April 5th, Qingming Festival.

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Puddles on the road reflected the sign for Fúníngyuan Garden on Taipei Road, each raindrop that fell making ripples. Occasionally, a speeding vehicle would drive over them, scattering the broken water in all directions.

Today is Friday, just past seven thirty in the morning, and the streets are already bustling with activity. The shops along the street are opening one after another.

A boy stood under a tree, yawning beside the guardrail.

The oldest was only seventeen, with a head of black hair falling messily, partially obscuring his eyes. His face was sculpted with sharp, defined lines, very handsome.

“Thirty years old, a lawyer.”

"Forty-two years old, coal mine owner."

"Fifty-seven years old, a surgeon."

“Twenty-five years old, a dance livestreamer.”

"Twenty-one...Duck!"

Looking as if he were out of his body, Gu Jian's eyes scanned the passersby on the street, while he passed the time.

Though they seemed like words without logic, passersby couldn't help but cast astonished glances.

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Some people looked baffled, others wore expressions as if they'd seen a madman. A few were full of suspicion. Especially the last guy dressed to the nines, his face contorted in shock and anger, he spat lightly and hurried away.

"Crazy."

>

Gu Jianlin seemed unbothered, as if those words weren't directed at him at all.

He glanced at the time, it was almost time for the cemetery to open. He picked up his bags and got ready to leave.

At this moment, his phone rang, and a WeChat message came in.

"Xiao Lin, I'm going back to our old house in Jiao Xi with Uncle Su first today. I've transferred one thousand yuan to you via WeChat. Don't forget to visit your father's grave. Don't buy flowers at the garden, they are overpriced. Alright, Mom has to get on the car now. You just got out of the hospital recently, rest at home early."

A woman's voice was playing in the audio.
With a sudden thud, it stopped.

"I didn't expect mom to remember that."

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Gu Jianlin said softly.

He put away his phone, nodded and smiled at the security guard at the door, and walked into the park.

The security guard looked at the child. He was wearing the uniform of Fengcheng No. 2 Middle School, carrying a large schoolbag, holding a suitcase in his left hand, and several large bags of gifts in his right. He was clearly a boarding student.

Last night there was a typhoon, and all transportation in the city came to a halt. For safety reasons, school definitely wouldn't let anyone out.

Fengcheng Second Middle School is the best high school in this city, with top-tier educational standards, but it's over thirty kilometers away. This child came here so early; he must have run out of school first thing in the morning.

The security guard felt a bit sentimental.

He had been a security guard in this park for over ten years, witnessing the changes of times.

The more advanced the times become, the less human touch there is.

These days, there are fewer and fewer young people coming to the cemetery to visit their ancestors' graves. Of course, we can't blame them; life is already difficult enough. People are so busy, working either 9 to 6 or even zero to seven, going out early and returning late every day. When they finally get a day off, they just want to rest at home, maybe playing some video games.

>For over ten years, this is the first time I've seen a child come to visit their family's grave themselves. How unusual!

Gu Jianlin didn't know what the security guard was thinking. He just habitually tried to do everything well.

Many years ago, my father would bring him to this place to pay respects to his family every Qingming Festival. It was always at this time of year. If he arrived even a little late, the streets would be jammed, and people would be crowded at the entrance of the park, only moving forward inch by inch.

Therefore, his father would always wake him up before six o'clock every time, and he was reluctant at that time.

Now that his father is gone and his mother has rebuilt her life with a new family, he is the only child left at home.

At the time of their divorce, my parents' relationship had already become very strained.

I thought that after Dad's accident, Mom would throw herself into a new life and quickly forget about her ex-husband.

>

I didn't expect her to remind me about visiting his grave.

Gu saw Lin shaking his head and laughing. He followed the path he remembered up the slope. There were many cemeteries in this park, Dad's tombstone was located in West District No. 13, next to a small fountain, easy to find.

A black Mercedes was parked at the entrance of the cemetery. The driver's window rolled down, revealing a face with dark circles under the eyes.

This is a man in his forties, dressed in an officer's uniform, quietly smoking in the car. He then waved out the window and yawned, saying, "Xiaogu, here."

Gu Jianlin was taken aback: "Zhou Inspector? How did you get here?"

In the back seat of the car, there were two young agents sitting, each holding a bouquet of flowers.

Dad was a forensic sketch artist hired by the police station. Besides work, he didn't socialize much. If you asked who would visit him after his death, it would probably just be these colleagues of his from the detective division.

