WMWH Chapter 7

Sunny Weather | Friday, July 11, 2019

 

I went home today.

As soon as I got home, my mother knew that my wife was on a business trip again. Otherwise, we would usually go there together and bring gifts. Of course, the gifts were bought by my wife. Whenever I would go home alone, I’m empty-handed.

My mother gave me a disdainful glance and said that another freeloader had arrived home, so she immediately asked the nanny to go to the market to buy more vegetables.

My dad was usually not at home at noon. He was usually very busy with work and usually did not come back until very late.

In my memory, I didn’t know I had a father until I was ten years old. I remember, the first time I called him daddy he held me and cried so hard.

My mom said it was because he thought I would never call him daddy.

I felt so strange, it was not like I was mute, why couldn’t I call Dad?

My mother said: Who made you always remain silent?

I said I always spoke.

My mother said talking to a stone didn’t count.

Well, you are my mother and you are right.

For lunch, we had Mapo tofu, boiled beef (sliced beef in hot chili oil), twice-cooked pork, and fish-flavoured shredded pork.

I ate with gusto.

My mother said that my father and I have the most in common when it came to food, we both had the very same heavy taste.

Will you also stay to have dinner? My mother asked.

I said eat, sleep for one night, and then go back tomorrow.

My mother happily went to tidy up the room for me.

When my dad came back in the evening, the three of us sat together for dinner.

Dinner was steak, thinly grilled savoury crepe, and borscht soup.

Because my mother’s mother is Russian, sometimes we also ate Western food.

I used to follow my mother’s preference for Western food, but then I met my wife, so I switched to my father’s Chinese food camp.

However, it didn’t work. Since my mom was the one who always cooked, we usually ate whatever she cooked.

My mother said that people who didn’t know how to cook were not qualified to order. But I found out that everything she made was what my father liked to eat.

Later on, when I cooked for my wife, I also got used to making things that my wife liked to eat.

I love my wife.

 

Rainy Weather | Saturday, July 12, 2019

When I was leaving this morning, my mother asked what time my wife would be back. I said it was about five o’clock in the afternoon.

My mother said, why don’t I ask someone to bring Li Sheng over in the afternoon, and let’s have a meal together then go back.

I thought for a while and said that I was afraid that my wife would be too tired if we went back home too late after dinner.

My mother told me to get out of here quickly. 

I’ve noticed that since I got married, often my mother has been very mean to me.

But I know my mother still loves me very much.

Words can sometimes be deceiving, you have to look in the eyes, my mother said.

I discovered from a very young age that my eyes were the same as my mother’s.

Like the sky.

While I was driving, I was thinking about what delicious food to make for my wife in the evening.

I found that my cooking skills have improved recently, and I no longer made a mess of the dishes, but the taste was still a bit weird.

In the end, I went to a newly opened Cantonese restaurant and packed up several dishes before going home.

My wife has such a hard time dancing if he came back and didn’t even have a delicious meal waiting when he got home, I would feel pity for him. 

When I was about to enter the community, my car was stopped by someone.

That person knocked on my window.

I opened the window and looked at him expressionlessly.

Mr. Fang, right? Can you come down and talk?

I parked the car on the side of the road and went out.

I guess Li Sheng has already told you about him and me, right?

I looked at him expressionlessly.

He chuckled, lit a cigarette, and held it in his mouth.

Li Sheng is a very nostalgic person and stubborn. If I hadn’t left G City in the past few years, he probably wouldn’t have had anything to do with you…

I said: My wife no longer likes you.

He laughed again and blew out a smoke ring.

Stupid,¹The original word used here is 傻X/ Silly X, which means idiot or stupid.  do you think Li Sheng really likes you?

He slowly walked over, his face getting closer and closer, picked up my collar, and said word by word:

If you didn’t have a rich father, do you think Li Sheng would give you another look?

I didn’t say anything.

My face was a little wet, it was raining in the sky.

I love my wife.

The rain fell harder, hitting the windows with a crackling sound. It was like a curtain of water that hung on the glass, blurring the entire world outside the window.

I took out my cell phone and called my wife.

Where are you now? I will pick you up.

No, it’s raining too much, I’ll just take a taxi and go back. Let’s do this first, here comes the car.

I was sitting in the living room, and I didn’t know how long I waited. The sound of keys came from the entrance, and then the door opened.

I stood up and saw that half of my wife’s body was soaked. His white shirt was transparent, but unfortunately, he was wearing a small vest underneath, so I couldn’t see anything.

Fortunately, no one else could also see it.

My wife took off his shoes and complained about the heavy rain.

I said: You go take a hot bath first, and I’ll make ginger tea for you.

My wife nodded, took off his shirt and threw it into the clothes basket, took his bathrobe, and went to the bathroom. After a while, there was the sound of running water inside.

I turned up the temperature of the air conditioner in the living room, dragged my wife’s suitcase into the bedroom, took out the clothes and other personal belongings, and put them where they belonged.

It was still raining, and the hour hand pointed to six o’clock.

I asked my wife if he was done and he said he was almost done. I lit the stove and started making ginger tea.

When my wife came out while rubbing his hair, I had already poured the ginger tea and put it on the table.

Drink the ginger tea first, and you can eat later. As I said this, from the refrigerator, I took out the dishes I had gotten on my way. I placed them on the plate and put them in the microwave one by one.

It was always quiet when the two of us were eating, except for the sound of bowls and chopsticks and today there was the sound of rain outside the window.

In the past, my wife would wash the dishes after dinner, except for when he came back from a business trip. Because people who travel for business work very hard, so they should take more rest after returning home, my mother said.

So even if I were to lose sleep all night tonight because of my wife’s ex-boyfriend’s words: he married you because you have a rich father. I didn’t want to ask him at a time like this.

He was already very tired.

I couldn’t bear to get him too tired.

I love my wife.

 

• 1
  The original word used here is 傻X/ Silly X, which means idiot or stupid.