What do you want in life

Chapter 10 Young Love Is Like Fireworks Are Cold (4)
Uncle Han Zhengsheng would occasionally stop her from doing these things, and complained to Liu Juan. Xiaoying was afraid that he would have some disputes with her aunt, so she always agreed, but soon afterward, these tasks would come back naturally. Back in her hands, Han Zhengsheng didn't spend much time at home.

Xiaoying was busy in the kitchen, when she heard Liu Juan calling Han Zhengsheng in the living room, asking if he would come back for dinner tonight, Xiaoying knew that her uncle had a lot of entertainment, and if there were no special important things, he would not come back early of.

Sure enough, within 2 minutes, Liu Juan hung up the phone, stepped into the kitchen and told Xiaoying, "Don't cook sweet and sour fish and fried cauliflower. Your uncle won't come back at night."

Xiaoying agreed, but Liu Juan didn't leave immediately. She stood at the door of the kitchen and asked her with arms folded, "How is it at Wu's house? Is there any problem?"

In a blink of an eye, Xiaoying has been taking care of Mrs. Wu for more than two weeks.

"Very good." Xiaoying replied, picking up the wet spinach from the sink and putting it in a plastic basket.

Liu Juan was very satisfied, "Is Mrs. Wu in good health?"

Xiaoying thought for a while, and told the truth: "It seems that I have been confused a lot in the past two days."

When Liu Juan heard this, she immediately frowned, "It's really troublesome, if it continues like this, I might have to go back to the hospital for treatment."

"Auntie, will Grandma Wu turn into a formal... alzheimer's disease?" Xiaoying couldn't help but look back and ask her.

Liu Juan glanced at her and saw that her eyes were full of concern, a trace of surprise flashed across her heart, this child usually doesn't care much about others.

"At present, it can only be said that there are symptoms in this area, and it has not been diagnosed yet. However, once this kind of problem is infected, it is difficult to cure it. At most, it will delay the onset period. That's why I suggest that Mrs. Zhao find someone to accompany her more. Her, it's good to talk to her, to read the newspaper."

Xiaoying was suddenly surprised. It turned out that her going to accompany Grandma Wu was entirely her aunt's idea, not the Wu family's own idea.

Liu Juan didn't realize that she had slipped her tongue, and said to herself: "I hope she doesn't get angry too quickly, at least she has to survive this summer vacation."

Xiaoying didn't quite understand the deep meaning of her words, but it was inconvenient for her to ask more questions. She was more concerned about Grandma Wu's condition now.

"Then... what will this disease develop into?"

Liu Juan sighed softly, it was rare for her to be so patient today, "As the disease progresses, the number of times of confusion will naturally increase, and eventually hallucinations and auditory hallucinations will occur, completely unable to distinguish the difference between reality and illusion, and then It is the further aggravation of brain atrophy, and many elderly people die from it.”

Xiaoying listened with compassion.

Liu Juan looked at Xiaoying's expression and thought she was afraid, so she smiled and comforted her and said, "You don't need to care about these things. Anyway, you will stay at Wu's house for at most two months, and the illness will not be like that sooner."

Xiaoying felt a little panicked when she heard her relaxed laughter.

In the middle of the night, Xiaoying woke up from the heat, and the electric fan that she had set a time before going to bed had already stopped turning.

Sweating all over her body, she felt thirsty, so she slipped out of the room and planned to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

She didn't turn on the light, worried that it would wake up the adults in the family, especially her uncle's sleep had been bad, but there was a faint light in the living room. Xiaoying stood at the door and looked around. The light came from the room of her uncle and aunt.

The door was slightly opened, and the light poured out wantonly from the crack, accompanied by faint voices. It was obvious that they were not asleep yet.

Xiaoying didn't want to disturb them, so she tiptoed towards the kitchen and touched the edge of the sofa. Suddenly, she couldn't move her feet because she heard her uncle mention her name suddenly.

"Xiaoying is pitiful enough, can you stop using her all the time? I beg you." This was the distressed voice of the uncle.

Xiaoying didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she couldn't control her feet, and stubbornly stayed where she was, urging her to listen. Perhaps, it seemed difficult for anyone to walk away indifferently in such a situation.

"How can this be called taking advantage?" Liu Juan retorted dissatisfiedly, "The work of the Wu family is not tiring at all, it's just reading newspapers and magazines for the elderly, and talking with them, and it's not like being a servant. There are nannies who specialize in housework."

"If you hadn't proposed to Mrs. Zhao, would she have thought of letting Xiaoying go? To put it bluntly, Xiaoying's going to Wu's house would not be of any practical help to the old lady, but you can use her to get in touch with Mrs. Zhao. I'm not wrong, am I?" Han Zhengsheng pierced her coldly.

