In front of the house, Zhan Jie said to Zhan Xi, "We may have guests today, so don't make a scene with Mom. Dad and I will try to persuade her. I'll talk to Dad first about the details."
"Oh." Zhan Xi agreed, "I won't make a fuss. If anyone wants to make a fuss, it's only my mother."
"Don't bring in the things Xiao Luo bought yet. Wait for him to come and get them yourself." Zhan Jie rubbed his sister's head. "It's okay. Don't panic. I'm here."
Zhan Xi smiled and felt more than ever how good it was to have a brother who supported her.
The brother and sister were walking in the yard. Aunt Chi Guixian was outside basking in the sun. When she saw them, she turned around and called out, "Hey! Sister, Ajie and Huanhuan are here!"
The house was more lively than expected. There were more than a dozen relatives, familiar or unfamiliar to Zhan Xi, sitting in the living room, men and women, young and old, all of whom were preparing to attend Yin Li's engagement ceremony the next day and came to their house for dinner that day.
Chi Guilan did not come out to greet them, nor did she even look at her son and daughter. She turned around and went to the kitchen to do some work.
After Zhan Qiang greeted his children, Zhan Jie put his arm around his father's shoulders and went to the bedroom, probably to talk about Luo Jingyu.
Chi Guixian's daughter Duoduo is two years younger than Zhanxi and is still a college student. She cheerfully calls her, "Sister Huanhuan! I haven't seen you for a long time!"
"Yes, I haven't seen you since the Spring Festival." Zhan Xi greeted her.
Chi Guixian held Zhan Xi and asked quietly, "Huan Huan, you were hospitalized last time? Is it serious?"
Zhan Xi, who had always been close to his aunt, replied, "I'm fine now. I just stayed in the hospital for one night."
"Is your boyfriend... here?" Chi Guixian lowered her voice even more. "That night, Ajie told your mom and me, but your mom told me not to tell anyone, so I didn't."
Zhan Xi said: "He is here and staying in a hotel."
Chi Guixian felt that this matter was difficult to handle: "Huanhuan, do you really want to date that boy? Your mother said she was so angry that she couldn't sleep all night. My aunt also couldn't understand why you, such a good girl, would date a deaf-mute person?"
Zhan Xi smiled and said, "Of course it's because he is a very good young man."
"But he..." Chi Guixian muttered, "Ajie said his job is pretty good, with a good income and a wedding house, but he is really hard of hearing... Aren't you afraid of what others say about you?"
"No." Zhan Xi shook his head and replied, "My boyfriend and I have many friends in Qiantang, and no one who knows him has anything bad to say about him. If the relatives here are prejudiced against him, I can't do anything about it. I can't control what people say in private. The worst that can happen is that I can go home less often. We live our lives together, for ourselves, not for my mother, and certainly not for the relatives."
Chi Guixian said in embarrassment: "But..."
"Guixian, what are you whispering to Huanhuan about?" A question suddenly came out, startling Chi Guixian, and he and Zhan Xi turned their heads away.
The one who was talking was my aunt-in-law. She was eating sunflower seeds. Two other female relatives were sitting beside her. They looked at Zhanxi with a smile and asked, "Huanhuan, your mother said you have a partner. Why didn't you bring him back?"
The relationship between my aunt-in-law and Chi Guilan has always been very plastic.
She gave birth to a son, claiming that he was the only one in the Chi family who could carry on the family line. Unfortunately, her son was not good at studying and could not even get into high school. He only went to a technical school. After graduation, he worked odd jobs everywhere. After finding a girlfriend, he came home and asked his parents to buy him a house in Tong County so that he could get married, just like the second aunt bought a house in Qiantang for his cousin Zhanjie.
My uncle was a bad boy. He spent all the money left by his father on drinking and gambling. They had no money to buy a house, so they asked Chi Guilan to borrow money. Chi Guilan borrowed 20,000 yuan and told everyone about it. My aunt-in-law was very angry because she lost face. She always wanted to find a chance to make fun of Chi Guilan.
My aunt-in-law was already gloating over Zhan Jie's divorce, and she was even more curious about Chi Guilan's condition after she came back from Qiantang last time.
During that time, Chi Guilan was very angry and complained to everyone she met that her daughter was ignorant, unfilial, and had her brain stuck in the door, but she refused to tell the specific reason. When my aunt asked Chi Guixian, Chi Guixian was vague and could only gloss over the matter.
Everyone speculated, could it be that Zhan Xi had found a partner with poor conditions
This is really strange! After all, Chi Guilan has always boasted that her daughter can marry into a very good family.
