CHAPTER 2
”Huihua, take your brother out to play.”
She let her daughter take her son out, and she felt more rational when the two children were out of her sight. Her son had been a good student since he was young, and boys naturally yearn for their fathers, so let him follow his father.
”I can’t raise two children, so Ruyi will follow you.”
Fang Zhongcheng was stunned when he heard this. This arrangement was beyond his expectations. He knew how much she loved their children, but he didn’t expect that she didn’t want a son even though they were getting divorced.
He just graduated, and his mother said yesterday that she would find him a good family girl to start a new family. If he had a child, would that be smooth? But looking at her, it seemed like she had planned it. If he didn’t agree…
”The child is not mine alone. You, as a father, cannot completely shirk this responsibility. If you don’t want to, then the three of us will stay. It is a man’s responsibility to support the family and take care of his wife and children. You won’t just pull up your pants and do nothing, right?”
”I,”
Fang Zhongcheng’s face turned pale and blue at her words, and he looked down on her out of anger. “Look at you, you’re even more vulgar than a foot-picking man. You said such rubbish in front of your brother-in-law, are you still a woman? With someone like you, which man would be willing to live with you?”
Li Xia sneered, “You thought it was hopeless to return to the city, so you came to live with me, so that you could carry on the family line and have someone to wash clothes and cook for you. Now that you have returned to the city, you abandon your wife and children and are irresponsible. You find a new wife to live with. I am just uneducated, but your character is worse than a toilet.”
”you,”
Fang Zhongcheng stood up angrily, raised his finger and pointed at her, panting. Li Xia rolled her eyes and stood still, watching him trembling with anger, and the resentment in her heart finally dissipated.
She finally let out the anger she hadn’t gotten out in her previous life. When you don’t care about someone, you can speak without restraint. In her previous life, she was bullied by him until her tears dried up, but she was still laughed at. She had thought about this for many years, and pondered it over and over for a long time.
”Either you pay the child support for both children until they reach adulthood, or we pay one child each. It doesn’t make sense that you can take off your pants and enjoy yourself, while I have to work hard for the rest of my life to raise your children.”
Her own flesh and blood, born after ten months of pregnancy and twelve broken ribs. She loved her children , but the children were not hers alone.
”That’s my dad, he should be responsible for me. He spent money to support my education, so you can relax. Why don’t you want him to share the burden? Why do you have to work so hard? You get up early and stay up late, and your back is bent. Mom, can’t you see the white hair on your head? How much older are you than your peers?”
Her son from her previous life called out to her, and she felt anxious and distressed. Her heart suddenly ached again. What should she say? After going through the most difficult days in her life, she didn’t want any candy from anyone, especially the man who abandoned them when she was in the most difficult time.
If the blood relationship between father and son cannot be broken, then take him when the time is most difficult, don’t just think about picking up the ready-made one. We all can endure the hard times together, she suffered all her life, but still noone understood her in the end.
Now that she is divorced, she is more clean-headed than she should be. If she continues to take the two children with her as she did in her previous life, the three of them will suffer together. She is under the pressure of life and her children do not like their mother, and she does not like herself like that either.
”You woman, you don’t even want your own child, how good is your character?”
”…The responsibility is equally shared. Where did I go wrong?”
Li Xia calmed down for a while before asking this question. She was so angry that she almost jumped up and had a fight with him. In her previous life, she still missed him and cried just to keep him and save her marriage. In this life, she just wanted to separate and divorce. Her hands were clenched tightly, and her nails dug into her flesh. The pain reminded her what her purpose was.
Her clear words silenced the three brothers. Divorce is about the division of property and child support. There is nothing wrong with what they said. You are a father. If you dare to say that you don’t want either child and won’t pay a penny for child support, you are slapping yourself in the face and being irresponsible. Such a statement is not allowed by law or morality.
