you are so tender

When getting off work on the weekend, Xu Man received a strange call: "Excuse me, is this Xu Man?"

"Yes. I'm Xu Man. Who can I ask?" Xu Man replied.

"I'm Zhou Lijuan. I want to meet with you alone. Is it convenient for you?" Zhou Lijuan asked.

"It's convenient. Please tell me a time." Xu Man replied.

"Tomorrow at ten o'clock in the morning, can we meet at the gate of Tianxin Park? Then we will walk together." Zhou Lijuan suggested.

"No problem. See you tomorrow." Xu Man said.

"Okay. Goodbye." Zhou Lijuan hung up the phone.

Xu Man immediately sent a private message to Tian Xiaohui: "Xiaohui, hurry home and cook, I have something important to discuss."

"I'm leaving now. What's the big deal?" Tian Xiaohui made a surprised expression.

"Zhou Lijuan asked me to meet tomorrow." Xu Man added a nervous animation.

When Xu Man finished his desk work and returned home, Tian Xiaohui had already prepared dinner.Xu Man put down her handbag at the entrance and went straight to the dining table. "Wash your hands." Tian Xiaohui ordered casually as she was preparing to serve rice.Xu Man had no choice but to stand up, went to the bathroom to wash her hands, and then came back to sit down, "I was in a hurry to talk to you, and I forgot all of a sudden." Without waiting to move his chopsticks, he asked again: "Xiaohui, tell me quickly, Zhou Lijuan why the need to see me?"

"Isn't it related to the labor bureau lawsuit?" Tian Xiaohui said.

"No. We are the plaintiff and the defendant in the lawsuit. We are separate, and we usually don't get in touch with each other. And she asked me to meet in Tianxin Park, obviously a private meeting." Xu Man explained.

"Could it be that something is wrong with Jiaojiao?" Tian Xiaohui guessed.

"It doesn't sound like her tone. Besides, even if Jiaojiao has something to do, she may ask Yang Guangzhi to contact you, and she is unlikely to contact me directly. Do you think so?" Xu Man said.

"Well. That makes sense. That means she has something to ask you for herself." Tian Xiaohui immediately denied it again: "No way. What can she do for you? Hey, Xu Man, don't guess. I think Zhou Lijuan took the initiative It's always a good thing to find you. Eat quickly, or the dishes will be cold."

"Xiaohui, I'm a little nervous." Xu Man said.

"Why are you nervous? There's no need. When Zhou Lijuan came to you, it was either related to Yang Guangzhi or Jiaojiao. When the time comes, you will adapt to the situation." Tian Xiaohui said.

"I'm still nervous. Xiao Hui, you'll be responsible for making breakfast tomorrow morning. Maybe I won't be nervous when I'm full."

"Is this obviously playing tricks on me? All right, let me see you eat your dinner first."

At 09:30 the next morning, Xu Man arrived at the agreed place.It was sunny and sunny outside, but she didn't get out of the car, she just sat in the cab and waited.Five minutes to ten, a maroon Dongfeng Nissan Tiida drove into the parking lot and saw Zhou Lijuan immediately.What Xu Man didn't expect was that Zhou Lijuan went around the front of the car and walked to the passenger seat, opened the door to pick up a little girl, that was Xu Man's daughter Jiaojiao.Xu Man immediately got out of the car and walked quickly towards Zhou Lijuan and her daughter.

"I saw that the weather is so nice today, so I took Jiaojiao out for a walk." Zhou Lijuan held Jiaojiao with one hand, and did not greet Xu Man first, as if the two had been together for a long time.But she turned around and introduced Jiaojiao: "Jiaojiao, this is Aunt Xu Man."

"Auntie, morning." Jiaojiao said.

"Jiaojiao, morning." Xu Man also used the local idiomatic greeting.

"Ms. Zhou," Xu Man called her awkwardly, and stammered, "Let's go into the park."

"Call me Ajuan. You see, I called you by your first name without asking for instructions. I'm so sorry." Zhou Lijuan said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you brought your daughter, so I didn't prepare a gift." Xu Man said quickly.

