh, you're late, so you're just going to sit down like this?"
"Okay, then I'll drink three glasses of wine as a punishment!" Dabai was also generous. He picked up the wine glass and drank three glasses in a row.
If it were any other time, with Dabai's personality, he would definitely tell a few jokes to the doll. But after all, in this situation, some words were naturally inappropriate.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with everyone, he picked up the wine glass again and said to Kong Zhenghui: "Old Kong, I couldn't come to the funeral today. I want to make amends to you. This glass is for you."
Kong Zhenghui had drunk quite a bit by now, his face was slightly red, and he waved his hand and said, "No, I'll toast to you."
The two men clinked their glasses and drank from them.
"Take it easy. The old man has suffered a lot." Seeing that Kong Zhenghui was in a low mood, Dabai couldn't help but give him some advice.
"Alas, I was just thinking... I'm already over 30, and I'm nothing now." Kong Zhenghui was in a very low mood, and he kept toasting with everyone. As he got drunk, he started talking more: "When we started a business together, some of us are now rich and idle, some are diplomats, and some are second to none... Only I... am nothing, haha, I've lost my hands."
"Oh, don't say that."
“In fact, when you were captured by Jiang Zheng last time, Xiao Yu was also very anxious. That night, there was almost a military conflict...!” Yu Mingyuan also advised.
"Haha, I don't mean anything else. I just want to drink some wine because I feel depressed." Kong Zhenghui glanced at everyone, picked up the bottle and continued to pour himself a glass of wine: "Forget it, let's not talk about it. Let's talk about something happy...!"
As he finished speaking, Kong Zhengqi, who was also drunk, turned to Yu Mingyuan and said, "Brother Mingyuan, let me tell you something from the bottom of my heart. We all followed you at that time. Now that you don't want to play anymore, we don't know what's the point of continuing."
Yu Mingyuan's expression was a little stiff, and Wen Xiaorou beside him also frowned slightly.
Everyone looked unhappy, Kong Zhenghui also waved his hand: "Zhengqi, you are drunk, what nonsense are you talking about!"
"I've been holding back some things for a long time." Kong Zhengqi waved his hands, and under the influence of alcohol, he poured out his complaints: "Brother, I feel sorry for you! It hasn't been easy for you these years. You've worked diligently, made suggestions for the association, and worked hard without complaint. In the end, you're not valued in the association, and you've ended up... disabled. Brother, you're not married yet!!"
As he spoke, Kong Zhengqi could not help shedding tears. No one knew whether he was expressing his true feelings due to the alcohol or he was just venting his inner grievances with Yu Mingyuan and the others.
In his opinion, his cousin followed Yu Mingyuan. Now that Yu Mingyuan has withdrawn, Kong Zhenghui actually has no room for development.
To put it bluntly, when the Tongji Society split up, whether it was a plan by the upper echelons or it turned out to be real, Kong Zhenghui had a real conflict with Su Tianyu.
Is this the only relationship? Is it possible that they will use me? I will definitely be marginalized.
Kong Zhengqi thought about this and wiped his eyes again: "Brother, I..."
"Okay!" Kong Zhenghui interrupted him again: "Stop talking, you've drunk too much."
Kong Zhengqi wanted to continue complaining, but when he saw his cousin's expression, he had to stand up and said, "If you don't allow me to talk, I'll just pee."
After saying that, he shook his body, turned around and left the room.
The rest of the people in the room all looked unhappy.
…
After leaving the room, Kong Zhengqi staggered to the bathroom next door, unbuttoned his pants to relieve the pressure on his bladder.
He stood in front of the toilet, his eyes wide open, his mouth slightly open, and his consciousness a little dazed. At this moment, the phone suddenly rang.
"Ding Ling Ling!"
Kong Zhengqi pulled up his pants and took out his cell phone. It was an unfamiliar number. He answered the call drunkenly: "Hello? Who is this?"
A polite voice rang on the phone: "Hello, Mr. Kong. I'm from the Discipline Inspection Group of the National Bureau of Statistics. Your funeral should be over by now. Please come to the Bureau of Statistics tomorrow morning."