Chapter 4: My Daughter's Considerations
“Hahahaha, cluck, cluck, goose, goose—”
After listening to her best friend Gu Yunsu's retelling, Luo Jingjing held her stomach and imitated the sounds of various animals vigorously, falling back and forth, vividly interpreting the idiom "laughing out loud".
Gu Yunsu leaned on the sofa, gave him a helpless and disgusted look, and said weakly: "That's enough. If you laugh at me again, the chef will grab you and make soup."
But even with such sarcasm, Luo Jingjing couldn't stop laughing. She still laughed like a big white goose, slapping her thighs and crying while laughing. In the end, she had to take out a few tissues to wipe her tears and waved her hands: "Hey, stop teasing me."
"Who is teasing you, big sister!" Gu Yunsu looked at her with a smile on his face, stretched out his palm and gestured while saying, "I've been as quiet as a chicken, waiting for you for five minutes."
"Oh my, I have so much to say!" Luo Jingjing laughed, wiped her tears, and shook her head. She then said, "I don't even know what to ask first!"
"Then don't ask." Gu Yunsu poured himself a bowl of Tom Yum Goong soup, lowered his head and sipped it, "If you don't eat it now, it will get cold."
Luo Jingjing finally calmed down a bit at this time, followed closely, scooped herself a spoonful of soup, shook her head firmly, and had her own ideas: "No, I have to ask, this meal is on me, I have to get my money's worth."
Listen, is this human language?
Gu Yunsu raised his head to glance at his friend's excited and gossipy expression, and bit the shrimp slices with a loud noise.
As Luo Jingjing drank her soup, she couldn't help but recall the story. She smiled and exclaimed, "What a great show!"
Gu Yunsu nodded and said, "As a supporting actor, I couldn't help but applaud."
"Oh, right," Luo Jingjing found the starting point and asked, "How did you deal with Xu Zheng later? You couldn't let him live in your house, right?"
"I called a taxi to send him home."
"Oh, sure. Do you know where he lives?"
"I checked the delivery address on Taobao..."
Luo Jingjing gave a thumbs up: "Or maybe you are a clever little ghost!"
"Don't bother with this, it's useless." Gu Yunsu snorted.
Luo Jingjing chuckled twice and asked, "What happened next? Did Xu Zheng come to see you again after he sobered up?"
"I found it," Gu Yunsu sighed, a little angry, and said, "He came with two bottles of wine, and he was too embarrassed to go upstairs. He met me in the community. He also asked me, saying that the last shot in his memory was my mother yelling at him, 'I'm pregnant!', and asked me if he was dreaming. What could I say? I said of course you are dreaming. He still had the nerve to be embarrassed, and then asked me: 'Is it true that no one is pregnant?' Now when I hear these two words, I get angry and tell you, I will directly say 'Fuck you', mad at me."
"And then?"
"No, he sobered up and seemed to have lost interest in me. He told me he was sorry for disturbing me and that he was impulsive yesterday and would not bother me again." Gu Yunsu was gesticulating and filled with righteous indignation. "I'm not really disappointed. I just don't understand what's wrong with these men. They think of one thing and then another. Is it so difficult to disturb others after thinking it through? Why am I a sliding door and want to come in and out of my world?"
She frowned and spoke passionately, and when she got excited, her voice was eight octaves higher than usual.
As a bystander of her friend's last relationship, Luo Jingjing knew that the person the other party was talking about was not Xu Zheng.
She took a sip from the water cup and asked casually, "Why, are you still thinking about your ex?"
Gu Yunsu suddenly became quiet, as if he had been hit by a club. He finally came to his senses and rubbed his forehead with a headache: "Oh my God, I am speechless."
Luo Jingjing did not persuade her any further.
She knew this good friend too well. She was rational, self-sustaining, and had a good reputation. She was good at self-education. As long as she made up her mind, she would definitely do it without anyone else's intervention. When they had just broken up, Luo Jingjing was still worried that her sister would do something stupid like "flying to the other city" to save the relationship. Within two days, she understood that even if all the men in the world died, Gu Yunsu would never pursue a man who didn't want her.
But she still suggested: "It's hard to forget because of the lack of continuity. Just talk about it for a while."
Gu Yunsu disagreed: "With the current situation in our family, how can I continue the conversation?"
"No conflict." Luo Jingjing shrugged, "And that's exactly why we should talk. At least there's a way out."
What way out?
Gu Yunsu wondered, did it mean that she had another person to confide her troubles to, or that she could break away from her original family and build another one?
Then I heard Luo Jingjing ask: "But it's true, how are you going to solve this problem in your family?"
The topic naturally turned back to Wu Limei.
Gu Yunsu was even more angry: "How can I solve this problem? They are doing this just to give birth to the baby."
After seeing Xu Zheng off that day, no one in the family mentioned the incident again.
Li Yan remained indifferent throughout the whole process and did not say a word, but he was usually like this and no one could say that he had any abnormal emotions at the moment.
Gu Yunsu's reaction was very direct. Her frown at least made it clear to the old couple that she was not very welcoming to the arrival of this baby.
It was not known whether out of guilt or indifference, the old couple no longer took the initiative to ask their daughter for her opinion. The fact that Wu Limei was pregnant was like a stone thrown into the sea, which caused ripples, but then sank to the bottom of the sea and disappeared without a trace.
The family pretended to be ignorant even though they knew the truth and maintained a false harmony. It was awkward but safe, and no one wanted to be the one to disturb the peace.
