She sat in the room and waited, I don't know how long, until the twilight surrounded the whole space, and Cheng Jiahua had not returned. Unable to sit still, she moved a bench and sat in the doorway waiting, the dim light from the bulb hanging from her head gently enveloping her whole body, illuminating every hair on her bare skin. She looked up at the sky, and although there was no moon, the sky was full of stars, and she blinked her eyes with curiosity. She sighed and looked toward the far intersection, which was still empty in the faint light of the stars.

"Your dad won't be back at night." She muttered, as if she was saying it to herself, and it seemed to be saying it to Cheng Yan, who was squatting beside her and playing.

"Mom, let's sleep, I'm sleepy." Hearing Hedi speak, Cheng Yan yawned and said sleepily.

"Okay, let's sleep." He took one last look at the intersection, stood up helplessly, turned off the lights at the door, and walked in with a bench. She coaxed Cheng Yan and Cheng Lin to sleep, and lay down on the bed with her clothes closed, but she didn't feel sleepy at all, even if she closed her eyes and tossed and turned, she couldn't sleep. In the silence of the night, the hands of the alarm clock on the humble bedside table sound clearly and clearly, ticking and swinging rhythmically, as if to remind people who have not yet fallen asleep that time has slowly slipped by them. It's just that when people are stuck in contemplation, they can't feel the passage of time so quickly, as if in an instant, a peaceful night has passed, the eastern horizon gradually has a light, and the surrounding area of the original twilight quadrangle is gradually filled with hazy mist-like light, squeezing in from the thin curtains, faintly touching the fluttering eyelids on the touch.

She sighed in her heart and said secretly, "It's dawn." ”

She hadn't slept all night, and even so, time had not soothed the anxious, worried, and helpless wrinkles in her heart, but made it more and more obvious. She propped herself up and glanced out the window blankly, ready to get dressed and get up. Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the iron door outside, as if someone was trying to push it open. Hedi's heart sank, and the movement of dressing quickened, almost jumping to the ground, and running towards the living room.

opened the door, and Huo Ran was standing outside with Cheng Jiahua and Cheng Jiaji, but Cheng Jiahua tilted his head and leaned on Cheng Jiaji's shoulder, and seemed to have fallen asleep with his eyes closed. The two of them had messy clothes, messy hair, and several scars on their faces. He Tu was taken aback, almost unable to react, staring at the two of them blankly, not knowing what to do.

"Sister-in-law! Help my brother in! Cheng Jiaji called, trying to stand firm, supporting Cheng Jiahua's body hard, for fear that he would fall.

"Oh! Ok, good, good! Only then did he react, hurriedly picked up his other arm, and walked into the living room quickly.

"What's going on?" There was a cry in He's anxious voice, "Why do you go to work well, but your face hurts like this?" ”

Cheng Jiaji glanced at Hetu in embarrassment, opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he never said it, just shook his head in frustration and said, "Sister-in-law, take good care of your eldest brother, I'll go first." ”

"Stop!" He Tu hurriedly grabbed his arm and asked anxiously, "You told him why he became like this first, and then I let you go." ”

"Sister-in-law." Cheng Jiaji hesitated, he glanced at Cheng Jiahua who was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, and then at Hetu, who was crying anxiously, and couldn't make up his mind to tell the truth of the matter. It wasn't until Hetu begged him, and even wanted to kneel down for him, that he hurriedly grabbed Hedi's arm, and said as if he had broken a jar: "I'll go with my eldest brother, go, go to the mahjong parlor......" Those three words seemed to be very embarrassed when they came out of his mouth, but he still said it, "I met someone who asked for an account, my eldest brother had no money on him, and there was a conflict, so it was-"

"Going to a mahjong parlor?" Hedi's eyes widened in disbelief, "What are you doing in the mahjong parlor?" ”

Cheng Jiaji knew that his confession, and his eldest brother would definitely blame him when he woke up, but he was now anxious to get rid of Hetu, so he didn't care about it, "I'll tell you the truth, sister-in-law, in fact, my eldest brother and I are not working, and my eldest brother has been taking me to the mahjong parlor, and the money handed over to you every month is won by him...... Although I also lost a lot of ......"

