Chapter 275: The Decision Has Been Made
A week passed in a flash, and soon it was the old lady's 80th birthday.
After Qingming Festival, the weather becomes warmer day by day. The male students in the school take off their cotton-padded jackets and sweaters early. They wear coats in the morning and autumn clothes or shirts at noon.
Wen Wan was no exception. She wore a homemade shirt and dark overalls, showcasing her graceful figure. She was a beautiful sight in the academy. The male students' gazes would always drift to her, and even in places where she wasn't paying attention, word had already spread about how beautiful a female student in the Department of Economics and Management was.
Many male classmates from other majors would often come to meet her by chance or pretend to walk by the classroom where she was taking classes and secretly look at her. Not to mention the male classmates from the same major, some wrote letters, some passed notes, and even worse, some stood on the podium in front of the whole class and read love poems aloud to confess their love to her.
When Xu Qingming came to see her, she had just experienced a confession of love. She had not paid attention to those small notes before, but this time, he mentioned her by name, and she had no choice but to pay attention.
She then stood up and went up to the podium, stopped the boy who had read the love letter and sincerely thanked him: "Thank you for your love, but I'm in a relationship. My lover and I have a very good relationship, and our child is four years old this year."
After he finished speaking, the whole classroom fell silent.
She didn't care, returning to her seat, gathering her books and preparing to leave. Today was the old lady's birthday, and she should have been at the Xu family's house, but she had a professional class, and Xu Qingming had the same one, so they decided to finish the class and then go back together. She had already packed her things, so she didn't need to go back to the dormitory again, and could leave directly after class.
Qi Layue asked her, "Aren't you going to the dormitory?"
Wen Wan responded: "No, I have something to do at home, I'm leaving first."
As soon as I walked out of the classroom, I saw Xu Qingming standing at the back door. I didn’t know how long he had been waiting there.
"Seventh Brother!"
Xu Qingming nodded, took his hands out of his trouser pockets, stood up straight, turned around and followed her towards the school gate.
There was a lot of discussion in the classroom, and a group of male classmates were cheering and laughing at the boy who had just had the courage to confess his love to Wen Wan in front of the whole class.
The girls were also whispering to each other.
Li Lai Yu was packing up his things when he heard the voice in the front row. He couldn't help but look over. Hu Shuangshuang was sitting there, chattering with the female students sitting next to her about the male classmate who had just gone to the podium to boldly confess his love. However, Wen Wan was always on his mind in his words.
"Really? I don't know who gave her the courage to confess her love to Wen Wan in front of everyone. He's just a toad wanting to eat swan meat. Not to mention that Wen Wan is married, even if she wasn't, there's no way she would fall for him. She's beautiful and comes from a well-off family, how could she lack an excellent partner?"
"Wen Wan has a child, right? You guys live in the same dorm, have you seen her child or her boyfriend? The one who often comes to see her?"
Hu Shuangshuang said, "What nonsense are you talking about? That's her brother! I haven't seen her husband or children, but it's true that his family is well-off. He's from the capital, and there's always a car to pick him up when he goes back. Her partner must be a rare talent, no less."
Li Laiyu wanted to call her out to quiet her voice, but after a moment's hesitation, she couldn't speak. It had nothing to do with her, and she didn't want to bother. She'd better stay away from Hu Shuangshuang. No, it wasn't close to begin with. She had already found a house, and she would pack it up in the next two days, and then after applying with the school, she could move out. That was good.
The Xu family is now full of guests.
Although Xu Guoan did not hold a grand banquet and only planned to set up a few tables at home to liven up the atmosphere, it was the old lady's 80th birthday, and anyone who got the news would come.
Although the old lady is old, she fought with the old man in many battles when they were young, and later worked in the military hospital after liberation. They were comrades-in-arms who shared life and death, and colleagues who worked with him. At her age, there are not many of them left, so she cherishes this relationship very much. They get together when there is nothing to do, and even more when there is something to do.
Most of them live in this compound, and since they interact frequently with Xu Guoan and his brothers, it's really lively here.
Wen Shihua was also there, and Zhang Qianfeng drove the car directly to the door of Xu's house.
As soon as I got off the car, I saw Zhou Mingli standing outside the yard talking to someone.
Because of the old lady's wild imagination and matchmaking, Wen Wan couldn't look this man in the eye at this moment, even though it was possible that Zhou Mingli was completely unaware of it.
Xu Qingming greeted Zhou Mingli and several other young people of similar age from the compound. Before Wen Wan could even open her mouth, she heard Zhou Mingli's playful laughter: "Oh, our little princess has finally returned. It's so hard to even meet her, and now that we finally meet, are you pretending not to know her?"