"I didn't say it because I was afraid that you would be too polite. Well, let's go in." Zhou Lijuan told Jiaojiao, "Jiaojiao, don't run far alone. Mommy and auntie, we will follow you."

In front of Jiaojiao's biological mother, Zhou Lijuan called herself her mother so naturally, Xu Man not only did not feel overbearing, but felt warm and harmonious, and developed great trust in another mother.She didn't have the pain of meeting Jiaojiao the last time she saw Jiaojiao here, she saw her daughter's happiness, and she just wanted her daughter to be happy.For a moment, Xu Man actually had a strange thought: If only I were Jiaojiao's aunt, then I could add happiness to her besides her mother without any scruples.

"Xu Man, I brought your daughter. I know how much you will miss her." Zhou Lijuan's words made Xu Man wake up from a trance, and her heart trembled.

"Thank you...thank you." Xu Man choked up and grabbed Zhou Lijuan's hand involuntarily.She felt Zhou Lijuan's hands tremble a little, and thought it was caused by her trembling.How did she know that the mother beside her had the same unspeakable pain as her.In any case, until Xu Man left her daughter due to divorce, as a mother, she can get close to her children.But Zhou Lijuan couldn't.Even while breastfeeding, she can only hold her son in her arms while feeding.Once the child vomited milk just after eating, Zhou Lijuan stood up and changed hands to straighten the child's back, the mother-in-law snapped, "Is there anyone who holds the child like this?"The child was crying at night, and the mother-in-law made excuses to disturb the rest of the adults, and said that the daughter-in-law was too sleepy when she was young, and she was afraid that she would accidentally turn over and crush the grandson, so she let the child sleep with her all the time.When her son was two and a half years old, Zhou Lijuan had no chance to learn how to be a mother, let alone parent-child joy.In the eyes of her mother-in-law, every movement she makes is wrong, every food she prepares lacks nutrition, and every piece of clothing she buys is not suitable for children.In short, she was wrong about everything, except that she was right to have a son.The child first learned to call grandma clearly. Zhou Lijuan really didn't know how much effort Chen Caixia put in to make the child skip the recent vocal cords and natural pronunciation habits, and call "grandma" instead of "mother" first.

Zhou Lijuan kept complaining to her husband.At first, Yang Guangzhi didn't care, and the excuse was easier to come by: "The elderly have experience in raising children, so you can let her go. Besides, isn't Mom doing it for us?" Zhou Lijuan was speechless.She endured again and again, and asked again and again in her heart: "Is she doing it for us?" Except for going back to the bedroom at night, Zhou Lijuan had no chance to be alone with her husband, so she had to use this precious opportunity to reiterate her claim.This makes all legitimate requests have a taste of bedtime, and Yang Guangzhi inevitably agreed without thinking for the sake of convenience, but forgot all about it afterwards.What they gradually realized but could do nothing about was that the wife's lack of appeal and the husband's casual perfunctory had deeply polluted the last piece of pure land between husband and wife.This is exactly the doubt that Zhou Lijuan can't see clearly with her wide eyes: Is sex in bed really that important to a man?It is so important that he can betray his beliefs and abandon his principles for a moment of lust. He can disregard his wife's oppression by his mother-in-law, and let a real mother face the biological son who is within reach, and has to endure the separation of mother and child so far away?If that matter is really that important, Zhou Lijuan would rather have it only once to be permanent.That way, she can avoid her husband's misunderstanding, making him think that her appeal is a necessary prelude to her tenderness to her husband, and her husband's promise against his heart is the necessary price for him to enjoy tenderness.No, that's not the case.She just wanted to be the mother of her own son and had nothing to do with her periodic dedication of her body to her husband.It's just that because of the cramped space and the tight time, she has to tell her difficulties before every couple's intercourse.If possible, Zhou Lijuan would rather separate the two equally necessary family affairs in a completely separate time and space, because she does not want to see her husband repeating his old tricks because of breaking his promises again and again, so that the The shame that secretly sprouts not only reduces the spiritual desire, but also weakens the physical strength.