Fang Zhongcheng looked at her silently, his eyes and heart full of scrutiny. Her series of actions after waking up were beyond his expectations. It seemed that she didn’t care about him at all and wanted to cut off all ties with him immediately. Could it be that because she had a problem with him, she didn’t want her son anymore?
”My son, Didn’t I left home to go to school when he was born, and you brought him up by yourself. Are you really willing to give him to me?”
”That’s your son.”
Li Xia was helpless. It took her a lifetime to understand this truth. The child was theirs. He was not a cat or a dog. He had his own thoughts. Moreover, father and son were not only related by blood, but also had a legal obligation to raise and support him. She could not raise him alone just by working herself to death.
She really wanted to let him go, and Fang Zhongcheng felt that he had miscalculated. No one in the room spoke anymore, leaving only the sound of everyone’s gentle breathing.
Li Xia reminded herself to keep calm and give him time to think about it. They had been together for many years and they knew each other well. He should have expected that she would not want to give up the child, while he wanted to be free and easy. Now her change had thrown him off balance.
The hour hand reached eleven, and the aroma of cooking wafted in from outside. It was almost noon, and because of her sudden calmness, the neighbors who were watching the excitement outside also dispersed, leaving only a few gossipy people watching from afar.
”Have you discussed it?”
The old couple of the Fang family came back, and the old lady asked her son. The daughter-in-law was crying and making a fuss before, but now she is quiet. She didn’t know if he has managed her. She looks reasonable.
”She said she agrees to the divorce, but we should take one child each.”
”How can a mother not want a child?”
”So the child is the mother’s alone? You gave birth to and raised all these children in your family by yourself?”
Suddenly, the old lady was speechless with calm and rational words. Take it when you need it, and leave it when you don’t? Men enjoy themselves for a while, and women take care of them for the rest of their lives. Women shoulder the heavy responsibility alone, and you will recognize them when they grow up?
She also hoped that the child was hers alone, but the fact was that it was impossible. His blood flowed in his body, and this was an unchangeable fact.
”Li Xia, please think about this again. You have been taking care of the child since birth. Can the child adapt to being left behind so suddenly? As a mother, you have to think about the child. Wouldn’t you feel bad if the child gets sick?”
”If you don’t want to raise the child yourself, just pay the child support in one lump sum. I’ll take the child with me, and I’ll leave right now. I’ll raise my child, and I won’t shirk my responsibilities.”
”I, I’m not shirking my responsibility. It’s just that I still live in the dormitory. How can I take care of the child?”
”Then how do you say we should solve this problem? Ever since you started school, I’ve been the only one working to support the three of us. I borrowed the ticket to get out this time, and I still owe money to the brigade. As the head of the family and the father of the child, I can’t do anything if you want to divorce me, after all, the country also stipulates freedom of marriage. But you have to solve the problem of the child.”
It’s steady and well-reasoned. As a father, you have neglected your children for several years. Are you just going to divorce her and abandon your wife and children and be done with it, without taking any responsibility?
Such calm and reasonable reasoning may not work for scoundrels, but it is very effective for hypocrites like Fang Zhongcheng. She was too stupid in her previous life and didn’t understand anything. She only thought about raising her child, and she almost exhausted herself to death for decades.
”Divorce is normal, but isn’t it unreasonable to ignore the children? The work points a woman earns in the countryside are at most enough for her own food and drink, how can she support two children?”
”It’s a hard life for this woman too. It’s not easy.”
”My mother’s family is from the countryside. If a woman wants to earn money to support her and her children, she has to work like an animal. Look at her hand, it looks like there’s a cut on it. This is summer, who knows what would happen if it was winter.”
”If you become capable, you will ignore your wife and children. Isn’t this Shameless?”
When the neighbors heard her words, their attitude changed. At first, they laughed at her and looked down on her for being a vulgar, but now they all felt sorry for her. Once the man succeeded, she was abandoned. He didn’t even care about their children.
The Fang family members were all very upset. Old Man Fang pushed his wife to cook. There were so many people watching, and the marriage hadn’t ended yet. Could you not let your daughter-in-law and grandchildren eat?
