A few days later, Cheng Wan took her daughter to live in the place arranged by Cao Xiong.
As he said, it is an old house. It's old, but the furniture is still there. Cao Xiong had people tidy up in advance, prepared bedding and utensils, and replaced all electrical appliances with new ones. When Cheng Wan came, she could already live there.
Cao Xiong even invited the nurses from the hospital to take care of her. I also visited her two or three times, and each time I just sat there, told her to take a good rest, drank a cup of tea and left.
Even so, Cheng Wan quickly figured out that Cao Xiong loves black tea but not green tea. When he comes again, the tea she makes will suit his taste very well.
At the same time, Cao Xiong also understood what Cheng Wan's ex-husband said on the phone. Cheng Wan... is really a woman who can't take care of herself.
She is not smart, confused, and what's more, she has no idea. She doesn't know what to do when encountering a situation. She will only be submissive and obedient.
Her ex-husband was just a middle-class white-collar worker, and for that man, Cheng Wan, these were all shortcomings. When she was nearly thirty and gradually lost her youthful vitality, she was rejected by her husband.
However, for Cao Xiong, these are not only Cheng Wan's shortcomings, but even precisely what he likes about her. The weakness and pity of the little woman is also a strange experience for Cao Xiong.
He came more often, and Cheng Wan was always hesitant to speak, full of worries. Cao Xiong just pretended not to know.
When I came to see her again, she had recovered well and her cheeks were rosy again. She looks much prettier than when she was in the hospital.
"I sent the nurse back." She served tea and bit her lip.
"Are you alright?" the man asked. He sat on the sofa, took off his hat, and casually unbuttoned the black uniform. The posture is like the master.
He was the owner of the house.
In front of him, Cheng Wan was always at a loss. Hearing his inquiry, he hurriedly said, "It's all right."
In fact, she really wanted to take advantage of Cao Xiong's visit this time to ask him how long she could live in this house, but she was afraid that he would drive her away. Let her find a new and strange place by herself. Taking the child to live alone, she felt terrified when she thought about it.
Cao Xiong didn't drink tea, but lit a cigarette. It was clear what she was worried about.
He stood up and walked around the living room, asking, "Where's the child?"
Cheng Wan replied softly: "Go to school."
She never dared to look directly at Cao Xiong. This man is too imposing and frightening.
What she is more afraid of... is that he is kind to her for no reason.
The old house didn't have floor-to-ceiling windows, so Cao Xiong leaned against the windowsill, smoking a cigarette, squinting his eyes at the woman.
Weak, hesitant, with no branches to rely on.
When he didn't speak, needles could be heard in the room. The man's breath filled the entire hall silently.
Cheng Wan couldn't avoid it, she lowered her head slightly, thin beads of sweat leaked from the tip of her nose, her fingers twisted uneasily.
Cao Xiong looked at the woman's slender body wantonly, and when he saw the twisted fingers, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Nothing in this world is good for no reason.
Cheng Wan is no longer a naive little girl, she is thirty years old, and her heart is like a mirror when it comes to matters between men and women. She was just afraid, not daring to face it, and not daring to resist.
Knowing that she understands in her heart, that's fine. Cao Xiong put out the cigarette on the window sill, stepped forward and pinched Cheng Wan's small chin.
Cheng Wan was forced to look up in panic, confused and uneasy. Like a small animal waiting to be slaughtered.
It was the way Cao Xiong liked her.
He bowed his head and kissed...
When he let go, Cheng Wan staggered back a few steps in panic, like a last powerless struggle, or to escape. She and her ex-husband have been lovers since middle school and got married after graduating from college. She lived to be thirty and never had another man. The man's aggression frightened her.
She took a few steps back, gasping for breath, and was pressing against the bedroom door.
Cao Xiong stepped over, hugged her, pinned the back of her head, preventing her from breaking free from his kiss. Feeling the woman in his arms slowly change from stiffness to softness, he kicked open the bedroom door and carried her in...
The door then slammed shut...
…
Afterwards, Cao Xiong made it clear to Cheng Wan that he did not intend to remarry.
His eldest son, Cao Yang, is already twenty-one years old, only nine years younger than Cheng Wan. The second son is also an adult. He didn't intend to find another stepmother for them, just to disturb the existing harmony of the family.
But he touched her cheek and promised her: "If you are willing to follow me, I will take care of you."
Seeing Cheng Wan's blank expression, he involuntarily softened his heart, paused, and added: "I won't just leave you alone..."
These words seemed to calm Cheng Wan's heart.
Abandoned by her husband, she knew that marriage offered her little security. On the contrary, it was this man's firm chest and his words of promise that made her want to hold onto him even more.
She really didn't know where she could go after leaving this place. Or, how should she live alone with the child on the little money left by her ex-husband.
Under this kind of fear, Cao Xiong was held tightly by her like a driftwood for survival.
Cheng Wan, just like this, became Cao Xiong's lover and lived with him.
Not long after, she took her daughter and left the temporary old house and moved to another apartment that Cao Xiong had prepared for her.
Here, Cao Xiong gave her an exquisite life without worrying about food and clothing, and loved her very much.