"What did I do this for?" Liu Juan hated her husband for standing on the opposite side and accused herself, "Isn't it for you, for this family? If there is no me, Mrs. Zhao will help you find a way to get that approval note? You Stop dreaming!"

"I won't accept what you got by doing something tricky!" Han Zhengsheng forcefully pushed back.

"Han Zhensheng!" Liu Juan was so angry that her voice trembled, "Do you know why you can never succeed in business? You are just an elm-headed fool!"

Han Zhengsheng suddenly lost his voice.

Xiaoying's heart was heavy, she felt sorry for her uncle, and she felt even more sorry for herself. She really shouldn't be standing here eavesdropping, just to cause trouble for herself, and was about to walk away when Liu Juan, who was silent for a moment, suddenly spoke again.

Perhaps it was because it was rare for Han Zhengsheng to be defeated so quickly in front of her, and she obviously wanted to persuade Han Zhensheng to follow her way of thinking, so her voice softened a lot.

"Zhensheng, let's stop being angry. The approval slip is already in my hands. If you don't want it, if you give up, others will naturally go there in the same way. In this circle, no one can escape the enlightened and the dark. Those rules."

After a long time, a long sigh slowly came out from Han Zhengsheng's chest, and Xiaoying could tell that this time, he was ready to compromise. How long can a person's strength last before the word "利"?

Xiaoying only felt mixed feelings in her heart for a while, she was too young to understand how powerless and fickle adults are in their struggle against reality.

"When will Xiaoying stop serving that crazy old lady?" Han Zhensheng was still concerned about his niece.

"Well, we can't just tear down the bridge just to cross the river. It's agreed to be over by the end of the summer vacation."

After Liu Juan explained something euphemistically, she suddenly felt a little resentful. Some words had been stuck in her chest for a long time, and she couldn't vomit quickly.

"Don't always think that I'm treating her badly by doing this. Xiaoying has been in our house for seven years, so she can't eat and live for free forever, right? Besides, it's easy for a girl to find a husband's house if she can do something. I'm not For her sake."

"What do you mean eating and living for free?" Han Zhengsheng was reluctant to compromise, but when provoked by her words, he suddenly became sullen, "She is my elder brother's daughter!"

"Yes! She is your elder brother's daughter, but she is not my daughter!" Liu Juan did not show any weakness, "Try another woman and see who is willing to help your dead elder brother Bai without saying a word." raise a daughter?"

Xiaoying, who was outside the door, was terrified when she heard it. She never expected that the two people who had just turned into the gentle wind and rain would soon brew another terrifying storm, and the core of this storm was still herself!

"You, what nonsense are you talking about!" Uncle became more and more furious, "Don't forget, if the money that elder brother left before he left, if it wasn't because of your idea that we swallowed it privately, it should have been returned to sister-in-law a long time ago, sister-in-law It won't be like that in the end! Xiaoying is now homeless, and you are also responsible!"

"Yeah! Everything is my responsibility! It is my responsibility for your eldest brother to raise a woman outside! He messed around with his little lover in the car, and it is also my responsibility to get into a car accident! He accidentally fell into the river and died. My responsibility! Your sister-in-law committing suicide in despair is even more my responsibility! Han Zhengsheng, marrying you is really bad luck for eight lifetimes!"

"Pa—" A crisp slap on the face was like sparks bursting in the air, abruptly bringing all disputes to an abrupt end.

"Enough!" Han Zhensheng suppressed his grief and anger, and growled at his wife.

"You hit me?" Liu Juan's voice trembled, and suddenly it was as sharp as a knife, piercing into the listener's ears crookedly, "Han Zhensheng, how dare you hit me! I, I will fight you!"

Xiaoying turned around abruptly and ran back to her room. In her haste, she even turned over a chair, but she couldn't care about anything else, she just wanted to find a place to hide and take a good breath.

And the couple who were already crazy in the big room had no time to pay attention to the movement outside, they fought like wildfire, and there was no light in the world.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Xiaoying gasped for breath, forgetting both her thirst and the heat. Her back was covered with sweat, but it was chilly and gloomy.

In the darkness, two lines of hot tears rolled down her cheeks, reminding her that she was still alive.

That thrilling night, together with the suffocating secrets that Xiaoying heard, were quietly revealed in the morning light, and no one mentioned them anymore, although Xiaoying could still catch some traces from the tired faces of her uncle and aunt.

The weather continued to be sultry, and there was no wind in the afternoon, and it was hard to find coolness even under the old locust tree. Xiaoying sat with Grandma Wu in the living room on the second floor that exudes the smell of old-fashioned wooden utensils, and continued her reading career with the breezy air conditioner .

On this day, Aunt Wang left relatively late. The weather was hot, and she couldn't move in the air-conditioned room. She squatted beside Grandma Wu while peeling beans and listening to Xiaoying read.

