A week later, my father came home with a happy face to get his clothes. Before leaving, he told me with a smile that the loan issue was settled.
Good thing. Shuming must have helped.
There was a sound of keys outside the door, and the mother opened the door and came in. The father turned his head to look at her. Suddenly, the two of them felt so far away. The mother raised her chin, with a look full of sarcasm and provocation, "What a rare guest, you didn't even say hello when you came back."
I stood aside, worried that the two would quarrel, but surprisingly, my father obviously breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and deliberately relaxed his tone, "Xiaorong, I will raise the money as soon as possible, and we can part ways in peace."
The mother was very disdainful and said, "As soon as possible."
"I'm doing it. It may be faster than you think." Her father put down his luggage and looked at her meaningfully.
The mother was very shocked, as if asking, is this true? Can you really raise the money? How could it be resolved so quickly
My father patted my head gently and praised me happily, "Qinqin, you are daddy's good daughter."
There was something else behind these words. At that time, I looked at my mother's face and I thought she probably understood.
After my father left, I explained the whole story to her, "What I mean is, since Dad is so heartless and Mom also wants to separate, it's better to solve it as soon as possible so that Mom can get compensation and live her own life. If it's delayed for too long—"
Before I could finish, my mother's face darkened. "Qinqin, you disappoint me so much."
"What?" Didn't she want to be compensated? Since her father was willing, why not do it faster
The mother looked miserable and extremely sad, and she let out a long sigh.
In an instant, I understood! She just wanted to take a small revenge on him, and proposed harsh conditions, so that he would be anxious and worried, and she could get comfort from this. But when he really agreed to the conditions and really decided to compensate her with money, she was disappointed. With an agreement and a sum of money, decades of feelings ended here, and Zhao Xinyue could also get relief from this. But the mother still felt unwilling in her heart. This exchange was too easy and too cheap for them!
As I was thinking, my nose suddenly felt sore and tears started to fall. Feelings were such a shallow thing. The more she wanted to keep him, the more empty she felt in return.
I couldn’t fall asleep all night, tossing and turning, and finally fell into a deep sleep in the middle of the night. I had a long dream, and the images of my childhood slowly passed by, like a black-and-white movie—a long, long time ago, my parents, grandparents, and I sat under the sycamore tree in the yard of our hometown to enjoy the cool. My grandmother said that if you have a sycamore tree in your home, you will attract phoenixes… And there was also the boy named Nan Fang, who played marbles and checkers with me, and my father was instructing me. A fat green caterpillar rolled onto the chessboard, startling me so much that I leaned back and fell under the big sycamore tree in panic… …
The dream was long and very tiring.
The next day was the weekend. When I woke up, I heard my mother talking on the phone in the bedroom. The door was closed and I couldn't hear her voice clearly. I opened the curtains, lay under the shallow layer of sunlight, and called Shuming. There was nothing, I just wanted to talk to him for a while. I don't know when I started to like this person and like to talk to him. He gradually became an important part of my life.
What a coincidence, the line is busy. I turned over and closed my eyes. After a while, Shuming called me, "Little lazy cat, are you up?" Gentle and doting, the modest gentleman Li Shuming also treats his girlfriend in this way.
"If you don't get up, someone will start shouting that the sun is shining on your butt!"
"What are your plans for today?"
"No, Shuming, I want to tell you that yesterday, Dad came home..."
I told him my worries, expecting him to be as shocked as I was. Unexpectedly, Li Shuming was quite calm, "Marriage is a city, you will understand it in the future."
"What's the meaning?"
"Excuse me, uncle is already standing at the city gate, but aunt is still trapped in the city and has no intention of leaving."
"You know it too! I thought Mom had figured it out."
"It's one thing to understand the truth, but it's another to let it go." Shu Ming said slowly.
I chuckled and teased him, "You sound so reasonable, don't you have a lot of experience? Come, teach me first..."
"Qiuqiu, I didn't realize you were so naughty!"
This made me sad. My tone immediately became heavy and I slowly said to him, "So, Shuming, tell me, what should I do? I didn't want them to separate, but after this, I realized that I don't have the ability to reconcile them. Dad's heart is no longer in this family. To be honest, in my heart, Cao Lingxi should be cut into pieces, and we should fight them to the end. But think rationally, what good will it do to Mom if we continue like this? They can't go back to their old ways, right?"
Shu Ming responded to me with relief, and after a long while, he calmly said to me, "Let it be."
My mother was obviously anxious and called my father from time to time. I heard them arguing loudly on the phone. They were still arguing at this time. They really were not ready to leave the city. I didn't know how it would end between them. I could only observe my mother's words and actions silently and wait for her to stand up when she needed me. However, my mother never talked to me about their divorce again.
Shuming is always busy, but he always finds some free time to talk to me on the phone. A cup of green tea at noon, dinner at night, the latest movies, best-selling books, are all our topics. He doesn't say much, but his calm, flowing tone is really comfortable. Even I doubt what attracted him to me, but he said to me, "Qinqin, you are such a crystal clear girl."
“Is it obvious to people at a glance?”
“That’s called reality.”
“But without stories, the soil is barren.”
"Too many stories will only make people overwhelmed. Perhaps you will have many more stories in the future that are intriguing."
Half a month later, my father asked me to meet him outside. He must have something to tell me. As far as I can remember, he never had the time to talk to his grown-up daughter. My father looked tired and frowned. It was about the last time. He said that it had been put on hold again recently. He was worried that it would not be approved this time. He was in deep trouble. When he talked about the difficulties, he covered his face with his hands and his voice was sad. Compared with the time when they discussed the divorce, my father was obviously more helpless, tired, and overwhelmed, and even looked a little depressed.
It was obvious that my father was not doing well.
He begged me to talk to Li Shuming again. If necessary, he could go visit him in person and he would be grateful to him in the future. This kind of thing was not easy to bring up, and I had to rush it. I could only answer him, "Shuming said yes, maybe it will take some time?"
The father shook his head sadly, "I'm afraid of Xiaorong..."
"What?"
"She won't give up, and is bent on opposing me. No matter what I do, she won't be satisfied, you understand? I heard that she is very satisfied with your friend? I am afraid she -"
I naturally understood a little, but I never thought that my mother would have such a trick. After what he said, it was not unreasonable. I didn't want to point it out, so it would be better to go back and find out from my mother. After hesitating for a moment, I asked again, "Dad, what are your plans after the divorce?"
My father sighed and said, "After all these years of hard work, it's all for nothing in the end."
I was shocked. Wasn't he happy? From now on, he could be with the woman named Cao openly
My father did not give me an answer, but only said that he and Cao might not be suitable for each other. (To be continued)