Gu Yunsu tried her best to avoid any possibility of having alone contact with Wu Limei, which meant that not only could she not leave the attic at night, but she would also be "locked" there during the day.
"I am the real Rapunzel." She told Luo Jingjing, "I hide during the day and come out at night. I am the vampire version of Rapunzel."
There was no other way. In order to prevent Wu Limei from asking her how she felt, which would have caused a big fight, she could only compromise and sacrifice herself.
One time, she was so hungry that she went to the kitchen to find something to eat. She ran into Wu Limei who was drinking water. She greeted her, grabbed a bag of soda biscuits that she usually didn't even look at, and ran away. Wu Limei was also annoyed and asked her, "Did you run into a ghost? Why are you running so fast?"
Gu Yunsu used his best acting skills, frowning, holding his stomach, and sounding a little uncomfortable but not too abrupt, whining, "I won't say any more, I have diarrhea."
Then he ran back to the attic as fast as a ghost was chasing him.
Gu Yunsu's description was so vivid that Luo Jingjing laughed out loud. After laughing, she started to worry about her sister: "But this is not a big deal." Then she asked, "What do you think?"
"To be honest?" Gu Yunsu sneered, "I just think this is all very funny."
The most intuitive feeling is this: it's funny, ridiculous, and simply a farce.
It is easy to imagine what reactions and comments outsiders will have. There will definitely be some conservative and narrow-minded people who will look down on them with a mocking tone, saying that these two people are disrespectful and indecent in their old age.
"Awesome, bro." There will definitely be people who will give Li Jianxiong a thumbs up and praise him for being "old but still strong" and still sowing seeds at this age, as if making a woman pregnant is not a normal function of men but a great achievement.
It must be this group of people who continued to look at Wu Limei with malicious smiles, as if a woman of this age being pregnant represented an unspeakable shame and should be subject to moral judgment.
But to be honest, Gu Yunsu is used to doing her own thing. As long as she thinks it is right, it doesn't matter what others think of her. Moreover, she is not the person involved, so what does other people's opinions have to do with her? She doesn't care about this.
She cares about herself.
It was very selfish and very realistic, but to be frank, at least 60% of the reason why she disliked this matter was because of herself.
Looking closer, Gu Yunsu feels that she is in a period of transformation in her life.
This was a last-ditch attempt in which she gave up almost everything she had. She had lost her love, her job, and her youth was passing by in a flash. She felt that for such a miserable woman, it was time to turn the page, and it was time for her luck to turn around.
Although she only had a vague direction in her mind before, after a few months of reflection, she has really made up her mind and has taken practical actions to move in that direction.
As a result, such a stick suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and even Cheng Yaojin was not able to intercept it.
Don’t say that Wu Limei’s having a child does not conflict with her pursuit of her life ideals.
How could there not be a conflict? It was her own mother who was about to give birth, and she was still living at home. For moral reasons, she couldn't be as indifferent as Li Yan, either mentally or in actual action, and pretend that nothing had happened, right?
Ultimately, the responsibility of caring for the pregnant woman, whether active or passive, falls on her.
Not to mention the arduous task after the child is born.
This means that she will be tied to this child for at least two years and cannot move.
The main reason why Gu Yunsu resigned was that she found that her energy was limited and it was impossible for her to write while completing her daily work. Similarly, we should not say that it completely delayed her writing plan after taking care of a pregnant woman and taking on the task of housework, but at least we can speculate that it is not surprising that the time is doubled.
Not to mention the money issue.
Now the family of four depends entirely on Li Jianxiong’s salary for their livelihood. What will they do when the child is born?
Everyone knows that raising a child is like raising a Pi Xiu, you only put in and never give out. No matter how much you invest in it, you won’t see any “return money”, diaper money, milk powder money... just thinking of these terms made Gu Yunsu feel like he was going to have a panic attack.
If it really comes to this, can she still live and eat at home with peace of mind and not earn a penny?
The ending is obvious. As long as Wu Limei gives birth to this child, she will be forced to give up her dream, find a job she doesn't love while taking care of her mother, and go back to her old path.
She knew she was shameless. She knew this when she decided to go home and live off her parents.
But can't people be a little more shameless? Can't she rely on a little help from others to gain some benefits for herself in her life?
Although everyone says that she is an adult who should be able to stand on her own feet, can't she just be a willful child in front of her family?
No, because the real baby is about to appear.
She will be forced to change her goals, give up the opportunity to live an ideal life, and become a realistic adult.
And look further away.
Wu Limei is 48 this year. According to the average life expectancy of the elderly at 80, she can still accompany her children for another 30 years. Among these years, she can support herself and does not need care from others, which can be counted as 20 years.
So what to do after this?
Is this a child for herself, or one for Gu Yunsu?
Children cannot be returned or exchanged. Once you decide to have them born, they are a lifelong thing.
When Gu Yunsu and Luo Jingjing are afraid of marriage and having children, they always say: "Oh, when I think about being responsible for this person for the rest of my life, I feel overwhelmed."
The two of them had never made up their minds about how to proceed with their marriage, but as severe procrastinators, they always wanted to postpone the decision again and again.
I want to be a child again and live a less stressful life.
But now, Wu Limei forced her to face it all.
It would be strange if there was no rebellious psychology!
What does she think? She doesn't want anyone to change her current life.
She clenched her fists: "I want to declare war on Ms. Wu!"