After finishing dinner, Bai Yurou said good night to her mother and returned to her own room.
Once again, she stayed up late playing games with Loves Onee-sans the Most, then went to sleep.
Today was a special day for Bai Yurou.
Today was Lin Ye’s funeral.
In order to thank her current life-saving benefactor, to say a proper goodbye to her former self, and also to see Ning Mu and the Ning parents once more.
No matter which reason it was, Bai Yurou would treat this funeral seriously.
After getting up, Bai Yurou first took a shower, then changed into a set of plain, dark-colored clothes.
After all, a funeral was such a solemn occasion. Her attire naturally could not be too luxurious.
Moreover, the current her herself no longer liked overly luxurious clothes.
When she arrived at the living room, her mother and older sister were also there.
Both of them were likewise dressed simply and low-key.
It was clear that they also attached great importance to the funeral of Bai Yurou’s life-saving benefactor.
“Rourou, good morning.”
Bai Mo greeted Bai Yurou.
She had returned home last night after finishing the recording of her program.
“Sister, good morning.”
Bai Yurou responded normally.
Bai Sihan and Bai Yuan had not returned home the previous night while handling work matters. They would also go directly to the funeral home later.
The entire Bai family of five would attend Lin Ye’s funeral.
After finishing breakfast, Bai Yurou, together with her mother and older sister, sat in the Maybach driven by Uncle Zhao and headed to the funeral home.
Before long, they arrived at their destination.
At the entrance of the funeral home, Bai Yurou saw her father and older brother.
Bai Yuan and Bai Sihan were both wearing black suits today, and their expressions were correspondingly solemn.
“Let’s go in.”
Bai Yuan, as the head of the family, said.
They finally arrived at the hall where Lin Ye’s remains were located.
Lin Ye’s coffin was placed at the very back of the hall.
In front of it stood a table with his portrait on top.
Above the portrait hung a large character for “Mourning.”
There were also very few people attending Lin Ye’s funeral.
After all, his social circle while alive had been very narrow.
Many of the Ning family’s relatives did not accept him as an adopted son, so the Ning parents had not invited them.
Besides the Bai family, those attending the funeral were only his former companions from the orphanage, as well as classmates he had gotten along relatively well with in elementary, junior high, and high school.
Bai Yurou actually quite wanted to speak with them as well.
After all, these people were more or less acquaintances of hers, and many of them she had not seen for years.
But unfortunately, her current identity was the Bai family’s young miss Bai Yurou, not Lin Ye.
She was not acquainted with them at all, and her persona was not one that would casually strike up conversations with strangers.
Moreover, the Bai family members were still watching her.
Helpless, she could only silently follow behind her parents and line up to enter the condolence procession.
Standing in front of the table were the people Bai Yurou had been longing to see.
Ning’s father, Ning’s mother, and Ning Mu, who were keeping vigil for Lin Ye and receiving the guests who had come to offer condolences.
Today, Ning Mu was wearing a set of plain white clothes and pants of cotton-linen material, without any decorations.
Ning Mu’s face was also full of exhaustion. It could be seen that her mental state these past few days had not been very good.
Ning Mu’s long hair now hung dry and lifeless, having lost its former luster. A few strands of loose hair clung messily to the sides of her cheeks.
As expected, her own death had dealt a heavy blow to Ning Mu.
In just an instant, Bai Yurou froze.
Because she saw that on Ning Mu’s lusterless hair was pinned a pink hair clip.
That birthday gift she had bought for Ning Mu with the money from her summer job.
So that hair clip had not been damaged after all.
Bai Yurou felt fortunate about this.
After all, before her death, she had regretted not being able to personally deliver the birthday gift to Ning Mu.
Now Ning Mu was wearing the hair clip she had never gotten to give her, and it looked like she cherished it very much.
It could also be considered as eliminating her own regret.
Soon, it was the turn of the Bai family of five to offer condolences.
Bai Sihan and Bai Yuan stood in the first row. Bai Yurou, Zhou Wanting, and Bai Mo stood together in the second row.
The five of them came before Lin Ye’s portrait.
They bent deeply at the waist—one bow, another bow, a third bow.
These three bows were not only thanks to her life-saving benefactor, but also a farewell to the former Lin Ye.
After the bows came the stage of consoling the relatives.
Bai Yurou was uncertain how the Ning family viewed her.
Her life had been saved by Lin Ye. If Lin Ye had not stepped forward, the protagonist of the funeral right now would have been her.
Ning’s father, Ning’s mother, and Ning Mu might hate her.
After all, it was she who had caused Lin Ye’s death.
For herself, the best method right now was to do nothing, become a transparent person, and leave the consoling to her father and older brother.
But she believed that some words had to be spoken with her own mouth.
On the other side, Bai Sihan was preparing to say something.
After all, the entire family had always had him in contact with the Ning family, so it was most appropriate for him to offer the condolences.
Before he could open his mouth, Bai Sihan saw his youngest little sister—that soft and timid little sister—bravely step forward from the second-row line and stand out.
This conspicuous action quickly drew the attention of the Ning parents and Ning Mu to her.
“My life was saved by Lin Ye.”
Bai Yurou spoke, enunciating each word clearly.
“If not for me, Lin Ye would not have died. So for this, I am very grateful to him.
It was he who used his own life in exchange for mine. This debt of gratitude, I will remember for a lifetime.
Uncle, Auntie. In the future, I also hope to be able to repay this debt of gratitude in my own way.”
After saying these words, Bai Yurou did not dodge. She stared straight into the eyes of the two of them.
These words were not what Lin Ye wanted to say. They were words the original Bai Yurou’s personality wanted to say, and so they were extremely sincere.
In an instant, the environment fell into complete silence.
Ning’s father and Ning’s mother looked at the petite young girl before them.
Perhaps they were pondering the words she had spoken and had fallen into deep thought.
“After all, it was Xiao Ye’s own choice. Xiao Ye’s death is not your fault. If he heard these words of yours, he would also understand that he did not save the wrong person.”
Ning’s mother was the first to break the silence and respond to Bai Yurou’s words.
“Thank you for coming to attend his funeral.”
Ning’s father also responded immediately after.
Standing behind them, Ning Mu still did not say anything.
She only silently stared at Bai Yurou, staring at this young girl for whom the person she liked had paid the price of his life to save.
Bai Yurou’s gaze also met hers.
It seemed Ning Mu still had not accepted her or forgiven her.
She hoped that in the future there would be a chance to interact with her again in the identity of Bai Yurou.
It was the next group’s turn to offer condolences, so the family of five withdrew.
After leaving, Bai Yurou had originally thought she would be worried over a lot by her family.
Her mother or older sister might say something—such as “Why did you suddenly say these words,” or “These matters can just be left to your older brother. You didn’t need to come personally,” and the like.
But contrary to her expectations, they said nothing at all.
They only quietly sat together with Bai Yurou in the seats, waiting for the condolence segment to end.
Bai Yurou suddenly understood: although the Bai family doted on her and would sometimes overprotect her, when she proactively stepped out of the protective circle and personally faced the matters she ought to bear, the family members actually tacitly approved of it.
After all, this was originally her own matter.
If she chose to hide behind and let her older brother complete the consolation that should have been expressed by herself, her older brother would not have a single word of complaint.
But since she had proactively stood out, the Bai family would not oppose it either.