"Ajuan." Xu Man's call woke Zhou Lijuan up from her immersion.She said "Oh", apologetically: "Say it, Xu Man."

"Ajuan, I can see that you are a better mother than me. I abandoned my daughter purely for personal reasons. This is just my loss as a mother, and Jiaojiao has nothing to lose. Having you as her mother , She is really lucky. I can't thank you too much." Xu Man said.

"Don't say that, Xu Man. In the final analysis, we are all mothers." Zhou Lijuan pointed at Jiaojiao who was jumping in front of her, and continued: "Jiaojiao is a very well-behaved child. Treating her well is not just a stepmother. What should be done, and frankly speaking, my daughter has given me great comfort and irreplaceable happiness. When I married Yang Guangzhi, Jiaojiao was still young. I don’t know why you divorced him, but I I feel so pitiful for the child. When I knew that Yang Guangzhi told Jiaojiao, who couldn't find her mother all of a sudden, that her mother died of illness. I didn't agree with him doing that. I told him, "No matter what Xu Man has to say to you , you shouldn't treat your common daughter like this. Xu Man is not really dead. If she is a responsible mother, she will come back to find her daughter sooner or later. Guangzhi, you don't leave any way out like this. In the future, your daughter will know The truth, she will definitely blame you.' Xu ​​Man, I shouldn't judge the personal grievances between you and Yang Guangzhi. I hope you don't mind when I say that.

"Ajuan, why would I mind?" Xu Man said: "You are a young girl, and you have become a stepmother before you have a child. It is not easy. It can be said that it is the most difficult thing in the world. It is commendable that you can still stand in the perspective of a mother—and you were not a mother in the usual sense at the time, and speak out for another mother. And this mother is your husband’s ex-wife, from some kind of In a sense, it is your rival in love, even though it is a dead rival in love."

"Fortunately, Jiaojiao was young at the time and didn't understand the meaning of death at all. Besides, I was an old leftover woman, so I didn't have to worry so much when it was time to marry. After marrying Yang Guangzhi, Jiaojiao naturally regarded me as her own. Mom, of course I am also willing to get rid of the image of stepmother in the eyes of my children. My husband and I repeatedly emphasized, "Since Jiaojiao has forgotten the fact that her biological mother is not dead, you should never mention it again. As for her biological mother in the future. I won’t meet her, let’s take a step at a time.” After I said it, Yang Guangzhi did it. But I still can’t understand why he is so resistant to your return to Zhongshan, because he told me, “Lijuan, Let me tell you something ugly, I can't stop Xu Man from coming back to Zhongshan. But she wants to recognize her daughter, but there is no way. She is a living person now, and I can't declare her dead. You just have to be careful all the time Take precautions, don't let Jiaojiao know that there is such a real mother. You can't tell your daughter the truth, this is my bottom line.'

"Xu Man, I'm telling you these things because Jiaojiao has to involve you and Yang Guangzhi. You don't have to explain things to me. I just think from the perspective of a mother that once I have the opportunity, I should act as a stepmother. , and explain Jiaojiao's situation to you personally. That's why I brought Jiaojiao out alone today, so that you can meet her."

After listening to Zhou Lijuan's words, Xu Manfan suddenly realized that when discussing the Jiaojiao issue with Tian Xiaohui years ago, fortunately she discovered the selfish thoughts hidden in it when she tasted her own pain, so she didn't go her own way to win over the mother and daughter rashly. recognize each other.And at that time, due to her own narrowness, she couldn't estimate what kind of human friendship Zhou Lijuan had in her heart as a delicate stepmother.She felt that Jiaojiao was lucky, but she completely underestimated the noble character of the other mother.Now Xu Man realizes even more that people must first pay for their actions when they walk in the world.Only under such a premise, it is possible to rely on the generosity and kindness of others, and wait for the opportunity left to oneself due to the favor of God to reorganize the rivers and mountains.