The old lady had no choice but to scoop up the grain and go to the kitchen. Everyone stayed quiet, and the two children came in timidly to their mother. Seeing that she was not angry, the youngest son took out the candy in his pocket and gave it to her.
”Mom, here.”
When he called her in a baby voice, her heart softened. Her son, the son who had brought her infinite glory. She didn’t know what he was thinking.
She can understand why he wanted to recognize the father who didn’t raise him that day. But at this time he was still a child, and his eyes were full of admiration when he looked at her.
”Mom doesn’t want to eat, Yi Yi eat it by yourself.”
The eldest daughter also gave her candy, and the two children snuggled up to her, one on each side. She couldn’t tell what she felt. She was so shocked that she couldn’t think too much.
She ate lunch with the children without paying attention to others. Her stomach was growling and she was eager for food. The two children’s stomachs were also growling. She ate while feeding the children.
The mother and her two children have been hungry for a day and have eaten too much. Her parents-in-law and their family are not happy with them, but if they want to drive them away, they have to solve the problem first. They have been dragging it out before, and now they want to get a divorce, but what about the children?
After dinner, she coaxed the two children to sleep, and the family sat down to discuss, and they finally agreed to have one child each. In the afternoon, we went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to handle the formalities. The agreement clearly stated that each of them would raise one child, and each would bear the cost without the other paying child support. They both had visitation rights, and they could negotiate a time to see the children if they wanted to.
”Bring Huihua to me quietly, don’t let Yi Yi know.”
The man didn’t want to go through another crying child, so he nodded. She waited at the entrance of the alley, and he quickly brought her Huihua out. She held her daughter in one hand and her bag in the other, and the mother and daughter walked aimlessly.
“Mom, where’s my brother?”
The siblings usually eat and sleep together, and it is her daughter who takes care of her brother when she goes to work. She should explain this to her daughter now. But she is only seven years old. Can she understand what divorce means?
First she found a corner where no one was around and squat in front of the child. “Mom and Dad are divorced. Do you know what divorce means?”
The little girl’s eyes instantly filled with tears, and she nodded obediently. She threw himself into her arms, and imitated her by patting her back.
”Don’t be sad, mom. I want you.”
The child knows that she has been abandoned and wants to comfort her. The baby knows that if she goes home, there will only be a thatched house and coarse food, but still wants to follow her closely. They are just simply attached to their mother. She wished time would stay here forever. All the baby needs is the mother’s embrace and mother’s love.
”Mom is alone,” she wanted to say that mom can’t raise two children, but she changed the subject after she said it. “Mom is not capable enough to let you all suffer with me. So I left your brother to your father. Your father will find a job soon. He has a stable job, which is better than mom’s. Your brother won’t suffer.”
The little girl thought about it and nodded silently. Grandpa and grandma’s place is indeed better than her home. But no matter how good it is, there is no mother. Children without mothers are the most pitiful. But she didn’t say this because she knew her mother was too tired.
After explaining everything to her daughter, she saw that it was getting dark. She took out the money and coupons from her pocket and counted them. She still had some money and food coupons. Her father had put them in her bag before she left, and she didn’t want to spend them during the journey.
”Come on, mom will buy you something to eat.”
”Mom, do you have any money or tickets?”
”Yes.”
The mother and daughter went to the canteen and bought a few steamed buns made of various grains, the cheapest food. She had a letter of introduction in her pocket, which could allow her to stay at a guest house, but she was reluctant to leave.
The village will not be divided into households until next year, and even if the land is distributed, it will only be enough for the mother and daughter to eat. She wants to stay in the city and do a small business, which is better than living in the countryside. She has foresight to start over again, and she can’t be stupid enough to go home and farm again.
The mother and daughter sat at the entrance of the alley, eating steamed bun with water. The weather in early summer was quite cold at night. She planned to cover her daughter with a thin cotton coat, and she would spend the night outside holding the child.