The aunt-in-law looked at Zhan Xi at this time, waiting for her answer. Before Zhan Xi opened her mouth, Chi Guilan rushed out from the kitchen and shouted, "Does she dare to bring it back?!"
Everyone in the room looked at her. The aunt-in-law asked sarcastically, "Why don't you dare bring her back? Huanhuan's partner must be as outstanding as her. We have been waiting for this day to see this rich son-in-law!"
Chi Guilan looked at her daughter from a distance and said coldly, "Let her tell me what kind of person she found. I don't have the face to say it anyway. I didn't expect this. She went to college and her mind is not clear. She found such a person. I am ashamed for her!"
Chi Guixian said: "Sister, don't say that..."
"Shut up!" Facing so many relatives, Chi Guilan felt great to vent. She looked at Zhan Xi again, "She kept telling me that I was too controlling and that I should make my own decisions. She said that she was not a child anymore and that I didn't understand what she wanted. I don't understand! How can I understand? Finding a man like this, I still can't figure it out even if I have three heads!"
Zhan Xi looked at his mother calmly. The tone of her voice hadn't changed in decades. It was really strange. Why didn't he think there was something wrong before
My aunt-in-law got even more excited, and she stopped eating melon seeds. She asked, "Sister Guilan, don't be angry. What's going on? Tell us what kind of person did Huanhuan find?"
Chi Guilan sneered: "I told you, I'm too embarrassed to say it, I'm embarrassed! If you want to know, let her tell you herself! I don't even dare to bring her back, let's see if she can say it!"
The little aunt's eyes sparkled as she looked at Zhan Xi: "Huan Huan? Your partner... eh?"
Zhan Xi: “…”
Zhan Qiang and Zhan Jie just came out of the room and saw the tense situation in the living room. Zhan Jie's head exploded, guessing that his mother was probably angry, and when he was about to persuade her, he heard Zhan Xi's voice.
His young sister stood in the living room, with his aunt next to her, who looked complicated. Zhan Xi looked at Chi Guilan, then at his aunt, and swept his eyes over the group of people. His tone of voice was calm:
"I have a boyfriend, he's 17 years old, from Qiantang, he's an artist, very talented. He's very, very nice, very considerate to me, very serious about his work, a kind and good boy. He's about 1.85-1.86 meters tall, has a 140-square-meter wedding house in Qiantang, and his annual income is probably around 400,000 yuan."
Aunt-in-law and other relatives: "..."
Duoduo looked envious: "Wow!"
"Hmm..." Zhan Xi smiled slightly, "The thing my mother thinks is hard to say is... My boyfriend is deaf, he can't hear anything, he doesn't speak, I communicate with him using sign language."
She just said that?!
Chi Guilan glared at her daughter. Thinking of the sign language books she saw in Zhan Xi's room, she wished she could go back and tear them into pieces.
My aunt-in-law and other relatives opened their eyes wide in surprise and their lips slightly parted.
They were surprised that Zhan Xi found a deaf-mute boyfriend, and also surprised at her attitude at the moment. She was so calm, not only did she not care, but her tone seemed to be full of pride.
Zhan Xi looked at Chi Guilan and said, "Mom, I don't understand why I can't say this. My boyfriend is a very good person.
I like him very much. My brother knows it, my father knows it too, they all accept him, you don't know him at all, why do you deny him first? "
"I will never accept him!" Chi Guilan was furious.
Chapter 78 Her Oxygen Tank
She screamed, "I told you, if you choose him, you won't have me as your mother anymore! I would never want you two to be together!"
Chi Guixian walked over and pulled her: "Sister, that boy actually..."
"Shut up!" Chi Guilan glared at her. "I'm teaching my daughter a lesson, what does it have to do with you?!"
Chi Guixian didn't dare to say anything. Duoduo was so angry that she pulled her mother aside and whispered, "Mom, don't worry about Auntie. She has always been mentally ill."
Chi Guilan slowly walked up to Zhan Xi and looked at her as if she were a stranger, but she didn't know that Zhan Xi felt the same way in her heart - this woman who was once so close to her and made her so dependent on her, her biological mother, was now like a stranger in her eyes.
Chi Guilan's voice trembled: "From the time you were born to now, twenty years later, how much have you done for me? How much effort have you put into training you? I told you to be careful in choosing your friends, was that wrong? I encouraged you to take the postgraduate entrance exam and the civil service exam, was that wrong? I hope you find a decent and stable job, was that wrong? I told you to find a good partner to fall in love with and get married, and not to be treated lightly by your in-laws, was that wrong?!"
The living room was completely silent, with only Chi Guilan's old voice, "Is this how you repay your mother? You found a deaf-mute, just to piss me off to death, right? You just think I've lived too long, and you want me to die sooner, right?"
