CHAPTER 5
After the wine was served, Li Xia was considered the daughter-in-law of the Shen family in terms of public order and morality. Originally, the old lady took care of Shen Haiyang at night, but now it was her turn. It was quiet at night. She checked the urine bag and sat on a chair beside it.
She looked at this man quietly under the light. He had his eyes tightly closed so she couldn’t see what they looked like. She could only see that he had thick eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and thin lips that were very handsome, giving people a very gentle feeling. This man was quite good-looking, but it was a pity that he didn’t have any reaction now.
This was her wedding night, and people outside didn’t know whether to pity her or laugh at her. But Li Xia was very happy. It was so good. She could make her own decision and do whatever she wanted.
She reached out and poked his cheek playfully: “I will take care of you from now on, don’t be shy. We are having a wedding today, you can treat me as your wife or as your nurse. You can’t choose now, this is your mother’s choice, if you can get better, you can make the decision for yourself then, I am a reasonable person, I won’t blackmail you.”
Of course the man on the bed didn’t react. She fetched some water, washed a towel, wiped his face, and shaved. “Such a handsome man, but he doesn’t grow any weight if he doesn’t move. He’s too skinny.”
She cleaned up for him cheerfully, took off her short-sleeved shirt and wore only the vest inside to sleep on the single bed next to him. With her coming, the originally lifeless main room began to be revitalized, the windows were cleaned and the kitchen was filled with the aroma of food on time. The bedding and winter clothes were washed and hung in the yard, a lively scene.
Little Shen Hui helped her get the basin. After a moment’s pause, he looked around and shouted, “Mom, here’s the basin for you.”
The child suddenly spoke, and she was stunned for a moment before she smiled and said, ” Good Boy, play with your sister.”
The child looked back at his grandmother, who smiled at him. He turned around and asked Huihua to play with him. He was born in the first month of the year and Huihua was born in the twelfth month. Although the two children were the same age, he was actually almost a year older than Huihua.
The neighbors all changed their ways after seeing the child, and smiled at the old lady. This family is also pitiful. The son was injured at work and became a vegetative, and the daughter-in-law divorced and left without even wanting the child. There are three a elderly and weak, a disabled, and small child in their family. Fortunately, this woman came now…
Thinking of this, the neighbors began to look at Li Xia with pity. Although she had settled down in the city, the burden was too heavy. A woman taking care of a comatose husband and two children, life would be difficult in the future. With a salary of about 20 yuan a month, it was hard for her to make ends meet.
Li Xia felt that the neighbors in the courtyard were all very kind, and she didn’t know that everyone was pitying her. Some people were gloating and watching the joke. In the afternoon, when she went to buy vegetables, she met Fang’s younger sister and Fang Ruyi in the alley. The child looked listless, but when he raised his head and saw them, he ran over quickly.
”Mom, sister,”
The child ran towards them, yelling, and hugged her thighs. He was excited at first, but suddenly tears fell when he saw her face.
”Mom, where have you been? Why didn’t you take me with you? Mom and grandma said you didn’t want me anymore. She lied to me, didn’t she?”
Li Xia squatted down to wipe the tears of the child. They would live in a large compound in the same area in the future, and the child would see her often. When she was just reborn, her mind was full of the words her son yelled at her. She had to work hard to force herself to rationally break up this marriage.
Although the son lives with his father after the divorce, she is the mother. No matter what disagreements she has with her son, she never forgets that she brought the child into this world. She has a responsibility to the child.
Now, facing the child’s tender little face, she has to remind herself to be rational every time. Don’t act rashly, which will hurt herself and the child in the end.
”Your mother remarried and doesn’t want you anymore. I’ve told you several times…”
”Shut up.”
The youngest sister of the Fang family was interrupted by her viciously, she reached out to hug her son, and then said to his little face: “Dad and mom are separated, sister follows mom, and Yi Yi follows dad. Do you understand what I mean?”
She didn’t expect a three or four-year-old to understand, but since things had come to this point, she would try her best to explain it in words that he might understand.
”Can’t I stay with my mother when we are apart?”
”Mom is with your sister, and you are a boy so you follow your father. Didn’t you say you wanted to learn how to write? You can ask your father to teach you. Dad is a college student, and you always miss him, don’t you?”
