Chapter 117: Father and Son

Mom and Dad are both of those action-oriented people.

Once a decision is made it will not be changed and it will be carried out quickly, as in the case of a divorce.

The next afternoon, they went to the marriage registry of the Civil Affairs Bureau with their marriage certificates, ID cards, and hukou books to register for divorce, and negotiated a divorce without disputes, and it was all done within half an hour.

The issue of child allocation was also talked to Cheng Ming and Cheng Li in the morning as well.

As planned, Cheng Ming followed his dad and Cheng Li followed his mom.

When she heard that Cheng Ming was planning to follow his dad, his mom asked with an incredulous face: ”Are you sure you want to follow dad? Living with this person who can’t cook? It will starve to death.”

“I can cook, just to complement Dad.”

“No more thinking about it? I know, remember to come home often.”

Today’s dinner was unusually rich and had the illusion of a last supper.

“Finished eating, right? If you’re full, get going and go back to your new home, which is mine.”

Sure enough, Mom started kicking people out.

“The new house still smells a bit, so I can’t just move in, so it’s okay to let me stay a few more days, right?”

“Who was it that said yesterday that if we want a divorce, let’s be decisive, don’t get attached to each other and leave without divorcing? I took a day off today.”

“Didn’t I drop what I was doing? Been with you all day.”

“We’ve been married for so long, apart from the day we got married, this day of divorce is the one that has been with me the longest, Cheng Hongyuan, you’re really good.”

Mom’s exaggerating. At least Dad was there when he and his sister were born, right?

“Let’s call it a good start.”

“Cheng Hongyuan, it’s all divorced, can you make me less angry, I’m so angry with you that I have eye wrinkles.”

It’s happening again. It’s happening again.

Cheng Ming and Cheng Li looked at each other and were already ready to bolt, hoping that their dad wouldn’t give the worst answer.

“Come to think of it, Xiao Ming has graduated from junior high school, and you’re almost forty, so a little wrinkle is normal, and I’ve got a big white patch of hair.”

“Uh.”

It’s over, the worst possible answer.

“Yeah, well, I’ll be forty next year, and you’re not home for my birthday, you’re not home for my wedding anniversary, and then you don’t have to be home for my divorce anniversary! Get out of here!”

Dad was kicked out of the house by his mom, who couldn’t even put on her leather shoes.

Cheng Li poked Cheng Ming’s cheek and asked, “Brother, Dad has already left, aren’t you going to follow him?”

“Am I going out too?”

“Or what, come on come on.”

Cheng Li pulled Cheng Ming up and shoved him all the way to the door of his house.

“Don’t push, I can walk on my own.”

Cheng Ming put on his shoes and went out, he saw his dad sitting on the stairs smoking a stifling cigarette, gulping down clouds, his lanky back, which had not yet been smoothed out by life and pressed through his spine as it had been in his previous life.

Are you going to wait for Mom to cool off before you go back to bed?

“How did you get out?”

I’ve been kicked out too that’s hard to say, and by my sister.

“Mom asked me to come and keep you company, afraid you’d be too lonely on your own.”

It’s better than nothing to salvage a little bit of Mom’s position in Dad’s heart, but it’s all divorced, so it’s not much use for this little trick, is it?

“I’m a big man what is there to be lonely ah, but you want to live with me really surprised me and your mom, in fact, I hope you can stay in this family, there is always a man in the family.”

Cheng Ming also couldn’t figure out why his sister wanted him to live with his dad, and thought she was the one who couldn’t bear to see Cheng Ming leave.

“I’ll be back to stay as often as I can.”

“Not going to ask why your mom and I got divorced?”

Cheng Ming also sat on the stairs and said rather self-consciously, “Asking won’t change the outcome, right?”

“I’m sorry ah, your mom and I are a bit selfish, your mom and I are flash-married, belonging to the kind of marriage before love, Xuejun and Renmei introduced us to each other, at that time they were already preparing to get married, and even set a wedding date.”

Lin Xuejun is the name of Jing Jing’s dad, and Cheng Hongyuan, Ye Binsong is a comrade-in-arms, together as an engineering soldier, after discharge together into the URA.

