Half a year of expatriate work is finally over, standing at the intersection of returning home, I miss my wife Liu Qing and have a heart eager to try. Her mind was full of her surprised expression, imagining her long soft hair and her eyes full of affection. I took a deep breath and took the steps home.
"Liu Qing, I'm back!" I gently pushed the door open, and a thousand words turned into a warm call. However, the atmosphere of home seemed to be a little different from what I remembered. In the living room, there is a large birdcage, and a brightly colored parrot looks around, as if it is a new member of the family.
"Where are you from, little guy?" I tried to interact with it. Unexpectedly, it suddenly spoke: "Liu Qing, don't forget to change the water for me!"
I was about to learn more about this little elf that suddenly appeared, when Liu Qing came out of the kitchen, hugged me, and said in surprise: "Brother Ming, why didn't you tell me in advance and came back, it scared me!"
"Haha, didn't I want to surprise you. I smiled in response, but my mind was still thinking about the parrot, "What's the matter with this parrot?"
"Oh, this parrot was given to me by one of my students, and it is said to be very clever and can learn to speak. Liu Qing took the gift I handed her and explained casually.
The sound of children babbling came from the room, and I couldn't help but smile as I watched them run around, and my heart was full of warmth.
In the next few days, I began to notice that the parrot repeated more and more words, each of which was highly related to Liu Qing's daily life, "Xiao Li, come and help me look at this question." "Xiao Li, your pen has been forgotten here. "Every time I hear this, my brow furrows unconsciously.
"Liu Qing, who is Xiao Li?" I couldn't help but ask one night as we sat on the sofa watching TV.
"Oh, he's the high school student I tutored. Liu Qing said lightly, "Don't think too much, it's just some idioms left over from class." She leaned gently on my shoulder, as if to soothe my anxious heart.
I nodded, not wanting to ask any further, thinking that parrots do imitate their masters. But for some reason, an uncertain thought began to ferment in my heart.
As time passed, those trivial daily conversations appeared more and more frequently, but Liu Qing always smiled and brought them through. The warm atmosphere of the family, the sincere feelings between the husband and wife, suddenly seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist, I could feel the temperature, but I felt that something was blocking us.
Just as I was struggling to adjust to this "new member", an unexpected night turned everything upside down.
"Xiao Li, don't touch me!" The parrot's sudden cry was like a thunderbolt above my head. At that time, I was hugging Liu Qing, and the gentle "I'm back" had not yet been spoken, and the parrot's words cooled the air around me like frost.
I couldn't hide the shock in my heart, the strength of my arm unconsciously loosened, and Liu Qing's body slipped slightly.
"Brother Ming, you ...... What's wrong?" Liu Qing felt my strangeness, and there was confusion in her voice.
It was as if the heart was blocked with a stone, and it was difficult to speak. The parrot's words kept echoing in my mind, and those few words had such a huge impact, distorting our peaceful life and opening an invisible crack between me and Liu Qing...
As the days passed, the doubts in my heart grew worse ever since the parrot's words pierced the silence of the night that night. Every time Liu Qing whispered on the phone, or when the phone vibrate, her deliberately concealed nervousness made me feel uneasy.
"Where have you been today?" I asked tentatively, hoping to find some clues from her answer.
"I went to the market to buy vegetables, and I also helped you bring your favorite braised pork. Liu Qing still maintained her calmness, but the flickering of her eyes seemed to tell me that things were not so simple.
"What about Xiao Li, did you come today?" As soon as the words came out, I regretted it, and at the moment I was more like a suspicious detective than a gentle husband.
Liu Qing was slightly stunned for a moment, and then said lightly: "Why do you keep mentioning him? He really came today, and I have to help him tutor him to prepare for the math competition." ”
Her explanation sounded normal, but my heart sank inexplicably. I tried to suppress my uneasiness, and turned to look at the parrot who seemed to have no intention of revealing the secret.
Finally, one day, I made up my mind to find out. I went home early and quietly hid in the corner of the living room. I want to see what this so-called math tutoring is like.
After about an hour, the door opened, and Liu Qing and a tall young man walked in. Liu Qing smiled and said to him: "You write the question here first, and I'll prepare some fruits." With that, she went into the kitchen.
I was nervous and my heart was racing. The young man...... Xiao Li sat down quietly, took out a pen and notebook, and began to write the question seriously. I try to regulate my breathing so that my presence is not noticed.
"How is it, has that question been solved?" Liu Qing returned to the living room, handed Xiao Li a plate of fruit, sat down across from him again, and began to check his homework.
"Well, there's something I still don't understand. He pushed the notebook in front of Liu Qing and pointed to a complex geometric problem.
Liu Qing bent down and explained carefully. Between me and Liu Qing, there seems to be a huge glass wall, I can see her, but I can't touch the bottom of her heart.
I looked at them in a daze, and gradually realized that I was actually speculating about my wife for no reason, and the guilt in my heart welled up in my heart. I quietly retreated to my bedroom, deciding to find a suitable explanation for tonight's "voyeurism".
That night, I said, "Liu Qing, I didn't go to work today, I ...... I've been at home. ”
"You've been home all the time?" Liu Qing looked at me in surprise with a complicated expression.
"Yes, I ...... I've actually been worried about you and Xiao Li. I try to look honest, but it's sad to be like that.
Liu Qing frowned, "You don't trust me?" Her voice was choked, obviously hurt by my suspicions.
I was speechless and could only quietly watch her gather up and enter the bedroom.
That night, there was no communication between us, only the secret rift between hearts and minds was quietly expanding.