”me …. I want to…Okay, I’ll let dad raise me.”
The child pursed his lips in grievance, looking so pitiful. The younger sister of the Fang family curled her lips in disdain and whispered, “You married a vegetative person just to stay in the city. I knew you are a vain woman. Humph, so what if you stay? Shen Haiyang was a cadre before, so what? Now you have to take care of a vegetative person for the rest of your life and live as a widow. How pitiful.”
The woman muttered to herself and came over to take the child away. He followed his aunt for a few steps and looked back at his mother and sister. When they were buying vegetables at the vegetable store, he ran over and held her hand.
”Can I come to you if I miss my mom?”
”……you can.”
On the way home to cook, she saw the younger sister of the Fang family holding the child’s hand and turning away from her. She remembered that in her previous life, she was raising two children by herself and had little affection for them. She was too tired to work hard from dawn to dusk, and all her patience and tenderness were exhausted under extreme fatigue.
She would hit and yell at them, and her daughter was naturally timid and afraid of her. Her son was bolder and would hide from her when he gets into trouble. She herself has a hard life, and probably in the minds of her children, their mother is also scary, and had zero communication with them.
She kept nagging her daughter for urging her to get married, but her daughter went far away to work. After her son went to college, he often bought her things, but he basically had nothing to say to her. The two children looked at her with annoyance, pity and heartache.
She wanted to be a good mother and start over with gentleness towards her children. To speak well, she had to feel safe and calm herself.
”Xia, what are we having for dinner?”
The old lady came out to ask, and she quickly reached out to support her. Perhaps because she had arranged her marriage, the old lady suddenly looked much older and was not as energetic as before.
”I’ll make porridge tonight. I bought some potatoes and made some mashed potatoes for you. They’re soft and suitable for you to eat.”
”What’s a mashed potatoes?”
”Just peel the potatoes, grate them, coat them with flour, and steam them in a pot. After steaming for five or six minutes, stir-fry them with your favorite vegetables. This will make the potatoes soft and have a little bit of sweetness. Can I stir-fry them with spinach and tomatoes for you?”
“Okay.” The old lady smiled, looked to her left at Huihua, who was obediently serving as her walking stick, and smiled kindly at the child. She took out two candies from her pocket, one for each of her and Shen Hui. She looked up and said to Li Xia.
”The child can just stay with me in the yard, you go and cook.”
”Okay.” Li Xia responded, turned around and smiled at the two children, “Be good and help grandma run errands. Call mom if you need anything.”
”Okay”
There was an old lady and two children in the yard, and she went into the house to cook. She heard the old lady outside talking to the little ones, asking them what they liked to eat, what they liked to play, what they used to do at home, how they lived, etc.
The old lady liked the potatoes cooked this way for dinner. After dinner, Li Xia brought her some water. She washed up, took her medicine, and went to bed. The old lady lay down, held her hand, and talked to her.
”Li Xia is so filial, who wouldn’t envy me when seeing this? Huihui is also well-behaved, I told him to listen to you, I’ll leave the father and son to you in the future…”
The old woman fell asleep mumblingly. She went out and closed the door. When she returned to her bedroom, her daughter smiled happily at her. “Mom, I washed my feet myself. I changed the water for you to clean. You wash up and we go to bed.”
She bent down and kissed the child: “Good girl, mommy’s good baby.”
Mom is very different now. In her memory, she always missed Dad. She got angry when Dad ignored her and was not nice to them. Now she knows that she has moved to a new home. The new dad can’t do anything when he lies in bed, but he won’t get angry or scold Mom. Mom has become much gentler, which makes her feel safe.
Lying on the bed, she secretly looked at my mother, hoping that she would always be so gentle. In that case, it would not matter if there was no such a good house, such good bedding and food.
After she washed up and lay down on the bed, her daughter crawled into her bed. The little girl saw her brother today. The two children exchanged glances when the adults were not looking, and they were particularly excited tonight.
”Mom, can I play with my brother later?”
”sure.”
”My brother can come to our place, too? I can go to grandma’s house to see him, too?”
”I haven’t asked the grandmother here for her opinion, and if you go over there…”
”Then I’ll make an agreement with my brother next time so we can play together outside. My brother also said I can play with him.”