“At that time, we two right on the eye, directly together, Xuejun and Ren Mei just to get married, the four of us together, or not together to get married, do not look for the best man bridesmaids, I and your mother are outsiders, in the local not much relatives, friends bosses are the same group of people, people are not so free, more people can also be lively some.”

Cheng Hongyuan slapped his forehead and talked about the unpleasant past, the cigarette in his hand burned out, and he extinguished it and lit another cigarette.

“The first time your mom and I quarreled should be when I was pregnant with Xiao Li, at that time, birth control was tightly scrutinized, Ren Mei and your mom were scared, and I was still inside the system. If we were found out, I guess we’d have to be taken in and jailed, and then a big hat, and the child in your mom’s belly would not only have to be aborted, but also be ligated.”

“Your mother wants to surrender, take the responsibility to their own head, to protect my career, I heard this how to do, when I want a woman to protect, directly resigned, took your mother to run away, and your mother in Mingxi Village to hide until your sister was born, directly throw you in the Xuejun home, you can not go out to be seen.”

Oh, is it living in the old mansion?

“Actually, his family took a big risk in helping us hide you. If we were to be discovered, we wouldn’t even be able to explain it clearly, and we’d be directly pelted with dirt, and being dismissed from your job would be considered the lightest of punishments.”

“Such a long time ago, you should have long forgotten. When your sister was born, we went back, the house assigned to me was not repossessed, the family belongings were all there, at that time, your old man I was still well liked in the organization, and I entrusted my relations to the person in charge to stuff money as rent and hard-earned money, and it was considered to be rented in that silo.”

“After that is that I go to the site to move bricks to make money, to give Xiao Li on the account have to pay a fine, and then work with the Bin Song of the sea, at the beginning is just a small engineering team, running around, but also be held back wages are not issued, life is a problem, your mom gave birth to a small Li did not long have to go out and look for a job, but also because of the useless ah.” Cheng Hongyuan said with a bitter smile.

“So I worked my ass off, and I ended up fighting more and more with your mom, and the disagreements got bigger and bigger.”

“Three years ago, the person in charge of the silo side also changed, to take back the house, which we bought this side of the second-hand houses, the company is also getting bigger and bigger, but the result is, alas ……”

Cheng Hongyuan sighed, things are really different.

“Dad, thank you for letting your sister be born into this world.”

Cheng Hongyuan rubbed Cheng Ming’s hair and laughed: “What are you talking about, that’s my baby girl, it’s just that Xiaoli is not too sticky to me lately, and has become your follower, is it that my pocket money is given less?”

“Eh huh, I don’t think so, but it’s the lack of company.” Cheng Ming laughed heartily.

“That’s about it, after a bunch of crap, let’s go back, your mom should be demoralized.”

Cheng Hongyuan slapped his butt and got up, trying to push the door, but the door didn’t move.

Is this locked?

Cheng Hongyuan took out the key to open the door, turned several times, but still could not open it.

“Ming, where are your keys?”

Tried Cheng Ming’s key to no avail.

Looks like it was locked out of the house.

What do we do? Do we knock and yell at the door?

Dad won’t bow down so easily, and if he does, he won’t see Mom open the door.

“Let’s stay out here tonight, this key is for a motorcycle, right? Buy a motorcycle?”

Crap, it’s showing. The sign on the car keys is still too obvious.

“Well, used, cheaper, no problems with safety, didn’t mess with the modifications, got the helmet too.”

“Didn’t go out racing at night, did you? Hanging out with socialites, right?”

“No no, just figure it’s easier to get to and from school.”

Obviously, the age of the heart is not small, and there is a lot of social experience. But by the dad forced to ask, or some fear and panic, your old man will always be your old man ah, even if reborn is the same.

Cheng Hongyuan found Cheng Ming’s motorcycle at a glance.

“This one, I guess, every time I parked my car I wondered who bought a motorcycle in our building, it turned out to be you brat, the parked position was well picked, it didn’t get in the way, I haven’t ridden a motorcycle for a long time, and I haven’t driven you and Xiao Li out for a ride since the old motorcycle was sold.” Cheng Hongyuan said with itchy hands.

Motorcycles are a man’s romance, too.

