“You can come whenever you want.”
On the phone was Flora"s mother, Raisley.
“It"s to be held at ten in the morning on Sat.u.r.day, Xinhai Tree Funeral Garden.”
“Tree funeral?” Su Yutan slightly hesitated when she heard the burial process.
In the s.p.a.ce era, the mainstream funeral methods included: tombs, tower burials, water burials, tree burials, and s.p.a.ce burials.
Tombs and tower burials were the traditional funeral methods and are mostly chosen by people who believe and abide by the more traditional concepts.
Water funerals and tree funerals were more environmentally friendly, and people who like nature usually choose these two methods.
The s.p.a.ce burial was a more desirable way for those who yearn for the stars and love freedom.
Su Yutan felt that Flora may prefer s.p.a.ce burial.
Because she liked “Wandering All Stars” so much, she was very familiar with astronomical terms such as globular cl.u.s.ters, spiral galaxies, Cepheid variable stars, absolute magnitudes and so on. In her usual conversation, she also unconsciously showed her curiosity and longing for the starry sky.
She told Rathley her idea.
Raisley asked ironically, “Do you think you know her well?”
Su Yutan replied with patience, “I dare not say that I understand her that well, but I still have a certain degree of certainty.”
She also explained the reason for this judgment.
Raisley impatiently said, “You social workers are really annoying! When Flora was alive, you directed us on what to do, now Flora has died you still continue to direct us on how to bury her. It is disgusting. I want to bury her with a tree, what can you do about it? If so, then go to court and sue me!”
After speaking, she hung up the phone directly and no longer gave Su Yutan any chance to speak.
Su Yutan stayed stunned for a long time, and finally sighed helplessly.
She felt bad. If Flora didn"t go that sudden, she might have had a chance to explain it.
On Flora"s funeral day, the sky was gloomy and dull, mirroring Su Yutan"s mood.
At the funeral, Su Yutan first met Flora"s father, Bandy, face to face.
Bandy was a lawyer with a gloomy temperament. When he saw Su Yutan, he sneered and looked at her with scorn.
Su Yutan noticed his expression, but she was too lazy to think too much about it.
Today, sending Flora away was the most important thing.
In addition to Flora"s parents, several relatives from her family and several doctors and nurses familiar with Flora came to the funeral.
Miss Cindy was still in the isolation ward, so the only social worker who came to the funeral was Su Yutan.
The method of tree burial was very simple; dig a pit in the tree funeral garden, put the ashes on the bottom of the pit, plant a tree that the deceased loved in his life, and set up a small tombstone in front of the tree, then it is done.
The procedure for Flora"s funeral was also simple. Except for the master of the tree funeral garden, who briefly introduced Flora"s life, no one else spoke.
It was not that no one wanted to say anything, but that the funeral rituals were set by the family. If the family members did not invite guests to speak, it would be difficult for others to say much.
Su Yutan could only say to Flora silently in her heart, I"m sorry!
No crying, no tears, no proper Eulogy*.
In a cold and quiet atmosphere, Flora was buried quietly.
From then on, she was accompanied only by an ornate cremation urn and a cypress tree that she did not know whether she loved or not.
At the end of the funeral, Flora"s parents quickly left and did not even greet the people who attended the funeral.
The others were a little sad and left in silence.
Su Yutan stood alone in front of Flora"s tombstone.
She didn"t even know when she was soaked in a light drizzle, drenching her hair, her shoulders, and her heart was also soaked. She wanted to cry a lot but she couldn"t.
Slight footsteps sounded and came to her from a distance.
A large black umbrella blocked the rain above her head, and a familiar person appeared on her side.
Su Yutan turned her head subconsciously, and saw Qiao w.a.n.gchuan"s handsome face.
He smiled at her, and gently said, “I am with you.”
That morning, Qiao w.a.n.gchuan sent Su Yutan to the tree funeral garden.
Qiao w.a.n.gchuan didn"t know Flora and was not invited, so he was an unwelcome guest at the funeral. He just stood and watched it from a distance. He waited until the others were gone, and came over with this umbrella.
In Qingqing Cemetery, a small sapling which was just planted, a tombstone just erected, an umbrella and two people stood quietly for a long time.
The drizzle fell and shrouded them like smoke.
Rain slowly condensed into water droplets on the treetops of the young sapling, crystal clear like the tears of angels.
One week after Flora"s funeral, Su Yutan was suddenly called to a meeting of the Social Affairs Bureau.
The reason was, Flora"s lawyer father, Bandy, brought both Fusheng Hospital and Xinhai Social Affairs Bureau to court for a huge compensation.
The complaint stated: Su Yutan, a social worker of the Xinhai Social Affairs Bureau, misconducted and took Flora out of the hospital without the consent of his guardian, which indirectly led to Flora"s death.
Su Yutan felt ridiculous.
How could it become “without the consent of her guardian” when she obviously asked Rathley for her consent? If Bandy wanted to find someone to claim, he should find the perpetrator of the dish collision?
When she rushed to the conference room, she found that there were already a dozen people in the conference room.
Her immediate supervisor, Tang En, and the leaders of the Social Work Section, the Uninsured Department, and the Social Affairs Bureau were all present. Several people, including Avril Lavigne, also came from the Legal Affairs Office and the Public Relations Office.
Avril was responsible for briefing her.
The pilot of the crashed flying saucer that led to Flora"s death was a young man in his early 20s named Mao Zhuang.
On the day of the accident, his flying saucer suddenly changed its established flight path and speed, and hit another flying saucer, which led to a serious accident.
The police found the black box of Mao Zhuang "s flying saucer. After an investigation, it was believed that the cause of the accident was that Mao Zhuang had illegally driven the flying saucer by hand over the city.
The flying saucer"s automatic driving system would apply for a route to the global transportation network before the flying saucer took off.
When the global transportation network a.s.signs routes, it also strictly limited its flight rhythm, take off and touch down at a few minutes and seconds, at what speed to fly out of the disc parking, and in which acceleration zone and how much, and Lane, which flight segment maintains which speed, and finally which disc parking or temporary parking point it would dock.
In the city, many flying saucers constantly travelled.
The reason why they did not collide with each other, and the fact that they could converge into layers of spectacular "stacking flows" was based on the precise command of the global transportation network and the precise execution of the flying saucer automatic driving system.
It was impossible for a person"s executive ability to achieve that level of precision.
The automatic driving system was based on the artificial intelligence of the “Earth Alliance Traffic Safety Law”. It would fly strictly in accordance with the restricted rhythm, and would never have any driving behavior that affects traffic safety.
Eulogy : a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly, especially a tribute to someone who has just died.
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1 ko-Fi = extra chapter