Chapter 03: Sent back home [Revised]

Pu Xiang opened her mouth slightly, and her expression showed surprise.

It lasted for a full five or six seconds before she closed her mouth. For a moment she didn't know what to say.

The expenses are high? She used her own pension money, which she earned herself, and she didn't let her son and daughter-in-law take any money.

Send her back to her hometown and let Shi Dafu, a nearly 70-year-old man who still has mistresses, take care of her? The dogs at home are probably more reliable than him.

Pu Xiang leaned back in the back seat, feeling a little chilly in the heart, just like the autumn itself.

Shi Jiajie saw that his mother remained silent after he said that, so he took it as a consent. He drove the car to the bottom of the community building and turned off the engine.

"Mom, I'll go upstairs to get your things. Yingying should be ready by now. Please wait in the car for a while."

Everything has been packed up. This is not a discussion, this is a notification.

Pu Xiang watched her son get out of the car and go upstairs.

I am usually busy all day long, but now I can't move. I can finally take a break and look at the trees outside. It is indeed autumn, and the leaves have turned yellow. Not long ago, they were still green, like a summer scene.

This person is just like this tree. In the blink of an eye, his life is over.

Pu Xiang thought about her whole life. When she was young, she was a farmer, farming every day and busy with things in the mud. Later, when the national policies improved, she looked at the shops and people all over the street, so she started to set up a small stall and do some small food business. Later, when she had the capital, she opened a fast food restaurant, and then a small restaurant and a small wine shop.

Later on, she opened a supermarket and two snack shops. She made a lot of money, but she didn't enjoy much happiness and suffered a lot of anger. When she got older, she let it go and worked hard to make money. She had had enough of Shi Dafu's squandering days and her son had grown up, so she simply closed all the stalls, held the money in her hands, and the couple lived apart, preferring to turn a blind eye to it.

But she never imagined that after only being unable to get out of bed for two or three months and recuperating for half a year, her son would send her back to her hometown.

The past few decades suddenly came to mind clearly, and for a moment, she didn't know what she had been trying to achieve in her life.

"I'll send Mom back and settle her down. I guess it's too late to come back tonight, so I'll come back tomorrow... Mom and Dad have been taking care of the children and the house these days. By the way, Yingying, I bought a sweeper and a dishwasher online, as well as a small washing machine. I've made an appointment for delivery and installation today. I left your number. Please pay attention to the phone number. Mom has been an intellectual who deals with books and words all her life. Unlike my mom, who is a country girl used to working. It's too hard for her to do all these things suddenly. By the way, you can discuss it with Mom. If she feels tired, you can ask an aunt to help... Well, call me if you have anything."

Shi Jiajie and his wife each carried two large bags of things and loaded them into the trunk of the car together.

Pu Xiang came back to her senses and listened to her son's non-stop instructions.

After putting away her things, the daughter-in-law came over to open the car door.

"Mom, you should rest well at home. You don't have to worry about this. I've asked my parents to come over to help."

Pu Xiang and her daughter-in-law have an okay relationship. They are not as close as mother and daughter, but they have never had any conflicts and they have always been quite harmonious.

In the past, she would definitely be worried about taking care of all the miscellaneous matters at home, big and small, such as the food in the refrigerator, the clothes and shoes hanging outside, the milk powder and diapers of her three grandsons, etc. But today, she just couldn't muster the energy to take care of anything and just said "hmm".

The car started again and headed towards their hometown, Jiang Province.

The journey on the highway took more than two hours. Shi Jiajie asked Pu Xiang to take a nap, but Pu Xiang couldn't fall asleep and kept staring at her son's neck and profile all the way.

The more I look at it, the more unfamiliar it seems.

Shijia Village.

More than 40 years ago, when Pu Xiang first got married, this place was still a complete rural area where every household farmed.

However, more than 20 years ago, with the land acquisition and demolition, the original rural areas were transformed into the current concentrated communities, where every household has its own unique residential land. It is true to say that it is a "rural wilderness."

The road is easy to drive on. The Shijiacun community is less than fifteen minutes away after getting off the highway.

Before Shi Jiajie came back, everyone had already called his father Shi Dafu, who was waiting at home. As soon as his son's car drove to the road in front of the yard, people came out to greet him.

