【Short Story】A Late Reminder

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In the skies of April, there is light rain falling. Although the flowers are in bloom, a cold dampness still lingers in the air. 　　A solitary figure stood by the new grave. 　　Wu Bing took out the wine bottles from the bag, placed two glasses in front of the grave, and slowly poured the wine into them. ““Lao Liu, I raise this glass to you. We’ve been working together for so many years, working at the same construction site, living in the same dormitory, eating from the same pot – how could you just leave like that…” Wu Bing downed the drink in his hand in one gulp, and poured the other glass of alcohol on the grave. 　　Three days ago, Wu Bing and Lao Liu were carrying wooden planks on the seventh floor of the construction site when a rebar protruding from the ground almost made Wu Bing trip, scaring him to death with fear. Just as he was about to remind Old Liu, his phone rang. \"Wu Bing, come home quickly – the child has a high fever that won’t go down; he’s at the hospital now!\" Wu Bing put down what he was doing, rushed downstairs, and sped home. 　　That very night, Wu Bing received a call from a coworker, who said that Lao Liu had tripped over a rebar bar sticking out of the ground while carrying wooden planks, and fell straight from the balcony on the seventh floor... “Lao Liu, it’s all my fault; I should have warned you in time. I’m sorry for this...” Wu Bing drank another drink, tears of regret welling up in his eyes.