In the days that followed, although Liu Qing and I still maintained daily conversations, the haze of distrust always hung over our heads. I began to become silent, and I was distracted from my work, and whenever I saw Liu Qing solving students' doubts, my heart began to stir involuntarily again.
All the uneasiness finally came to an extreme on a cold winter night. The parrot, as if stimulated by something, frantically repeated the sentence: "Xiao Li, don't touch me!" It seems to be constantly reminding me of the truth that I should not ignore.
That night, I hugged Liu Qing tightly, trying to find a connection between us, but the sentence "Xiao Li, don't touch me" was like a sharp knife, slashing the harmony between us one after another. My heart seemed to be shattered by the anger and doubt that had just risen, and I felt my world disintegrate in the blink of an eye.
"Xiao Li, don't touch me! Xiao Li, don't touch me!" the parrot repeated over and over again like a tireless repeater. Each repetition is like a needle piercing my heart, piercing deeper and deeper.
I jerked myself up, pointed at it, and shouted hoarsely, "Say it again!"
The parrot looked at me, as if frightened by my sudden outburst, and fell silent. I looked at Liu Qing, whose eyes widened in horror, and I could sense her hesitation when she wanted to speak, but stopped.
I stared at her like a knife, and couldn't help but ask, "Who is Xiao Li?" My tone was full of impulse and anger, my hands were clenched, and my bones were white.
Liu Qing looked at me and seemed taken aback. She was stunned for a few seconds, and then slowly spoke: "Why are you so impulsive?"
"I just want to know the facts!" I glared at her, "I need the facts, not the runaway!"
I could clearly feel Liu Qing's body shake, she looked at me, and said incoherently, "I...... I was just...... You ......"
"Just what?" I said, trying to suppress my emotions that were about to spiral out of control, my gaze sharp as a knife.
Liu Qing bowed his head gloomily, clenched his hand, and his trembling voice was full of pain: "It's just...... I just don't want you to misunderstand...... Just ......"
I saw the tiredness and helplessness in her eyes as she paused, her face pale as paper, and it occurred to me that maybe it was my problem. I looked at her and my heart was like a knife.
At this moment, the ringtone of the mobile phone broke the solemn atmosphere. "Liu Qing, the math competition list is out, and I'm in the finals!" On the other end of the phone, it was Xiao Li's excited voice.
I was stunned and looked at Liu Qing. She picked up the phone, pursed the corners of her mouth, and resumed her usual smile, "That's great, Xiao Li, we have to prepare well, and we must not let this opportunity down." ”
I looked at Liu Qing on the other end of the phone, and on that slender face, it was no longer my familiar wife, but a dedicated teacher who worked for her students.
For a moment, I felt like a complete failure, maybe I had lost her trust, maybe our marriage broke down. Looking at Liu Qing's tearful eyes, I felt that the responsibility for all this was mine.
Liu Qing ...... "I can't help but try to redeem something, however, everything in front of me is too realistic, and I can't go back."
When I think back to that night, my heart is like being bitten by thousands of ants, and I am about to collapse in pain. I began to reminisce about our marriage, about that carefree woman, about our bits and pieces. Now, however, it seems that everything is dissipating, dissipating under the clouds of distrust.
That night, I felt the climax of my life, and I felt the ridicule of the world. And in that moment, I knew that I had lost something, that I had lost trust in my wife, that I had lost our marriage. When my heart was full of doubts, I decided that I would seek the truth, and I would find out the secret hidden behind me and Liu Qing.
In those days of distorted trust and doubts, I began my own "investigation". Actively participated in various activities at home, actively communicated with Liu Qing's students, and even met Xiao Li in person.
"Xiao Li, why do you have such a good relationship with Teacher Liu Qing?" I tried to understand something, but my words were as calm as water.
Xiao Li looked surprised, he probably didn't expect me to ask such a question: "Ah, because Teacher Liu Qing teaches her well, we all respect her." ”
Suddenly, I was a little ashamed, and my doubts seemed to be vexatious. "Xiao Li, tell me honestly, have you ever liked Liu Qing?" I stared at him with wide eyes.
Xiao Li's stunned expression only lasted for a second, he stared at me blankly, and then laughed: "Uncle Zhou Ming, you are so interesting, Teacher Liu Qing is like my mother, can I like her?"
At that moment, I felt like someone had been poured cold water. The young man in front of him is sunny and optimistic, and the relationship between him and Liu Qing is just a simple student and teacher. And I, in front of a very innocent interaction, speculated for a long time.
After a long silence, I laughed, as if a little self-deprecating: "I just want to laugh, Xiao Li." ”
That night, I sat alone in the living room, and all that was left of the silent night was the muttering of a parrot. I calmed down, thinking about this "crisis" and the knot between me and Liu Qing.
"Liu Qing, I see. I took a deep breath and said straight to the point, "I know the relationship between Xiao Li and you. ”
She looked at me and didn't speak, as if waiting for me to continue.
"It's me who misunderstood, Liu Qing, I'm sorry. Tears rolled in my eyes, and I resisted it to keep it from falling.
looked at her and suddenly laughed softly, as if to say: "It turns out that you are still the honest Zhou Ming." ”
We didn't talk about it again, we just did everything quietly. The parrot is still the parrot, it still repeats those words every day, but now, it is no longer a threat to me, but just a member of the family, a member of the family who can bring us a lot of joy.
The problem was revealed, and the relationship between us and my husband and wife gradually returned to its former harmony. During that time, I deeply felt that trust relationship is so important in love, and I also learned to trust Liu Qing in the process of communicating with her.
Looking at the snowflakes falling outside the window, I finally understood that to love someone is to trust her, even if the whole world is pointing fingers at her. So the question is, do you really trust your loved ones?