In the evening, my husband, Lao Xu, and I were dancing in a small square with a few elderly friends when his cell phone rang, and he stopped to answer it while walking to the side. I saw him frowning, and my heart tightened, could it be his daughter Xu Jie's call?
I didn't care about entertainment, I greeted my friends and went over to Lao Xu's side. He was sitting on a bench and sighed a lot. I went to him and asked him in a lowered voice: "Xiaojie's phone call, right? I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that, but I'm going to be able to do it," he said.
Old Xu twisted his head to look at me, shook his head somewhat painfully and said, "It's Song Fan, he said Xiaojie is making a fuss about divorcing him."
Xiaojie is crazy?
Song Fan is so good to her! Anyone who knows the two of them, said Song Fan is really hurt Xu Jie. The two were married for only four years, the son Xiao Shu just two years old, although Xiao Jie usually very make, but Song Fan has always been very tolerant of her, good how she will file for divorce.
The old Xu and I said while walking to the home, I let him go back to take the medicine today, his heart was not good, meet a thing is more fragile. The two of us discussed, when he took the medicine to calm down, to find Xiaojie to understand the situation.
Old Xu's medicine just smooth down, Xiaojie pulled the suitcase home, her face pulled long, eyes in addition to fatigue and resentment.
I went up to greet her, but also wanted to help her drag the box into the house, who knew that she vigorously shook off my hand, but also glared at me, said, "What do you want to do? Get outta here!" I was stunned and opened my mouth wide, old Xu coughed a few times, obviously angry by Xu Jie's attitude, said "how to speak to your Auntie Tao."
Xu Jie slanted a glance at Lao Xu and went into the room we had been saving for her, then banged the door shut.
Old Xu and I looked at each other and Old Xu smiled apologetically at me, a smile that was worse than crying, and sighed heavily.
I walked over and told Lao Xu that I would not bother with the child, she may not be in a good mood at the moment, and asked him to ask Xu Jie and Song Fan what is going on later.
At this time, Xu Jie suddenly came out of the room and said something to me that shocked me so much that my eyes almost fell out.
02
Xu Jie said to me, "Tao Shumin, I will live here from now on, this house is mine, I don't want to live with someone I don't like, I'll give you one day, pack up your things and move out for me before this hour tomorrow." After saying that she went back to her room and closed the door.
It took me half a day to react, and after I slowed down for a while, Lao Xu had already run over to knock on Xu Jie's door, asking her what she really wanted to do, and then divorcing Song Fan, and then coming back to her mother's house to annoy us.
Xu Jie shouted in the house, saying that she did not need to be controlled by Lao Xu, she wanted to do whatever she wanted. This is not her mother's home, this is her own home, she is the only child of Lao Xu, the house must be hers.
I want to go over to comfort Lao Xu, but I can't get up, and I can't move.
I know that Xu Jie has never been good at getting along with people, so I try to get in touch with her as little as possible, and I've never done anything wrong to her, but she's never been very nice to me.
For the sake of Lao Xu's body, for the sake of their father-daughter relationship, I will speak for Xu Jie every time. I don't intend to let her appreciate my feelings, and I don't want Lao Xu to treat me better, I just want to get down to business, but I didn't expect her to be so unreasonable.
The house is not my name, but I and Lao Xu is a serious couple, three years ago we got a marriage license. The real estate license is only Lao Xu's name, then I as his legal wife has the right to live here. And Xu Jie, is already married out of the girl, she and her husband have their own house, their own home, not to mention that now is not divorced, is divorced, she can live here, but what qualifications do not allow me to continue to live.
Old Xu failed to knock on Xu Jie's door, he sighed once again, and then walked to my side, reached out his hand rubbing behind my back, his mouth said I'm sorry, it's all his fault, it's him who didn't educate his daughter well, and let me follow the aggrievement.
I looked up at him, he was full of disheveled face, his nose was sore, tears pounced shuttle fell. Old Xu reached out to me over, I buried my head into his no longer sturdy chest. A breath held in the heart, mentioned several times did not cry out.
03
In the evening, I went to the grocery store as usual to buy food with Lao Xu, walking in the neighborhood, a number of familiar people greeted us with a smile, my heart is hot. Then look at the old Xu some ugly face, the heart and abruptly cold up.
