Chapter 73 Starting from the Heart It seemed as if some of her warmth still lingered...
What made Zhou Jinqin even happier was that at 10 p.m. on January 4th, two hours before the end of her 29th birthday celebration, her mother, Lü Jianying, suddenly visited and sat opposite her, calmly telling her, "Your father and I are divorced."
After many years of unfulfilled dreams, Zhou Jinqin finally realized her dream. She thought she would become indifferent and detached after the passage of time, but she did not. Upon hearing the news, she still revealed a childlike joy.
But she quickly calmed down, her tone becoming hesitant, and asked her mother across the table, "Why did you suddenly make up your mind this time?"
Lu Jianying opened her mouth, and after a long while, she managed to utter a difficult sentence: "Zhou Zhixiang mentioned it. He brought back the one from outside. It looks like she's about seven or eight months pregnant."
Zhou Jinqin was speechless for a moment. It was unexpected, or perhaps it was more accurate to say that it was expected. Her mother had always been in a disadvantaged and passive position in this terrible marriage.
Looking at her daughter's gradually dimming eyes, Lü Jianying hesitated for a moment, then offered a rare, gentle comfort: "Actually, it's not so bad. After seeing you last time, I started planning the divorce. I originally wanted to hire a lawyer to file a lawsuit to get less of his property, but he jumped out first and claimed to be the guilty party. That saves me the trouble of collecting evidence of his infidelity."
She looked up, her eyes filled with an eager expectation for approval: "This is great, really."
One was the neglected eldest son, and the other was an invisible person caught between his siblings. Lu Jianying could hardly remember how the young couple had stumbled and struggled to get to this point.
The past grievances and entanglements can be put aside for now. The most heartbreaking thing is the day Zhou Zhixiang brought his mistress to the door. He was convinced that Lü Jianying would not be willing to give up on him, so he specially brought some gossipy relatives to try to drown her in their spittle and force her to compromise with resentment.
Lu Jianying didn't know how much money those people had received. They scolded her for working so hard, called her a barren hen, and criticized her as a stray dog with no ability to guard the house...
Faced with these verbal attacks, she was surprisingly calm. She no longer had the shameless hysteria she used to have. Instead, she quietly and methodically negotiated a property division agreement with the pack of wolves and tigers that was most favorable to her. Then, she waved goodbye and left gracefully.
The people who couldn't understand her behavior the most were her own family members. They complained that she was too old to be messing with the tricks of young people, blamed her for not being able to control her husband, and scolded her for disgracing the family and losing face and dignity.
Those hurtful and insulting words kept swirling in her mind, but Lü Jianying wouldn't tell Zhou Jinqin, because saying them would only make her, with her overly empathetic nature, feel the pain more acutely, and would have no other effect.
Lu Jianying exhaled a breath of stale air, sat up straight, and continued in a seemingly relaxed manner, "Even if I didn't have much formal education, I can't be too stupid to have given birth to someone as intelligent as you."
“You must have been unhappy about why we always lived in a dilapidated little house even though we were clearly wealthy. It’s because those houses were actually registered in your father’s name; he forcibly privatized them. I didn’t want that. I just wanted these assets to belong to you as much as possible, so I always made excuses to trick him into buying worthless houses.” She pulled out several bankbooks. “I’ve been making savings in your personal account since you were little. I consulted a lawyer, and he said that this kind of gift, which is a joint decision of the couple, belongs solely to you. Zhou Zhixiang won’t be involved in this account when we divide the property.”
Zhou Jinqin opened each of the passbooks one by one. Even the one with the smallest balance had nearly 800,000 yuan in savings. She looked at her mother in astonishment.
Lu Jianying laughed and said, "You may not like to hear this, but it is true that I have placed almost all my hopes on you."
Her physical condition did not allow her to have a second child. Zhou Zhixiang was taking advantage of her guilt to carry out the most cruel ideological violence. Fortunately, she unintentionally protected herself.
However, Lü Jianying had to admit that this unconscious act of self-preservation also left indelible scars on Zhou Jinqin. In her self-consciousness of doing what was best for her child, she forgot about the child's needs, privacy, and freedom, and she completely took control of them in the name of love.
The scales in her heart had already tipped, and the pain of the past suddenly became blurred. Zhou Jinqin was lost in her mother's haggard and sorrowful eyes, and the love that had not been melted away once again suppressed the hatred and occupied the high place in her heart.
Lu Jianying stopped her, saying, "I'm not here to ask for your sympathy. To drive someone as patient as you to the brink of despair, I don't think my actions should be easily forgiven."
She suddenly pointed to Liang Minghe, who was standing to the side: "You have to learn from him, you have to be more thorough in your hatred."
In this serious setting, Liang Minghe laughed out of turn, saying, "I'll take that as a compliment."
This smile finally eased the tense atmosphere.
Zhou Jinqin rubbed her sore eyes and looked up at her mother, whose hair was already streaked with gray, asking, "So what are your plans for the future?"
Lü Jianying adjusted her backpack: "The flight is at six in the morning, to Yunnan."