Wen Wan chuckled softly, "I know everyone but you. You're the role model that our elders in the family are talking about. They tell us to learn from you every day. How can we not be familiar with you?"
Zhou Mingli felt embarrassed after hearing what she said, and the urge to tease her that had just arisen in his mind died down.
Seeing this, Wen Wan quickly slipped away.
Behind her, she could still hear Zhou Mingli and Xu Qingming talking about her: "It's been a while since we last met, and you've become even more articulate."
Xu Qingming said: "You know she has never suffered any loss since she was a child."
Then, the words were thrown behind her and could no longer be heard.
The old lady didn't dress up specially today. She was still wearing the same navy blue coat, and her almost white hair was combed neatly. Maybe because several old friends of her age came today, she was in good spirits.
As soon as Wen Wan entered the house, she called out "Grandma", successfully attracting the attention of several old ladies.
"Oh, I haven't seen Wanwan for a few years. She has become more and more outstanding."
Wen Wan walked up and greeted everyone warmly, then sat down next to the old lady and chatted with the group of old ladies.
There were two groups of people in the living room. One group was people of the same age as Old Mrs. Xu, and the other group was people of similar age like Aunt Xu. They were familiar with each other and greeted each other, creating a very harmonious atmosphere.
As for the kitchen, except for the Xu family's nanny, the Xu family's daughters-in-law did not need to enter the kitchen today. The three brothers showed off their skills there to show their filial piety.
Wen Wan chatted for a while in the living room before being sent out by the old lady: "Go away, little girl, go out and find someone your own age to play with. You've been back for so long and haven't really been out and about yet. What are you doing here with an old woman like me? We have our own things to talk about, and you can't really chat with me."
Feeling rejected, Wen Wan touched her nose, stood up angrily, and went outside to talk to her cousin.
Just as she walked out of the living room, she was bumped into. A chubby little boy of three or four years old ran in from outside and bumped into her without her noticing.
——
When Wenwan's telegram arrived at Lujiazui, Lu Dongping was not in the commune, but at home.
It was time for lunch at the Armed Forces Department, and the workers in the team had gone home to cook. The smoke from the kitchen was rising, but the atmosphere in the Lu family was not so harmonious.
Lu Donglin was sitting in the kitchen boiling water, while Zhang Hongying was sitting outside with a frosty face watching Lu Dongping washing Dandan's face and hands. She really couldn't accept that the words just now came from her son's mouth.
He said, "Since Mom thinks Wanwan is irresponsible for not wanting a child, then I'll go find her and ask her to take responsibility. Whoever gave birth to the child should raise it, and we won't have to trouble Mom and Dad anymore."
Zhang Hongying reacted as if struck by lightning. She had only said it casually, so how could she have thought of sending the child away? She could see that Lu Dongping was not joking, he was serious.
Lu Dongping himself didn't expect that he would make the decision so quickly. It didn't seem as difficult as he thought.
He couldn't bear to leave Wen Wan, but Wen Wan had to go. He couldn't bear to leave the child, but the child was completely different without a mother than when he was with her. A child with a mother is a treasure, a child without a mother is just a piece of grass. He saw what he had done to the child when Wen Wan was around, but since Wen Wan left, the child has completely changed. His body and face are never clean, and he only washes them every afternoon when he comes back.
When Wen Wan was around, Dandan could write several words on the ground with a branch, sing songs, and recite poems. These were no longer available after Wen Wan left.
He also knew that this was how children were raised in rural areas, and that everyone grew up rolling around in the mud. But there was a voice in his heart telling him that this was not the case. This was his and Wen Wan's child. If Wen Wan were still alive, the child would not be like this now.
Today was purely an accident. He came back to the team from the Armed Forces Department to find Lu Mingqing for something. After finishing his business, he planned to have a meal at home. As soon as he reached the entrance of the yard, he heard Dandan crying and calling for her mother. His heart was instantly gripped.
Before he even entered the yard, he heard his mother's sarcastic voice: "You little ungrateful bastard, you keep calling your mother. Your mother doesn't want you anymore, so what's the point of calling her? Earlier, I was saying that Li Laiying was a hen that lays eggs, only caring about giving birth but not raising them. I didn't expect that I would encounter such a person in my family--"
How could Lu Dongping bear it any longer?
He had been suppressing it for so long that his family no longer mentioned Wen Wan. He never expected that she would be like this behind his back and in front of the children.
Then Lu Donglin's roar was heard: "Mom, what are you chewing all day long? What are you saying in front of Dandan? How has my sister-in-law wronged you?"
"What are you talking about? Am I not telling the truth? The child still cries out for mommy every day, and she just abandons the child when the man says he doesn't want her. I've never seen such a cruel woman!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that Lu Donglin's eyes were not right, so he looked over and saw Lu Dongping standing at the entrance of the yard.
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