The scene became even more chaotic, Cheng Jiaji, Cheng Jiaye, and Cheng Jiayi, who were only watching the excitement outside, saw that their father was really angry, and then they felt that the situation was urgent, and they hurriedly came in to help their mother pull their father's arm, begging him to spare his eldest brother this time. Cheng Tielong was out of breath, he was pulled by a few people, and he couldn't exert his strength anymore, and when he saw Jia Ye and Jia Yi, the two children he loved the most, crying with tears on their faces, he was so frightened that his whole body trembled, his heart softened, the stick in his hand fell to the ground, the anger that supported him gradually disappeared, he felt a wave of exhaustion coming, and fell to the sofa.

"It didn't hurt anywhere, did it?" Mu Shi hurriedly grabbed Cheng Jiahua's arm and looked up and down, her eyes were red, and she seemed to have just shed tears. She had never seen her husband lose his temper so much, even if Cheng Jiahua was drunk and disrespectful to him last time, he just slapped Jiahua, and this time he actually used a stick. It's all that woman! Mu Shi turned her head and stared at He Tu viciously, and when she saw He Tu lowering her head and coaxing Cheng Yan softly, as if she was fine, she became more and more disgusted and disgusted with Hetu in her heart.

"You get on your knees!" Cheng Tielong roared, Cheng Jiahua hurriedly knelt down, hanging his head tremblingly, not daring to raise his head. He was beaten with several sticks, and the pain was terrible, and the bleeding wounds on his face made him look like a dying rat who had been beaten across the street.

"Are you still betting?" Cheng Tielong asked, kicking the stick on the ground with his foot as a warning.

"No more betting." Cheng Jiahua hurriedly replied, afraid that he would answer too late, and the stick came to him again.

"Are you okay?"

"Have a good time, have a good time." Cheng Jiahua's head is like a rattle.

Cheng Tielong took a breath, turned his gaze to the other children, softened his voice, and said slowly: "Okay, let's go to sleep, I'm tired after making trouble in the middle of the night." He stood up, glanced back at Hetu, sighed, and walked out.

The others hurriedly followed. Mu Shi walked to the door, turned around and saw Cheng Jiahua still kneeling on the ground, hurriedly stretched out his hand and pulled him up, half complaining and half distressed, and said, "You see that you are angry with your father!" Okay, you go to your brother's room tonight to sleep, and Mom will wash this wound for you, in case it becomes inflamed, it won't be good. ”

Cheng Jiahua choked and nodded, and walked out with his mother.

The room became quiet again, and he saw that Cheng Yan had stopped crying, but he hadn't fallen asleep yet, and looked around with wide eyes and confusion. She gently put Cheng Yan back on the bed, bent down and began to tidy up the messy room. As soon as the anger in her heart disappeared, she became calmer, maybe such a fuss is a good thing, but Cheng Jiahua will really listen to her father-in-law's words and stop gambling in the future? She didn't believe it much anymore. How to live this day, she is also clueless now, the beautiful illusions in her heart have been shattered, she has no hope, and now her mood is just to take one step at a time, if she really can't live, then she can only die.

He Tu didn't realize that she had become so negative, she silently sorted it out, swept up the broken cup fragments on the ground, and felt distressed when she looked at it, after all, she bought it with the money she had saved. Tidying up, tidying up, she began to cry again, thinking of her parents, thinking of her sisters, thinking of several younger sisters, thinking of Xiuhan, as long as she thought of their faces, she felt infinitely wronged in her heart. Thinking about it like this, it seems that he is the worst of them all, and he is not happy almost every day. She sat down on the edge of the bed, covered her face with her hands, and began to cry with a whimper, as if her intestines had been torn.

I cried like this for I don't know how long, and suddenly I felt a cold little hand on my arm. He Tu looked back and saw that Cheng Yan didn't know when he climbed next to her, stretched out a hand to caress her, and his innocent little face was desperately tilted up, trying to see the expression on his mother's face. As soon as Hedi's heart ached, the tears flowed even more violently, she reached out to hug Cheng Yan, buried her head in the warm neck socket of the little guy, and couldn't hold back crying anymore.

