Seeing that Lin's mother was so angry, Lin Wei was a little afraid to tell her that the letter was actually written by her grandfather's later wife. After scolding her father, Lin's mother also remembered to ask, "Why did he write to you?"
Lin Wei shook her head and said, "I don't know. Zong Shao only read the first letter. After reading the old letter, he was in a bad mood and didn't tell me the content. He just said that he would not accept any letters sent to this address in the future and would just return them."
"It should be returned to him!" Lin's mother said angrily, and then added, "Xiao Zong still has a conscience. He is much better than his father."
Although Lin Wei didn't have a good impression of Zong Shao through her mother and Zong Shao's attitude, he was still an elder after all. She didn't know how to respond to this question for a moment. After a pause, she asked, "My parents-in-law divorced because Zong Shao's father was unfaithful to his mother?"
Mother Lin snorted coldly: "It's more than just sorry!"
"What did he do?" Lin Wei waited for a while but got no further information, so she had to ask again. After asking, she saw that her mother still didn't want to say anything, so she said, "You've seen it too. They write to me every now and then, but Zong Shao never replies. Maybe one day they will come to the island. I don't know anything. When they come, I don't know how to receive them."
"Receiving him? Just call him!" Mother Lin frowned, and then let out a long sigh. "I originally thought that although you and Xiaozong are married, his parents divorced a long time ago. I only recognize Xinglan as my in-law, and I don't associate with that bastard. There's no need for you to know all this mess."
Lin Wei asked: "He is Zong Shao's biological father after all. Can you not associate with him? I am his daughter-in-law. Can we not acknowledge him?"
It’s not that Lin’s mother is ignorant of the ways of the world, it’s just that when the two children got married, her good friend was still alive, and with her around, the man didn’t have the face to disturb them. After her best friend passed away, she was worried for a while, but since the man never came to find her, she let it go until today.
Thinking about her daughter's words, Lin's mother sighed and said, "This is a long story."
Lin's mother's real name was Zhang Erni. She grew up with Zong Shao's mother Chen Xinglan and Zong Shao's father Zong Ping. Their parents rented land from the same landlord.
The Zong family was not originally tenant farmers, they owned their own land, but in those days even those who owned land did not have an easy life.
Because the land taxes were heavy, and the person in charge changed every year, there might even be one person in charge in the first half of the year and another person in the second half. It was common to collect taxes twice a year. Many farmers who owned their own land were overwhelmed by high taxes and were forced to sell their land and become tenant farmers, as was the case with the Zong family.
But the Zong family was even more miserable, because Zong Ping's father became lame during this period and walked with a limp. The landlords rented out the land not for charity but to make money. Between a healthy person and a cripple, they would of course be willing to rent the land to the former. The Zong family almost couldn't even be a tenant farmer.
The reason why it was almost possible was because someone helped to plead for mercy, and that person was Chen Xinglan's father.
Although the Chen family was also a tenant farmer, Chen Xinglan's father had studied in a private school for two years in his early years and knew some words. In addition, he was upright and helpful, so he had a lot of prestige among the tenant farmers. Therefore, he was able to get along with the landlord's manager.
He had known Zong Ping's father before, and seeing that Zong Ping was having a hard time, he spoke up for him, which allowed him to have land to farm and avoid having to sell his child.
Not only did Chen's father help the Zong family to rent land, he also helped them build a thatched hut next to his own house. The two families officially became neighbors, and Chen Xinglan and Zong Ping also got to know each other.
But the good times did not last long. Because Zong Ping's father did not receive good treatment when he injured his leg, his lame leg was often in unbearable pain. One time, when he went to work in the fields, his leg suddenly hurt while he was walking. He was caught off guard and fell directly into a ditch. His head hit a stone in the ditch and he died instantly.
Zong Ping's mother was already in poor health. After her husband passed away, she was unable to strengthen herself as a mother and fell ill. Before she died, Zong Ping's mother proposed to Chen's father that her son marry into the Chen family, only asking them to raise him.
Chen's father agreed to raise Zong Ping, but did not agree to marry into his family. It was only at the request of Zong Ping's mother that he arranged marriages for the two children, saying that they would be allowed to get married when they reached age.
So Zong Ping stayed in the Chen family, and Chen Xinglan had a child husband from then on.
Lin Wei asked: "Were they in a good relationship at that time?"
"Of course it would be good then. Don't you think Xiao Zong is handsome?" Lin's mother suddenly asked. Seeing her daughter nod, she continued, "When Zong Ping was young, he was even more handsome than him. At that time, there was no girl in our village who was about the same age but envied Xinglan."
