Chapter 33: The Troublemaker in the 80s 3 We will still be a family in the future...
Shen Qian thought for a while and prepared to go to the kitchen to find some ingredients to cook for himself, but found that Zhou Shengmo was currently living in the family building allocated by the army, and the conditions were quite limited.
This is the most typical tube-shaped building from the 1980s, with a long brick-concrete structure.
A long and narrow public corridor runs through the entire building, with households located on one side of the corridor. Since each household has no kitchen, everyone cooks in this narrow corridor.
Shen Qian opened the door and took a look. The entire corridor was filled with miscellaneous items from various households, including sacks of coal briquettes, firewood, pickle jars, and dried peppers hanging on the wall.
It was almost dinner time, and the cooking fumes mixed with the smell of incompletely burned gas made people standing in the corridor feel as if they were being suffocated by smoke and fire.
Shen Qian frowned slightly. Considering Zhou Shengmo's current physical condition...
Sure enough, she had just opened the door for a moment when she heard violent coughing coming from inside the room.
The living conditions here are really bad.
Just as Shen Qian was about to close the door and go home, preparing to think of another way, she heard a soft voice calling from afar: "Mom!"
Chen Qian looked up and saw a little girl breaking free from the hand holding hers, running towards her quickly with her short legs. She had only taken a few steps when she was tripped by the dustpan in the corridor and fell to the ground with a thud. Her little face was immediately covered with coal dust.
The woman behind her was startled and wanted to go forward to hug her, but she didn't expect the little girl to get up and run towards Shen Qian regardless of anything.
Shen Qian's heart moved, and he quickly opened the door and squatted down subconsciously.
The little girl jumped into her arms: "Wow! Mommy!"
She burst into tears the moment she threw herself into Chen Qian's arms. Chen Qian hugged her, and his eyes turned red because of her crying.
The woman behind the little girl hurried over to check on her: "Shi Wei, let your aunt check if you fell anywhere?"
But Zhou Shiwei was reluctant to let go, and when her aunt pushed her like that, she broke down emotionally: "Mom, please don't go! Please don't go! If you go, take me with you. Let my brother go with Dad, and I'll go with you! Wow! Can you please not go!"
Zhou Shiwei cried so hard that many people gathered in the corridor and asked, "Why are you crying?"
"Weiwei, stop crying!"
More and more people gathered, and the narrow corridor was instantly blocked.
Many people were talking about it, and some unpleasant words were heard. They were all talking about the fact that the third son of the Zhou family was paralyzed and that his daughter-in-law was going to divorce and abandon their two children.
Shen Qian didn't want to be watched by others at the door anymore, so she picked up her daughter and said to the woman behind her, "Second sister, come in first."
The one who came with her daughter was Zhou Shengmo's second sister. She looked at Chen Qian and said, "Weiwei may have heard about your divorce with your third brother today. She knew that you were going back to Rongcheng, so she didn't even eat. She kept crying and clamoring to come over. You should comfort Weiwei first. By the way, I also brought food for you and your mother. The food was made by your eldest sister-in-law. She will come up with eldest brother and Shi An later."
Zhou Siyuan didn't like her third brother's wife. Although she was pretty and her two children were cute, she was very cold to the Zhou family and usually had no good mood. Now that her third brother was injured and paralyzed in bed, there was no way she could expect her brother's wife to have a good mood.
After hearing from her parents that her third brother had hinted that he was going to discuss divorce with Shen Qian today, Zhou Siyuan even felt that she might not be able to meet this brother's wife even if she brought her children here.
I didn't expect that she hadn't left yet.
Yes, my third brother is a veteran who has made great contributions. It may not be easy to go through the divorce procedures if he wants to. He may have to wait for the divorce procedures in Rongcheng.
Alas...it's the fault of these two children.
Zhou Siyuan didn't want to say anything more to her brother and sister-in-law. She put down the two lunch boxes and went into the bedroom with another lunch box.
Her four-year-old daughter Weiwei was still clinging to her arms, her face covered in tears and snot. She stood up and tried to get a towel to wipe her face, but her daughter grabbed at her clothes, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed and begged, "Mom... please don't leave..."
Inside the house, Zhou Siyuan helped Zhou Shengmo up, opened the lunch box, and took out some food for him. Hearing her niece crying, she didn't want to say anything, but couldn't help asking, "Third brother, how's the discussion going with your sister-in-law? Is she still determined to leave?"
Zhou Shengmo buried his head in his food and did not answer.
Zhou Siyuan frowned. Her third brother was the most outstanding child in the Zhou family before he was injured. He was tall and handsome, but a little introverted. However, he was talented in both civil and military affairs. His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and sent him to the army for training. Just when he was about to be demobilized and return home, such a big accident happened.
My third brother's marriage was arranged by an introduction and was rather hastily decided. My mother was not very satisfied with it, but my third brother agreed without hesitation. Although their relationship was not close after marriage and they were rarely together, they had two children. When she went out today, my mother wiped away her tears. Although she did not like this daughter-in-law, she did not want Zhou Shengmo and his wife to divorce.
Not only their mother thought so, but all three siblings thought so too.
