I planned to start from the source and go to Zhang Fangfang's mother's house carrying large and small packages of gifts.
As soon as I entered the house, I knelt on my knees and cried out, "Dad, Mom, I'm here to see you."
Zhang Fangfang's mother scolded me: "You Chen Shimei, why are you here crying?"
She slapped me right away. I was secretly glad that her ability to trap people was not good enough, otherwise she would have had some bruises on her face.
Zhang Fangfang picked me up like a chicken and said coldly, "You have nothing to do with us now. We can't bear your kneeling."
I said, "Dad, Mom, how can you say it doesn't matter? Although Fangfang and I are divorced, you will always be my parents in my heart. No one can change this feeling."
Zhang Fangfang's mother burst into tears. She was so sad that I started crying too.
But this time I really cried. After all, we were once a family, so how could there be no feelings between us?
Zhang Fangfang's mother also shed tears, and I felt a heavy sadness.
I first reviewed my actions with tears in my eyes and conducted a profound criticism of my own actions.
The honest ex-father-in-law said, "Hongjun, don't say that. If the two of you live together and your family breaks up, it's not your fault. You and Fangfang are not destined to be husband and wife for life."
My ex-mother-in-law was still feeling unbalanced. She pointed at my nose and asked, "You said you are doing well now, and we won't pursue your past. For Ning Yu's sake, can't you just make do with Fang Fang?"
I said, "You may have heard that the woman I'm with now is the daughter of the head of the organization, and my life depends on her. If I don't marry her, I will have to live like before. Not only will I not be able to give Fangfang and her mother a good life, I won't even be able to pay for Ningyu's support."
My ex-mother-in-law is very sensitive about economic issues. She sighed and said, "That's true. Poor Ningyu. He doesn't have a complete family when he is still young. If you have another boy or girl in the future, this child will be even more pitiful."
I said, "Mom, don't worry about this. I will definitely not have children after I remarry."
My ex-mother-in-law looked at me doubtfully, but when she saw that I was being sincere, she said, "What's the point of thinking about it? How could someone not want their own child?"
I said, "Mom, don't worry about this. Not only do I no longer want children, but I will give half of my salary to Fangfang in the future. I will definitely keep my word."
The couple looked at each other, and my ex-mother-in-law said, "Words are not enough. Write a guarantee."
I wrote a letter of guarantee under their watchful eyes, in exchange for her promise not to report to the organization verbally or in writing.
I am a man of my words and I will certainly fulfill my promises.
Once things here are settled, I think things over there will be easy to handle.
I was planning to launch a surprise attack, so I didn't tell Zhu Qingwan a word.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 10, I bought four bottles of Moutai and four bottles of soft-serve Chinese wine and visited the home of Zhu Jiang, the head of the Organization Department.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhu Qingwan of course returned to her mother's home.
She opened the door and looked at me, the uninvited guest, with suspicion in her eyes.
She asked, "How did you get here?"
I said, "It's a festival, I came to visit the two old people."
She smiled sweetly: "Guan Hongjun, don't think you can defeat the old man by launching a surprise attack."
I said, "Whether we can take the bunker or not, you have to let me get the explosives in first."
Her mother heard the noise and came over to find out what was going on. When she saw me, she immediately understood who I was.
I said, "Hello, Auntie!"
She smiled unnaturally: "Come in and sit down."
I entered the house and saw Zhu Jiang sitting in the living room watching TV. When he saw me come in, his eyes were full of displeasure, but he didn't say a word.
Zhu Qingwan touched my shoulder, and I understood what she meant. I put down my things and greeted her warmly, "Hello, uncle! I'm Guan Hongjun. Qingwan and I are in a relationship."
He threw the TV remote onto the coffee table with a bang and said angrily, "Ridiculous! Who allowed you to be in love?"
The atmosphere instantly became extremely awkward, but luckily I was thick-skinned and managed to take his threat.
Zhu Qingwan's mother's surname was Li. Aunt Li complained, "Old Zhu, watch your attitude. How can you say Xiaoguan is also a guest? Is this the way to treat guests?"
Zhu Jiang glared angrily and shouted, "Don't mix it up."
He turned toward me and ordered, "Come with me. I want to talk to you alone."
Before he finished speaking, he got up and went into the study.
Zhu Qingwan looked at me encouragingly and I nodded to her.
I followed Lao Zhu into his study with the determination to fight to the death.
His attitude softened a little, but still as cold as ice, and he gestured for me to sit down.
"Guan Hongjun, I originally thought you would back off and there would be no chance for us to meet alone. I didn't expect you to have the courage to come to my house."
I said, "Minister Zhu, I am brave enough to face the shame. Even if I cannot get your forgiveness, I will fight for it once because I love Qingwan."
The muscles on his face twitched, and he said in a muffled voice, "Stop as soon as possible and stop dating. You have a bad record, and I don't want to hand my daughter over to you."
I will briefly explain the reasoning and basis for why the scandal had more serious objective consequences than subjective malice.
He seemed a little impatient and said in a scolding tone: "When the organization was investigating you, they conducted an external investigation at the high school you attended. Although there is no record of you being punished in your file, the school can provide the original materials of your punishment that year. I gave you the green light at the time because I valued talents, which led to the situation today. I don't know what kind of bad fate this is!"
I knew that he was referring to the fight between Zheng Tong and I.
He continued, "Wang Yanshu introduced Qingwan to you out of kindness, but I was careless and didn't even connect you. It wasn't until your ex-mother-in-law wrote that letter of denunciation to the organization that I connected your evil deeds. Do I feel wronged by saying that you have a long history of bad deeds?"
I said, "I admit that what I did violated moral norms and public order and good customs. But this is a contradiction among the people, and I am still an object of struggle and reform."
He frowned and said, "Don't talk to me! As a comrade, I have the right and patience to strive for reform and love you. But as your son-in-law, I absolutely cannot do that!"
He stood up and made a gesture to see the guest off.
I was badly wounded, but my dignity would not allow me to be a jerk. I stood up angrily and walked out.
He shouted from behind me, "Take what you brought with you."
I picked up my things, slammed the door and left without looking back.
Although our first meeting ended in a bad way, I always believed that time would bring about a turning point.
Unexpectedly, the evil old Zhu came up with a plan to cut off the source of the problem. He tried hard to force Zhu Qingwan to move back to her parents' home.
The chances of my contact with her were very few.
I know that another relationship of mine has ended in silence.
I began to numb myself with work.
Wang Yanshu also ignored me for a while. I knew she was also feeling very aggrieved and must have been scolded by Minister Zhu a lot.
I don't know how many nights I would walk downstairs to my home after work and look at the light in that window.
How I longed for her to open the window and wave to me with a smile.
How I longed to hear her playing the piano and let the notes float into my ears.