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After meeting with my mother-in-law, I had a strong desire to see Miao Miao, like a struggling student who finally achieved good grades, holding the paper with anticipation in my heart, wanting to invite a compliment and also say sorry for my past poor performance.
While having dinner with Lu Ming and his daughter that evening, I was still thinking about my mother-in-law. If she happened to mention our meeting today to Wang Xu, I would have to prepare for the aftermath.
I might have been lost in thought for too long; when I looked down, I noticed that the vegetables piled up in my bowl had completely covered the few bites of rice I had eaten. I turned my head to the side, and Lu Shuang was still holding a piece of beef, extended between us. When she saw me looking at her, she paused mid-air.
She pointed with her other hand's little finger towards Lu Ming: "It was Dad before."
I couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. Looking again at Lu Ming across from me, he was chewing slowly and only spoke after finishing his food.
"Lu Shuang, don’t be picky." He neither admitted nor denied it.
Lu Shuang pouted and placed the beef into my bowl, then picked out the buried carrot slices from her own bowl, frowning as she ate them slowly.
I exchanged another glance with Lu Ming and silently began the task of cleaning my own bowl.
After dinner, Lu Shuang suggested going for a walk. In the end, Lu Ming carried her in one arm, and it wasn't long before she started dozing off like a little bird pecking at rice.
Not long into our walk, I asked Lu Ming if we should head back. It was getting cold, and Lu Shuang would catch a cold sleeping like this. To my surprise, after I brought it up, Lu Ming seemed to hear this for the first time and asked again.
"Really?"
"Of course! Children have weak immune systems. In this cold weather, it's not good for her to sleep like this. Let's go back before she gets a fever."
In the end, we turned back along the same path. Before we reached the car, I noticed a woman standing by Lu Ming's vehicle playing on her phone. As we got closer, I recognized her as Wang Yue from our previous meeting.
I didn't expect to see her again.
Wang Yue seemed to sense us approaching; she looked up at me and Lu Ming but ultimately focused on Lu Ming. She smiled and ran over to him, exclaiming loudly, "I happened to stop by Brother Shen's place. He said you just left not long ago. As soon as I came down, I saw your car! Lu Ge, you enjoyed delicious food without bringing me along."
Wang Yue happily bounced into the space between me and Lu Ming and naturally linked her arm with his back facing me.
I could see Lu Shuang's expression clearly; her small face was scrunched up, as if she was about to cry. I didn't intend to interrupt their reunion, but with Wang Yue blocking my way, I couldn't quietly remind Lu Ming, so I could only clear my throat a couple of times to attract Lu Ming's attention.
Once Lu Ming looked at me, I lowered my voice and said, “Little Shuang seems to be awake. Please hand her to me; you two can continue your conversation.”
Although Wang Yue wasn't overweight, she was in the way. I walked around to the other side of Lu Ming and reached out to take Lu Shuang. Her weight was something I couldn't hold for long, so I had to find a stone bench to sit down and conserve my strength.
To keep Lu Shuang warm, I unzipped my jacket slightly to shield her from the wind. Her brows relaxed, and it seemed like she fell asleep again.
On the other side, Wang Yue was chatting with Lu Ming, linking her arm with his, her eyes bright and smiling; she must have been very happy.
I subconsciously felt that Wang Yue harbored some hostility towards me, but the fact that she almost woke up Lu Shuang made me uncomfortable. Thinking of this made me smile; the likes and dislikes among women often come without reason. No matter what else happened, dislike remained dislike.
After more than ten minutes, their conversation finally ended. Lu Ming walked over and looked down at Lu Shuang in my arms. I opened my jacket to pull her out. He wanted to take her from me, but I stopped him: “It's fine; you drive, I'll carry her over.”
He didn't insist. After I carefully got into the passenger seat with the sleeping Lu Shuang, I checked several times for any signs of her waking up.
When I looked back at Lu Ming, he still hadn't shown any signs of starting the car.
I silently signaled him with my eyes, asking what was wrong. He still didn't say anything and finally started driving away.
Later that evening at the hotel, Wang Xu called again. When I answered, his tone was as usual, revealing nothing more.
“Why haven't you come home yet? Where are you? I'll come pick you up.”
It seemed that after my mother-in-law returned home, she hadn't said much. If she really asked Wang Xu for a house right after getting home, then his current attitude suggested she must be hesitating.
I couldn't rush things either.
“I'm at a hotel near the company; I'm working late tonight and have other work early tomorrow morning, so I'm not going back.”
"Why do you always work overtime? Is the job that tough? You're just a newbie and already traveling for business and working late. Just quit and come back; I can take care of you."
"I can take care of you" is such a beautiful phrase, not only a promise of support for the rest of our lives but also a commitment to the future. When I left my job with Wang Xu's consent, I was later mocked by him during the outbreak of war for staying home.