“Dad, what about your own car? You’re not driving it? You still have to go to the office tomorrow, right?”

“I’ll bring you back in the morning, helmet on.”

Cheng Hongyuan threw over his helmet, smashing Cheng Ming’s chest painfully.

“Get in the car.”

Cheng Ming, who had been carrying people, became a passenger, and his mood was still quite subtle.

“Originally, I was planning to be idle, our family to travel and relax. But year after year, said, year after year, can’t be idle, instead, it is getting busier and busier, the rare rest also don’t want to move, your mom will be angry is not without reason, in the future, I’m afraid that there is no chance.”

Cheng Ming had thought that his dad would just pick a hotel to stay, but he didn’t expect his dad to drive to a road Cheng Ming was familiar with, and also bought cigarettes and alcohol along the way, as if he was going to be a guest in someone else’s house.

“Dad, this is the way to Mingxi Village, right?”

“Talking about the past makes you want to go back and visit, you know?”

“My tablemate’s house is here?”

“Oh, that’s quite hard, living in this kind of suburb, not up and down, the village elementary school is also demolished, you have to run a long way to school, the city’s infrastructure for a while can’t radiate to this side.”

Cheng Hongyuan stopped the car in front of the old mansion and unlocked the door and asked, “You shouldn’t have any impression of this place, I brought you here once when I was very young, and I would only come over to sit or sleep when I quarreled and gambled with your mom.”

Sure enough, it’s back, I didn’t expect it to come back in this way, in fact, after mom and dad were ready to get divorced, Cheng Ming thought about whether there would be a chance to come back.

I can’t believe I’m back. Should I laugh maniacally? Or cry a little.

“Dad, you own this house?”

This question, Cheng Ming has not asked, the previous life is to have a place to live is good, pressure did not bother to think about where the house came from.

“I don’t know if it counts as mine or not, it shouldn’t, my comrade’s house, the same dormitory as mine, bunk beds, after he sacrificed his life, the family was left with an old man, and I helped to take care of it, and it was considered to be the virtue that would have been built up. Otherwise, your mom did not know where to hide when she was pregnant with Xiao Li.”

“When his old man left, his will did say that he would give this house to me, an outsider. But at best, I only have the right to use this house, and the homestead still belongs to the village collective.”

“Unless I live over here for a decade or so, thoroughly integrating into their village, then assigning a field, and then changing my household registration over to make it more legitimate. But the old village chief and I are quite familiar with each other, and it was only thanks to his blessing that I was able to hide your mom back then, and the midwife was secretly found by him.”

Speaking of which, he was the same age as Zhao Lei, and his sister was the same age as Xiao Ren. Although they weren’t born on the same day of the same month, the time of their pregnancies should have overlapped, so they might have suffered together.

“Dad, were there any other pregnant women back when Mom was hiding in the village?”

“Yes, hiding in the cellar together, or I brought them food, but it wasn’t cooked is all.”

Mom had taken care of Zhao Ren so well when she heard she was from Mingxi Village, so maybe there was a factor in that layer as well?

If not for today’s conversation, it might be hard to imagine that there is still such a bond and connection between them.

Cheng Ming walked into the courtyard of the old mansion and ran headlong into a spider’s web, getting a faceful of paste.

Cheng Hongyuan used a lighter to illuminate the light and flipped a half-burned candle out, letting Cheng Ming hold it while he poked the electric switch of the meter with a bamboo pole.

But there was only one room that could be lit, and the bulb, darkened most of the way around, gave off a dim light, and it wasn’t surprising when the tungsten filament burned out.

“We’ll stay here for a few days for now, it should be about the same in three or four days, the new home side will be simple to live in, if you’re not used to the water go back to sleep, tonight it’s kind of like I’m dragging you down, can you eat this bitterness? If you can’t you can go back on a motorcycle, your mom will let you in, I’ll have the village chief drive a three-wheeler to send me into the city tomorrow.”

Cheng Hongyuan returned the keychain to Cheng Ming.

“It’s a small price to pay for a night’s sleep here.”

From the head of the cupboard, he rummaged through a quilt full of mold and a straw mat with tattered edges and tucked the quilt back in.