My third brother is now paralyzed in bed and still needs someone to take care of him. Once his wife leaves, not only will there be no one to take care of the children, but he will also become a burden to the family. Everyone can bear the burden for one or two years, but what about ten or twenty years later? Who would be willing to carry this burden forever?
Zhou Siyuan thought about this and said, "I came here today to tell you that the government has already provided you with welfare housing. It's on Fuxiang Street. The location is good, and you can choose the floor and room yourself. You can decide whether to let your eldest brother take you there or your third sister-in-law..."
Shen Qian's voice comforting the child came from outside the door: "Weiwei, mommy won't leave. Can you go home and live with mommy and daddy in the future?"
Zhou Shengmo paused for a moment while eating his rice, as if he was paying attention to the movement outside. He had been waiting for this sentence.
Zhou Siyuan saw that her third brother's solemn expression had relaxed a little. He looked up at her and said, "We agreed not to divorce. We'll bring both children back and raise them ourselves. Let her handle the house matters. It's not easy for me to go out, so I won't bother you, big brother."
Zhou Siyuan was really surprised: "Not getting divorced? Really not getting divorced? You want to bring both children back? Is my third sister-in-law really willing?"
"Yes, she is willing. But I also told her that if she regrets it in the future, she can always file for divorce from me and I won't stop her."
Zhou Siyuan pushed Zhou Shengmo excitedly and said, "What are you talking about? You must keep this wife safe from now on. If you lose her, we won't be able to find you another one."
Zhou Shengmo continued to eat his meal without saying anything else.
If he doesn't want to guard it, it's useless to force it. Besides... his expression became even gloomier. He himself despised his broken body, so how could he force others to guard him?
Life is so long, who can say for sure?
He never regretted what he said, nor did he regret not being able to find anyone else after the divorce, and he didn't plan to find anyone else. It was just that it would be nice if Chen Qian didn't leave and the two children could be happy for a few more days.
Thinking of this, he no longer felt any psychological burden and continued to eat.
Outside, Shen Qian had no idea what the brother and sister were whispering about, and all he wanted to do was to comfort his crying daughter.
It has to be said that Zhou Shiwei's daughter is very easy to coax. She repeatedly promised that she would not leave and asked her to come back to live with them. The daughter immediately hugged her legs and said softly: "Mom, I will be good. As long as you don't leave, I will be obedient in the future."
Shen Qian quickly fell in love with this daughter. She spoke in a baby voice and looked adorable, like a little snowball. She couldn't help but rub her daughter's head: "Be good and mom will make you something delicious."
"good!"
The mother and daughter were chatting when they heard the door open. Shen Qian stood up and saw her eldest brother and sister-in-law coming with her 5-year-old son Zhou Shian.
"Shi'an, your mother hasn't left yet, go over and call someone."
Zhou Shian is not like Zhou Shiwei. When he sees his biological mother, he does not get close to her and instead hides behind his uncle.
Zhou Shengwu urged him several times before he came over reluctantly and called out, "Mom..."
Shen Qian understood in her heart that this son had been raised by his grandmother since he was born, and he didn't spend much time with her, his biological mother. In addition, his father was injured and paralyzed in bed in recent months, and she had not been there. It was normal for the child to be estranged from her.
"Why."
Shen Qian didn't intend to force the child to kiss her, so she just asked, "Have you had dinner?"
The eldest sister-in-law said, "We have all eaten. You haven't eaten yet, right? You can take Weiwei to eat first."
Zhou Shian said, "I'm going in to see Dad," and ran away.
Zhou Shengwu came from his mother's place and naturally knew about his third brother and his wife's divorce. He didn't know what the result of their discussion was. Zhou Shengwu stood there awkwardly and told his wife, "You stay with your sister-in-law. I'll go in and see my third brother." Then he went into the house.
Sister-in-law Xiang Ying took a stool and sat next to Shen Qian. She took the spoon from Shi Wei's hand and fed her mouthful by mouthful.
Shen Qian glanced back and said, "You don't need to feed my sister-in-law. Let her eat by herself."
Xiang Ying was a little embarrassed: "I cooked the meal today. My cooking skills are average, so you might not be used to it, sister-in-law."
At this time, the original owner's memory had almost merged. Shen Qian thought about it and asked, "Sister-in-law opened a restaurant?"
Xiang Ying blushed a little: "Yes, it's just a small shop. It has just been opened for a short time and the business has not yet started. You know I have been idle at home taking care of the children. I wanted to find something to do, but I didn't expect that running a small restaurant also requires skills. I...well, maybe I don't have any talent."
Speaking of this, she felt a little embarrassed. Although the restaurant had not been open for long, compared with the business of the shops next door, it was obvious that her business was really bad. If it continued like this, she was afraid that it would not last long.
Chen Qian was still thinking about how to make a difference in this world when the opportunity came.
"I'll go and take a look some other day. Maybe I can help." Shen Qian said.
Xiang Ying was slightly startled: "Sister-in-law, you and Third Brother..."
She originally thought that after the couple divorced, her brother and sister-in-law would no longer want to associate with their family, but she didn't expect that she would take the initiative to ask for help.
Shen Qian smiled and said, "We won't leave each other. We will still be a family in the future."
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