Heartfelt Condolences

It was a very busy Saturday, people came in and out of the door of that house quite frequently. With a pained expression on their faces they approached Xie Lian offering him their deepest condolences.

Leaning against a pillar with his arms folded, Hua Cheng repeatedly observed that scene, trembling on the spot. That respectability would not have made Xie Lian forget all the wrongs he had suffered, but out of respect for his pain he limited himself to rolling his eyes every time someone approached his boyfriend.

Hua Cheng felt so helpless. If there was one thing he hated more than the people themselves, it was their hypocrisy. That typical attitude that leads to knowingly lying in search of favors or simply for a façade was something he couldn't stomach. He thought that over time he had learned to let the frustration slide, but that day he learned that it was just a lie that had been repeated for some time.

The first to arrive that Saturday were Feng Xin and Mu Qing. The two lice, as Hua Cheng called him, crossed that door shocked and went straight towards the figure of Xie Lian, holding him in a shared embrace and murmuring words of comfort. Hua Cheng highly doubted how much the two actually cared about what Xie Lian felt. The three were veterans of a somewhat stormy past, from which no real clarification had ever been achieved. After a period where the two had distanced themselves from Xie Lian, one day they decided to return to be part of his life again, as if they had not abandoned him in his darkest period. Hua Cheng he couldn't get along with them and their attitude didn't help. When Xie Lian introduced them, their disdain was clear, they didn't appreciate Hua Cheng and didn't even try to disguise it. Several times the man had caught them trying to convince Xie Lian to think again and dump him before it was too late, but luckily he had a boyfriend who knew how to think with his mind.

Returning to that day, the two constantly remained by Xie Lian's side carefully following his every move. To make the situation even more oppressive, Qi Rong took care of it with his arrogance. When Hua Cheng glimpsed him from the open door, he prepared to approach to try to prevent him from entering but, decidedly disrespectful, Qi Rong ignored Hua Cheng's presence and, after bumping him with his shoulder, walked briskly towards his cousin . Without heeding Hua Cheng's glare, Qi Rong began, as usual, to speak out of turn. Xie Lian was now used to that annoying and predictable attitude, but on that occasion he couldn't let those words slide over him. After Qi Rong's visit, the atmosphere in that room became decidedly tense. Xie Lian's harsh and authoritarian tone as he chased his cousin away still resounded loudly in the ears of those present who, fearful of worsening the situation, avoided making comments.

That loss had clearly upset Xie Lian. Sitting next to that coffin and with a lost gaze, he scrutinized that corpse in the hope of seeing a sign that would disprove the obvious. Hua Cheng watched him in silence, hoping that by doing so his beloved would be able to metabolize what had happened.

Among other people who set out to express their condolences that day, ShiQing Xuan and He Xuan were among those who caught Hua Cheng's attention. He Xuan seemed to have merged with the surrounding atmosphere, silently followed his companion, sitting aside once he had the chance. Watching him, Hua Cheng wondered how much longer he intended to keep up this farce. She had been nagging him for years with her plan for revenge against Shi Wudu, ShiQing Xuan's brother, but this longed-for revenge never seemed to come.
The woman, however, immediately tried to dampen that gloomy atmosphere by encouraging those present to tell each other a funny or interesting anecdote about the poor deceased in the center of the room. He believed that by doing so they would keep his memory alive, but Hua Cheng thought it was just a way to accentuate Xie Lian's pain. Decidedly annoyed, he sent a dirty look to ShiQing Xuan, who in response approached Xie Lian to encourage him to let go of his memories. They spent some time like this, raving about the memories that popped into their minds.