Cheng Hongyuan and Cheng Ming, one wiping the bed board and the other wiping the straw mat, did the minimum cleaning, and all the dust in other places was ignored, so it was at the level of being able to sleep for a night.

“I’m going to sit at the village chief’s house next, do you want to come with me?”

“Oh, I’ll join you.”

I’ve seen it, but I’m not impressed, shame on me.

A lot of people in the village have actually pushed all or half of their old homes down and built one- or two-story brick houses.

The village headman’s house is the same, but next to the house is a pigsty, a chicken coop and a rabbit hutch, and the smell is quite strong.

“Hongyuan, why did you pick such a time to come?”

“On a whim, this is my son.”

“All grown up and called Cheng Ming right.”

“Uncle Village Chief, good evening.” Cheng Ming politely greeted.

With hair half a hundred years old and looking older than Dad, the age difference should be about ten years, and the title of uncle should be most pertinent.

“How polite, are you in high school yet?”

“Just finished midterms.”

“What school can I get into?”

“Nanming Second Middle School, I think.”

“Second grade is good too, but first grade is better, my son and daughter both graduated there ……”

Ah, start bragging about your sons and daughters, what colleges they went to, what jobs they have now.

The mayor’s wife carries the slop bucket back to the house.

“Honey, look who’s here.”

She was introduced to Cheng Ming again.

Dad brought out wine, the mayor’s wife served bowls and peanuts, the mayor brought out chess, and we all drank a little wine and played chess while talking about the past.

Cheng Ming listened with great interest at first, in fact, there were some things he knew but forgot, and the fragments of memory slowly filled in.

Gradually, Dad and the village headman’s attention was focused on the chessboard, no longer talking much, and their faces were grave.

Both are stinky chess players and are equal opponents.

Cheng Ming is not good at pointing at the side, looking bored and tired, got up and said, “Dad, don’t drink too much, I’ll go to my friend’s house to sit down first.”

“Oh, know the way back, do you?”

“Know.”

I don’t know if Rei is asleep yet.

Oh oh, the lights are still on in the house and the door is slowly closing.

Cheng Ming ran over and shouted, “Wait a minute ……”

Zhao Ren grabbed the door and was about to close it.

“Eh eh eh, Brother Cheng Ming, why are you here? It’s so late.”

Zhao Ren seemed to have just taken a shower, her long wet hair was a bit messy and her cheeks were flushed, draped over her back.

A towel was wrapped around her soft shoulders, and she was wearing a wide, faded-colored body shirt, the hem of which barely covered her hips, so it looked like she was using the old clothes that Zhao Lei had worn as her pajamas.

Zhao Ren’s small hands gripped the large door, and the whole thing looked even more endearing.

Ah, the bath picture, see.

“A little something happened, can you let me in for a minute?”

“Please.”

“Where’s your grandfather?”

“Already in bed, grandpa goes to bed early and gets up early, I lost track of time because I was watching TV and ended up taking a late shower.”

Zhao Ren lowered his head like a child who had done something bad.

“It shouldn’t be a cold shower, right?” Cheng Ming asked as he grabbed Zhao Ren’s palm, but it wasn’t as icy as he had imagined.

“Warm bath, really warm water, I haven’t poured out all the water yet, Brother Cheng Ming can go and touch it and plan to use it to wash his feet.”

There were no showers, and bathing was more a matter of pumping a tub of hot water and adding a bucket of cold water and hooking it up to scrub.

Zhao Ren dragged Cheng Ming towards the bathroom.

The so-called bathroom is actually a small room built up in the yard, bound with wooden slats, and the wooden seams blocked with plastic bags or something like that, without neglecting Zhao Ren because there are two men in the house who are not afraid of getting naked.

There was no light in the bathroom, so you had to rely on the house lights to come through.

Zhao Ren grabbed Cheng Ming’s hand and sloshed it into the basin, the water temperature was slightly cool, but not to that state of being completely freezing cold.

“This one is because so much time has passed that it’s still warm when I shower, really.”

Look how scared the kid is.

“Alright, I believe you, I just want you to take care of your body, I don’t mean to blame you.”

