My Family Is Very Odd

How long can a person live? And at what age can one be considered to have lived a long life?

Li Xiao Gui passed away at the age of eighty-seven. It was a natural death, during her sleep. No Alzheimer's, no illness, no pain, just peace. It seemed fitting. Li Xiao Gui, so adorable, was born to be loved and cherished. The image of her lying weakly in bed, tormented by illness, didn't suit her at all.

At eighty-seven, Li Xiao Gui was still neat and elegant. When she smiled, even though her face creased with wrinkles, it was still bright and sunny, like a child's.

She lived her life just as she wanted. She opened a dessert shop, diligently cultivated her spiritual energy, and surrounded herself with the people and ghosts she loved.

As she aged, her spiritual energy grew stronger than in her youth. Even living among ghosts, she was healthier than ever before.

Now, lying on her deathbed, her face etched with wrinkles, her expression remained gentle. She had grown up surrounded by love, from birth to old age, always cherished by everyone.

People who are loved, no matter how old they get or how many wrinkles they have, never look scary. The love of others enveloped her like honey, so that even though her appearance aged, warmth and sweetness still radiated from within.

Even in her old age, she was a beautiful woman, because she was loved.

On the bedside table sat a vase filled with the freshest sunflowers, picked just that morning by Ghost Grandma. They were placed by Li Xiao Gui's bedside.

--That morning, they had been so fresh, the petals still adorned with dewdrops from the early morning mist, tender and moist.

But by nightfall, even though it was only the first day, the sunflowers, though still beautiful, had lost the moisture of their prime.

Li Xiao Gui seemed to sense that her time was coming. Or perhaps, she hadn't realized it at first, only feeling more tired than usual. But seeing her family gathered around her throughout the day, she began to understand.

Ghosts are always sensitive to the breath of life. As it slowly ebbed away, Li Xiao Gui finally reached the end of her journey.

At first, they were afraid that Li Xiao Gui would be hurt as she aged. She would be the only one growing old, while they remained unchanged. She would have to accept the difference and the gap, to feel life slowly draining from her body. And there was nothing they could do to help her.

That was why they accepted another human into their home, to accompany her as she grew old, to keep her from feeling alone.

But later, the ghosts discovered that it was they who would be truly hurt and unable to accept Li Xiao Gui's aging. Although they were already dead, they still felt the passage of time through her, and it filled them with fear.

They couldn't hold onto her anymore.

She was leaving them.

An intense loneliness suddenly washed over them, as if their souls were being torn apart.

They couldn't help but recall their past, the time before they found Li Xiao Gui, a past they hadn't thought about in a long time.

A cold, boring past, devoid of light.

This intersection of memory and reality made them feel another kind of gap. And so, it was they who became truly unable to accept it, they who were hurt.

As if sensing their feelings, Li Xiao Gui, though on the verge of death, turned to comfort them.

Lying in bed, her vision already blurred, she could only see five vague shadows. She whispered, "Everyone dies eventually. Dad, Mom, Brother, Grandpa, Grandma."

She spoke slowly, each word distinct. It was the voice of an old person, hoarse, slow, heavy, yet also gentle.

"Don't be sad. I've lived a very happy life. Really, I'm very lucky to be your child, to be your child. It's truly the luckiest thing in my life. Although, I'm sorry, but I'm actually very happy. Other children have to experience the pain of separation, watching their parents die, but I don't. From the moment I was born, you loved me, and…"

Li Xiao Gui paused, catching her breath. Speaking was tiring for her now. After a moment, she continued, "And, I don't have to experience your departure, not until the very, very end. I don't have to experience the pain of separation… Thank you so much for sparing me from that."

Li Xiao Gui sounded apologetic. "It must be hard on you. But I'm your child, right? Even though I'm old, I'm still your child. And children can be selfish. Please, spoil me a little more."

Old Li Xiao Gui spoke childishly.

Young Ghost looked at Li Xiao Gui and reached out a hand. He wanted to say, "Yes, yes, it's okay, you can be selfish, because you are our child, who else would spoil you but us?" He also wanted to say, "You're so cute, how could we not spoil you?"

Spoil, spoil, spoil! But it couldn't make a sound.

