Chapter 45: Same Frame
Dad Mai put his hands in his pockets and felt like smoking. He took out the cigarette box and lighter, but when he thought about his mother next to him, he put them back.
"You, son and grandson, are not like your father in this respect. Your father always says what he thinks, admits his mistakes when he does them, and solves problems when they arise. He never keeps things to himself. Since you still love each other, you should try to reconcile with each other. It was indeed you who did something wrong, wasn't it?" Hang Liumei turned and looked at her son and said.
"Yes, I was wrong that time. I'm not afraid of her rejecting me now, nor am I unwilling to bow to her for the sake of face. The problem is, if we reconcile and return to the way we were before, with both of us busy with our own things, is that the kind of family life Mai Sui wants?"
After her son's divorce, Hang Liumei thought a lot and now she decided to tell him all the things she had hidden.
"You still haven't gotten around this. Why does Sui Sui have to revolve around you, instead of you supporting her development? You originally liked her unique qualities, but later you tried so hard to erase those edges and corners, wanting her to become someone who blindly follows standards. This is a contradiction."
Mai's father couldn't help but defend himself: "I just don't want her to go out into the world and suffer. I earn money and come home, so she doesn't have to worry about anything. She can enjoy life and develop her own hobbies."
"You think you're her pillar, but for someone as strong-willed as her, that's just living from hand to mouth. Your father and I can spend our lives together, and everything stems from your father's willingness to stay in Dunhuang for me." Hang Liumei spoke until her mouth was dry. She took a sip from her thermos and continued, "And the person you fell in love with turned his hobby into a career, and he succeeded in it."
"I just want my family to live a simple and easy life."
"Living a simple life isn't the only way you think. Besides, Sui Sui has also sacrificed for your ideal family. From the time you got married to when you had Xiaomai, she delayed for several years. You can still eat, drink, and go racing with your friends after work. Try being stuck in a room with a child."
Mai's father lightly kicked the gravel under his feet and said, "Mom, I know. Xiaomai is grown up now, and I've figured it out over the past two years. Don't worry, I know."
Hang Liumei sighed softly and patted her son's shoulder. "Life isn't meant to be lived according to a manual, much less someone else's definition. I don't think the line in novels, 'Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,' is entirely true. Life is inevitable, with birth, aging, sickness, and death. Happy people are those who find freedom in this monotonous fate."
"Yeah, yes, Mom, you are right." Dad Mai really thought so. He took a deep breath, coughed, and suddenly didn't want to smoke anymore.
"If you really think what I said is right, you'll know what to do when you meet Mai Sui. Don't disturb her current life. We are here to support her."
Before setting off, Mai's father pondered everything. He had figured everything out—he still loved Mai Sui, and he was willing to change for her. But there was a knot somewhere, a knot he could sense but couldn't see or articulate. Without untying this knot, he wouldn't know what to do even if he saw Mai Sui.
He and Mai Sui divorced a few years ago. They were all old, and their parents didn't want to ask anything. In addition, he was heartbroken all day long, so Hang Liumei and Lao Jiang didn't dare to say much for fear of making him sad.
He hadn't expected his mother to bring up the matter of divorce today, nor had he expected her to see things more clearly than he did. If he and Mai Sui could get back together, he still couldn't imagine how they would learn to get used to each other again, but he no longer cared. As long as they still loved each other, as long as they were together, they could always find a way to live together.
He was the one who tied the knot, but it was his mother who untied it. It seems he should talk to her more.
Pu Zhihe and Xiaomai saw that the two people in the front row seemed to be debating something, so they followed behind them at a distance.
"Sister Zhihe——"
"wheat--"
Both of them felt they should say something, but unexpectedly they spoke at the same time.
Xiaomai said, "What did you say?"
Pu Zhihe said, "No problem." After a moment's thought, she asked, "What do you think of Hong Kong? Will you come here to study in the future?"
"Maybe," Xiaomai said, "I want to fulfill grandma's wish. Hong Kong is nice, closer to home, and I can rush back quickly when grandma needs me."
Pu Zhihe didn't expect him to give this reason for considering the school. She lowered her head and smiled, saying, "How can you be so young and have so much to bear? There are also your parents."
"They both—they should take care of their own affairs first."
Pu Zhihe thought the topic had passed, but then a piece of confetti blew from the red ice cream truck with the Chinese characters "富豪冰売" (Rich Man Ice Cream) written on it. Xiaomai jumped up to catch it, holding it in her hand, and continued, "My parents used to have a really good relationship. When I was little, we went to the amusement park. They were both very brave and wanted to ride all the roller coasters, but I was the only one who didn't dare. I saw them laughing in the first row from below. Grandma said they had similar interests - my mom could ride a motorcycle, and she was steadier than my dad, and they used to go racing on mountain roads at night. But later, Grandma didn't allow it. She said it was too dangerous. If I continued like that, I would easily become an orphan."
Pu Zhihe laughed when she heard this, and Xiaomai also laughed.
There seemed to be some distance between the two of them since their last conversation, but they both tried hard to act natural. After laughing together, it felt like they were back to when they first met.
Xiaomai continued, "My mom had complete placenta previa when she was pregnant, but she didn't realize how dangerous it was until she gave birth to me. She told me that she had an emergency cesarean section. Because there was a piece of cloth in front of her, she didn't know what was going on, but she could feel something stirring in her stomach and felt pain. She heard me crying, but the doctor took me out and wouldn't let her leave."
"Then she heard someone counting the time. Later she learned that her uterus had been removed during the operation, and if it couldn't be put back on time, it would have to be removed. My mother ended up bleeding profusely, and the rescue effort lasted a long time. My grandmother said that my father had been holding it in for the first few moments, but when my mother was pushed out, he burst into tears. Everyone was so scared that they couldn't speak. The doctors thought the person they had just saved had died again."