Zhao Ren then realized what a bold thing she had done, letting Cheng Ming touch her bath water.

Zhao Ren hurriedly grabbed Cheng Ming’s hand and pulled off the towel on his shoulder to wipe it clean.

“Ah, sorry, sorry, my bath water is dirty, isn’t it?”

“It’s not dirty, you used soap when you bathed, right, it has a scent.” Cheng Ming put his hand next to his nose and sniffed.

Zhao Ren said sheepishly, “Don’t smell it! Go wash your hands quickly, wash your hands.”

“You haven’t washed your feet yet, I’ll do it for you.” Cheng Ming said as he picked up the water basin.

“How can this be, my feet are dirty, the water is dirty and my feet are ugly, I can just wash them myself.”

Cheng Ming squatted down in front of the bench, patted the bench and said, “Alright, I haven’t bathed today, I’m dirtier than you, come over and sit down. Otherwise the water will become completely cold, your hair hasn’t been dried yet, right, hair is very slow to dry, wait for you to finish washing your feet and then wipe your hair, what time do you need to get ready for bed?”

The dizzy Zhao Ren was then bluffed by Cheng Ming to sit down on the small bench.

Cheng Ming grabbed Zhao Ren’s small feet and probed into the water, separating the toes and scrubbing the seams, the insteps, the heels, and the soles of the feet delicately.

Zhao Ren’s small face slightly reddened, and her hands that were wiping her hair stopped.

Cheng Ming inadvertently looked up at her and saw a view he shouldn’t have seen.

I’m not wearing any pants, just my fat ass. That’s right, I just got out of the shower after all.

Cheng Ming punched himself in the left side of the face.

“Brother Cheng Ming, what’s wrong with you? Why are you hitting yourself.”

“Nothing, there seems to be mosquitoes.”

You can’t accidentally see something you shouldn’t, your image will crumble, you’ll be treated like a pervert, only that, definitely not.

“Well, summer is here and there are so many mosquitoes, especially next to the pigsties, which we can’t afford to keep in our house. On the contrary, the mosquitoes will be a little bit less, but just a little bit, still a lot, here, here are all mosquito bags.”

Zhao Ren pointed to her forehead, her arms, and then lifted the hem of her shirt and pointed to the oversized mosquito bags on her pale thighs.

Cheng Ming’s gaze moved along Zhao Ren’s finger, and as a result, he saw it again, and he could see it more clearly and for a longer period of time than just now.

Give yourself another right to the face.

“Mosquitoes again?”

“Yes.”

“Although it is very itchy, but I resist not to scratch the mosquito bag, I heard that mosquitoes like to suck sweet blood, sucked my blood, eaten enough so that they will not go to suck the blood of grandpa, can be mosquitoes sucked I am sometimes quite happy.”

What a kind and innocent child.

“It’s great great great, but it’s better to light mosquito coils or buy a mosquito net to protect against mosquitoes.”

When she was washing the soles of her feet, Zhao Ren moved a little too much, twisting her body and splashing water with her little feet kicking about, spilling it onto Cheng Ming.

“Brother Cheng Ming, I’m sorry, I’m fine when I touch myself, but I feel itchy when others touch me.”

“There’s no need to say sorry for such a small thing, you’re a day old, and I’m the one who didn’t control the force and insisted on washing your feet, I’m the one who has to say sorry, so if you really want to say it, just say thank you.”

“Yeah …… thanks.” Jo Ren smiled and changed her tone.

“That’s right, it would be nice to have hot water and soak my feet for a while.”

Firewood is also a rarity, except at mealtimes when it’s a bit of a luxury to build a fire at will, so it’s time to change the cooktop.

“I’ll dump this foot wash when it’s no use.”

“Uh-huh.”

Cheng Ming shook off the water stains on his hands and poured the basin of water into the ditch.

“Let me wipe your hair.”

It was only after Cheng Ming’s reminder that Zhao Ren fiercely wiped her hair and said, “I’ll really just do this one on my own.”

“Show some love for your hair, or let me help you.”

Cheng Ming snatched the towel, picked up Zhao Ren, sat on the bench, and made her sit on his lap.

Definitely not trying to hug her, but her legs were a little sore from squatting to wash her feet earlier.