Zhan Xi admired himself more and more. He was not panicked at all in such a situation. My mother's words were always the same. At first glance, they were really well-intentioned. The only people who could be fooled were those who didn't know the details behind it.
But this time, Zhan Xi was no longer willing to sugarcoat the truth and said, "You didn't ask me to choose my friends carefully. You completely interfered with how I made friends. You read my diary, searched my schoolbag, and looked through my phone. As long as it was someone you didn't like, you wouldn't allow me to date that person, regardless of whether the other person would be hurt by you or not. You threw tantrums, made trouble at school, went to people's homes, called to harass my boss, and didn't care how I would stay in the class or the company afterwards."
Chi Guilan yelled, "I did that for your own good! You were still young at that time, and I was afraid that you would make bad friends!"
"For my own good?" Zhan Xi was so angry that he laughed, "Mom, do you know how lonely and miserable I was when I was in middle school? I didn't have any friends, and no one dared to play with me because they all knew that I had a weird mom, a mom who would rush to school to complain at any time."
Chi Guilan wanted to interrupt: "I..."
"Listen to me first!" Zhan Xi didn't give her a chance. "Everyone is here, let's listen to the great things you have done for my own good! You didn't encourage me to take the postgraduate entrance examination or the civil service examination. You ordered me to take the examination. If I don't take it, it will be like I have done something treasonous. You asked me to find a stable and decent job, but the only thing that can satisfy you is your own face. You called my boss and ruined all my efforts for half a year. I will remember this for the rest of my life! You still don't know what major I really want to study or what job I really want to do! In your opinion, as long as it is a stable job, it's good even if I sit at my desk and read newspapers and drink tea every day, right?"
Duoduo listened to this and looked at Zhanxi with eyes full of sympathy.
She only remembered that from childhood to adulthood, everyone used Zhan Xi as a role model for her. How proud her aunt was when she talked about her daughter! She also instructed Chi Guixian countless times on how to discipline her daughter. Thank God, her mother didn't listen. Sister Huanhuan's life sounded terrible.
Zhan Xi stared at Chi Guilan. He didn't know since when, but she became much taller than his mother. He used to look up at her, but now he felt as if he was looking down on her. Maybe it was because Chi Guilan was old. When people get old, they always become hunched over.
"Mom, I don't want to quarrel with you at all, but I don't know how to communicate with you." Zhan Xi said: "No one can choose their own birth, no one can choose their own parents. This is the case for me, and my boyfriend is the same. He doesn't even have the chance to choose whether he can hear with his ears."
Zhan Xi changed the subject, "But it doesn't matter. Our lives are our own, not our parents' or our brothers and sisters'. My life is not yours or my boyfriend's. Everything I do and say now is my own decision. I will bear all the consequences, good or bad."
"My boyfriend's life is very difficult, but he never gives up. He is very tenacious, clear-headed and hardworking. I have learned a lot from him." Zhan Xi felt empowered when he thought of Luo Jingyu. "I have met his family. They are all very good people to get along with. They respect and tolerate my boyfriend very much. They support him in pursuing his dreams and understand every decision he makes."
Zhan Xi glanced at Zhan Qiang and Zhan Jie, then his gaze fell back on Chi Guilan's face, "Mom, when can my relationship with you become like that? Like the relationship between my boyfriend and his parents. I can calmly tell you about my dreams, my plans, and the interesting things in my life, where my friends and I went, what we ate, what movies we watched, what clothes I bought, and what color I dyed my hair. If I encounter something unhappy, I can come to you and cry, and you comfort me, saying that it's okay, mom is here, and no matter what grievances you encounter outside, mom will always support you."
At this point, Zhan Xi sighed and shook his head, "Unfortunately, this is impossible. This is other people's mothers and children. Aunt and Sister Lili are like this, Aunt and Duoduo are like this, Qin Fei and her mother are like this, and many of my friends and their mothers are like this, only I am not."
Zhan Xi's voice suddenly increased, and his speech became faster. "You know what? I dare not tell you my dreams at all! Because you will reject them all! You won't even give me a chance to start talking! I dare not tell you about my life, I dare not tell you who my friends are, what I have done! You don't see the good side, you will only see the bad side! KTV is smoky and dirty, and you can't go there, and the noodles and meals are not clean! Watching movies is a waste of time, it's better to read more books and prepare for the civil service exam! Want to go on a trip with friends? That's a dream! I can only go with you, and I've signed up for a senior citizen group! The skirt I buy can't be too short, and the neckline can't be too low, otherwise people will think I'm an indecent girl! How can I dye my hair? Last time I dyed it this brown, you scolded me for a long time! How dare I come to you to complain about my grievances? You say you deserve it, who told you not to listen to your mother, if you didn't do this or that, you wouldn't have encountered this! If you study hard and take exams, go on blind dates, get married, and have children, how can you encounter this?"