He Tu felt as if someone had hit her hard, she looked at Cheng Jiaji's handsome and embarrassed face blankly, and couldn't say a word for a while. She recalled the previous few times of her hard persuasion and the stern lesson of her father-in-law, Cheng Jiahua didn't even take it to heart, he was still gambling, and he hid it from her, lying to her that he was going to work. Remembering how innocently she trusted him, believing every word of what he said without any doubt, she suddenly felt ridiculous, even more ridiculous than the clown on TV.

Cheng Jiaji saw that He Di was stunned, hurriedly shook off her hand, turned around and hurriedly walked out. The iron door closed by inertia, and there was a sound that was not light or heavy, and he woke up from his stupor. She looked in front of her, Jia Ji's figure had disappeared, and the whole room was very quiet, only Cheng Jiahua's steady breathing echoed.

"I was beaten by someone who asked for an account." He Tu looked at his blue nose and swollen face, and thought to himself, "It means that now that the debt has not been paid off, he has gone to gamble again, and if he gambles, he will not count, and he will also pull up Jia Ji, who is even more presumptuous and willful than before, to the point of not returning at night." Is his addiction that big? Is it greater than the responsibility for this family, greater than the fear of the poisonous oath once made, greater than the love for her and the children? Feeling a little devastated, she sat down on the bed, flustered thinking about the decision of what to do, but couldn't think of anything. Her heart was extremely disturbed, and now, she felt that she had no deterrence and influence on Cheng Jiahua, she was a zero in his heart, no matter what she said, even if she died in front of him immediately at this moment, he didn't care in his heart. She remembered the beautiful fantasy that had existed in her mind since she moved out, and now that fantasy had been shattered bit by bit, and now she wanted to look for its figure, but she couldn't find it at all, and the news she knew today shattered its shadow, and crushed it into powder with her feet, leaving only the residual dust flying in the air, which seemed to be a mockery of Hedi.

Before she knew it, she was already full of tears, her hands were writhing around the corners of her clothes at a loss, and her mind was still in a mess, and she couldn't tell what was going on. Outside, the sun was already bright, and the eastern sun climbed up the foot of the mountain, lazily watching the people who had just woken up from their sleep, and spreading its fiery light to all corners of the earth. Although the curtains had not yet been opened, the sunlight was already shining in the east-facing windows, forming a small circle of light on the ground, and large and small dust fragments were flying in the circle. He sighed, raised his hand to wipe away the tears that had become cold, and reached out to push Cheng Jiahua's shoulder hard.

Cheng Jiahua turned over lazily and fell asleep again.

A cold sneer appeared on Hedi's lips, not knowing whether he was mocking himself or mocking him. It seems that he didn't faint because of the beating, he was just too tired from gambling, playing too late, and fell asleep. He Tu stood up, his gaze suddenly fierce, and raised a foot and kicked him hard in the ass.

"Ahh Cheng Jiahua was in pain, woke up from his dream, covered his buttocks with one hand, and looked around with a pair of eyes blankly and angrily. He just dreamed that he had made a lot of nonsense and won a lot of money, who was so ignorant that he woke him up from such a good dream? He was looking for the culprit, and he couldn't help but be stunned when he couldn't help but touch Hedi's cold eyes.

"Huh?" He scratched the back of his head, "When did I come back?" After reacting, he became annoyed again, "I'm tired all night, and I won't let me sleep soundly when I sleep, what are you telling me to do!" ”

"You've been tired all night?" He burst out laughing, but there was no trace of happiness and joy in that smile, it was full of mockery, sadness, and pity. She looked at Cheng Jiahua fixedly and asked, "What have you been busy with all night?" ”

Cheng Jiahua didn't know that Hedi already knew, he put on an impatient look, lay down again, closed his eyes and said, "Aren't you asking in vain?" You still don't know why I'm busy? ”

"Busy gambling, huh?"

