Chapter Thirty-Six: My Tragedy

  Seeing my mother's wretched appearance, I hastily put down the things in my hands and ran to her side. I hugged my mother and said, "Mom, what's wrong?"

  My mother said in a hoarse voice, staring at me blankly: "Your father who has been missing for many years came back this morning. He has accumulated a huge debt over the years and now he has mortgaged our house too. He says we have to move out today."

  My mother finished speaking and then hugged me and burst into tears.

  As I expected, the only person who can torment his mother to this extent, apart from that father who deserves to be hacked to death a thousand times, is no one else.

  All these years, I was raised by my mother alone, and in my memory, my father is a drunkard and a gambler.

  I don't love my father because he has brought too much harm to my mother and me.

  Fang Wenke and Zhao Jun saw the situation between me and my mother, although they were shocked, but after all, they are men, without saying a word, they started helping my mother pack things.

  I helped my mother up by the shoulder and said to her, "Mom, let's not cry for now, okay? Let's first put things in order, take what we need to take, and then think of a solution, okay?"

  Zhao Jun saw that my mother was still listless and walked up to us, saying to her: "Auntie! We're friends of Li Wei Ming's. We'll help you guys out! Why don't we pack our things first, then think of a solution?"

  The mother looked up at Zhao Jun and nodded.

  Then, the four of us started a thorough cleaning, packing all the clothes and jewelry that could be taken away.

  I walked back to my bedroom and looked around for anything I needed to take with me.

  Actually I have very few things, nothing valuable, and even pitifully, I don't even have a doll that can be taken away.

  I flipped through the desk again, opened the drawer, and saw the diary I wrote in high school. However, I didn't dare to open it because I knew that all the words inside were about Zhu Yang.

  I looked at the diary lying quietly in the drawer, hesitated for a few minutes, but finally picked it up and carefully put it into my bag before walking out of the bedroom.

  Mother's things have also been packed up more or less.

  Fang Wenke and Zhao Jun helped us carry our luggage down again, the trunk of the car was packed to the brim.

  After getting on the car, Fang Wenke found a nearby restaurant and we four rested there for a while.

  At the dinner table, after Fang Wenke finished ordering dishes, he asked my mother: "Auntie, what's your plan for next step?"

  "Mother hesitated for a moment and said: 'We can only go to the house in the countryside, that was the house left by my aunt before she passed away, now my younger brother lives there.'"

  "What about her? Are you going to take her with you?" Fang Wenke asked anxiously.

  "En, Wei Ming has been following me since he was a child. If we don't go to our hometown, there's really nowhere else to go." My mother sighed and grasped my hand tightly.

  "Auntie, how about this? Since the winter break is only two months long, I'll take Wei Ming back to Changchun with me. My home has many places, and it will be convenient for her to go back to school later." Fang Wenke said pitifully to my mother.

  My mother listened to Fang Wenke's opinion and looked at me strangely, then asked me: "Weiming, are you just ordinary friends?"

  My mother's question made me speechless, I could only shake my head and say: "Well...he's my boyfriend!"

  Although in my memory, I have never directly agreed to Fang Wenke that I am his girlfriend, from the first time he confessed to now, we two inexplicably walked together.

  Zhao Jun looked at my embarrassed expression, couldn't help but burst out laughing, then said to my mother: "Auntie, don't worry! They've been together for almost a semester now. If we were the kind of people you can't trust, we wouldn't be so openly sending her back home."

  My mother hesitated and looked at Fang Wenke and Zhao Jun, then turned to me and said: "Weiming, do you want to stay in Changchun?"

  "Mom, I'm worried about you!" I didn't answer my mother directly. On the one hand, I really wanted to stay in Changchun; on the other hand, I was truly worried about my mother.

  My mother listened to my answer and then patted my head saying: "I know, you still go to Changchun, don't worry about me, your uncle is very good to me!"

  Fang Wenke saw that my mother had relaxed a bit and hastily said, "Auntie, don't worry! After we finish eating, we'll take you to your uncle's house in Wèimíng."

  "It's not necessary! It's not necessary! You kids drive too dangerously! I'll just go to the bus station and take a bus myself!" The mother declined.

  "Auntie! Don't be polite, otherwise Wèi Míng won't feel at ease!" Fáng Wén Kē continued to say.

  I grasped my mother's hands and nodded at her, saying: "Mom, it's settled then!"

  Our mother looked at us three very sincerely and could not refuse our request, so she agreed.

  This meal was eaten with great joy, but also with a tinge of sadness, due to the misfortune of mother and the unpredictable encounter.

  Before leaving, Fang Wenke deliberately went to the bank to withdraw 30,000 yuan and secretly put it in his mother's luggage. I tried to stop Fang Wenke, but he insisted on giving the money to my mother, saying that he was worried that she would live a hard life after going to the countryside.

  I'm very grateful to Fang Wenke and I feel that in my past life, I must have done many good deeds to be able to meet Fang Wenke in this life.

  In the days when I was with Fang Wenke, I was always a taker. It seemed that I had never done anything for him. I think I must treat him well in order to be worthy of his feelings for me.

  After sending our mother to the countryside, we met our uncle and aunt whom we hadn't seen for several years.

  When my uncle and aunt saw my mom, they were especially affectionate, so we felt at ease. To catch the last bit of daylight before returning to the county town to find a hotel, we didn't stay for dinner and hastily drove back to the county town.

  On the way back, I called my mother with my mobile phone and told her that there were 30,000 yuan in the suitcase that Fang Wenke had left for her, and asked her to use it first. After my mother answered the phone, she choked for a long time on the other end of the line, then cried. As I listened to her sobbing on the other end of the line, my heart was also twisted with pain.

  Mother said that if it weren't for my father, she wouldn't have ended up like this today and I wouldn't be homeless.

  She said she hated my father, and what about me?!