Chapter 173: Editor Wei’s Daughter’s Poem!
Chapter 173: Editor Wei’s Daughter’s Poem!
Memorial Hall.
The funeral wake began.
It was filled with repression and crying, especially from the children. The crying never stopped. It even made Xiao Lu and many other female comrades tear up again.
“Father Wei!”
“Why did you leave!?”
“Father Wei, please come back!”
“I said that I would repay you when I grew up! Why!? Sob, sob, sob! Why did you not give me a chance to repay you!?”
“Father Wei!”
“Don’t go!”
The scene was a mess.
Some gave flowers, some queued up to pay their respects, and some even cried out loud beside Editor Wei’s body and refused to leave.
Seeing Editor Wei peacefully lying there, Zhang Ye also felt some blame lay with him. If he had helped Editor Wei with his tasks that night, if he had not gone home, maybe when Editor Wei suffered from his heart attack, he could have done something for him. He could have been saved, but…
“The live broadcast is starting!”
“Cameras! Find me an angle!”
“Capture this scene. Leave the rest to the live broadcast studio’s host!”
The television station and newspaper journalists all began busying themselves.
……
At the same time.
Beijing Television Station, BTV-News Channel.
“Dear viewer friends, Comrade Wei Jianguo’s memorial service has begun. We can see the various station leaders, Editor Wei’s colleagues, the children who have been helped by Father Wei, their parents and various independent communities who are here to remember Father Wei. From the crying and the heavy mood in the scene, we can already feel how well-respected and loved Father Wei was when he was alive!”
The broadcast was now live.
The live picture of the scene was on, while the audio was that of the studio’s host.
Then, the host said, “We will pass the live audio feed over to the scene.”
……
Over here.
Wang Shuixin asked, “The broadcast is now live?”
“It’s live.” The secretary had gone over to ask around. Even though they weren’t from the same channel, they were all colleagues from Beijing Television Station. When he returned, he said, “It won’t be fully broadcast live; only about ten minutes will be. But that’s already almost the whole event already. His family will make a speech, and then leader will make a speech. That will take up most of the time already.” It wasn’t a national Leader’s funeral. Therefore, the service would not be that formal either. Although Wei Jianguo’s story was now very much on everyone’s mind, getting a live broadcast for ten minutes on the local Beijing Television Station channel was already something very privileged.
A Leader of Beijing Television Station had gone over to the cameras to supervise their work. If it was pre-recorded, then that will be fine. But as with all live broadcasts, they had to make sure everything went well!
Zhang Ye, who had just entered the hall, went over to Hu Fei and Xiao Lu.
Hu Fei said in a hushed voice, “The live broadcast has started; don’t talk anymore.”
Hou Ge said softly, “We understand.”
A woman who had been standing beside Editor Wei’s body, and was around 20 something years old, walked forward. Because the hall was quite large and it was a live broadcast, she was handed a microphone by a television station staff member. This was to ensure that the audio could be heard during the live broadcast.
This was Editor Wei’s daughter. Her name was Wei Ying.
Wei Ying held the microphone and stood forward, saying, “Thank you, everyone. Thank you for joining us at my father’s memorial service. In the beginning, I did not want to hold this memorial service because my dad did not like extravagant things. But, I still want to thank everyone for ensuring that my dad has a proper sending off with so many of you here.” After speaking, she paused for a moment before saying, “Many of the reporters asked me before this if I was proud that I had a father like him. Many people would think I would be proud… ” Saying that, she gave a light laugh, “Actually, not at all!”
“Uh.”
“What is she saying… ?”
“What does she want to say?”
Everyone could not understand, so they whispered to each other.
Wei Ying looked at them, “I have not felt a moment of pride. Ever since I was young, my father has never bought me new clothes; my mother would secretly buy them for me. When I started school, my father never showed up to any parent-teacher meeting sessions. He was always working. In his rest time, he would busy himself with picking up bottles to help other children. But me, I was not on the list of people that he would help. Even my first university tuition fees were not paid for by my father. He used it to help other children instead. I had to work part-time for three months, washing dishes and cleaning rooms to earn and repay the tuition fees!”
No one said anything.
Wei Ying was calm, “Why should I be proud? What’s there to be proud about? I knew my dad was a good person. I knew that his character was noble. But I never thought of him as a good father!”
The children that Editor Wei had helped looked down silently. Some of them did not even dare to look Wei Ying in the eye. They had an indescribable feeling in their hearts.
A parent said, “We’re sorry!”
“Child, we are sorry!” another parent also began crying.
For their children, Father Wei had neglected his own daughter. They could no longer face this young woman.
Wei Ying said, “My words are not finished yet. Don’t apologize. I am not blaming anyone.” Carrying on, she looked over at the crowd and found Zhang Ye. She nodded slightly at him before saying, “My father liked Teacher Zhang Ye’s poems when he was alive. He liked them so much that he would read them a few times each day. I have seen them, too. One of the poems touched me a lot. This poem says what I have been unable to tell my father! And today, I need to tell him that!”
What did she want to say?
To complain?
Or to question?
Everyone listened quietly.
Turning around, Wei Ying looked at her father’s corpse and, after her gaze lingered on it for a long while, a tear flowed down from the corner of her eyes. She began reciting, “See me, or not. There will I stay, no sorrow, nor joy. Miss me, or not. There will affection lay, no immersion, nor dispersion. Love me, or not. There will love remain, no more, nor less. Follow me, or not. In your hand is mine… ” Wei Ying clasped her father’s cold hands tightly, “… no discarding, nor departure!”
At this moment, many people burst into tears!
This included the people present, as well as the audience in front of their televisions!
Everyone might not know what sort of complicated feelings they were, nor could they experience it themselves. As they had never experienced it before, they only knew two things. Father Wei was a good person, and Father Wei’s daughter… never hated him!
Zhang Ye’s eyes welled up. This scene made him recall a scene in “If You Are the One 2”. However, that was a movie and it was fiction. As for this scene, it was reality! It was happening before his very eyes!
A father that was questionable in his parenting!
And a… very good daughter!