”Okay. Be safe when you play outside.”
”Oh yeah.”
Looking at her daughter’s excited and red face, she lowered her head and kissed her baby. The child was sensible since she was young. After her divorce , she raised them alone. In order to work more, she often came home in the dark. The child learned to cook, wash clothes, and play with her younger brother at a young age.
”You want to be with your brother?”
The little girl looked up at her when she heard that. Seeing that she was still smiling, she spoke: “I miss my brother. Mom, will this cause you trouble? You don’t want a brother anymore, right?”
”It won’t cause any trouble to mom. Just play with your brother if you like.”
”Oh, that’s nice.”
The little girl clapped her hands excitedly and laughed happily. She fell asleep in the patting of her mother. The child was obviously more lively than before. Li Xia looked around and was really glad to be able to stay in the city.
She was such a considerate daughter to her. In her previous life, she knew she was tired and helped her with everything. When she failed to get into high school, she started to help her earn money to share the pressure of life. She always felt sorry for her as a mother. If she could do it again, she would make her daughter happy and live a more relaxed life. Her daughter’s academic performance was not very good, so she would find a way to let her choose another path.
Lying on the bed, she silently looked at the window reflecting the moonlight, her heart was in turmoil as she made plans for the future. She had no money and her family had old and young and there was one lying in bed, so she couldn’t go south to sell goods. So she can start a small business first, getting up early to sell breakfast.
She can make fried dough sticks, steamed buns, and soy milk. Nowadays, few people make these things, so as long as they can sell them, they don’t have to worry about making money. And she can make a lot of money doing this, so she has no intention of getting a stable job.
Thinking about her worries, she quickly fell asleep. The next day was another busy day. The old lady suddenly became distracted and confused. She quickly found a flatbed cart to send her to the hospital. After the doctor examined her, he shook his head and said that it was too late to save her.
The old lady woke up on the hospital bed and knew her condition very well. She insisted on not staying in the hospital and let her take her home. When she entered the house, she took out a box from the cupboard and handed it to her.
”Mom, what are you doing…”
”I’m going to transfer the food and beverage tickets, the grain tickets, the cash, the property certificates… I’m handing all my belongings over to you, please keep them safe. Don’t send me to the hospital anymore, it’s a waste of money. If I can’t make it, I’ll die on the kang at home.”
”Don’t say that. You’re still strong.”
To reassure the old lady, she went to the kitchen and cooked a bowl of dragon beard noodles. The old lady ate two mouthfuls from her small bowl and stopped eating. Upon hearing the news, the neighbors came in to visit.
The old lady was weak all over and her spirit was scattered all of a sudden. Li Xia chatted with everyone for a few minutes, and after seeing the guests off, she told her children to stay home with their grandmother.
”Where are you going, Mom?”
”Mom has something to do.”
She made old clothes from scraps of cloth. There were no ready-made ones for sale at that time, and she would be late when the old lady died. She went to the department store twice and bought everything she needed. She was busy making them at home. Fortunately, she had a sewing machine, so she made them quickly. The old lady had only prepared a cotton jacket for the outside, and she hurriedly made the underwear and cotton pants.
The old lady’s condition took a turn for the worse, and she was busy taking care of the patient at home. The two children were very sensible and helped her pass things. After dinner, she gave the man a massage in the house, and when she went out of the kitchen, she found that the pots and bowls had been washed.
”Huihua, did you wash the pots and dishes?”
The little girl nodded. “You put it on the ground, so I can reach it. Mom, when you finish eating, just put it on the ground like this for me, so I can wash it.”
She reached out to hug her daughter and kissed her little face: “Mom can handle it, you just have to play.”
”I just play with water when I wash dishes.” Huihua smiled and asked her secretly, “Mom, can I share the cookies you gave me with my brother?”
”Okay. It’s your stuff, you can do whatever you want with it.”
”Then I’m going to play.”
The little girl ran out to play happily, and she took a basin to wash clothes. The old lady’s health was getting worse day by day, so she put all her plans aside temporarily and took care of the old lady wholeheartedly at home.
At night, she discussed with little Shen Hui: “You and your sister should go to the west room to sleep at night. I will stay here with grandma, okay?”
She had been here for less than ten days.
He was still somewhat resistant to her. “Why?”
