She didn’t go home but went directly to Ke Yu’s school gate—his evening self-study was about to end. When she arrived, she ran into Zhou Yu leaving the school. The two chatted briefly, and she patted Zhou Yu’s shoulder, urging her to go home.
Before long, Ke Yu came out. She waved at him. Ke Yu responded faintly, asking why she had come. Sun Jingfei asked with a smile, “Can’t I come?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Sun Jingfei linked her arm through his, saying there was meat stewed at home that morning. Ke Yu wasn’t quite used to her being so affectionate, but he didn’t resist. He just said he didn’t want to eat meat—eating it every day, the same two dishes over and over, he was sick of it.
“Then what do you want to eat?” Sun Jingfei asked.
“I want to eat instant noodles and drink soda.” Ke Yu said as if being contrary. Everyone at home said he was growing and wouldn’t let him eat these things.
“Okay, we’ll eat instant noodles!” Sun Jingfei didn’t take it seriously.
“I want to go back this weekend to see Grandpa.” Ke Yu looked at her.
“Okay.” Sun Jingfei agreed. “Either your dad can pick you up or your uncle can take you.”
Ke Yu didn’t want his dad to pick him up, but he also didn’t want to keep troubling his uncle. Then he asked her, “Can’t you take me?”
Sun Jingfei was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied, “Sure, I’ll take you.” She was unwilling to go back and see Ke Yu’s grandparents, nor did she want to hear their nagging. These past few months they had called intermittently—sometimes she answered, sometimes she pretended not to see.
It was always the same words: apologizing on behalf of their son, hoping to salvage the marriage.
Her relationship with her in-laws couldn’t be called harmonious, but it wasn’t bad either. Because they hadn’t lived together year-round, there were rarely any direct conflicts. But she knew her in-laws had complaints about her work—they thought she was too busy and didn’t have enough energy to take care of the family.
She didn’t want to go back and face them. An important reason was that they were about the same age as her own parents—both sets of elderly people powerless when it came to their children. When they looked apologetic, even somewhat pleading, she couldn’t be hard-hearted and ignore them. So she simply didn’t go back. She completely understood her in-laws’ unreasonable demands, because all parents in the world were the same—no matter what mistakes their children made, they would try every means to protect and save them.
After buying instant noodles and soda and returning home, she hurried to the kitchen to cook. When it was ready, she called Ke Yu to eat. He said he had already showered and washed up and didn’t want to eat anymore.
…
With her usual temper, she really could have dragged him out and given him a lecture. But this time she held back and replied, “I added ham and fried egg. If you don’t eat it, I will.” She said this while slurping loudly.
Actually, eating it occasionally was really delicious.
Ke Yu came out with his water cup. Sun Jingfei picked at the noodles and looked at him. “Want to have a few bites? Just rinse your mouth afterward.”
Ke Yu reluctantly sat down. As he ate, he talked about how delicious his aunt’s cooking was, how it was different every day, going on and on. Sun Jingfei didn’t respond. He often brought up his aunt—either about how patient and gentle she was with people, or how good her cooking was, and most importantly, how she respected people and didn’t treat them like three-year-old children.
Simply perfect in every way.
Speaking of respecting people, she just wanted to dump the soup from her noodle bowl over his head, but because he was her son, she exercised some control. For the past two months, whatever he wanted to do, whether it was losing his temper for no reason or speaking disrespectfully, she had accepted it all.
“You’re talking to me about respecting people—have you respected your mom?” Sun Jingfei said. “I cook for you and you’ve never said a word of thanks, and you compare me to your aunt. At least I’m better than you—in every aspect, I’ve never compared you to anyone else.”
Ke Yu put down his chopsticks, somewhat annoyed. “You adults are really strange. When I was little, you didn’t fulfill your parental responsibilities and accompany me. Now suddenly you all act like you love me so much. When you don’t get the feedback you imagined, you label me as a rebellious child.”
“So you can be self-righteous, capricious and emotional, and disrespectful to me?” Sun Jingfei asked calmly.
“I didn’t!” Ke Yu got up and returned to his room.
Sun Jingfei sat in her chair for a while, then cleared the dishes and washed them. Then she sent him a message: “Mom is very sorry. I did neglect you because of work and didn’t give you enough care and trust in time.” Actually, she had written a long string of text after that, but in the end only sent these two lines.
It wasn’t until very late, just as she was about to go to sleep, that Ke Yu messaged her: “I just want to ask you two things. I hope you can answer me honestly.”
Sun Jingfei replied: “Ask away.”
Ke Yu asked: “Are you and Dad negotiating a divorce?”
Sun Jingfei replied: “Yes.”
Ke Yu asked again: “Why?”
Sun Jingfei thought for a moment: “Because he had an affair.”
Ke Yu stared at his phone screen, tears falling drop by drop. He asked: “You can’t forgive him, can you?”
Sun Jingfei replied: “Yes.”
Ke Yu asked: “What if I want you to be together forever?”
Sun Jingfei replied: “All along I’ve been restraining myself, worried about becoming a hateful mother. My indulgence toward you in various aspects isn’t due to laziness in discipline or lack of energy—it’s based on trust in you. Ever since you turned twelve, I’ve treated you as an independent person.”
Ke Yu didn’t ask anymore.
Sun Jingfei didn’t reply anymore either.
Sun Jingcheng had been on a business trip for several days and returned on their fourth wedding anniversary. Originally he had forgotten about the anniversary too—it was only mentioned by Sun’s mother at the dinner table before his trip.
That day at noon, he went to the school to find Zhou Yu for lunch. Zhou Yu was obviously very surprised because Sun Jingcheng had told her he would return tomorrow.
The two ate in the cafeteria. For a moment there was nothing to say. They hadn’t seen each other for three or four days and suddenly didn’t know what to say. After they both smiled with tacit understanding, someone from the Academic Affairs Office came looking for Zhou Yu. Sun Jingcheng urged her to go, saying, “Let’s talk tonight.”
Zhou Yu followed her colleague out of the cafeteria. The colleague asked, “That’s your husband?”
“Yes.” Zhou Yu nodded.
“I saw you two weren’t talking.”
“He just got back from a business trip.”
“Oh.” The colleague didn’t ask anymore. It was said that Teacher Zhou’s marital relationship was average. Looking at it this way, it was indeed average.
Zhou Yu went to the Academic Affairs Office on the fourth floor. With each floor she climbed, she looked at the cafeteria building. When she reached the third floor, she saw Sun Jingcheng coming out. She shouted to him loudly, “Sun Jingcheng!”
Sun Jingcheng looked up. Zhou Yu waved at him, instantly feeling somewhat choked up. She should have asked if his business trip went smoothly, or hugged him.
Sun Jingcheng called back to her, “Teacher Zhou!” He also waved at her.