Li Xiao Gui saw the blurry shadow take a step towards her. She squinted, trying to see clearly, but no matter how hard she tried, she still couldn't make it out. From the movement, it looked like it was reaching out to her.

Li Xiao Gui smiled. Even though she felt incredibly sleepy, every part of her body, from her internal organs to her limbs, felt deeply fatigued, she still tried to look at them and said her final words:

"Hug me. Dad, Mom, Brother, Grandpa, Grandma, after I die, hug me, without anything in the way… Hug me…"

With a final whisper, like a sigh, Li Xiao Gui closed her eyes forever.

Young Ghost's outstretched hand froze as Li Xiao Gui's eyes closed. Even after she was completely still, lifeless, it remained motionless.

The ghosts behind it were the same, stiff, not like ghosts, but like statues.

As if time had stopped with their stillness, as if Li Xiao Gui hadn't left yet.

But after ten minutes or so, they finally had to accept the fact that their little ghost would not wake up tomorrow morning.

Young Ghost finally took a step forward, then another, and another. Like when he had first found Li Xiao Gui, it was the first to hold her after she died.

He held her in his arms. She was cold and rough to the touch, not comfortable at all. He remembered when she was just a baby, her face chubby like jelly, like dough, looking so soft and warm. Not like this, rough and scratchy like sandpaper.

But Young Ghost still held her, placing his hands under her arms, lifting her up like a father holding a child.

Young Ghost's pale face tilted upwards, his two empty sockets staring unblinkingly at the withered old woman, his old child.

Then, one by one, the other ghosts came forward, each taking turns holding their child in their arms, embracing her with love and affection, as if performing some kind of farewell ritual.

Each of them, as Li Xiao Gui had wished, held her close after she had fallen into eternal sleep, without the need for any intermediary, only regretting that their sleeping child could no longer feel it.

It was only natural. Li Xiao Gui's deceased body was just a shell, an inanimate object. What they could touch was only an inanimate object.

No consciousness, no thought, no soul.

Never to smile again.

Finally, the ghosts gently placed their child back on the bed and covered her with a blanket. They floated out of the room one by one and saw Hui and Shen Chen standing at the door. They seemed to have sensed what had happened.

Hui asked cautiously, "Can I go in and see her?"

The female ghost nodded, and Hui carefully entered the room.

Shen Chen was the last to enter. Old Shen Chen was a handsome and tall gentleman. The wrinkles on his face gave him a sharp look, without the slightest hint of frailty that one might expect from an elderly man. He looked much younger than other people his age.

Like Li Xiao Gui, he exercised regularly and paid attention to his posture and hygiene. His back was always straight, never stooping under the weight of time. This made him appear, at times, not like a man nearing the end of his life at all.

But at this moment, this proud man's back suddenly hunched over, as if his life force had been drained away the moment Li Xiao Gui passed. Although his face retained its usual lack of expression, his eyes were filled with suppressed grief.

The ghosts never doubted that Shen Chen loved Li Xiao Gui, but they always thought that his love couldn't compare to theirs. Li Xiao Gui was their one and only child, and no one could love her more than they did.

But at this moment, they finally admitted that Shen Chen truly loved her, perhaps even as much as they did.

As her lover, he loved her deeply.

The funeral was held three days later, in the backyard garden of the mansion, where Li Xiao Gui's favorite flowers bloomed. Not many people came to the funeral, just them.

Shen Chen carried Li Xiao Gui down the long flower path. Her wedding had been held here too, and only they had been present then as well.

Back then, the ghosts, acting as her parents, had led Li Xiao Gui down the aisle by the hand. She had worn a long white wedding dress and delicate makeup, her face still youthful. They had given their beautiful young Li Xiao Gui away to Shen Chen. And now, Shen Chen carried her down the same path, returning her to their care.

And then they carried her to the coffin in the center of the garden, as if everything had returned to the beginning, dust to dust, earth to earth.

After the funeral, the ghosts stayed in the mansion for many days, hoping that Li Xiao Gui would suddenly reappear in some corner at some point.

But she didn't. … [If humans are truly happy, will they become lingering attachments?]

The question finally had an answer.

The ghost mansion was finally plunged into complete darkness.

Author's Note:

[The Ghost's Black Box]

She seemed truly happy, reincarnating without a single regret.

That's good.

…That's good.

Is that really… a good thing?

…

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!

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