Mother's Lover (short story) Zhang Baotong 2016.6.25

I asked my mother, "Why don't you turn on the lights?"

Mom answered and said, "Turning on the lights is a waste of electricity." ”

This made me feel uncomfortable for a while, and I said, "Mom, are you thinking about that man again?"

Mom didn't say anything, just lowered her head.

I patiently said to my mother, "I know you like people, but it's not good for your reputation." It doesn't matter if you want to live here, you can live here if you don't want to, but you have to stay here forever. If you have a bad reputation, you will be disgraced for the rest of your life. ”

The mother let out a long sigh, her brows furrowed tightly, her head hung very low, and she looked helpless. I think she was moved by my words. However, after a while, she said, "Mom wants to go to Xi'an to work." ”

I said politely, "Want to find that man?"

Mom shook her head and said, "Your dad is gone, and it's so boring for me to stay in this house alone." I want to go out to work, I don't want to be at home, I'm not old yet, I can still do things. ”

Seeing that my mother was a little stubborn and didn't accept persuasion, I was irritable, so I said, "No, you are not in good health, and you are old, so you can no longer go out to work." Although my dad is gone, Junshe and I are both older and can earn money, so you can stay at home and enjoy yourself. ”

With that, I went out the door.

Out of my mother's compound, I involuntarily came to Xiufen's sister-in-law's house. Sister-in-law Xiufen and Lao Cheng were sitting in the living room watching TV, and when they saw me coming, they asked me, "Is there something wrong with me?"

I said, "I want to ask you something." ”

As soon as Xiufen's husband heard that I was here to ask Xiufen about something, he got up from the sofa and went outside.

I said, "Sister-in-law, you and my mother work outside all the year round, have you ever seen my mother with another man?"

Xiufen shook her head and said, "When your mother was in Xinjiang, there were two or three men who kept chasing your mother and loving your mother, and there was another man who kept pestering your mother, wanting to marry your mother and start a family, and leaving your mother to work in the unit in Xinjiang, but your mother didn't agree." Because your mother lives in a big room with one or twenty of us all day, we all know what happens to her. At that time, we all envied your mother and admired your mother, if the Xinjiang man liked someone else, I am afraid that someone would have followed others to work as a worker in Xinjiang, how could they pick cotton in the field under the scorching sun all day long?"

I said, "My mother is not in good health, she is getting older, and the family has built a house, and I don't want her to go out to work anymore, but she still wants to go out to work." ”

Xiufen reacted immediately and said, "Are you saying that your mother has a good man in Xi'an?"

I nodded and said, "That's what I mean." ”

Xiufen thought for a while and said, "No, none of us have ever met, but we are together every day, and often when we get off work in the evening, someone calls her and asks her if she is off work, where she is now, whether she is tired from work, and sometimes tells her not to be tired." We don't know who called, but we can all guess that it must be a man, and it must have an unusual relationship with your mother, or else, he would not be so caring and considerate to her. We all know it's definitely not going to be your dad, and your dad can't call her like this every day. And, every time she answered the phone, she seemed quite happy. We all joked about it, but she never admitted it. ”

I said, "Haven't you seen her go out at night with other men?"

Xiufen said, "We work so hard, we get up at six o'clock in the morning to get in the car, and when we return to the house in the evening, it is almost eight o'clock, and when we cook and eat, we are so tired that we don't want to move, so we have to go to bed quickly." Who would have the strength to go out and hang out again?" said Xiufen, as if remembering something, "but your mother seems to say that every day or twenty she is tired, or that she is not feeling well, and that she needs to rest for a day. Then I went out early in the morning and didn't come back until three or four o'clock in the afternoon. I don't know where she went, but when she came back, it was like a different person. ”

I nodded, and said to Xiufen, "Don't tell anyone about what you said today, let alone let my mother know, otherwise, she will think that I am inquiring about her." ”

Xiufen said, "I know. ”

When I got home, my daughter-in-law had already fallen asleep, and I was sitting in the living room smoking a cigarette and watching TV. Actually, the TV was on, but I wasn't watching it, because I was so preoccupied that I didn't have the heart to watch TV. From Xiufen's sister-in-law's words, I have already deduced my mother's secret, and my mother must have a deep relationship with that man. We are all people who have come through the experience of being in love, and we know very well what it is like for a man and a woman to fall in love. Originally, I thought that this kind of feelings and situations would only happen to young people, but I didn't expect that when my mother reached this age, her passion for love would be the same as that of young people, even stronger than that of young people, and she would not care about it. I can't imagine how my father would react if he found out about this? Because someone touched my mother's face with his hand, my father would suspect that she had an affair with that person, and if he knew that there was a man who called his mother every day and often dated with her, he was afraid that he would go crazy and kill both my mother and the man.

I don't dare to think too much, it's useless to think about it. So, I finished a cigarette and went to bed. At this time, my wife woke up and asked me, "Where have you been?" I said you went to our mother's. ”

I said, "You're a woman, you can analyze my mother's mentality for me." She is old, why is she still like a girl who has not grown up, and loves a man with a wife so hard?"

The daughter-in-law didn't even think about it, "What's so rare about that? Don't you see that person taking our mother out to hiking, fishing, shopping, and playing everywhere all day long? What woman doesn't want a man to take her to play around? That's called romance, happiness, and happiness." It's like I stayed in the house all day at a young age, either cooking or watching the baby, how boring. ”

I said, "Don't be content, my mother stays outside working at your age, and she stays outside for many years." But you stay at home all day long, the wind can't blow, the rain can't show, and you are blessed to death, don't be in the blessing and don't know the blessing. ”

The daughter-in-law was upset and said, "When did you take me out to play?"

I said, "Don't you see that I'm busy making money all day?"

The daughter-in-law said angrily, "You said before you got married that you would take me to Hangzhou, and now the children are six years old, and I haven't seen you take me to Hangzhou, liar." As he spoke, he turned around and fell asleep.