Reaching out to close the door and leveling the warm curtain, Mu Shi turned his head, looked at his husband with a little complaint, and said, "You hit him too hard tonight, just say a few words, how to kill that dead hand." ”

"You know the." Cheng Tielong reprimanded and glanced at Mu Shi impatiently, "Originally, other families had a lot of rumors about our family, if this daughter-in-law was messed up by him again, our family would not be able to live here?" I don't want to lose face with Lao Cheng, right? ”

"That's also her own fault, no wonder we do." Mu Shi said dissatisfiedly, "It's all shameless goods." ”

"You usually take care of Dian Jiahua, if you continue to mess around like this, I don't think he will have a good time." Cheng Tielong took off his coat, wrapped himself in a warm quilt, and lay down. Mu Shi sighed, answered, and said, "He owes so much money, why don't we help ......"

"What nonsense!" Cheng Tielong said, "My money is blowing in the wind, right, let him squander it?" I think if I take care of it, this family will lose it to him sooner or later! When we get old, we will go to the street on crutches to ask for food! ”

"You're too ruthless." Mu Shi complained in a low voice, "Jia Hua has become like this, in fact, it is also-" She sighed, didn't say any more, turned off the light, and lay down next to Cheng Tielong, somehow in her heart, she felt both scared and uncomfortable, and she couldn't breathe.

When she got up early in the morning, it was already dawn, she was deliberately lazy, got up late, and didn't make breakfast, deliberately making Cheng Jiahua hungry. When he stepped into the small kitchen, he was rummaging through the cabinets in front of the stove to find food, and when he saw Hetu coming in, his expression suddenly became embarrassed and indifferent, and he walked out with a stiff body.

He snorted coldly, but didn't say anything. She skillfully lit the stove, ordered a pot of noodles, and ate the pickles. After the lunch break at noon, Cheng Tielong went out as usual, and Mu Shi was also dressed up more solemnly than usual, as if he had something important to talk about, and went out with a bag. Kaye and Kayi went to school early in the morning, Kaye didn't know when they went out, and the whole yard was quiet, except for the chirping of birds in the trees and the occasional cry of wild cats running in the yard, almost no other sound could be heard. If it weren't for Cheng Yan, who was sleeping next to her, she cried again, stretching out her little hand to eat, she was afraid that she would have to be stunned for a while before she could react.

After feeding Cheng Yan, He Tu hurriedly washed his face and carried Cheng Yan out of the bedroom door. She glanced around, but there was no one in sight, and then she walked towards the room where her father-in-law and mother-in-law lived in the north wing. The door is ajar, and they usually don't lock the door when they go out, one is to ventilate, and the other is that there are people in the house, and there is no need to lock the door. Lifting the thin curtain, Hedi probe to see, there was no one in the room, her heart became excited, hurriedly entered the house, put Cheng Yan on the bed, circled it with a pillow, to prevent the child from accidentally falling, and ran to the side of the cabinet, picked up the microphone, dialed out the numbers that had been memorized for a long time, and waited with anticipation.

The phone was quickly picked up, and Xiuhan's lively voice came from the other end. The two sisters were like a rain after a long drought, and they felt very happy in their hearts. During this period of time, as long as her parents-in-law went out and she was the only one left in the house, Hedi would always secretly hang up the phone to Xiuhan, even if the two of them had nothing important to say, but just chatting, talking about trivial things, and listening to Xiuhan complain about those boring gossip, Hedi felt very happy. Over time, this has even become a daily expectation of Hedi, which is the source of joy that can bring her. After all the noise last night, she was in a very low mood, especially wanted to talk to Xiuhan, she didn't need Xiuhan to comfort her at length, and she didn't want to say this humiliating thing, she just wanted to listen to Xiuhan talk about another world, which was enough to make her satisfied.