Criminal profiling, also known as offender profiling, is the process of analyzing crime scene details, modus operandi, and criminal behavior to create a psychological sketch of the likely perpetrator.

... thereby further depicting its race, gender, age, occupational background, physical characteristics, personality traits, etc., and making predictions about its next steps.

A sketch artist is very helpful in solving cases, so Dad is very respected at the police station.

"How many times have I told you, just call me Uncle Zhou."

Zhou Ze leaned against the car window, smoking and sighing, “I’ve known your dad for over twenty years. I've handled many cases thanks to his profiling skills. Besides, whenever you take a break, you always hang out at the police station waiting for me. You might as well just come see me here yourself.”

"Well, these are all young agents your dad used to lead."

He pointed behind him: "You should all know each other, right?"

"Little Gu is so filial. He runs to the police station every day for Professor Gu's sake. It would be hard not to know him."

Those two young detectives said with a smile.

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Gu Jianlin nodded slightly, acknowledging the greeting.

Zhou Tanchang's position is the captain of Fengcheng City Police Station. As a high-ranking official, he has a busy schedule and may not be able to return home even once every half month when things get hectic. It was unexpected that he would make a special trip. Let me know if you have more text you'd like translated! ?

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you lately."

Gu Jianlin thought about how he had been bothering the police station every day lately and felt a bit apologetic: "If you're really busy, there's no need to come. Anyway, you two are so close, my dad wouldn't blame you."

“It's not a big deal.”

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Zhou Ze shrugged, pushed open the car door and got out, snuffing out his cigarette: "I had to come see you, didn't I? He's your only son. I have to take care of him, don't I? How's your recovery coming along?"

Gu Jianlin touched his forehead and replied, "I'm fine, anyway, when I was discharged from the hospital, the doctor said I was okay."

"Well then, when I found you guys, your dad was gone and you were covered in blood, unconscious."

Zhou Ze-duan examined his face, feeling a little relieved. He sighed and said, “The doctor said that even if he recovers, there's a possibility of brain injury. So you need to rest a lot. Take these days off and stay home well, don't keep going back and forth to the Police Department.”

"Understood."

When Gu Jianlin recalled the car accident four months ago and the hazy experiences that followed, he felt a chill.

It feels like a nightmare, and I haven't woken up yet.

Zhou Ze patted him comfortingly on the shoulder and said in a low voice, "Come on, don't just stand here. Let's go see your dad and them first. You don't need to queue for flowers, I've had someone bring some for you."

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Gu Jianlin pursed his lips and nodded slightly.

He used to always listen to the elderly lament about the impermanence of the world, how people's encounters and farewells were too fleeting, often when they met again, it was already a different person. Time slipped away silently and unknowingly.

>Let me know if you have more text you'd like me to translate!

At first, he didn't feel much about it, after all, he was still young.

But now he understands.

Because Gu Jianlin never expected it, after four months, when he saw his father again, the grass on his grave was half a meter high.

In the cemetery, five tombstones are arranged neatly from left to right. Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

Grandfather, grandmother, second uncle, third uncle, father.

The photos on the tombstones all look peaceful.

At least my mom's still alive, otherwise I'd be starting out in an orphanage.

The whole family offered sacrifices to heaven, their magical powers boundless.

He glanced at the small empty patch of land at the very bottom, feeling as if it had been reserved just for him.

If I die one day, just bury me here.

The whole family was together.

>

Gu Jianlin placed down his suitcase and, according to memory, took out flowers and offerings from his bag, placing them one by one on the tombstone. Then he knelt on the ground with his hands clasped together in a gesture of mourning.

It seemed as if everything was the same as during previous Qingming Festivals.

This time, there's just been added a new tombstone.

There is one more bouquet of flowers to buy.

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Another person to miss.

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Zhou Ze silently lit a cigarette. His best friend died young, and he wasn't feeling well inside.

This is a test sentence.

The two young investigators also felt a great deal of regret. After all, Professor Gu was the best profiler in Fengcheng City. Over the years, he had helped solve many major cases, and now he was gone so young.

The only consolation is that Professor Gu left behind a filial and good son.

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However, the next second, they suddenly heard the boy's whispers.

“You say you're a psychology professor, yet you choose to forgo your high-paying job to become a criminal profiler for the police department. Not only is the pay low, but you also travel constantly, going wherever there's a case. What's your motivation?”

“In the end, I didn't save much money, and I lost many people. Mom was right when she said that all you have going for you is your looks. But what I didn't expect was that even as I grew up, it turned out to be the same.”