Back home we choose vegetables and wash dishes, I am responsible for the spoon, the kitchen smoke and fire in our dense in the seemingly ordinary happiness. Until the meal on the table, I feel that all this seems to be very empty, the house, furniture, and I bought the decorations as well as the person in front of me, in the end, and I really have a relationship?
Old Xu looked toward Xu Jie's room, the door was dead shut, and I couldn't hear any ringing inside. He narrowed his gaze over to look at me, and I pretended not to notice and lowered my head to ladle soup into his bowl, and this time I didn't open my mouth, saying that I'd let him call Xiaojie out for dinner.
Lao Xu mouth opened, and finally closed, that meal tasted like chewing wax, but he did not know if he could experience, my heart was torn pain.
That night, I lay in bed with Lao Xu and did not speak, I did not remind him to take medication, he did not know whether it was not thought up or on purpose, and did not move the drawer of the bottle of medicine.
In the middle of the night, Lao Xu was still tossing and turning, and he listened to his side ear for a while to make sure that Xu Jie was up for dinner, and then pulled the quilt to my side again. I had my eyes closed, but I was awake. I wanted Lao Xu to say something to me, but I was afraid of what he would say to me.
Song Fan came over early the next morning, he greeted me and Lao Xu, and then went to knock on Xu Jie's door, there was no sound inside, Song Fan spoke softly for a while, but Xu Jie still didn't have any reaction.
I obviously see him some control over the emotions, voice up, he said: "Xu Jie, what do you want to do? How big a thing and divorce, son at home crying all night, I call you do not answer, send messages you do not return, you do not worry about him, small tree is your son."
04
I stood aside and quietly looked at Song Fan, who was clearly angry. Lao Xu went up to persuade him, saying that Xiaojie may not be awake at this moment, she was not in a good mood yesterday, and I guess she fell asleep without a great deal of time.
His words sounded a bit ridiculous, this persuasion instead of making Song Fan even more unsettled, he turned his head to Lao Xu, said: "Dad! She is no longer a child, she is now the child's mother, how can she still be so capricious. This time, just because my mom bought clothes for the child she disliked the dirt and had to throw them away, my mom said a few more words, I also think it's unnecessary, said a few words for my mom, and he wants a divorce."
Lao Xu did not squeak, turned around and sat back on the sofa, running his hand through his chest, I went over to the kitchen to pour a cup of water and handed him, he looked at me, and put his head down.
Song Fan also stopped knocking on the door, he sat down on the opposite side of the old Xu, hands on his head, silent for a while, like talking to himself, but also like to say to the old Xu listen: "I am a normal person ah, and then she is like this I really can not endure, married these years, you say she made a lot of noise, every time a small chicken hair, she can be tortured to the whole family can not live in peace, may be this day! The first thing you need to do is to get your hands on a new one, and you'll be able to do that.
The old Xu sat up from the sofa, his voice trembled, said: "Xiao Song, do not think blindly, Xiaojie is a child's temperament, a while on the good, I'll persuade her, let her go home."
Song Fan shook his head, smiled bitterly and said, "Dad! Don't you think you are deceiving yourself and others? As long as Xu Jie himself is unwilling, can you persuade him?"
Old Xu just the energy immediately subsided, yes, this daughter of his when he did not listen to the words, much less listen to his words.
From the age of thirteen, Xu Jie did not see him as a father, see him not to throw face is to say difficult to listen to, and then more developed into his words, and even cursed him.
I don't know when he started to use money to solve this problem, every time Xu Jie opened his mouth to scold him, he took out a pile of money from his wallet and put it in her hand. Then later, as long as Xu Jie wanted money, he ran to scold him, scolding him words are also very single, nothing more than he is a heartless, killed his wife, and do not care about the child, except that Xu Jie scolding accent is particularly difficult to listen to, every time to make the old Xu sweat.
05
Song Fan left a sentence when he left, saying, "If Xu Jie comes back before dinner, it's OK, if not, then as she wishes, I'll divorce her."
Old Xu is not not want to stay him, he can not stay, and do not know what reason to stay. He painfully turned his head toward me and said, "Shumin, you see how to do this ah? We can't just stand by and watch the two of them really get divorced, Xiaoshu is only two years old!"