After listening to Xiuhan complaining about the busyness of the schedule and the personnel around her, Hedi suddenly became curious about her current love life, and couldn't help asking, "How are you and Xing Xiyun doing now?" ”

There was a sudden silence over there, and he felt a sigh in his heart, and immediately regretted it. Don't look at Xiuhan pretending to be so cheerful and lively now, maybe she hasn't let go of Xing Xiyun yet, every time she contacts, Hedi always avoids mentioning that person and touching her sadness. But today Hedi didn't know what was wrong, she just wanted to know, wanted to understand, and an inexplicable impulse came to her heart, as if Xiuhan's answer could give her some guidance.

"That's it." More than ten seconds later, Xiuhan said lazily, "Once we break up, it's a strange road, and we have no contact now." ”

"Do you still feel bad?" He Tu asked again, and after asking, she almost wanted to slap herself in the mouth, but she still waited expectantly for Xiuhan's answer.

"It's not uncomfortable." Xiuhan seemed to regain his strength, and his voice became clearer, "I'm so busy every day, where do I think about these things." ”

"Xiuhan, don't be angry, I just want to know, will you regret it?" He bit her lip and tangled her fingers around the phone line.

"If I hadn't broken up with him, I'd have regretted it now." Xiuhan smiled, "Now I know that in this world, in addition to the love of children, there are many things worth doing for me, I am also very busy, I don't want to dwell on this issue, and I am very happy, it is much better to do what I like every day than to do what I don't like." ”

An indescribable emotion slowly rose from the bottom of Hedi's heart, and she suddenly didn't want to talk to Xiuhan. Yes, everyone in this world has their own goals and wants to do what they want to do, but she doesn't, and she doesn't even know what the purpose of living like this is. In the past, because of Xiuhan, she was so obsessed with reading, but that road was rudely cut off at the beginning, she couldn't go on, now married, she longs for a beautiful and happy family, this desire is now also beaten to pieces, now, what is her goal? What motivates you to repeat it day after day? He Tu thought about it, and couldn't help but look back at Cheng Yan, who was playing alone on the bed, perhaps, that small body and simple face are the motivation for his own life, Hedi's heart moved, and suddenly gave birth to a little hope, the gloom and dullness that had been enveloping her since last night, suddenly relieved, she hurriedly said into the microphone: "You are right. ”

"Who's right?" As soon as her words fell, a cold male voice suddenly came from her ears. He Tu was startled, hurriedly hung up the phone, and turned to look at the man. It turned out to be Cheng Jiahua, I saw him squinting his eyes and staring at Hetu tightly, with a strange light flashing in his eyes, and asked, "Who are you talking to?" ”

"I, I-" He Tu said, squinting at Cheng Yan, hurriedly ran towards her, picked up the child, and said, "I didn't talk to anyone." ”

Cheng Jiahua glanced at the landline, suddenly smiled, he clapped his hands, and said, "What about calling your little lover?" ”

"What are you farting!" He Di scolded, his face flushed with anxiety, "I'm talking to my friend on the phone!" ”

"Friends?" Cheng Jiahua rolled his eyes, remembered the last time Xiuhan's parents visited, and suddenly realized, "Oh, that celebrity friend of yours, right?" ”

He Tu frowned at his expression, how to look at it as if he was mocking himself.

"Zhou Hedi, are you sick?" Cheng Jiahua laughed, and the three marks on her face that she grabbed squirmed up and down with his smile, "I see that you are going to the hospital to see a doctor, you think about this and that all day long, and you also fantasize about a star friend, and I also said that my friend is the president of the country!" He shook his hands and walked out, suddenly stopped again, and said through gritted teeth, "You fix me, I want to think about you, I'll see which of us is better than the other." ”

The thin curtain was flicked, and it staggered and gradually returned to its original state. He Tu looked at the curtain in a daze, feeling a little panicked in his heart, if Cheng Jiahua told his mother-in-law about using his home phone to talk to others, according to his mother-in-law's temperament, he didn't know what to do. She sighed, looked at Cheng Yan in her arms, she had been a little relaxed and was driven away by negative emotions, she stood up and walked outside, feeling flustered, almost unable to think about anything seriously.

