It's rare to hear such a comforting thing, so I quickly said, "As long as Dad is happy. Mom, don't tell Dad that he favors boys over girls. He treats Xixi very well."
The mother nodded and said, "That's right. Our Xixi is so cute, who wouldn't like her?" As she spoke, she kissed Xixi's pink face again and again.
. Then, the mother said with emotion: "Hongjun, have you noticed that Xixi looks more and more like Qingwan?"
As soon as the mother finished speaking, she immediately realized that this touched upon my sad past. She sighed softly and hurried to the bedroom holding Xixi.
I looked at my mother's departing back, then looked at Ning Yu in my arms, feeling mixed emotions, as if I was tightly entangled by a thick, insoluble sorrow.
All of a sudden, countless past scenes flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern. Guilt and self-blame overwhelmed me like a tide. I sighed deeply in my heart. I really owed too many women and failed their love.
It was a rare opportunity to have some fun with Ning Yu, so I started to build blocks with my son. Xixi was also cheering for her brother excitedly. The clear childish voice added a lot of joy to the room.
While I was playing, my cell phone rang. It was a text message from Chen Mengzhao: "Guan Shijun, I'm waiting for you in the warm bar in the county town. See you there." Seeing this text message, my heart skipped a beat. I became alert instantly and made up my mind that I would never accept this kind of invitation, and I would never give us the opportunity to be alone together in the development zone in the future.
After making up my mind, I ate dinner at home with peace of mind. After dinner, I helped Ning Yu wash up and was about to hug him to go to bed when Chen Mengzhao called. I pressed the reject button without hesitation, but the phone seemed to deliberately reject me and called again immediately. In desperation, I had to answer the phone.
A strange voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hello, this is the Wenzhan Bar. Are you a friend of this host? Your friend is drunk, could you please come and pick her up?"
Hearing this, I was in a dilemma, but I really couldn't just ignore it. I quickly asked Sister Pang to help take care of Ning Yu, then hurriedly put on my condom and rushed to the warm bar in a panic.
Fortunately, the bar was not far from my home, and I arrived there in just a few minutes.
The bar owner came over and enthusiastically led me to Chen Mengzhao's side. She was seen slumped on a high chair, her head limply resting on the bar, apparently drunk and unconscious. Her hair was scattered messily beside her cheeks, and a few strands were soaked with sweat and stuck to her skin, making her look particularly disheveled.
I walked to the bar, quickly paid the bill, and thanked the boss sincerely. Afterwards, with great effort, he lifted up the limp Shen Mengzhao and staggered towards the bar.
As soon as I stepped into the bar, the chilly night wind cut through me like ice, and I couldn't help shivering. Chen Mengzhao, who was leaning on me, was shivering from the cold. Her body curled up slightly and she leaned into my arms subconsciously. Seeing this, my heart tightened and I quickly took off my condom and gently put it on her. In an instant, a complex emotion surged into my heart, it was love mixed with helplessness and heartache.
Standing on the street, I anxiously raised my hand to hail a taxi. Taxis sped past, but none of them stopped for us. Chen Mengzhao shivered more and more violently in the cold wind, and his teeth began to chatter. I looked at her increasingly paler face, made up my mind, squatted down, and carried her steadily on my back.
However, after taking just a few steps, I suddenly stopped. A difficult problem lay before me: where should I send her? The development zone was far away, and carrying her there was simply out of his reach; Liu Yun's restaurant was also not close, so that was not feasible. If I send her to the hotel alone and she's so drunk, how can I feel at ease if something happens to her? But if I was with her in the hotel, how could I explain the situation of a single man and a single woman?
For a moment, I stood there frozen, at a loss as to what to do, and my heart was filled with confusion. The cold wind blew, ruffling my hair and disturbing my thoughts. I didn't know where to go. Finally, I made up my mind and decided to carry her back to my home.
I carried Chen Mengzhao on my back and walked with difficulty on the cold streets at night. The dim street lights stretched our shadows out. There was silence all around us, and only the sound of my footsteps echoed in the empty street.