Chi Guilan looked at her, her face turned blue and her lips trembled.
Duoduo rolled his eyes silently.
Zhan Jie looked gloomy. He was the one who could empathize with Zhan Xi the most, but perhaps because he was a male, he had never noticed this problem before and thought that the estrangement between him and his mother was just because he had grown up.
Zhan Xi smiled and still looked at Chi Guilan: "Do you remember the last time I had a heart-to-heart talk with you? It must have been a few years. You don't think I was having a heart-to-heart talk with you during the last few times I came home, right? I'm telling you, I was lying all the time!"
Zhan Xi was very happy, this was what was in her heart, "I just want to lie to you! I can only lie! I haven't thought about telling you my true feelings for a long time! Family, parents! It should be the place where children can feel most relaxed and rely on, a place where they can come back to rest when they are tired outside! But because you are at home, this is the most depressing and suffocating place for me! Don't you feel sad that we have ended up like this? I don't deny that you love me, I thank you for your upbringing and training, I will use my money to support you in your old age, but if what you want is for me to repay you with my entire life and listen to you in everything, I'm sorry! I can't do it."
"Snap!" With a crisp sound, Zhan Xi's head tilted to the side, and she was slapped again by Chi Guilan.
Chi Guilan was so angry that she was shaking all over. When she wanted to slap him again, her wrist was grabbed by someone. She turned around and saw that it was her husband Zhan Qiang.
Chapter 78 Her Oxygen Tank
Zhan Jie also took the opportunity to embrace Zhan Xi and pulled her away from her mother's attack range, looking at his parents with a cold expression.
"Is this what you said about doing good for Huan Huan?" Zhan Qiang stared at Chi Guilan, tears flashing in his eyes, and shook her hand away forcefully. "You beat her so hard that she had a concussion and was hospitalized, and now you want to beat her again? So what did she do wrong? Tell me, which of those words she just said was wrong?"
Chi Guilan looked at him in shock.
"Our whole family has been tolerating you for decades. Think about your strengths: hardworking, thrifty, filial. I have nothing to say." Zhan Qiang's voice trembled. "You have the final say in everything at home. I accept it, my mother accepts it, and Ajie accepts it. We have divorced Qin Fei as you wish. Now there is only Huanhuan left. Can you let her go? She is young! She is only ten! She still has a long life to live! Now it is not her business to find a partner. As a mother, you are pushing your children around in everything you do. What do you want? If Ajie and Huanhuan don't want to go home anymore, you will be very happy, right?"
Chi Guilan trembled and asked, "Lao Zhan, do you want Huanhuan to marry a deaf-mute?"
"I wish I were deaf-mute!" Zhan Qiang roared, "I envy my mother for being hard of hearing and not being able to hear your nonsense all day long! If you don't like that boy, at least you should take a look at him and understand what kind of person he is. Whether he is good or not, you have to see him to know!"
Zhan Qiang pointed at Zhan Xi, "Huan Huan is my daughter, I know her, she is not the kind of person who would just pick a partner casually! She likes that boy, and A Jie also said that he has good character, which shows that he has good qualities. You just keep nagging at the fact that she can't hear anything! It was the same with Qin Fei before, Qin Fei is obviously a good person but you just can't see it, and you always find fault with her! You only see what you want to see, and you just hope that all of us will follow your wishes, and those who listen to you are right, and those who don't listen to you are wrong! I tell you, Chi Guilan, Huan Huan did nothing wrong, her mistake was that she was born into our family, with our parents, if she was born into someone else's family, she might be a very outstanding girl!"
Chi Guilan's body shook violently.
She looked at Zhan Jie and Zhan Xi again, her eyes blank. The words from her daughter and husband hit her hard, and she couldn't digest them for a while. She didn't think she had done anything wrong, she just felt that everyone was talking about her and saying she was wrong, but what had she done wrong? She had obviously given everything for this family and for her children!
When their family was having internal conflicts, other relatives did not dare to say anything. At this time, the atmosphere became quiet, and an old man who was a few years older than Chi Guilan spoke in a deep voice: "Guilan, children and grandchildren have their own blessings. We are old, you have to learn to let go and let them make their own way."
Another auntie came over and advised her: "Guilan, Huanhuan's partner sounds pretty good. Take a look first. This guy can make 400,000 yuan a year even though he's deaf. He's really amazing!"
