"Xiaoyi, is grandpa asleep?" Su Youzhang continued to ask.
Hearing the name "grandfather", Mr. Lu's eyes widened, puffing out his beard and eyes, "This, this, this... this bastard, what grandpa? He and Zhenzhen are divorced, and you belong to Zhenzhen. Naturally, I am the grandfather, and their parents have become outsiders!"
Su Yi smiled, "Yes, you are my grandfather, and they have all become strangers."
"That's right." Mr. Lu felt unbalanced and said angrily, "No, he dared to distort the way you address me. I'm going to go out and ask him about it and settle the score with him."
"Forget it, Grandpa." Su Yi pulled the old man's sleeve, "Let him perform his one-man show outside, and we two can just play by ourselves in the house, it's so good this way."
"That's right." Mr. Lu stroked his beard, "Just let him wait outside, and no one should pay attention to him."
"Okay." Su Yi responded and continued to read with his head down.
Su Youzhang stood outside for more than half an hour, but no one inside paid any attention to him.
Lu Zhen and Ding Zhenghua went to the yard to enjoy the cool air, drink red wine and chat.
He stood alone at the door of the dimly lit bedroom, looking somewhat out of place.
*
The next day, Su Youzhang came again, carrying some gifts. He walked through the white fence in the night and entered the small villa in Bihuating.
Lu Zhen was cooking. Su Youzhang came in and asked her, "Is Xiaoyi home?"
Lu Zhen glanced at him, frowning slightly, "Why are you here again?"
Su Youzhang sighed, "Xiaoyi didn't want to see me yesterday, I want to talk to her today."
In fact, Lu Zhen wanted to tell him to forget it and not come again, but she was not Su Yi. Her biological father wanted to give her a dowry, so she couldn't refuse on Su Yi's behalf, right
"Then you wait in the living room for a while." After saying that, Lu Zhen ignored him and busy herself in the kitchen. Soon, she prepared four dishes and a soup.
Su Youzhang sat alone on the sofa in the living room, and gradually he smelled the fragrance of food.
Lu Zhen finished cooking, took off her apron, went to the room and pushed Old Man Lu out.
When Mr. Lu saw Su Youzhang coming again, his expression was indescribable. He glanced at Lu Zhen and asked in a low voice, "Why is he here again?"
"I'm here to see Xiaoyi." Lu Zhen simply said this and pushed Mr. Lu to the front of the dining table.
Although her marriage with Su Youzhang broke down, she did not speak coldly to him. Perhaps she had figured it all out later. She would not stop her child from seeing his father just because she was divorced. On the contrary, she had a foreigner's way of thinking and felt that even after a divorce, the child could still have a father and a mother. Of course, she would respect whatever the child did.
The two of them were sitting at the dining table when Su Yi came back. Lan Fuchu had walked her to the door. She stood outside the car while Lan Fuchu sat inside. The two of them chatted and laughed. After a while, Su Yi leaned over and kissed the corner of his lips. Then she came into the house carrying a few lunch boxes, smiling as she walked in, "Grandpa, Mom... We'll have a snack for dinner. It's Yi Lanfang's squab..."
Seeing Su Youzhang sitting in the living room, she suddenly lost her voice, pursed her lips, and walked into the house without looking around, as if she hadn't seen him.
Lu Zhen paid special attention to Su Yi's expression. She seemed to be deliberately ignoring Su Youzhang. She went into the kitchen to get a bowl, came out again, added more rice, and sat down to eat.
Su Youzhang stood up and came over.
Lu Zhen placed the dishes she brought back on the dining table and said softly, "Your father is here to see you."
Su Yi pretended not to hear anything and picked up his chopsticks to eat.
Mr. Lu raised his eyes and glanced at Su Youzhang, but didn't say anything and just ate his food.
Su Youzhang seemed to have been thinking about it all night. This time he didn't plan to wait any longer. He walked over and said, "Xiaoyi, Dad wants to tell you something."
Su Yi ignored him, picked up a piece of food and gave it to grandpa, and said with a smile: "Grandpa, eat more."
"Okay." Old Master Lu responded. The two of them were kind to their grandson and filial to their grandson, but they just ignored Su Youzhang.
Lu Zhen watched from the side and shook her head.
After a while, Ding Zhenghua came. The pattern of this family now seemed to be fixed. Lu Zhen and Old Man Lu were at home during the day, and Su Yi came home from work at night. When they were almost done with dinner, Ding Zhenghua came to visit. It felt a bit like they were a family.
Ding Zhenghua brought different flowers today. Yesterday it was a bouquet of white roses, and today it was a pot of dark blue Phalaenopsis. He gave the potted plant to Lu Zhen, smiled and lowered his head to talk to her.
Lu Zhen smiled gently and shyly, and one of them looked like a husband returning from a trip, and the other like a gentle and lovely wife.
Su Youzhang watched silently, and suddenly heard Su Yi sweetly call out, "Uncle Zhenghua."
Ding Zhenghua turned his head and looked at Su Yi with warm eyes, "Little girl, this is for you."
A gift was thrown over.