I laughed coldly and said, "I can't control your family's business, I'm going to live on the street myself."
Old Xu's eyes snapped open for a moment, and it was only then that he remembered what Xu Jie had said yesterday, and only then that he remembered that he hadn't given me an answer.
He sat up from the sofa and went to knock on the door again, this time there was still no sound. As if he remembered something, he suddenly ran to the bedroom and took out a hammer and slammed the door as hard as he could.
I was also suddenly a little afraid, from yesterday to now more than ten hours, Xu Jie did not eat or drink, and did not say a word, but she also said that to me yesterday, it should not be, and only slightly put the heart into the stomach.
Sure enough, Xu Jie came back a while later, she snatched the hammer from the old Xu's hand, angrily with a pair of eyes, asked him: "What do you want to do in the morning? I'm not going to be able to do that."
Old Xu saw it was her relief, immediately and face avalanche up, asked her when she went out, out what. Xu Jie did not pay attention to him, from the dark green small kun bag took out the key, to the lock hole a plug, turned two circles, the door opened.
Old Xu told Xu Jie about Song Fan coming in the morning and what he said, she was about to enter the house, her footsteps stopped, her face twitched, and she violently closed her eyes, slightly raised her head and exhaled, and shut me and Old Xu out of the house again.
06
I slowly moved to the bedroom, Lao Xu following me.
He hesitated for a while before telling me, "Shumin, don't worry, I won't let Xiaojie kick you out, you're my wife, this is our home, if I live here, you can live here. If she can't tolerate you, I... I'll go out with you."
His face was white, and there was a desperation in his eyes that I couldn't read, but I knew that the desperation had nothing to do with me.
I bit my lip and didn't answer him.
When I met Lao Xu, I was working in a housekeeping company, responsible for the distribution of personnel, and occasionally I was too busy to help go to the customers to clean.
It was that time when I went to Lao Xu's house to do the service, and we both came into contact.
Old Xu was a police officer before he retired, and it is said that once when he was out on official business, Xu Jie's mother became acutely ill, and his phone could not be reached, so when the ten-year-old Xu Jie called the neighbors to help send her to the hospital, the person was already dead.
Old Xu is very remorseful, and therefore Xu Jie her mother's death blamed on the old Xu, from then on with him not very close.
Old Xu is too busy to take care of Xu Jie, so he sends her to her aunt's house, and he gives her a sum of money every month to help take care of her. The company's main goal is to provide the best possible service to its customers, and the company's goal is to provide the best possible service to its customers, and the company's goal is to provide the best possible service to its customers.
Xu Jie's original character was a bit capricious, but Lao Xu realized that she was getting more and more aggressive. In Xu Jie's eyes, he is her enemy, as if he killed her mother with his own hands.
A child's eyes hide so deep resentment, which makes the old Xu is very afraid. He tried to explain to Xu Jie, but she did not listen.
It wasn't until he went to pick up Xu Jie without saying hello that he heard his aunt brainwashing her, saying that her mother's death was Lao Xu's fault, and that if he had answered the phone or given Xu Jie's mom a medical checkup in advance, it wouldn't have happened at all. She also told Xu Jie that in the future, don't even give him a good face, let him live in guilt for the rest of his life, so that he feels forever indebted to Xu Jie, and then he won't marry again and have a child, and Xu Jie's life won't be bad.
This is not a problem at first hearing, but carefully smacked, very much so that his heart is cold. The old Xu decided to take Xu Jie home, the daughter of a long time to listen to this kind of words, the father and daughter may not have the opportunity to get along with the lifetime.
At that time, Xu Jie was already thirteen years old, it is the critical period of the formation of a person's outlook, Lao Xu took her home, has not been able to change her mind.
07
He tries to be a good father, accompanying her to the amusement park when he has time, buying her beautiful clothes, fun toys, and taking her to the restaurant from time to time.
But Xu Jie's attitude towards him has not changed at all, and even worse than before, she does not think that Lao Xu is trying to make up for the lack of care for her before, but that he is again using this way to atone for his sins.
In front of her, Lao Xu is a sinner.
