Instead of going to the cheap and dangerous small hotels in the alleys, this time I found a relatively better hotel to stay temporarily.
On the first day, I ran outside all day, and while looking for a house, I also asked about work everywhere. In fact, after working for three years, I haven't saved any money. First, my salary is not high, and second, I have to spend a lot of money on rent and food every month. When I was with Yi Tian before, people who didn't know it still laughed at how Yi Tian took an ugly and rustic man like me, so Yi Tian even gave me a card to tell me not to embarrass him. I didn't know how much money was on it, so I just returned the card intact, although I only got Yi Tian's mocking sentence, "Don't act like I've slandered your sacred love".
The next day, I confirmed several houses in price and location, and called someone to confirm the viewing time. I went to several companies in a row and asked, but nothing was gained. In the evening, I returned to the hotel exhausted, had dinner and went to bed early. But I tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. In my mind, the image of the dumb woman peeling eggs for a while, and the image of her holding the bag in front of me with bright eyes.
I sat up suddenly from the bed, threw off the quilt angrily, and went to have a look if I was worried, just take a look at her from a distance, and I will come back after making sure she is fine. After making up my mind, I got dressed in two or three strokes, opened the door and ran out.
When we arrived at the residence of Aunt Li and the mute woman, the doors and windows of both households were closed tightly, and the room was pitch black with no lights on. I was a little surprised. It is said that they must be at home at this time, and it is still too early to rest.
I walked in and knocked on the door and window, but no one came after waiting for a long time. Sure enough, there was no one in the two houses. I walked back in a strange way, wondering where the person had gone in my head, but I almost bumped into someone just after turning the corner ahead, and before I could take a breath, a surprised voice came from the front: "Xiao Mu?!"
I raised my head, only to see that it was Aunt Li in front of me.
"Aunt Li? Why didn't you..."
"Xiao Mu, Axiu is gone! I'm so anxious!" I was stunned for a second before realizing what Aunt Li meant.
"What's missing?! What's going on?!"
"After you left that day, I persuaded her for a long time to see that she stopped crying and fell asleep before going back to the house. As a result, I didn't see her come out the next day, and no one answered when I knocked on the door. I have the key to her house. I opened the door and went in, only to find that there was no one in the room. I have been searching for two days, but I still can't find it." Aunt Li's face was full of exhaustion and anxiety.
"Aunt Li, go back and rest quickly, I'll look for it now." After finishing speaking, she ran out without waiting for Aunt Li's answer.
I don't know where she often goes, so I just run around the streets like a headless chicken. The night was getting deeper and deeper, and the pedestrians on the road changed from bustling to scattered, and I became more and more anxious. Where would she go at such a late hour? She is dumb and stupid. If something happens, she can't even call for help. I just dare not think deeply.
After searching for hours, the soles of my feet started to hurt, but I still had no clue. Standing in front of a hotel, panting for breath, something suddenly flashed through my mind, and I ran back immediately. When I arrived at the entrance of the Xingyue Hotel, I continued to run along the alley to the place where the garbage was piled up at the entrance of the alley, and I saw a person sitting by the wall.
I leaned against the wall and gasped for breath, and there was a fishy sweetness in my throat because of the long and fast running. Hearing the voice, the man raised his head to look at me, and then his eyes lit up suddenly, revealing some unbelievable joy.
She stood up, took a step forward but stopped, looking at me hesitantly.
Breathing gradually stabilized, I walked towards her, reached out to hold her, and walked back without saying a word.
It was already late at night, and there were no stars in the night sky. There was no one around, only the dilapidated signboards of a few hotels glowing slightly.
"Why did you come here?" I kept walking forward, knowing that there would be no answer from behind.
…
"Is it because you picked me up there, so you think I will appear there?"
…
"I'm an orphan. No parents, no relatives. I've always been alone."
Having said that, I stopped abruptly.
"So..." I opened my mouth again and found that my voice was shaking, I closed my eyes and calmed down.
"So, if you don't mind, if you think it's okay... Even if you treat me as your son's substitute, I will accept your care and love for him..."
…
"I mean, are you willing to be..." I was trembling all over, took a deep breath before swallowing the choking in my throat, and finished my last words.
"What about being my mother?"
It was quiet.
Not even the sound of the wind blowing.
I lowered my head, knowing in my heart that she didn't understand what I was talking about, but my hands were still shaking.
There was a rough touch on my face, and the tears that fell down at some point were gently wiped away. I raised my head, and the dumb woman looked at me with a smile, her eyes bent into two crescent moons.
I looked at her silently, letting the warm smile on the corners of her mouth and eyes dispel the uneasiness in my heart little by little. After a long time, I also laughed out loud, and led her back slowly.
"Your son must not be as tall as me...so you don't suffer at all..."
"So don't run around again next time... Aunt Li is still looking for you everywhere at such an old age..."
…
"Mom, let's go home."
After taking my mother home, Aunt Li first walked around her for a while, checking and talking about her. I sighed silently after hearing where I found her.
"Aunt Li, from now on I will treat her as my own mother and be filial. I will take care of her." Aunt Li was wetting a towel to wipe her face, when she heard my words, she raised her head to look at me in a daze.
"Your house..."
"I'm an orphan." I knew what Aunt Li wanted to ask, so I interrupted her.
Aunt Li's eyes welled up with tears, and she nodded desperately at me: "Hey! From now on... the two of us will be a family, live well... Axiu is like this, she...she's fine..." Aunt Li's voice was choked up and she was a little incoherent .
I walked up to take the towel from Aunt Li, bent down and wiped my mother's face carefully.
"Well. She's fine."
While she was asleep, I ran to the hotel overnight and checked out the room. Now that I have decided to live with her as a mother and child, I will not go out to find a house anymore. Otherwise, I'll take her there, and no one will look at her when I go out to look for things to do. Anyway, Aunt Li can help take care of her here.
The top priority is to find a job and slowly save the money, and then I want to renovate her house so that she won't live in such a poor environment anymore. It’s just that after running for a few days, there is still no news. Obviously, several companies have expressed their intention to accept me, but I don’t know why they didn’t let it go in the end.
I don't know if Yi Tian is making things difficult for me, but I haven't had any contact with him for a long time, so I don't really believe that he will spend all his energy on me. However, if he confessed it before and then forgot about me, it is not impossible to make people dare not use me.
Seeing that the days passed and the money was only out but not in, I was anxious, so I had to find other jobs in another direction. It happened that there was a large supermarket nearby that wanted to hire some stockers, so I went. It’s just that the duty of the male tally staff in the supermarket is actually to carry the goods, especially the daily distribution team I work in. There are more than a dozen employees in a team, and there are only three men. The daily goods include frozen instant food, loose grains, and loose candy. The goods in the warehouse are put on and off the shelves. Without the help of machines, after a day, people are so tired that their backs hurt.
And the thing that bothers me the most these days is how to make my mother understand that I have money to support her, and she doesn't have to go outside to pick up those waste cardboard and plastic bottles. Every time she took out her sackcloth bags and the little iron hooks for picking up trash and prepared to throw them away, she always looked panic-stricken, took my hand and shook her head desperately.
Even if I found a lot of money from the bag to show her that I have enough money, she didn't understand, and instead went to the yellow cloth bag to offer it to me like a treasure. I talked about this issue with Aunt Li, and Aunt Li just smiled and asked me to follow her. For so many years, she has lived on that money. Maybe now in her consciousness, she still needs to rely on that money to support me .
I felt helpless, and there was nothing I could do.