Cheng Jiahua opened his eyes and looked at He Tu suspiciously, and after a while, he figured out why He Tu said this. He recalled last night's incident, he was having fun at the gaming table and met Chen Ye, Chen Ye always had a bunch of people behind his buttocks, he was here to find another person to ask for an account, and suddenly saw Cheng Jiahua, he was ecstatic, and ran over to threaten Cheng Jiahua, shouting for Cheng Jiahua to pay back. Cheng Jiahua has no money, he just handed over the money he won with great difficulty the day before, and tonight's gambling money was borrowed from another friend. The two of them were talking and arguing, and somehow they fought, Chen Ye took advantage of the large number of people, and beat him up with Cheng Jiaji, who came to fight, and almost fled. Thinking of this, he hurriedly glanced around and asked, "What about Kaji?" ”

He Tu hugged his arms and looked at him coldly, not answering a word.

I'm afraid that Kaki told her. Cheng Jiahua secretly thought in his heart that since she already knew, she didn't have to bother to hide it, she made it clear, and he didn't have to worry about how to get some money to hand over to her every month, so that she wouldn't nag. Thinking like this, Cheng Jiahua's heart was suddenly relieved, he put on a cynical expression, lay down again, and said, "Yes, what's wrong?" ”

He Tu has imagined countless possibilities, maybe Cheng Jiahua will be in a hurry to apologize to her and promise her that he will never gamble again. Maybe Cheng Jiahua will be annoyed and angry, desperately trying to cover up and refute that what she said is false. But she never thought that he would be like this, looking at him lying on the bed with Erlang's legs crossed, without the slightest guilt, the anger in her heart burned even more, and she almost burst out: "What's wrong?" You lied to me and you said you went to work, but you still went to gamble! Dad hit you twice, and you didn't pay attention to it once! When will you be able to quit this problem! Is gambling so important to you? ”

Cheng Jiahua closed his eyes impatiently, he raised his hand to cover his ears, and then thought that this action might make Hetu even more angry, he didn't want to quarrel with her, and he didn't want to listen to her chatter, he coughed loudly, tried to suppress her voice, and said: "Bet on betting, what's wrong with betting?" Didn't I give you money every month? ”

"Where did you get that money?" He Tuan's face flushed, "I don't believe you can get back so much money every month just by gambling, where do you say all that money comes from?" ”

"That's a lot to talk about!" Cheng Jiahua turned over and sat up, glared at Hedi, and said, "The borrowed head office, right?" You always urge me to make money, and you think I'm incompetent, I get you money every month, you still have to talk about me, what do you want me to do? ”

"Where do I hate you?" He Tu couldn't control his emotions, and he couldn't control his tears, letting it flow on his face, "I just hope you find a serious job and make honest money every month, we have moved out now and have our own home, which is different from when I was supported by my parents before, but I didn't say let you gamble!" ”

"You always say make money, do you know how hard it is to make money?" Cheng Jiahua couldn't help but be furious, "Do you think that making money outside means that the money will automatically come to me when I move my fingers?" Do you think it's that simple? ”

"Or else?" Hedi's eyes widened, trying to see the expression on his face clearly in the hazy tears, "All the people in the world are like this, why can't you?" ”

"Sure enough, it's a woman!" Cheng Jiahua turned his head angrily, "You go and make a dime like this, and I'll take a look when you come back!" ”

"Can you stop betting!" He Tu almost begged, "You go to gamble, sometimes you can win money, but you lose more, you forget that we still owe so much debt behind our buttocks, as long as you work hard, the money can always be paid off, our life can always be better, you just listen to my advice?" ”

"Say it every day, say it every day, it's annoying!" Cheng Jiahua shook off her hand holding her arm, walked past her and walked outside, "Girls are girls, how can you understand the pursuit of big men." ”