Su Yi took it and opened it. There was a book inside. Su Yi flipped through it and smiled with bright eyes and white teeth, "Thank you for the gift from Uncle Zhenghua. This is really good. I like it."
Su Youzhang felt deeply saddened as he watched from the side.
Once upon a time, he and his daughter got along so harmoniously. Now, his daughter was so affectionate with other uncles, but treated him like an enemy. He didn't know why Su Yi hated him so much. In the first two years, she didn't show such disgust.
He still returned disappointed that year. In the house in Bihuating, he was like an unimportant stranger. When he went there, although Lu Zhen did not drive him away, she would not pour him a glass of water or invite him to dinner. It was obvious that she did not welcome him, or did not treat him as a guest.
Su Youzhang felt heavy-hearted and lonely when he left. He was wearing a black coat. As he walked, he felt a little cold, so he pulled his collar. He suddenly remembered the scene when Lu Zhen came to the company to find her every day.
He had never given her a good look at that time, but Lu Zhen insisted on showing up every day. This practice, which was both humiliating and necessary, was really uncomfortable.
He couldn't help but look back at the house in Bihuating. Perhaps it was because he had reached a certain age that he began to understand that family happiness was the most desirable thing in the world. Unfortunately, it was impossible to go back to the past now...
*
He returned to Su's house.
The Su family's Chinese-style building is ancient and quaint. Pushing open the two calm-colored pear wood doors, Ruan Zaixiang, who was sitting in a wheelchair, was waiting for him behind the door.
Seeing him coming back, Ruan Zaixiang asked softly, "Why did you come back so late tonight?"
Su Youzhang hummed and took off his coat. Immediately, a servant came up to get clothes for him.
Seeing his cold reaction, Ruan Zaixiang lowered her eyelashes slightly, looking very weak and pitiful. "You Zhang, have you had dinner?"
"not yet."
"Then I'll ask the servants to prepare dinner."
Su Youzhang said calmly: "No need, just cook some noodles or something."
"How can that be? You've been busy all day. If you don't take good care of your stomach, your health will deteriorate sooner or later. Alas... In fact, the company now has Huijin to help you. Why should you work so hard yourself? Just leave everything to her. Huijin is still young, and it's okay for her to suffer a little..." Ruan Zaixiang paid attention to Su Youzhang's expression and spoke softly.
Su Youzhang gave her a deep look and said, "Come with me to the kitchen. I have something to tell you."
In fact, after marriage, Su Youzhang and Ruan Zaizhao did not live a happy life as outsiders imagined.
On the contrary, Ruan was thinking about living the life that Lu Zhen had lived back then. Su Youzhang seldom came back, and every time he came back, his attitude was cold. Although he was not cold and indifferent, many times cold violence was more terrible than quarreling.
Ruan Zai had a lot of complaints in her heart, but she couldn't leave Su Youzhang, so she could only endure it, because her daughter was not Su Youzhang's biological daughter and had no right to be willful.
The reason why Su Youzhang married her was because of Lin Xiaodong. In order to deal with Lu Zhen, she fell from the second floor and lost her legs. However, the ending was not as smooth as she expected. Although Su Youzhang gave her a house and money, he did not pity her or want to rekindle their relationship. So even though Su Youzhang provided for their lives, she could not see him at all.
Ruan Zai was thinking at that time that this was far from enough. Her legs were broken, and she only got this little in exchange. She felt that she had suffered a great loss, but Su Youzhang cared more about his daughter, so Ruan Zai was thinking that she could only wait and see.
A few years later, Su Youzhang divorced Lu Zhen. Lu Zhen suffered from bipolar disorder and was admitted to a nursing home. At that time, Su Youzhang was separated from his wife and children, and he felt guilty and lonely. Ruan Zaixiong cared about him and often asked him to visit Lin Xiaodong in the hospital.
Lin Xiaodong was cured later, but his condition was not good. He was in the hospital every day for infusion to keep his life. When Lin Xiaodong was about to die, Ruan Zaixiang went to beg Lin Xiaodong to persuade Su Youzhang to marry her. Lin Xiaodong refused at first, and Ruan Zaixiang said that it was for the sake of her daughter. Anyway, he was going to die soon, and if he didn't do something before he died, she and Huijin would be really alone and helpless in the future. She also lost her legs. If Huijin couldn't change her fate, then Huijin's life would be really miserable...
Lin Xiaodong finally tried to persuade Ruan Zaisang and called Su Youzhang to reminisce about their youth before he died. If Ruan Zaisang had not been there at that time, Lin Xiaodong and Su Youzhang would have been best brothers. Of course, when Ruan Zaisang was with Su Youzhang, Lin Xiaodong did not hate Su Youzhang either, but they had less contact after they each started a family.
Lin Xiaodong begged Su Youzhang to marry Ruan Zaixiang. Lin Xiaodong said that the three of them had suffered too much. At first, the two lovers could not have a happy ending. Later, after he got together with Zaixiang, he went bankrupt and was in danger of death. Now he was going to die. He only hoped that Su Youzhang could take care of Ruan Zaixiang and Lin Huijin for the rest of his life...
I think Su Youzhang is also quite tragic.
(End of this chapter)