Mu Shi came back after going out for more than half an hour, she walked in the door with joy, glanced at Hetu, who was sitting on the steps with a child basking in the sun, rolled her eyes and glared, and walked past the two people into the house. He Tu looked at his mother-in-law's actions suspiciously, I don't know if she was so happy about what happy event, suddenly, there were two piercing eyes from the carport opposite, Hetu looked at the opposite side, and saw that it was Cheng Jiahua who was repairing the bicycle with a wrench, he looked at Hetu coldly, made a threatening gesture, and lowered his head again.

"Inexplicable." He Tu said goodbye to him, and continued to shake Cheng Yan, who was already asleep in his arms, "If he really told his mother-in-law, then there was no way, at most he would be scolded, and he would have a cold war with me in the next few days. Thinking about it like this, most of the panic in her heart disappeared, and the whole person suddenly relaxed, enjoying the warm sunshine in the slightly cold air, and the whole person felt very comfortable.

At dinner time, as usual, each family eats its own family. He Tu still deliberately only cooked one person's meal, and did not leave it for Cheng Jiahua, Cheng Jiahua couldn't eat at his parents' place, so he was so angry that he opened the curtain of the small kitchen, glared at her angrily, and shouted: "Are you really going to starve me to death!" ”

"It's better to starve to death." He Tu said slowly, and sent a chopstick dish to his mouth, "If you are hungry, you won't go out to gamble, and you won't owe so much debt, Xiao Yan and I can live a little more comfortably." She grimaced at Cheng Yan and asked with a smile, "Isn't it?" Xiao Yan. ”

"You woman has such a bad heart!" Cheng Jiahua gritted his teeth and glared at her, suddenly took two steps, sat down on the small bench next to her, snatched the chopsticks and bowl in her hand, and ate by himself. He Tu was taken aback by his actions, looked at him coldly, and said, "It's not promising." ”

"If you don't make it, you don't make it." Cheng Jiahua's mouth was stuffed with rice, and he said vaguely, "The most important thing is to be full." ”

She stood up, went around to the opposite side and hugged Cheng Yan, and said expressionlessly: "I won't help you pay off those debts, if you still have a little conscience and your daughter in your heart, you can do it yourself." ”

The curtain clicked on the threshold, and the small kitchen became quiet again. Cheng Jiahua stared blankly at the dish in front of him, thinking of Cheng Yan's little smiling face, and recalling the humiliation of groveling and begging him for grace when he was being collected by the creditor, the smoky environment in the mahjong parlor and the people who spoke foul language and behaved violently everywhere were all in stark contrast to the small but clean environment in front of him, perhaps, he could really let go of the past and live a new life...... Cheng Jiahua thought wildly, the food in his mouth gradually became tasteless, he put down the dishes and chopsticks, frowned and looked at the air in front of him, and recalled her appearance in his mind. It's just that she is gone, and the most inconspicuous companionship on weekdays has become delusional. Cheng Jiahua hugged his head and bit his lip in pain, he also wanted to forget her cleanly, so that he would not be so miserable, in those days when he was willing to fall and give up on himself, he released it on Hedi, released it in the pleasure of gambling money, trying to get pleasure and happiness from elsewhere, but now, the happiness brought by those things is only short-lived, not long-lasting. What should he do? Cheng Jiahua whispered painfully, as if asking the person in the illusion in front of him.

Suddenly, he looked up from his pain, his eyes cloudy and flickering. That kind of ordinary day, only she is there, he can live, she is not there, he wants to die every day, and he wants to go with her. What should I find to perfunctory this boring life, he thought anxiously, there seemed to be a touch brought by the smooth surface of mahjong in his hand, his heart moved, the whole person became paralyzed, but his heart gave birth to a trace of expectation from the darkness of thousands of layers.