When the car door opened, Pu Xiang saw several familiar faces.

In addition to Shi Dafu, Shi Dafu's eldest sister and second sister have all returned, and the neighbors next door on both sides are all familiar faces.

"Jiajie is back. You must be tired from driving. Come inside and sit for a while."

"Jiajie's wife and children haven't come back yet?"

"How could your mother fall so carelessly? You must have had a hard time."

…

A group of people gathered around Shi Jiajie and were talking to each other. Shi Jiajie stood in the middle of the crowd, calling people over one by one and replying to them, and was very busy.

Pu Xiang sat in the car with the door closed, as if she was isolated in another world.

After talking for about half an hour, the "topic" Pu Xiang was finally lifted out of the car.

The Shi family’s new house in the community is three and a half stories high, and Pu Xiang was arranged to live in an empty room on the ground floor.

Her leg was injured, so it was inconvenient for her to go up and down the stairs, so it was understandable that she lived downstairs.

However, knowing that she was coming back to live here and having already decided which room she would live in, Shi Dafu, that bastard, didn't even bother to wipe the dust off the room.

I didn't even know I had to make the bed in advance.

When I opened the door and walked in, I was greeted by a heavy, strange smell.

A group of people were busy, some went to open the window, some asked where the quilt was. Pu Xiang was lifted up and placed on the empty bed board. She was moved twice when the quilt was spread. When she was put on the bed and lay down, she felt a dull pain in the wound again.

"Mom, lie down for a while. It's a small place here. Let's go sit in the living room."

Shi Jiajie said something, and a group of people left in an instant.

Listening to the noisy noise coming from behind the wall, Pu Xiang lay on the bed, looking at the white ceiling above.

The room smelled bad, and the quilt on the bed also had a smell.

Pu Xiang lay down for a while, then sat up and called her son into the room.

"This quilt has not been dried yet. Now there is sunshine outside, you can take it and dry it."

"The floor and table are all covered in dust. Find a rag and a mop and wipe and mop everything."

"There is also a bathroom. Check if the toilet and faucet are usable. If they are broken, replace them immediately."

"I'll buy an electric wheelchair later. This push-type one is inconvenient."

As she explained everything, Shi Jiajie's brows furrowed more and more.

"Mom, there's no rush for these. Just let my dad take care of it later."

Shi Dafu's elder sister Shi Zhenzhu came with him. After hearing what was said, she reached out to pull Shi Jiajie and said, "We can handle the things your mother said. You must be tired from driving back. Take a rest and don't worry about it."

Shi Jiajie said, "Then I'll trouble you, aunt," and was about to leave.

"Shi Jiajie!"

Pu Xiang stopped him with a cold face, "Don't you know what kind of personalities your father and aunt have? I raised you to this age, and you don't even want to do this?"

At another time and place, Pu Xiang would not speak to her son like this. Children also have to have self-respect, and it is not good for a mother to act like a parent.

But today, she somehow couldn't control herself.

This was the first time in Shi Jiajie's life that he heard such "harsh words" from his mother. He was stunned for a moment and his expression turned unhappy.

Aunt Shi said "Ouch" and stepped forward: "Sister-in-law, what are you saying? Why are you angry with the child? Jiajie, go and talk to your father for a while. I'll take care of this. Dry the quilts. How can Aunt Shi not do it well? It's just your mother who is picky and too particular."

Pu Xiang just looked at Shi Jiajie and saw him being pushed out lightly.

No one entered the house that day, no one went to dry the quilt, and no one cleaned the house.

Pu Xiang didn't sleep well that night. She kept her eyes open until the second half of the night, and no one knew what was going on in her mind.

Shi Jia* Jie came back for a rare visit, and his childhood playmates invited him out for a midnight snack.

It was a rare occasion that his wife and children were not with him, so he relaxed a little. Pu Xiang heard him go out at around eight or nine in the evening, and did not come back until after one in the middle of the night.

From the sound, it turned out that the person who sent him back was Shi Wenya's son Shi Chengcheng. Both of them were drunk and their speech was so halting that one could smell the alcohol.

"When are you leaving tomorrow, morning or afternoon? Or having lunch at noon?"

