In the evening, in this lower flower hall, Lao Yao and I (I began to call him "Lao Yao") sat on either side of a small ebony square table, eating his wife's dishes and drinking aged Shao wine. The food is good, the wine is good, and his interest is even better. His words were like flowing water, and he didn't even give me a chance to interject. He criticizes all kinds of people and comments on all kinds of things. He wasn't happy with anything. He whined all the time. But from his endless complaints, I learned the fact that he was not dissatisfied with his life, and he even regarded his second marriage as a great happiness. He was satisfied with his wife, and he loved his wife.

"Lao Li, what do you think of Zhaohua?" He suddenly put down his glass and asked me with a smile.

"Very nice! You should be satisfied," I complimented.

He closed his eyes happily, tapped the table with three fingers of his right hand, nodded his head a few times in succession, then picked up the wine glass, took a big sip, and suddenly a person smiled slightly:

"Lao Li, I advise you to get married quickly. If you have a home, you should also have a more stable heart. He paused for a moment and added, "Don't always dream of falling in love, it's all a novelist's fantasy." You see, Zhaohua and I have never been in love, and we didn't know each other until they were introduced. But we got married, and we were doing well. We are all very happy. ”

"I heard that you were relatives," I interjected.

"Although they are relatives, they are far apart. We don't see each other very often. To tell you the truth, I was much happier with her than with my first wife. Joy made his face, which was beginning to redden, even redder.

"It's better for me to be alone and free to be alone and complain like you when you're satisfied with your married life," I interjected again.

"You don't understand, and you won't understand when I tell you. Chinese talk about love is completely different from Westerners talk about love, Westerners talk about love before getting married, Chinese start falling in love after getting married, I think it's more interesting for us to be like this," he said proudly, as if to clarify some big truth, while moving his right hand to strengthen his tone.

I couldn't bear it anymore, so I interrupted: "Forget it, forget it, let's talk to Dr. Lin Yutang about your big truth." He may ask you to write a book called "Six Tales of the New Floating Life" to deceive foreigners. I really don't understand! ”

"You don't understand? You see, isn't this the best example? He smiled a little proudly, and turned his face to look at the door of the flower hall. I also turned around. His wife came in. Sister-in-law Zhou lit a lantern and followed her.

I quickly stood up.

"You may be seated, please be seated. The food is not well cooked, and Mr. Li is not used to it," she said with a smile, and the two rows of white teeth lit up slightly in front of my eyes.

"Great, I eat a lot. It's just that today is too much trouble for you. Has Mrs. Yao eaten? I replied, still standing and laughing.

"Eat, thank you. Please sit down, and you're welcome," she said. I sat down. She walked up to her husband, who looked up at her and said, "Eat a little more," he handed her the chopsticks. She refused to take it, but shook her head and said, "I just ate it." Have had enough of your wine, and don't get drunk. You said that Mr. Li didn't drink much, so he just ate early, I'm afraid the food will be cold. ”

"Okay, don't drink anymore. Lao Wen, sister-in-law Zhou, let's add rice. Lao Yao nodded, and then raised his voice to call for someone to serve rice.

"Xiaohu hasn't come back yet?" He asked his wife with concern.

"I sent Lao Li to pick him up, it's been a long time, and he should be back," she replied.

"Do you have the spicy sauce for him?" He asked again.

"Leave it there. I'll keep whatever he likes to eat. ”

The rice bowl was delivered to the table. I ate with a bowl and I didn't want to disturb the conversation between the couple. Suddenly, I heard a child's voice shouting, "Daddy, daddy! "I looked up and saw an eleven or twelve-year-old kid in a suit running up to his friend.

"You're back? Did you have a good time at Grandma's house? The friend asked lovingly, stroking the child's bare head.

"Good. My cousin and I played chess and poker. Tomorrow is the week, it's not Lao Li's hard work, I don't want to come back yet. My grandmother told me to play again tomorrow, saying that I didn't have to send Lao Li to pick me up next time, and their car would send me back. ”

"Okay, next time you go, I won't send a car to pick you up and let you have a good time," said my friend with a smile; "You don't even shout at your mother when you come back, your mother is still thinking about you!"