"What about him to my mother-in-law?"
"That's good. If he wasn't nice to Xinglan, no one would be so envious, and Xinglan wouldn't have waited for him for so many years." Mother Lin lowered her eyes as she spoke. But when she thought about it now, she couldn't tell whether he was truly nice to Chen Xinglan at that time, or whether he had to be nice to her out of gratitude.
"My mother-in-law has been waiting for him for many years?"
Mother Lin nodded and continued, "When we were seventeen years old..."
When they were seventeen years old, a group of People's Liberation Army soldiers came to Shicheng. Zong Ping was greatly encouraged and went home and told Chen Xinglan that he wanted to join the army.
Chen Xinglan has always supported Zong Ping's decisions unconditionally, and even wanted to join the army with him.
But when Chen's parents found out, they strongly opposed it. Although they respected the People's Liberation Army, they didn't want their daughter to take the risk. Zong Ping felt the same way. They were not young anymore, and the Chen family had already picked a good date for their marriage.
The Chen family had a big fuss because of this. Lin's mother didn't know the whole process, but she knew the final result.
Zong Ping left, but Chen Xinglan stayed.
During the first six months after Zong Ping left, he sent some letters back from home, but gradually there was no news from him anymore, and no one knew whether he was alive or dead. When Chen Xinglan reached a certain age, her parents wanted to arrange another marriage for her, but she refused and insisted on waiting for Zong Ping.
This wait lasted for ten years, from the age of seventeen to twenty-seven.
"We all thought he was dead, but he finally came back. That was the first time I saw Xinglan cry so hard," Lin's mother recalled.
Lin Wei calculated Zong Shao's date of birth and asked, "Did they get married after he came back?"
"Yes, but after the wedding, Zong Ping left again. Things were not so peaceful at that time, and he had to go to war."
When talking about those things, Mother Lin had been frowning, but now she smiled a little, "Come to think of it, Xiao Zong loved you very much when you were little. Every time Xinglan brought him to our house to play, he would hold your hand and wouldn't let go, and he would cry when he left."
Lin Wei didn’t remember any of this at all: “Did you?”
"Of course there was, but you were young at the time, so you may not remember it." Mother Lin said with a smile, "It was because of your good relationship that Xinglan and I discussed arranging a marriage for you two."
But they were just joking at the time and no one took it seriously, but they didn't expect that many years later, this marriage would actually take place.
Lin Wei muttered, "I really don't remember, and he probably doesn't remember either."
"He was very young at that time, about two to three years old, and he followed Xinglan to the north. He didn't come back for more than ten years until Xinglan divorced him."
Lin's mother talked for so long, and finally got to the point. Lin Wei asked, "Why did they divorce?"
Mother Lin continued, "Not long after Xinglan went to the capital with the army, Zong Ping told her that a comrade had passed away. His wife had only given birth to a daughter and was having a very hard time back home. He discussed with her whether he could bring her home to live for a while and then move her out after arranging a job for her."
"Then what?"
"Xinglan heard that the deceased had a life-and-death relationship with Zongping, so she agreed and took the man home. Zongping arranged a job for the man and even managed to get their company to allocate a room for them."
Up to this point, what Zong Shao's father did was reasonable, but Lin Wei felt that since her mother had mentioned this mother and daughter in particular, it must not be without purpose, so she continued to listen.
"Xinglan was kind-hearted. Seeing the pity of the orphans and widows, she took good care of them. After they moved out, she often invited them to her home to play." At this point, a trace of disgust appeared on Lin's mother's face. "Zong Ping, that bastard, deceived her. That woman was not his comrade's wife at all. No, that's not right. She married his old comrade. But the reason he helped her was not because of his old comrade, but because she was his old lover!"
Even though several years had passed and Chen Xinglan had passed away, Lin's mother still gritted her teeth in hatred when she recalled the pain she had felt when she talked about those things: "Xinglan had waited for him for so many years, but he was still talking about love even when he was fighting! When he came back to marry Xinglan that year, we all thought he had come to find Xinglan to continue their past relationship, but that was not the case. He thought Xinglan had already been married, and that time he came back to pay respect to his parents and clarify the previous marriage so that he could marry someone else."
Lin Wei asked: "Then why did he end up marrying my mother-in-law?"
"Seeing that Xinglan has been waiting for him for ten years, he doesn't dare to say it. If it weren't for Xinglan's parents, he might have died long ago. If he dared to say that he was in a relationship with someone else, he would be stabbed in the back for the rest of his life!" Mother Lin scolded, "He is a hypocrite! For his own reputation, he has ruined Xinglan's life!"