"Bye, haven't you drunk enough tonight? Maybe next time. I have to drive back home and can't drink. I'll just have a quick bite at home for lunch tomorrow and then leave."

"That's fine. Your mom is at home and your dad is taking care of you. You don't have to worry."

"I, I have nothing to worry about. I didn't die even after falling down the stairs. I'm an old woman with a tough life. Tsk!"

"Are you still angry? Your mother is pretty good. She bought you a house and a car, and took care of your children. My mother is nothing like her. She's a rural woman. She couldn't even afford money for me to get married."

"What good is that? No matter how much money you make, you can't hide the smell of a country woman. You are so unbearable... My family still depends on my father to be the head of the family. My mother is always busy with all kinds of things, but she doesn't achieve anything. She can even fall down the stairs while doing housework at home. It's not a difficult task for her to do. A useless old thing will only drag down the children. Her fall has caused me so much trouble. My father-in-law and mother-in-law are both high-class people and intellectuals. They originally thought that I was from the country. Now, this has happened again. They didn't say it, but I don't know why they think I'm unreliable in their hearts. It's better to die directly than to be paralyzed on one side of the body!"

"That's true. The one who suffers the most is the one who serves him."

"My father was also unlucky. He married my mother, and their personalities were totally incompatible. They were married blindly and did not divorce even though their marriage was unhappy. They managed to survive like this."

…

Both voices sounded drunk, but the truth comes out when drunk.

Pu Xiang's heart was no longer just cold; it was numb, tingling, and aching.

What on earth has she lived for in her life?

Food, schooling, house and car, everything was funded by her money. In the end, this family became entirely dependent on this bastard Shi Dafu.

This bastard owed millions in gambling debts, and she paid it off for the sake of her children and her family!

I have never worked a single day in my life, never earned a single dollar, and I am so lazy that even worms would crawl out of me, but I am considered to have a bad fate?

Others may not know about the little things that happen behind closed doors at home, but how could Shi Jiajie not know? The best thing his father has done in his life is to have a mistress!

Pu Xiang lived to be 65 years old before she discovered that the son she lived with day and night was a "disabled person" who was mentally retarded and blind.

The next day, a bunch of people came in and out of the house again. Pu Xiang looked coldly at her son who was surrounded by the crowd. He was successful in his career and was in high spirits, enough to show off in the village.

This mother is really useless.

When the person was leaving, Shi Jiajie came into the room and said something, then turned around and left without any worry or hesitation.

All relatives and neighbors left, and the Shi family settled down.

Pu Xiang met Lin Meihua, Shi Dafu's current mistress, at dinner time. She quietly entered the house and went into the kitchen, where she started washing, cutting, and cooking dinner.

She is just like the hostess of this family.

It wasn't surprising that no one brought Pu Xiang's dinner to her after dinner time.

These torturous days were just the beginning. Not only did she not have three meals a day, but no one took care of her poop and pee. Pu Xiang wanted to call her older brother, second sister, and younger sister to ask them to help send her to the hospital or a rehabilitation center, but Lin Meihua snatched her cell phone and cut off her contact with the outside world.

Being locked up and unable to move, Pu Xiang really wanted to die.

Especially since no one took care of her urination and defecation, and she couldn't walk, she crawled out of bed with her hands and wanted to go to the toilet, but she ended up defecating on herself.

Shi Dafu, that bastard, acted as if he knew nothing and locked all the doors and windows for her. She wanted to call for help or climb out to ask for help, but it was impossible.

Pu Xiang was filled with hatred, but she endured it and held it in. She knew that soon, Shi Dafu and Lin Meihua would stop relatives and friends from seeing her, and they wouldn't be able to stop her for long. If these two didn't have the courage to kill her, then sooner or later she would be able to go out and teach this couple a lesson.

However, she didn't expect that before her relatives and friends arrived, the person who came to rescue her was someone she least expected.

Mo Jingjing was a little girl who was abused by her stepmother in the old neighbor's home.

She looked pitiful, helped and fed the skinny little girl several times, and now she has reached middle age in the blink of an eye.

The rural woman was in her forties, aloof and gloomy. Normally, she was never heard talking to anyone. But at this moment, she came to the door with a hammer, scaring Shi Dafu and Lin Meihua so much that they trembled and did not dare to step forward to stop her.