Someone took the lead, and many people persuaded him to stop:
"Huanhuan is already very good, don't ask too much of her and don't push her too hard."
"Gui Lan, this is nothing big. We are just dating. You can only know if the boy is good or not after you see him."
"Alright, alright, it's alright. Lily is getting engaged tomorrow, everyone should be happy. The family shouldn't be in such a mess."
"An artist! 1.86 meters tall? Wow, I really want to meet Sister Huanhuan's boyfriend!"
"Gui Lan, you need to change your temper. You are sixty years old. How many years do we have left to live? The children have their own lives. You have been too strict with Huan Huan since she was young, and we can't say anything to you. Now Huan Huan has grown up and has spoken for himself. Don't you understand?"
…
Amid the voices of people trying to reconcile, my aunt-in-law said, "But that person is deaf-mute and disabled. I still don't think he's reliable."
Everyone was embarrassed, and Chi Guilan's face suddenly turned ugly again.
Zhan Jie said to his aunt, "What's unreliable about him? Is your son unreliable? Aunt, wait until your son goes to Qiantang and buys a house as big as my sister's boyfriend's and earns the same annual salary as him, then you can say this again, right?"
Aunt-in-law: “…”
She was so angry that she didn't want to eat anymore, so she got up and walked out.
The other relatives thought they couldn't have dinner anymore, so they all left after persuading Chi Guilan. Chi Guixian, her husband, and her daughter also left, and soon, only Zhan Qiang's family of four were left in the living room.
Zhan Xi's face was still a little red. She was only slapped, which was much better than she expected.
She said to Zhan Jie, "Brother, I'm going to the hotel to look for Xiaoyu. I'll go back to Qiantang with him tomorrow. You can move in all the things he bought for the family. He and I won't be coming back."
Zhan Jie asked: "Are you still going to Lily's engagement ceremony tomorrow?"
Zhan Xi shook his head.
She picked up her bag and walked towards the door. Chi Guilan suddenly shouted, "Where are you going?!"
Zhan Xi looked back at her and replied calmly, "I'm going to find my boyfriend. He's in town. I wanted to come visit you guys, but now it seems... forget it."
Chi Guilan: “…”
She moved her lips but still said nothing. Zhan Xi turned around and walked out.
She was almost out of breath and couldn't stay there for another second, so she desperately wanted to find her oxygen tank.
The peace of mind, ease and happiness, tolerance and understanding, trust and encouragement that you can't get in this home...all the beautiful words you can think of can be found with that person.
Luo Jingyu was drawing at the desk when his phone vibrated. He saw the WeChat message Zhan Xi sent him: Xiaoyu, open the door.
He ran to open the door in two steps, and was stunned after opening it. Zhan Xi was standing at the door with tears streaming down her face, crying so hard that she was out of breath.
In fact, there was no winner or loser in the battle between her and her mother. She could even be considered the winner. Everyone was speaking for her, her brother was helping her, her father was helping her, and all the relatives were helping her, but she was still very sad in her heart.
She spoke out in front of so many people about the grievances that had been suppressed in her heart for the past year, thinking about her dreams that had passed away, the school she wanted to go to but didn't, the major she wanted to study but didn't, the job she wanted to do but didn't... Perhaps only the so-called "first love" that ended in vain was a good thing. Missing an unsuitable person allowed her to have the opportunity to meet Luo Jingyu many years later.
Luo Jingyu took Zhan Xi's hand and walked into the house, closed the door, and hugged her in her arms.
His Huanhuan must have suffered a lot of injustice, otherwise she wouldn't cry so sadly. Luo Jingyu felt very distressed and couldn't say anything to comfort her. She could only hug her tightly, kiss her hair, kiss her forehead, and kiss her tearful eyes.
He tasted her tears, which were salty and bitter. His throat was choking, but he couldn't help but call out her name. He wanted to say "Huanhuan, don't cry", but all he could say was: "Huaerhuaer, Bowu, Bowu..."
Zhan Xi leaned on his chest, listening to his familiar voice and the unclear words he tried to say, and his tears flowed even more violently.
She thought that it was fine to just leave it at that. She and her mother had already made everything clear, and all the relatives in the family knew about it. There was nothing to be ashamed of.
She loves Luo Jingyu, and Luo Jingyu also loves her. What does it have to do with others
That's great. She doesn't have to hide it like she did in the past. If her mother can't accept it, then let her be. If the relatives want to
Let them gossip as they please, what does it matter if they don’t want to understand Luo Jingyu
It doesn’t matter!
She was no longer a pretty and well-behaved puppet. The strings holding her body had already been cut one by one, one by one... all by the man beside her.
She was already free.