"My dad said that my mom risked her life to give birth to me, so he let me take my mom's surname." Having said this, Xiaomai paused, as if recalling something.
"I can see it." Pu Zhihe said.
"Um?"
"You can tell they have a good relationship," she added.
Xiaomai looked at her father's back and continued, "We had a great relationship, but we weren't meant to be together. My mom loved her job at the auction house, and she did a great job. But my dad wanted her to focus on the family. Mom's career kept rising, and when I was in high school, she had to live in Beijing. My dad opened a car dealership in another province, so the three of us ended up living in three different places."
"I was living on campus at the time. One day during evening study in my first year of high school, the hallway light broke, and I missed a step while walking down the stairs and fell badly. When my grandparents rushed to the hospital, the doctor said I had a mild concussion, and I was admitted. My parents immediately rushed back to Xi'an. They argued several times in the ward. My dad wanted my mom to come back to take care of me, and my mom also wanted to do the same thing, so she applied to the company for a transfer back."
"But my dad felt that this wasn't enough. He wanted my mom to quit her job completely and wait until I finished the college entrance exam. At the time, my grandparents said there was no need to quit, as they would take care of me. But my dad was desperate, trying to force my mom to come back. On the day I was about to be discharged from the hospital, he left, saying that he had urgent business matters. But we all knew that he was deliberately leaving me and the whole family to my mom, forcing her to stay."
What happened next was simple. Mai Sui resigned and returned home, just as her father had hoped. However, after Xiaomai recovered, she filed for divorce. Her overly resolute attitude and the simple process led her father to mistakenly believe it was just a quarrel that was difficult to resolve. He even went to get a divorce certificate as a joke, thinking that they would remarry casually one day.
The two thought they had kept the secret from Xiaomai, but Xiaomai understood the whole story. Even after Xiaomai was admitted to university, Mai's father still didn't wait for Mai Sui to change her mind. When he learned about her love life some time ago, he realized that everything was true.
In fact, everyone but him felt they were destined to go their separate ways. Xiaomai was recuperating at home, and his grandfather, to entertain him, invited friends to play instruments. He fell in love with the guqin (Chinese zither), and began to learn to play it as a distraction. Grandma Hang Liumei, on the other hand, could only find solace in painting.
That morning, after discovering that her son had left the mess to his daughter-in-law, she was furious and called him, but the call was naturally unanswered. Hang Liumei knew then and there that her son had ruined his marriage. Because if she was forced to leave Dunhuang like this, she would definitely divorce him!
"So this is how things are. I don't know how the situation will change if he comes to Hong Kong." Xiaomai looked a little lonely.
Pu Zhihe, believing herself to be an outsider, never questioned Xiaomai's family affairs. Unexpectedly, she discovered there was such a hidden story between Xiaomai's parents. It seems every relationship has its own hidden story. Pu Zhihe couldn't judge Xiaomai in front of her. Although Xiaomai expressed pessimism, she secretly hoped that his father would get his wife back.
So she said to Xiaomai, "But your dad is here now, isn't he? Do you remember what I told you? It's hard for others to change people, but if you actively want to change, then it's not difficult. Just because they didn't change each other before doesn't mean they won't change themselves for each other in the future. It sounds a bit like a tongue twister, but what I want to say is that at least your dad is making an effort. After all, love is very subtle, and no one can predict it."
Xiaomai looked at her half-believingly, and she gave him an affirmative look. He turned his head to look at the sea, trying to figure out what she said.
Someone beside her was playing guitar and singing Priscilla Chan's "Love Knot," an old Cantonese song Pu Zhihe loved. She sang along softly: "Rare passion is always wasted, cruel good people are beautiful, let me tie this knot to be precious, awkward relationships are not to be feared, lovers who leave will linger with me like fate for the rest of my life..."
Xiaomai enjoyed listening to her singing, still holding the colorful piece of paper in his hand. He hadn't felt anything when he set out for Hong Kong, but now he felt very happy. The people in front stopped walking, and it seemed that Mai's father and Hang Liumei had also ended the conversation. Pu Zhihe suddenly asked Xiaomai, "Is this the first time you three have come to Hong Kong together?"
"Yes, this is our first trip together since my parents divorced and my grandfather passed away."
Men are careless after all. At a moment like this, Teacher Hang must really want to leave some memories. Pu Zhihe took out his mobile phone, motioned him to follow, and walked in front of Hang Liumei: "Teacher Hang, such a beautiful night view, let me take a family photo for you?"
"Family portrait, ah, okay." Hang Liumei was a little surprised at first, but after she came to her senses, she pulled Dad Mai and Xiaomai to stand on her left and right, straightened their collars, and instructed them to stand more naturally.
Both Mai Dad and Xiao Mai were a little reserved, so Pu Zhihe found a good angle and let them get closer.
Dad Mai thought for a moment, raised his hand and put his arm around his mother's shoulders. Xiaomai tilted her head towards her grandmother, and Pu Zhihe took the first photo of just the three of them.
After taking the photo, Xiaomai hesitated, unsure whether to ask for a photo with Pu Zhihe as well. While he was pondering, Hang Liumei shoved the camera into his arms and said, "Come on! Take a photo of Zhihe and me!"
After Xiaomai finished taking the photo, Hang Liumei excitedly walked over to him to look at the finished film, repeatedly saying it was very good. Then she took the camera and pushed Xiaomai across to the other side: "You and Zhihe should take a photo together. It's a rare opportunity for you kids to play together, so I'll take the photo for you."
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