Grandma Wu slandered edamame for no reason, so Aunt Wang went out and bought a big bag of beans and came back. Taking advantage of the time, she cut off half of the beans and boiled them, and peeled the other half for frying.

It was probably because the air-conditioned room was too comfortable. After a while, Grandma Wu, who was lying on the wide wooden sofa, gradually closed her eyes and passed out in a daze.

Aunt Wang was afraid that Grandma Wu would catch a cold, so she turned off the air conditioner, and asked Xiaoying to go downstairs with her. The two sat facing each other in the hallway, peeling edamame, and there was a breeze from time to time, bringing a faint coolness.

Aunt Wang told Xiaoying that Mrs. Zhao came to see the old man in the morning, and asked her about Xiaoying's situation by the way. A teenage girl doesn't need these things. She said this purely out of her love for Xiaoying. After all, Aunt Wang's helping out at Wu's house is also very boring. Although Xiaoying is young, her mouth is extremely tight. Don't talk indiscriminately.

"I have been friends with the Wu family for decades. My grandma and Mrs. Wu's mother are still distant sisters-in-law! The children of the Wu family trust me. When Xiaofen's daughter was born, the husband and wife Everyone is very busy, and I was called to see her children for a few years." Xiaofen is Mrs. Zhao's baby name.

Mrs. Zhao bought a bunch of food, mostly tonics, and some candied fruit, which she said were given to the old lady after drinking the decoction. Now they are all piled up on the table in the lobby downstairs.Xiaoying looked up at the colorful candied fruit bag, thinking to herself that Mrs. Zhao is really a careful daughter.

She remembered that Grandma Wu had two daughters, Mrs. Zhao was the youngest, and the other eldest daughter, Shen Juncheng's mother, had never met. Aunt Wang had whispered to Xiaoying in private that Grandma Wu's eldest daughter married a big boss. She herself is also working in her own company, and she is usually too busy to touch the ground. Even when she comes to see Mrs. Wu, she always comes at night.

"The sons and daughters of the Wu family are all promising, but Xiaofen is the best in terms of temperament. You can see that she always smiles when she speaks and does things, and never yells at others. Qiuyue is different-oh, Qiuyue is The eldest daughter of the old lady, Juncheng's mother—she, she has been strong since she was a child. They say she is like a boy, likes to make decisions, and has a big temper. So after she married into the Shen family, I heard that half of the business there is It's her who is supporting it! Of course, if the Shen family didn't have Qiuyue, they wouldn't be able to grow as big as they are now. Having money doesn't mean they can get things done. In many cases, don't they have to have a way? The brothers of Qiuyue didn't less help..."

Aunt Wang didn't care whether Xiaoying was interested in listening or not, she kept talking to her about the old affairs of the Wu family, but Xiaoying listened absent-mindedly, and glanced at the closed back door from time to time.

For several days, Xiaoying didn't see Shen Juncheng at Wu's house. She was a little puzzled. He was still in high spirits when he said goodbye that day, so why did he suddenly disappear?No matter how you think about it, it doesn't look like his usual personality.

Xiaoying's mind was like the surface of a lake hit by stones. Circles of ripples gradually melted away from the center, drifting farther and farther away, and she didn't even hear Aunt Wang talking to her.

"Hey, you child, what are you thinking?" Aunt Wang said angrily, "I told you to get a small porcelain basin!"

Xiaoying hurriedly responded, ran to the kitchen to find a basin, and handed it to Aunt Wang. She was a little embarrassed that she had accidentally deserted just now, but fortunately, Aunt Wang didn't mind, and continued to express emotion to herself, "Raising a child So what about the hard work of raising a daughter! Let’s just talk about me. I raised two sons, but in the end, I didn’t listen to my daughter-in-law. No one would take me to live at home. They treated me worse than the brothers of the Wu family. What about sisters! I'm thinking about it too, it's good to live alone. In the morning, Xiaofen was still saying that Qiuyue controls her son so tightly, and I'm afraid everything may not go well in the future. "

When Xiaoying heard this, her heart moved, "Why is it so tight?"

She felt that Shen Juncheng didn't look like a child from a family with rigid tutors.

"You don't know, she doesn't worry about eating and dressing. She wishes she could do everything for him. Recently, I heard that the husband and wife are arguing about sending their son abroad! Alas, Too much money is not all a good thing. Juncheng, this child will have to pay back?——" She stopped talking suddenly, raised her head, and smiled at Xiaoying a little unnaturally.

Xiaoying felt strange, but she couldn't figure out what was going on. She was thinking about the meaning of what she said just now, but Aunt Wang had already finished her work.She poured the peeled beans into a plastic bag and put them in the refrigerator for storage. Then she put the trimmed beans in a pot, added water and salt, and set them on the stove to burn.