Zhou Jinqin looked around and only saw that small backpack.
Seeing her confusion, Lü Jianying explained, "You're right, I really hate killing fish. The fishy smell mixed with blood is like the air, it's everywhere and I can't wash it off no matter how much I wash it. It's disgusting."
So she decided to abandon everything from the past and start completely anew.
“I love the fragrance of flowers, it seems like only that can cover up the fishy smell on my body, so I closed my fish shop and decided to go to a city where spring is in full bloom all year round,” she said. “One of my old customers who used to buy fish went back to her hometown in Yunnan. Her family grows flowers, and there happened to be a flower shop that needed help. I plan to go there to be an apprentice, and I also plan to study at a senior university in my spare time.”
In Zhou Jinqin's hazy memory, there was indeed a period when her home was filled with a rich floral fragrance, but at some point it was covered by a deep sense of resentment.
Zhou Jinqin fully agreed with her mother's decision. "Mom, I'm really glad you're thinking about your own life. I've been looking forward to this day for a long time." She closed the unfolded savings book and handed it back to her. "I'm still young and well-educated. Making money won't be difficult for me. You should keep the money."
Lu Jianying shook her head: "Consider it compensation, this is something I willingly leave to you. In our time, opportunities were everywhere, and making money was much easier than it is now. I still have some money that I got from your father, which is enough for my retirement."
She said, "I also have my own bottom line and dignity. Even if I admit that my past efforts were excessive, I can't bring myself to apologize to you. I don't seek your forgiveness, and you don't have to worry about me all the time in the future. Last year you tried to live your own life, and I'm sure it was a good life without my interference. Now I'm also starting a life without having to worry about others, and you don't have to worry about me either. I want to escape the past and make sure that even if things get worse in the future, they won't be worse than before."
As she spoke, she took out a small triangular cake from the bag, stuck a candle on it, and lit it.
Her originally dim eyes brightened in the flickering firelight, and her tone became more spirited: "We probably won't see each other often in the future. Consider this the last birthday I'll spend with you, and also the first birthday as you embark on a new life."
Lu Jianying glanced at the nearly empty cake next to her and almost pleaded, "Let's celebrate one more time, even if it's just for me."
It was a strawberry cake, the cream of which had melted slightly, and it had long lost its alluring appearance when it was in the exhibition area, but Zhou Jinqin didn't care.
Liang Minghe turned off the lights, took out the used birthday hat again, put it on Zhou Jinqin's head, and said with a smile, "Now it's all good. This year you can make two reasonable wishes to God."
Zhou Jinqin smiled, closed her eyes, clasped her hands together, and earnestly and devoutly made another wish, completely different from the previous one.
She thought that the gods would forgive her greed and fickleness, out of consideration for her birthday.
Liang Minghe pulled out Tuantuan, who had been hiding ever since Lü Jianying entered the house, grabbed its two paws and clapped them, saying meaningfully, "Why are you running away? It's your loved one's birthday, aren't you going to sing a birthday song together?"
Almost under this explicit instruction, Lü Jianying, in a weak voice, echoed Liang Minghe's bright voice and sang the entire "Happy Birthday" song.
Zhou Jinqin made a wish, and when she opened her eyes again, they were misty, like the moisture on flower petals in the morning, like a pitiful white lotus that had bloomed listlessly.
How many years has it been since she celebrated like this? Her diary must have kept track.
The small cake was cut into four pieces. Zhou Jinqin swallowed her piece with salty tears in her eyes, and the taste was sweet and cloying, something she hadn't experienced in a long time.
Lu Jianying said, "I had almost forgotten that you love sweets."
In the past, Zhou Jinqin's family would buy her a cake for her birthday. She looked forward to sharing it with her parents, but the response she always got was, "You eat it, I don't like it," or her father would simply not come home. Over time, she also said that she didn't like it anymore, so cakes completely disappeared from her family's small market.
Zhou Jinqin ate every last bite of her food, even though she had just finished exchanging blessings with her friends online and offline, her stomach was already overflowing with sweetness.
Tuantuan devoured her cake in a whirlwind, then glanced at the leisurely Lu Jianying beside her, shrank back, and ran away.
Lu Jianying stopped Liang Minghe, who was about to catch the cat, and said self-deprecatingly, "Actually, I was hiding something from you last time."
Liang Minghe didn't hand the cat over; instead, he held it in his arms and patiently comforted it. He asked, puzzled, "Hmm? Which matter are you referring to?"
Lü Jianying pointed to the cat in his arms: "I know very well why the cat doesn't like me."
It's hard for a fish shop owner not to attract hungry stray cats. She initially fed them some unwanted edible offal, but as the number of cats increased and their visits became more frequent, it inevitably caused dissatisfaction among some customers. Could hygiene be guaranteed? Lü Jianying couldn't answer that question either.
In addition, Zhou Jinqin is always very kind-hearted. Whenever the weather is slightly bad, she becomes very worried about the cats' lives, which not only interferes with her studies, but sometimes when there is a typhoon, she even wishes she could take the cats home and hide them away.