Cheng Ming tenderly wiped Zhao Ren’s hair.

“Brother Cheng Ming, why would you come to my house at this hour?” Zhao Ren asked as she squinted her eyes in comfort.

“I’m going to live over here for a while.”

“Do you want to stay at my house? Tonight would be fine, but you’ll have to squeeze in with my brother when he comes back in a few days; my brother and I have a bed that’s put together, but it’s separated by a board in the middle, and my brother says I’m always robbing him of his blankets.”

With wooden boards? It’s kinda hardcore, Shen Xiao and Shen Xi are using cloth curtains.

Cheng Ming lived in a silo that would also be cloth curtains.

But the cloth in the center had long since become a decoration, and every morning he got up and stuck it in a ball… Was it his sister’s poor sleeping habits, or his? Probably both.

Now it’s even more so that even two walls have become furnished; will it be two homes that become furnished in the future?

“No, I’m here with my father, in the old mansion on the northwest side, you haven’t met my father yet, he’s drinking at the village headman’s house.”

After drying Zhao Ren’s hair, Cheng Ming used his fingers as a comb, lightly combing Zhao Ren’s hair.

Hair with little care and maintenance, even for a small child looked rough and dry beat, shampoo was probably of poor quality, not as flowing and silky as her sister’s, with lots of hair knotted together.

Cheng Ming didn’t go hard to punch out the knots either, but simply smoothed them out.

Cheng Ming looked down, the collar of the old t-shirt was already wide, and it was even looser on Zhao Ren, revealing half of the shoulder, which could directly see the navel.

It’s so flat, and you’re not wearing any underwear. That’s right, after all, you’ve just had a bath.

Cheng Ming slapped his cheek heavily.

Snap–

“Mosquitoes again?”

“Yeah, there’s two of them.”

Cheng Ming picked up Zhao Ren and made her stand on the bench, saying, “Ren, I should almost go back.”

If I stay any longer, I won’t be able to leave. I can’t just sleep here.

Zhao Ren put on her shoes and walked Cheng Ming to the doorway, waving her hand and saying, “Good night, Brother Cheng Ming.”

“Good night, don’t feed the mosquitoes again.”

Cheng Ming went straight back to the old mansion and looked at the darkness of the house, so he turned back to the village chief’s house.

“Cheng Ming, you’re just in time, your father is drunk.”

The mayor just happened to hook up with his dad and beat it out of him, already drunk as hell.

With Dad’s work socializing and drinking, there’s no way that little bit of booze is going to drink him down.

But how much alcohol is drunk is not the point if one is bent on getting drunk.

Cheng Ming took his dad’s left shoulder and carried him home with the village chief and threw him on the bed.

I’m afraid that Dad woke up in the middle of the night thirsty and looking for water to drink, and there is nothing in this old house, the only kiosk in the village closed early.

Cheng Ming walked back with the village chief again and took the pot of over-cooled water and the bowl and placed it by the bed.

Sleeping in the same bed with his dad again after so many years, Cheng Ming had expected a bit of awkwardness and discomfort tonight, but he didn’t expect his dad to be royally drunk.

Actually, it’s better this way. Men don’t need to be so pretentious with each other in the first place.

Dad’s snoring continued and the stench of alcohol filled the room.

There was a raucous ‘buzzing’ sound all around my ears and the smell of rotting wood.

Cheng Ming did not close his eyes for a night, just busy shooting mosquitoes, and I do not know how many swollen bags on the body, itchy all over the body.

Regret, Cheng Ming is now just very regretful, it’s not as good as hugging Xiao Ren to sleep, is it too late to go now?

The walls of their house aren’t very thick, no no no, they’ll be taken for thieves, and they’ll wake up the next day and scare Rei, right?

It was necessary to keep a distance from Rei, not to cross the bottom line, and there was absolutely no way they could ever develop the kind of relationship they had in their previous life.

It’s nice to be taken care of as a sister, but he and his sister ……

Cheng Ming ended up not knowing when he fell asleep, vaguely hearing the sound of his dad getting up to drink water.

But Cheng Ming was not the only one who shared the same regretful emotions this night.