"Okay, just watch it, wait for the water to boil, turn it down to a low heat and simmer for half an hour, I have to go back, it's late today, and a pile of dirty things in the house haven't been washed yet!" Wang said. Auntie's cheating became more and more logical.

After Aunt Wang left, Xiaoying sat on a stool at the junction of the kitchen and the stairs, honestly waiting for the water to boil. She didn't go upstairs to read the book, she was in a trance, as if she couldn't make up her mind to do anything.

Without the noise of Aunt Wang, the upstairs and downstairs suddenly fell silent, so quiet that it made people panic.

Xiaoying was in a daze, when suddenly there was a dingling sound from the back door, she turned her face away vigilantly, feeling something in her heart, she immediately vibrated.

Two seconds later, the door opened, and the person who walked in was indeed Shen Juncheng.

For some reason, when she saw him again, especially before that her mind seemed to be revolving around him, Xiaoying only felt that the ripples in her heart spread wider and wider.

"Hi!" Seeing her, he still had a relaxed smile. This time, he didn't even have a backpack on his shoulders, and his hands were empty.

Xiaoying stood up from the bench, leaned on the kitchen door frame and looked at him, and said bluntly, "You haven't come for a few days."

"Yes!" Shen Juncheng shrugged, "My mother won't let me come."

"Why?" Xiaoying saw the look of loneliness on his face.

"My mother asked me to take the TOEFL test, but insisted on memorizing vocabulary at home, and said that she would enroll me in a cram school. It really annoyed me!"

"Then... why are you here today?"

As soon as this was mentioned, Shen Juncheng finally had some color on his face again, "I sneaked out when my mother was out. She had been watching me at home for two days, but she couldn't let go of the company affairs."

"Be careful, she calls back to check the post." Xiaoying also laughed.

"No." Shen Juncheng winked at her, "She's going back to a meeting, and she won't be able to get out within two hours. Besides, I know my mother's temper best. She is very attentive in everything she does. Sit down in the meeting room, and you will surely forget about me!"

The beans cooked in the kitchen boiled, and the lid was opened by the heat, making a puffing sound, Xiaoying hurried in and turned down the fire.

Shen Juncheng followed behind her, leaning over to take a look at the pot with great interest, "Eh? Soy edamame! This is my favorite food. Hey, it's a coincidence that I came here today, and I'm lucky!"

There was a spoon on the table, and he couldn't help but pick it up, then fished out a few beans from the freshly boiled water, and blew them hard twice. It seemed that they were no longer hot, and he was about to stuff them into his mouth.

When Xiaoying heard the voice, she turned her head and glanced at it. Without thinking, she reached out and slapped the beans off his hand, "This is not cooked yet, so you can't eat it!"

Shen Juncheng opened his mouth halfway, twitched the corners of his mouth, touched the back of the hand that Xiaoying had patted, bared his teeth and shouted exaggeratedly, "It hurts!"

Xiaoying also realized that her actions just now were too unavoidable, her face flushed, and she defended herself: "Uncooked beans are poisonous, and you will have diarrhea if you eat them."

The beans fell on the ground, Shen Juncheng leaned over to pick them up, a pack of cigarettes fell out of the pocket of his T-shirt, and fell right at Xiaoying's feet.

Seeing this, she helped him pick it up, and glanced at the cigarette case, the brand was upright, "Are you still smoking?"

"Can't you?" Shen Juncheng showed a nonchalant expression, snatched the cigarette back from her hand, stuffed it back into his pocket, and asked, "Where's grandma?"

He didn't want to discuss the cigarette issue with her. If the elders found out, he would be in big trouble.

"Sleep upstairs." Xiaoying said flatly, and stopped questioning him, as if she understood his concerns, and she was not a gossip.

When Shen Juncheng came down from the upstairs after visiting his grandmother, Xiaoying was still watching the beans by the kitchen door.He squatted down beside her, glanced at the steaming pot on the stove, and then at Xiaoying, "When can I eat it?"

Xiaoying laughed, "Are you so slanderous?"

If you get to know Shen Juncheng well, you will find that he is actually a very cheerful and easy-going person.

Shen Juncheng scratched his hair, "Oh, am I bored!"

"How is your grandmother?"

"Sleeping soundly, it's strange, why are older people still so sleepy?"

"Aunt Wang said that she can't sleep well at night, but she can sleep peacefully during the day."

After staying with Xiaoying for a while, Shen Juncheng couldn't stand the loneliness anymore. Xiaoying is not a person who is good at expressing, if he doesn't speak, she can keep calm and quiet all the time.

He stood up and said, "Keep watching the beans, I'll go around the yard, the weather is really boring!"

The weather was indeed sweltering, and God seemed to be brewing a torrential rain, but he refused to let it down, holding back in vain, and suffering all the people in the world.

(End of this chapter)