Her health is not very good, she often falls ill and needs injections and medicines. In the past, it was a burden to her family and an important reason why her husband would dislike her. The same thing is not a big deal here for Cao Xiong.
Although Cao Xiong couldn't give her a title, he made her live well.
His sons also met and had dinner with Cheng Wan on informal occasions.
After Cao Xiong had Cheng Wan, the man who was supposed to be gradually aging, now looked youthful again. Only then did the sons realize that their strong and cold father... also needs someone to accompany him.
Cao Yang and Cao Bin also observed Cheng Wan, and confirmed that she is just a weak and obedient little woman, who doesn't even have any material desires, let alone ambitions.
She took her daughter alone, only seeking a stable life.
Cao Xiong even talked with Cao Yang alone, he has no plans to give them any more siblings, he has already gone to the hospital for a ligation, to reassure them.
The fact that their father did this for them made the brothers of the Cao family feel guilty towards their father.
There are many women who can meet their physical needs, but there has never been a woman who can really accompany Cao Xiong before. Cheng Wan could make their father happy, so they also respected her, and when they met occasionally, they would politely call her "Aunt Cheng".
This woman is docile and well-behaved, but she is just a dodder flower that Cao Xiong keeps in his room, to relieve boredom and relax, and to please the eyes and the eyes. Even Cao Xiong himself viewed Cheng Wan in the same way.
It's just that this dodder flower is particularly loved by him.
Cao Xiong was sixteen years older than Cheng Wan, everyone thought Cheng Wan would accompany Cao Xiong for the rest of his life. No one thought that it would be Cheng Wan who died of illness first.
What was even more unexpected was that after the dodder flower withered, Cao Xiong, a man like a mountain, suddenly seemed to have lost half of his life.
Cao Xiong thought, this must be because he is old.
Because I am old, I am soft-hearted. Before he knew it, Ren Chengwan took root in his heart.
He closed his eyes, recalled Cheng Wan's last entrustment, and heaved a long sigh.
The second child, Cao Bin, also sighed: "Trouble, what a living person!" This is not raising a kitten or puppy, this is a little girl.
The third child, Cao Xing, has a strong physique, and his muscles are about to tear his clothes and pop out. He looked at his brothers and asked tentatively, "Can you... find her a boarding school or something?"
Cao Yang, the eldest son of the Cao family, took two puffs of cigarette silently and said, "Forget it."
"I haven't seen that child for a few years, how old is it? Fourteen? Fifteen?" He flicked the cigarette ash, "I don't have a mother at this age..."
Cao Bin and Cao Xing were all silent.
When they had no mother, one was twelve years old and the other was ten years old. Even Cao Yang, the oldest, is only fourteen years old. They are all sensible.
The panic and sadness of losing my mother suddenly, although it has faded in my memory, it always exists.
What's more, unlike them, this is a girl. Leave her outside, something will happen...
"Dad will beat us to death." Cao Bin supported his forehead.
In the end, the boss Cao Yang made the final decision on this matter.
"Just raise it. It's not a big deal." Cao Yang said, "For her to finish college and get married in the future, give her a dowry."
Simply put, he made a plan for the life of the little girl whom he hadn't seen for several years.
He remembered again and asked, "What's that kid's name?"
Asked both brothers. They had all seen that child a few years ago, when she was about ten or eleven years old? A very beautiful little girl, but a little introverted. After calling someone, she huddled beside her mother and stopped talking. She looked timid, just like her mother in my impression.
As for the name...
"Like...a little monkey?" Cao Bin said uncertainly.
Cao Xing burst out laughing.
"Why do I remember it's called Little Monkey?" Cao Yang was also not sure.
Cao Xing thumped the table: "What the hell name?"
"It seems to be." Cao Bin said.
No one knows whether it is or not. They didn't even care about Cheng Wan, let alone a little girl.
Cao Yang asked his second brother, "When are you leaving?"
"I wanted to leave tomorrow." Cao Bin said, "Then wait until we see the little girl."
Two days later, Cao Yang arrived home in the evening, and Lao Zhou called him: "The child has been here for a while, and the commander has something to do, so he can't come back. Are you going to see him?"
"It's poor..." Old Zhou said. With no other relatives, after the death of his mother, he was an orphan.
Cao Yang put on his military cap again: "Where is it?"
"Small hall."
When Cao Yang passed through the banquet hall and walked into the small hall, the early summer sun was still bright even in the evening. It slanted into the small living room from the large window on the west, and sprinkled the girl sitting quietly on the sofa.
The girl was sitting on a soft sofa, but she had a strangely straight back. If her shoulders were not so thin and soft, and her waist was not so slender, she might have a little bit of a soldier's demeanor.
Cao Yang's footsteps paused, and he squinted his eyes against the sun, looking at the girl's slightly drooping neck.
Slender is the first feeling. With the strength of his hand, a lock on the throat can break it.
Snow white is a second feeling. In the slightly golden sunlight, the arc is extremely graceful.
Suppleness is the third sense. That kind of posture, in its weakness, contained the obedience that satisfied a man.
Cao Yang suddenly remembered that the child was not called Little Monkey.
Her name is Xiaorou.
Following her biological father's surname Xia.
Her name is Xia Rou.
The summer of summer, the softness of suppleness.