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"Back then, when you were doing this line of work, I told you to buy more insurance. After all, it's too easy to offend people, and you could end up in trouble later in life. You buying more insurance would mean if something ever happened to you, my life would be a little easier. But you didn't listen. You believed the nonsense of that old charlatan downstairs and thought you could live past eighty. What happened? You were gone by forty."

“Later, I went to confront that Sun Banshen and demand a refund. He said he was a half-immortal and that fortune-telling only worked half the time. When I asked which half was correct, he said it was half of my lifespan. Even if I wanted a refund, I could only get half back.”

"If you're really dead, hurry up and show yourself and take that old Sun Banxian downstairs with you. I made a deal with his son to buy him a few large insurance policies too. When he's gone, we'll split the money."

As someone so superstitious, don't you want someone to burn paper for you after you die?

When Gu Jianlin offered tributes, he always followed the allocated quotas. However, when it came to his father's house, things were different.

Took out an apple, took a bite first, then put it back.

He pulled out another loaf of bread, taking a bite off one end before tossing it upwards.

There was also a grilled fish, which he had gnawed down to just its skeleton. It was put together with the rest of the food as well.

The investigator stared blankly at the child's grave. He was watching a kid crazily eating his father's offerings. Truly, he is filial to death!

Zhou Ze couldn't help but complain: "Xiao Gu, you and the others are both here to pay respects to the dead. Why is there such a big difference in your style?"

Gu Jianlin looked up and realized it was past eight o'clock. A few more groups of people had come to the cemetery.

All around me were the sounds of people weeping, and everywhere I looked there were only silent faces.

At first glance, they all look like heartbroken people.

"What's considered normal then?"

Gu Jianlin glanced at a woman beside him, wailing on top of a tombstone. He said indifferently, "Like this?"

Zhou Ze followed his gaze and said with emotion, "He's crying so sadly. Every family has its own difficult stories."

That was a tombstone shaped like a hill, a woman in her prime knelt before it, holding a photograph and crying heartbreakingly. Her family stood behind her silently, their expressions numb or mournful, each different.

"Are you heartbroken?"

"But I see her smiling quite happily," Gu Jianlin said calmly.

Zhou Ze was stunned: "Laugh? When did she laugh?"

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You have to know, this is Qingming Festival. Anyone who is sane wouldn't laugh on someone else's grave, unless they want to get beaten up.

"My dad often said that you can't always judge people by their appearances, sadness can be faked too."

Gu Jianlin glanced again at the side and shook his head: "The one in the grave is her husband. The tombstone says he was born in 1970, making him 52 this year. This woman can't be older than 24. She came to pay respects but dressed so meticulously, with such heavy makeup, and brand-name clothes all over. That bag alone costs 80,000 yuan."

He paused for a moment: "The rich man in the grave married a young wife. The woman didn't love him, his death was a good thing for her."

Because there is a large inheritance to be divided.

Zhou Ze was taken aback and laughed: "So you're still studying your dad's sketches? Sketches require a lot of life experience and knowledge, which can't be learned quickly! Besides, your basis is wrong. Don't you think this woman is someone else's daughter?"

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Gu Jianlin didn't say anything, he had many reasons.

For example, several men standing behind were shouting "Dad" at the tombstone, obviously the deceased's sons.

The problem is, this woman doesn't look anything like them.

For example, the way those men looked at this woman was full of hatred and disdain, clearly indicating a bad relationship.

This woman has a ring mark on her ring finger, but she isn't wearing her wedding ring today.

The scent of perfume carried by the wind, the brands of her clothes and bag, her posture when she walked, her alluring manner... Let me know if you have any other text you'd like translated! ?

Of course, these details are not the point and have no absolute persuasive power.

Gu Jianlin said that the woman was smiling because he truly saw her smile.

In his eyes, the woman clutching the tombstone trembled all over, her lips twitching in a suppressed, triumphant laugh. She laughed uncontrollably, convulsing with mirth. Despite having a rather pretty face, when she smiled, it looked like that of a ghastly hag.

"Ah."

"Haha!"

"Hahaha... Hahahahaha!"

His laugh was really grating.

She was laughing nervously, and one would think it would have drawn attention from those around her.

However, the truth is that neither her family nor those around her seemed to notice her unusual behavior.

Here is your text translated to English:

Gu Jianlin was already accustomed to this.

This is the translated text. Please note that I have only translated the content within the <<<>>>tags and left the HTML tags untouched. Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

Of course they couldn't see it.

Because this is a picture he wrote out himself.

(Editor in charge：me before you a novel)