The harder Lao Xu tries, the more she hates him inside. And her character is becoming more and more radical, especially when she sees Lao Xu, showing aggression at all times.
Old Xu, a big man, does not know how to educate the child, she is not good, not good, and gradually in front of their own daughter to develop the habit of lowly, as if he really owed her the same.
Of course, he did not dare to marry another, a person with a daughter to live, how much bitterness and loneliness in the middle of this, who does not know, well later Xu Jie met Song Fan, he was very good to her, the two get along with more than half a year to get married.
When I met Lao Xu, she was already married to Song Fan.
He said that his daughter had become an adult and he wanted to have a complete family. When he said this, he stared at me for a long time, we have some understanding of the two, I think Lao Xu this person is not bad, is a worthy of trust, and I also feel sorry for his more than ten years of loneliness.
I was married once when I was young, and because I couldn't have children, I was abandoned after two years, and then I never thought of starting a family. A woman like me can't give birth to a child, and I didn't have the confidence to be a stepmother at that time, so I might as well be single and comfortable.
I don't have any education, and I don't know how to do it, so I've been doing odd jobs all over the place. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do this, but I'm sure I'll be able to do it in the future.
The older I get, the less sleep I get, and whenever the night falls, my heart starts to empty out, and I want to have someone around me to eat and chat with, to lie in bed and talk about the past, to talk about the future, and each other to have a dependence, to have a companion.
Two people are interesting when the relationship develops very quickly, and it didn't take long for me and Lao Xu to get together.
08
Old Xu told me about Xu Jie's character, but I didn't care much about it at that time.
In the beginning, when she came over, she would speak coldly to me, with contempt and disgust in her eyes. But she didn't come often, and after she left, Lao Xu told me not to be like her, and that she was still a child.
The first time I saw this was when I was a student at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, Berkeley.
Later, we got a license, and Xu Jie came to make a fuss, saying that Xu had failed her dead mother, or married another woman, and didn't care about her. The old Xu good words of persuasion, said she has a husband to take care of, he is relieved to find me, he also said when he will not care about her, and with her to ensure that all his things in the future are her, I told him, I do not want him, just want to find someone to take a companion.
The words fell on my ears, the heart was also torn to raw pain.
I really don't want anything from Lao Xu, and then he didn't save up money before, and he gave Xu Jie a handful of times when he was generous, then he was left with this set of houses. I'm already fifty-something years old, how many more years I can live, want him this set of house to do what.
But this word from the mouth of Lao Xu, or stabbed me.
But this has given Xu Jie peace of mind.
Then she was pregnant and gave birth to a child, until now the child is two years old, I served her a week of the month, to the child and she spent a lot of money to buy a lot of things, but also try to close the relationship with her. But in her heart, I am simply an outsider, even with her father pulled the card, she can at any time to me, can be in this family arbitrary behavior.
This is also the bottom of her words today.
I don't have a house outside, but I still have some money in my hand, I can still go out and live in the old days, but I was just kicked out like this, and I'm still not willing to do anything about it.
The most important thing is the attitude of the old Xu, really let me can not accept.
I packed up my things and walked out from Lao Xu's house, Lao Xu advised me not to be impulsive. He just moved his lips, and did not even reach out to pull me a hand. In his heart, Xu Jie is his own daughter in any case, and I'm just a passer-by who suddenly broke into his life.
I looked for a hotel temporarily stayed a night, guarding the night open eyes until dawn, tears several times wet the pillow.
The next day at noon, Lao Xu called me, tone full of excitement, he said: "Shumin, last night Xiaojie went home, I called Song Fan in the morning, he said that the two have nothing to do, where are you, I'm going to take you back. You just when Tian Xiaojie's words are casually said, don't bother with her. Besides, if you are not there, there is no one to supervise my medication."
He was still saying something on the other end of the phone and I was no longer in the mood to listen. I know that if I go back, it is not certain that one day will be driven out again, and Lao Xu still does not act; if I do not go back, I have to live a lonely day alone.
I have been alone for most of my life, that kind of day is not good, but at least down to earth. Put down the phone I sent a message to the old Xu, told him my decision, although there is a little reluctance, but I know that leaving him is the most correct choice at present.