She broke down the door, carried her out of the smelly room on her bony shoulders, and sent her to the hospital.

In just a few days, it felt like years had passed.

Pu Xiang was washed clean and changed into clean clothes. Since she didn't have her cell phone back, she borrowed Mo Jingjing's cell phone to call her son.

Shi Dafu, that bastard, probably saw that she was carried out and could no longer hide the truth, so he called his son directly.

Shi Jiajie was not surprised at all when he received her call. After Pu Xiang calmly told him what happened, he quickly said, "I know about this, Mom. When I get home this weekend, don't quarrel with Dad. You are old enough and everyone knows each other in the countryside. It would be embarrassing if you quarreled."

After the call ended, Pu Xiang completely gave up.

Get a divorce. What do your husband and children have to do with her? They are worse than a stranger!

In her life, she had been very worthy of these two men and the Shi family, but she had been the most unworthy of herself.

There was a brief and silent silence. Pu Xiang did not say anything, and she did not even know what was going on in her mind. About ten minutes later, or perhaps half an hour later, she picked up the phone again. She first called the police, accusing Shi Dafu and Lin Meihua of illegal detention and abuse, and then searched for the best law firm in Hai City and found a lawyer.

Pu Xiang had thought clearly about everything, including making a will, taking back the property in Hai City, and divorcing Shi Dafu.

Fortunately, when the house was bought, her name was written on it. Later, her son got married and had children, and was very busy. Her daughter-in-law's family was not short of money, so they never mentioned adding her name to the property certificate, and the matter has been delayed.

Fortunately, Shi Jiajie is the only son in the family and all the property belongs to him, so his daughter-in-law's family doesn't care about this matter.

Now it turned out to be a good thing for her.

In the next few days, the whole world seemed to be in chaos. Shi Jiajie came back, Shi Dafu said he knew he was wrong, Lin Meihua begged for mercy, her brother, sister-in-law and second sister also came and tried to persuade her, but Pu Xiang was the only one who remained calm.

"Why get a divorce at this age?"

"Stop making trouble. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at? Half of your foot is in the coffin, and you're still making trouble!"

"Your son is married, and you have three grandchildren. Now that you are a grandmother, you are getting divorced. Don't you think about the children at home?"

"Let Shi Dafu apologize and let it go. We will be husband and wife for life."

"Why do you want to take back the house you gave to your child? He is your own son. What do you want him to do?"

…

Pu Xiang listened to every word, but could not understand a single one.

How come it's all her fault, and no one says anything bad about Shi Dafu and Shi Jiajie? Why does she have to put herself in a difficult position? She has worked hard all her life, and now she is almost dead, she still has to do everything for others? We are all human, but she is not? Can't she see that she is the one lying in the hospital in agony?

She laughed and said that this rotten marriage, which had dragged on from her twenties until she was in her sixties, was her biggest mistake.

She really regrets it!

But it's not too late.

After two or three months of chaos, everything finally settled down and Pu Xiang's legs and feet were almost healed.

She got the divorce certificate, and the demolished house belonged to her. Shi Dafu, who had never earned a penny in his life and had made her pay off countless gambling debts, left the house with nothing and went to live with his son with only a few of his clothes on his back...

Pu Xiang became the biggest news person in the village. When people talked about her, they would sigh and give some advice.

If you want a divorce, then get a divorce, but how can a mother be so cruel to her own son!

Pu Xiang thought, being cruel is good, she has been too soft-hearted all her life.

If she could be given another chance and go back to her youth, she would definitely not hesitate at all and would divorce and leave immediately. Thinking about how she had endured it time and time again for the sake of her children when she was young, she felt that she was a big fool. She did not even regard herself as a human being, so how could the children she raised regard her as a human being...Then she heard a loud "wow" cry like an explosion beside her ear.

She is the only one in the house, where did this naughty kid crying come from?

Pu Xiang, who had just laid down and was about to go to sleep, opened her eyes and was stunned.

Concrete walls, concrete floors, a marble round table, and her parents-in-law, who had passed away a few years ago, sitting on either side of her.

Did she see a ghost, or did she become a ghost herself?