Lu Jianying smiled but her eyes didn't reach her eyes: "I scolded her, saying that she herself relies on others for support, so what right does she have to worry about other things?"
“I chased all the cats away. My attitude was so bad that my bad reputation probably spread. After that, no cat wanted to look at me properly.”
She raised her chin at the huddled-up Tuantuan and said, "You're like that too, right?"
Tuan Tuan meowed, but I don't know if she understood.
Zhou Jinqin, who was also a cat, answered on her behalf, her voice very serious: "No, at least not now."
Lu Jianying suddenly smiled and stood up: "Then I can set off with peace of mind."
Zhou Jinqin glanced at the clock above her head, which had just passed eleven o'clock, and suddenly stood up: "Isn't it supposed to take off at six o'clock?"
“Yes, I plan to wait at the airport.” Lü Jianying nodded, her eyes showing an unusual determination and freedom. “This is all part of my plan.”
There are hundreds of direct flights from Shanghai to Yunnan, so why did her mother choose to transit and land here? Zhou Jinqin must know this perfectly well.
She tugged at the hem of her clothes, biting her lip and hesitating for a long time, but in the end she didn't say anything to persuade her to stay. She wanted her mother to go her own way.
Liang Minghe shoved Tuantuan into Zhou Jinqin's arms, patted her back, and joked, "That's how elders are. When I ask my grandparents to go out, their flight is at 3 pm, and they wake me up at 6 am to get ready to leave. I suppose Mom also wants to allow plenty of time so she won't be caught off guard. Since she's made the arrangements, let her go. It's good that I, an unemployed bum, can take her to the airport."
Zhou Jinqin glanced at her mother beside her, then quickly looked away, afraid that tears would well up in her eyes.
She found a thin scarf and tied it around Liang Minghe's neck, saying in a muffled voice, "Okay, drive carefully."
In the dead of January, the temperature in Shenzhen was still in the double digits. For someone like Lü Jianying, who had just come from the dead of winter, it was already considered warm. But Liang Minghe always shivered in this temperature.
Ignoring his mother-in-law's presence, Liang Minghe reached out and pulled his wife, along with the cat, into his arms, letting her uncontrollable tears soak his light-colored clothes. He lowered his head to kiss her hair and coaxed her softly, "You only have one day off for your birthday. You have to go to work tomorrow. Go to sleep early. Even if you miss me, don't wait for me."
Zhou Jinqin nodded and agreed, but didn't get out of Liang Minghe's arms for a long time. She was squeezed between the two of them and couldn't stand it. As soon as she got a gap, she jumped to the floor.
When Tuantuan landed, it couldn't stop in time and bumped into Lü Jianying's backpack, which was temporarily placed on the floor. It first hissed and howled twice, but when it saw that the other party ignored it, it shut its mouth in a huff.
Cats are strange creatures; the more you ignore them, the more likely you are to attract their attention, much like the charm of a woman who is different from them.
The cat circled around Lü Jianying a few times, seemingly unintentionally, before quietly approaching and casually climbing onto her calf to stretch and sharpen its claws. This amused Lü Jianying, who wanted to laugh but kept a straight face and didn't dare to speak for fear of scaring the cat away.
Finally, Zhou Jinqin composed herself and stepped out of Liang Minghe's arms, saying a perfectly ordinary goodbye to her mother with what she considered to be a very calm demeanor.
At the airport parking lot, Liang Minghe did not leave immediately, but got out of the car with Lü Jianying.
Lu Jianying took the backpack from his hand and put it on her back, asking him in surprise, "Why aren't you leaving?"
Liang Minghe pointed to the pricing schedule posted on the wall: "The first fifteen minutes of parking are free. Aren't you going to take advantage of this and say something to me?"
“For example…” he raised an eyebrow and drawled, “warning me to be nice to Qinqin or something.”
Lu Jianying stared intently at his face for a long time and said, "You are very different from what I imagined, but it seems that you were born to be this way."
Liang Minghe leaned against the car door, smiling casually: "I guess this is a compliment to me, dear Mom?"
This time, Lü Jianying did not correct his form of address: "Maybe so. Sometimes I think that Xiaoqin is best off with you, but only if you love her."
Liang Minghe didn't make any grand promises, he just said, "Time will tell."
He reached out and embraced the woman who only reached his collarbone: "It seems like there's still some of her body heat left."
Lu Jianying was stunned for a long time before hugging him back tightly.
"You're a very romantic man, but unfortunately, due to my pressure, Xiaoqin's marriage to you was rushed, missing out on many of the romantic moments that should have been there. Her life seems to become more bland because of my presence..."
Liang Minghe released her, his eyes crinkling with a smile: "Mom, it seems you still don't understand me enough. Marriage has never been the graveyard of love for me."
He straightened up, his eyes showing more sincerity: "What I mean is, everything that should be there will be there, and I am always ready."
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Author's Note: The next chapter will mark the end of the main story!
These final chapters are generally quite long; the last chapter is estimated to be around 6,000 words. I'll try to finish writing it and release it tomorrow. [glasses]
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