Suddenly, she, who had been limp on my back, seemed to be driven by an invisible force. She leaned her head tightly against my shoulder and wrapped her arms around my neck, moving with a drunken eagerness. Her breath was strongly scented with alcohol, and it sprayed on my ears, warm and a little numb. At this moment, she whispered softly: "Guan Hongjun, I knew you wouldn't ignore me." The voice was a little coquettish, but also had a firmness that was hard to conceal.
I was suddenly startled and my pace slowed down unconsciously. The thought that I had fallen into the "trap" set by her flashed through my mind again. I tilted my head slightly, trying to see the clues from her expression, and asked with a hint of questioning in my voice, "You're not drunk at all, are you?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Mengzhao moved slightly and buried his head deeper. He responded with a playful and cunning tone, "If you don't come tonight, I will definitely drink too much. My stomach is originally delicate. If I really drink too much, you will be responsible for it for the rest of your life."
I sighed helplessly and looked up at the night sky. The stars were twinkling, but they couldn't illuminate the confusion in my heart. I said, "A lifetime is neither long nor short. It's really not worth it to waste your feelings on me." My voice was full of fatigue and vicissitudes, as if I was telling her, but also like talking to myself.
Chen Mengzhao clenched his hands tightly, and said firmly, "As long as I think it's worth it, it's fine. For something I believe in, I'm willing to gamble my whole life, even if I lose everything in the end."
I frowned slightly and stopped, a trace of loneliness flashed in my eyes, and I said to her in a low and sincere voice: "Meng Zhao, you are different, you still have a bright future waiting for you. As for me, although I am in my early thirties, my life has long been filled with my parents and children. Now, apart from them, I can't seem to find any reason to make myself truly happy."
Chen Mengzhao seemed to have expected me to say this. She loosened one hand and gently stroked my cheek. Her fingers were cool at night, but also slightly warm. "I don't care. I accept everything about you, good or bad. I want to face the trivialities of life with you and bear all the pressure together. Please don't underestimate me, okay?"
When faced with a stubborn person, no amount of words or reasoning will be effective. I chose to remain silent to fight against her stubbornness.
Chen Mengzhao suddenly whispered in my ear: "Guan Hongjun, where are you going to take me?" I realized at this moment that since she was conscious, there was no need to take her to my house. So I stopped and wanted to put her down, but she was like a naughty child, lying tightly on my back and refused to get down.
I said helplessly, "Since you are sober, there is no need to come to my house. You can't drive now, so find a hotel to stay for one night."
She muttered in annoyance: "If I had pretended to be drunk a little longer, maybe I could have come to your house."
I ignored her words. Seeing that I didn't respond, she said, "I'm not going to the hotel. Carry me back to the bar. My car is parked there. Drive me back to the development zone."
In order to make her calm down, I had no choice but to comply with her requests.
On the way back, Chen Mengzhao sat quietly in the passenger seat, looking very lonely. She said nothing, her head turned to the side of the car window, her eyes following the flash of light outside the window, as if she wanted to see through those fleeting lights and shadows.
Suddenly, she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, and murmured softly: "Look at these thousands of lights. Under each light, there are the ups and downs of life. But if you can be with your loved one, no matter how hard the day is, will it be worth it?"
I held the steering wheel, my eyes fixed on the road ahead, and after a moment of silence, I said, "Life is not full of romance. Reality is cold and cruel. In the eyes of idealists, life is a romantic poem and a distant place, but for most people, life is nothing more than the triviality of pots and pans colliding, and the daily hustle and bustle of making a living. Those vows of love are often too fragile to withstand a blow in the face of reality."
Chen Mengzhao listened and sighed softly, his voice full of fatigue and helplessness: "Life is really too tiring. I can't love. This obsession is like a sharp knife, stabbing my heart again and again. I want to let go but I can't. It hurts so much that I can hardly breathe."
I glanced at her, then quickly turned my gaze back to the front, and said in a gentle tone: "Since you know that this is an obsession, the best way is to increase the distance between you and it, and slowly forget it over time. Meng Zhao, think of a way to end your temporary assignment as soon as possible. When you return to your original life, you will soon forget this unpleasant experience."
Hearing this, Chen Mengzhao turned his head abruptly, with a hint of stubbornness on his face, and said with a "humph": "Guan Hongjun, you want to send me away so easily, but it's not that easy."
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