He Tu stared blankly at his back, feeling very desperate, helpless and angry in his heart. These emotions were mixed together, and it almost burst one of her hearts. In addition, Cheng Lin was woken up by the sound of their quarrel, and cried with her mouth open, the noise of reality mixed with the noise in her head kept clamoring in her ears, and she felt that she was about to go crazy. She suddenly had an impulse, what did she want to do to vent this suffocating feeling in her heart, what to do? Smashing things? Those things were bought with money or made with great effort, how could she be willing to smash them? Beat yourself up? Does this sound ridiculous? rushed up and scolded Cheng Jiahua and beat him? He Tu smiled bitterly, how could she beat him, he was tall, almost on top of her, maybe he would beat her in turn. He Tu looked in the whole bedroom in a panic, and suddenly saw Cheng Yan who was struggling to get dressed, and couldn't help but roar angrily: "That's how I taught you to dress!" Do you know how much effort and time I put into making this dress for you! How many needles and threads were wasted! I'll teach you how to dress, is that how you dress! ”

Young Cheng Yan was startled by her mother's roar, she looked at her mother blankly, not understanding why her mother suddenly transferred her anger to her. After understanding her mother's words, her movement to put on her clothes stopped, and she didn't know how to dress for a while, neither moving, nor moving, so she had to sit in place, carefully looking at her mother's face before acting.

"Look you're like a piece of wood! When will you be as sensible as my sister's child! He Tu sat next to Cheng Yan with his buttocks, didn't even wipe the tears off his face, dragged her body fiercely, and almost put clothes on her as if he was beating her. Cheng Yan's arm was pulled by her, but she didn't dare to speak, she only lowered her head, waiting for her mother to dress her and escape by herself to avoid the war.

"Your dad is like that, you are also like this, why did I give birth to you two goods!" He was very angry, and what he said was a little irrational, "None of them are like me!" You cry cry cry cry! She turned her head and yelled at Cheng Lin, "What's there to cry about!" Shut up! ”

Cheng Lin was frightened by this, and he cried even more.

The despair in Hedi's heart grew worse and worse, and her tears flowed more and more. Cheng Jiahua outside may have heard her angry reprimand, and stood in the living room and shouted: "What are you shouting at the child!" Scare the kids! ”

He Tu wanted him to get out, but the word choked in his throat and couldn't shout out, yes, he bought this yard, and he handed over the money every month to himself, to be honest, which thing here really belongs to him? In addition to the fact that these two children fell from her body, what else is there that she has with the confidence to say the word "roll" with the confidence in her heart?

After Cheng Jiahua shouted that sentence, he went out without looking back. He didn't know where he had gone, maybe he had gone gambling again. Looking at him like this, he may feel that he knows now, and he doesn't need to do some cover-up, he is far away from his father-in-law's house, and his father-in-law can't control him, so he can be reckless and willful. He Tu stopped dressing Cheng Yan, she stared blankly at the void in front of her, thinking in her mind about a way that could be recovered, but after thinking about it for a long time, she couldn't come up with a definite way that could be really useful. She thought of Fang He, and thought that maybe she could discuss it with her, and the two of them would persuade each other together to make them turn back and stop gambling. This thought pointed out a way for the mess in her mind, her heart calmed down temporarily, and she hurriedly bowed her head and said to Cheng Yan: "You are optimistic about your brother, I will go to find your aunt." ”

Cheng Yan hadn't turned back from her mother's anger, and when she heard her mother speak, she just nodded dumbly, and after seeing her mother go out, she turned around and grabbed Cheng Lin's little hand, who was still crying, and coaxed like an adult: "Good, good, don't cry, don't cry, you laugh one, laugh one with sugar candy." She stretched out her little hand and clenched it into a fist, as if there was candy in it. But in fact, how old she is, how have she ever eaten candy, and the appearance and deliciousness of the candy are just her imagination based on the impressions she saw on TV.