Although Lin Wei had never met Zong Shao's father and didn't know whether he was a hypocrite, she agreed with what Lin's mother said. Zong Shao's father had indeed ruined his mother's life.
Twenty-seven years old is not young, but if Zong Shao's mother can think more positively, it is not completely impossible for her to find someone to marry. Maybe the person he finds is not as handsome as Zong Ping, nor as capable as him, but at least he won't have someone else in his heart, and Zong Shao's mother won't be deceived all her life.
But she was a junior after all, so it was not right for her to follow Mother Lin in scolding Zong Shao's father, so she asked, "How did my mother-in-law find out about this? Did they rekindle their old love?"
"Xinglan heard their conversation. The woman accused Zong Ping, saying that he had promised to marry her when he came back. If he hadn't changed his mind at the last minute, she wouldn't have ended up marrying someone else and becoming a widow. Xinglan didn't think it was right, so she asked Zong Ping, and he admitted it."
"And then they got divorced?"
"No, but then something happened. Xinglan didn't say anything. I don't know much about the past, but it was half a year before they divorced. As for the rekindled love, Xinglan said no, but I think it's probably true. Otherwise, how come those two bitches got married right after they divorced?"
Lin Wei understood what her mother meant: "You mean, Zong Shao's stepmother is that woman?"
"What kind of stepmother is she?" Lin's mother felt something was wrong and asked, "Do you know Zong Shao's stepmother?"
Lin Wei confessed honestly: "In fact, she was the one who sent the first letter. Zong Shao did not open the following letters, but judging from the words on the envelope, they should have been written by her."
The letter was written by Zong Shao's father, so Lin's mother was very angry. Now she was so angry that she stood up and said, "She destroyed other people's families, and she still has the nerve to write to you? You shouldn't have returned the letter, just tear it up!"
Lin Wei said, "How can we tear it up? If she doesn't see the returned letter, she might think Zong Shao read it but didn't reply."
Mother Lin thought so too and nodded, saying, "Anyway, the couple are not good people, you should have less contact with them."
Lin Wei didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Why don't we interact with them? We have never interacted with them before."
"Then keep it up. Don't have any contact with them in the future. Return the letters they send you. Fight back when they come. Anyway, seeing how Zong Ping has ignored you all these years, he doesn't even care about his son Zong Shao." Lin's mother said with a pout.
Although her first reaction when she thought the letter was sent by Zong Ping was how he had the nerve to write a letter, and she didn't care about Zong Ping's two grandchildren, she was still very angry when she thought about his indifference for so many years.
Although Lin Wei didn't like the so-called public and didn't want to associate with them, she felt helpless when she heard her mother typing it out: "I know."
It's probably impossible to fight him, it's better to ask him to leave.
But just as Lin's mother said, Zong Shao's father had ignored them over the years. He didn't show any expression whether they got married or their two children were born. Even the letters he sent were written by Zong Shao's stepmother. It can be seen that he had no feelings for Zong Shao.
Therefore, Lin Wei felt that it was unlikely that Zong Shao's father would come to her house. As for the stepmother, she was an insignificant person and there was no need to care about her.
Lin Wei was thinking about it when she heard her mother say, "Although Zong Ping is not a good bitch, good things come out of bad bamboos, and Zong Shao is a good kid. Xinglan returned to Shicheng after divorcing that bitch. Because she didn't know how to tell Zong Shao, she kept putting it off. When he came home from vacation and found out about it, he had a fight with that bitch and packed his bags to come to Shicheng to find Xinglan that day."
Lin Wei didn't notice anything wrong with the first half of the sentence. When Lin's mother finished speaking, she felt that this sentence was very familiar, as if she had heard someone say it before, so she asked, "How could he not know about such a big thing as my parents' divorce?"
"At that time, he had just entered the military academy and was studying in another place."
Lin Wei was stunned and quickly turned around to ask, "When he came to see Aunt Lan, was Aunt Lan sick and in the hospital?" Aunt Lan is Chen Xinglan. She called her that before she married Zong Shao. After they got married, she changed her name to mom, and when she talked about her with others, she referred to her as my mother-in-law.
"It was several years ago, how can I remember it?" Although she said so, Lin's mother still tried to recall it, "But I remember it was winter, almost the New Year. Why are you asking this?"
Lin's mother didn't remember, but Lin Wei remembered it very clearly. When the Chinese New Year was approaching that year, her mother-in-law was indeed ill, and her mother took her to the hospital to visit her.
It was also that time that she heard about divorce in real life for the first time.
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Second update
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