Does Wang Xu even know what "I can take care of you" means? Does he understand that a promise made should not be regretted?
I didn't want to discuss this matter further with Wang Xu. After hanging up, I sat back down in front of my computer. Upon opening it, I looked at the email Miao Miao had sent me; the mother-in-law was just the beginning.
Next would be Wang Xu.
To avoid raising Wang Xu's suspicions, I sent him a "Good night" text before going to bed. He replied shortly after with "I love you, wife." I quickly deleted the message and lay down to rest.
Now, aside from picking up Lu Shuang from school, I had nothing else to do. Yet, I still had to wait for further news from my mother-in-law and Wang Xu before taking any next steps. I paced back and forth in the hotel room before deciding to head down to the gym to change my mood through exercise, even though I had never been interested in it before.
After sweating profusely from working out, I went to the locker room to grab my bag when I received a WeChat message. At first glance, it was a photo sent by Wang Nan.
The photo showed a woman's pale wrist, indistinguishable from countless others in the world. However, the silver bracelet on her wrist was something I could never forget; it bore a design that was etched in my memory.
That bracelet was given to me on my wedding day when I wore a bright red qipao. Kneeling on the ground, I received it from my mother-in-law's hands. The bracelet was dull but had some weight to it. When I took it, I felt joy; I had cherished that bracelet carefully. Even Wang Xu teased me for valuing it so much.
In my heart, I thought it was one of the few tangible gifts my mother-in-law had given me. Just looking at it made me feel secure. Later on, as the bracelet became too heavy for my slender wrist and easily slipped off, I took it off and placed it in the drawer of my bedside table.
I never told Wang Xu where I kept it, nor did I mention it to my mother-in-law.
No one knew about it, yet it appeared on another woman's wrist.
I felt both angry and sad; words couldn't describe my current emotions. The unexpectedness of the past was gone, yet sorrow still lingered.
When Wang Nan called, I hadn't even sorted out my feelings.
"Hey."
"Hello, Zhuang Jun. Did you see the photo just now?"
"Yeah, I saw it." I saw it very clearly.
"Miao Miao has been worried about you these past few days. She wanted to contact you but didn't dare to, yet she keeps asking me about you. She even found something and asked me to send it to you."
"Miao Miao... is she doing okay now?" Compared to this, I feel more guilty when thinking about Miao Miao and want to know how she is doing.
"She's doing alright. The company has wanted to send her on a project for a while, but she thinks it's too far and boring, so she hasn't gone. She said she hasn't had the courage to see you lately, but she agreed to go now."
Wang Nan was just stating facts, but all I felt was guilt; it was my hesitation that kept me from seeing her. "Wang Nan, I'm sorry for Miao Miao. I'm really sorry."
After hearing my words, Wang Nan smiled lightly and said, "It's not entirely your fault. She would have to go on that project eventually; it’s just that she didn't want to reach out and said she'd talk about it when she returns."
"No, I was really unfair before; I kept misunderstanding her. I must have made her sad." I sniffled and didn't continue.
How embarrassing; how could I, Zhuang Jun, be so shameful?
"Hehe, don’t think too much about it. Miao Miao is straightforward. If she wanted to blame you, she wouldn't want to help you anymore. Let me tell you what she asked me to convey."
"Okay." I replied weakly.
"Miao Miao said she found the photo yesterday from another WeChat account of that lady. She didn't have much hope but still managed to find it. She mentioned that the table looks like the one from your wedding day and even called me in the evening asking me to find the cleaned-up photos to compare the patterns and see if it was yours."
I nodded in a daze before remembering that Wang Nan couldn't see me. I chuckled self-deprecatingly and replied, "Yeah, that's my bracelet."
"She wants you to hang in there a little longer."
"I will, thank you Miao Miao, and thank you too, Wang Nan."
"No need to mention it." Wang Nan's tone was very relaxed. "She asked me to relay this to you in my own capacity, without saying it was intentionally arranged by her. So, now that I’ve told you, can you keep it a secret for me?"
Wang Nan's words made me chuckle lightly, easing my mental burden a bit.
I could still recall the amusing scenes of Wang Nan and Miao Miao together. Although Wang Nan was quite a masculine person, he took great care to consider Miao Miao in the little things.
So, Wang Nan choosing to tell me must have been out of concern that I might misunderstand Miao Miao's good intentions.
I asked him, "When Miao Miao comes back, can you let me know in advance? I want to be able to openly sell you out then."
Wang Nan laughed.
"Sure."
After hanging up the phone, I looked again at the photo Wang Nan sent me. In the picture, a woman's delicate wrist was adorned with my bracelet. Just yesterday, my husband asked me if I wanted to come home.
If I don't reclaim everything that belongs to me, I will have no place to call home.
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