The child stands to the left of the friend, and the wife stands behind the friend. The child lifted his face to look at his stepmother, and with a brief call, he turned his face away again. His stepmother smiled at him gently, agreed, and said softly, "Xiaohu, you haven't greeted the guests yet." This is Uncle Lai. ”

"You salute Uncle Li," the friend said, pushing the child's arm.

The child took two steps forward, bowed to me, and called out in a muffled voice, "Uncle Li." ”

This kid is a miniature version of my friend, and his face, eyebrows, nose, and mouth are exactly the same as mine's. The difference is the costume. Lao Yao wears a blue silk robe, and Xiao Yao wears a coffee-colored suit top, yellow cardinal shorts, a snow-white shirt, and a red tie. In terms of physique and figure, Xiao Yao is similar to the children of the Yang family, but his outfit and look are very different.

"Lao Li, look, does he look like me? This is my second baby! Lao Yao said boastfully, and he laughed. I stole a glance at his wife. She blushed and buried her head. This tells me that her friend's first baby is her.

Lao Yao saw that I didn't answer, so he stretched out his left hand and pushed it on the child's back, saying, "You go over a little bit and let Uncle Li see clearly!" ”

The boy took two more steps forward, and he moved his head with a nonchalant look, and said with a smile, "Look," and stood in front of me with his hands crossed, and he looked at me with a look of arrogance or contempt.

"Like it?" My friend is still asking.

"It's like! But I think ......."

The word "true like" satisfied him, he didn't seem to hear the following half of the sentence "but ......", he immediately stretched out his left hand and said to his son: "Xiaohu, come here, your mother has left you with spicy sauce, do you want to eat something?" ”

"I'm full right now. Let's have a 'supper' tonight. The child ran to his father's side, took his father's hand and asked coquettishly: "Dad, I played poker with my cousin and them today, and I lost four hundred and fifty yuan, you pay me back." ”

"Okay, you'll get five hundred dollars from your mother in a minute," the father readily agreed. "Let me ask you, what did you eat at your grandmother's house?"

"Mom, you're going to give it to me later," the child didn't answer his father's question, but turned his head sideways and smiled at his stepmother, and the sound of "Mom" was much more affectionate.

"I'll give it to you when I get back. Your dad is talking to you. Wait a minute for you to come in with me, and I'm going to watch you change your clothes and brush up on your homework," said his stepmother with a gentle smile.

"Yes," the child replied unhappily, his eyes blinking, and his lower lip tilted to the right. I had seen this expression when comparing the faces of their father and son. Because of this expression, the son really doesn't look like a father on the whole face.

When my friend's wife saw Xiaohu's expression, she looked at me silently, her face still smiling, but there seemed to be an indescribable sadness in her eyes. But when I looked at her attentively, she was talking happily to her husband, and I could no longer find a sad expression on her face.

Mrs. Yao took Xiaohu and left first. After I finished eating, Lao Yao and I talked for a long time, and now he no longer complains, but only talks about the benefits of his wife and son. I know that he has been married to this wife for more than three years and has not had children. The first wife left behind a son and a daughter, but the daughter also died two months after her mother's death.

That night I slept in the big empty living room. The wind blows the door, the leaves fall, the birds flutter their wings on the branches, and the sand and stones flutter in the air. I'm not afraid. But I wasn't used to the environment, and I couldn't close my eyes quietly.

I was thinking about my friend with his wife and children, and I was thinking about the Yang family's children. I thought about it for a long time. I'll also compare the two kids. I wondered if Mrs. Yao's family life was as happy as her husband had said. The more I thought about it, the more I couldn't sleep. Later, I became irritable and scolded myself, "What are you doing in other people's affairs? Everyone has their own way of life, so you don't need to worry about it! Sleep well. ”

But outside the window, the night had begun to fade, and the birds were crowing in the trees and on the eaves.