Short Story: Red Rhododendron (Original)

(Image from the Internet)

Text/Li Ligang

This is the nth time she has received a call from her ex-husband's wife. She said her husband had an incurable disease and had been missing a few days and wanted to see her daughter.

Her calm heart, like a lake, was disturbed by this succession of phone calls!

Ten years ago, she and her ex-husband were a very good couple, living a rosy life after marriage in harmony and love... Who knows, when she gave birth to her daughter Lili, she saw that she gave birth to a daughter instead of a son, and the relationship between husband and wife gradually deteriorated due to the rise and fall of her mother-in-law...

Chicken Fly Dog Jump! Home is not peaceful!

One cold morning, heartbroken and unbearable, she resolutely signed her name on the "agreed divorce document", and then, carrying a simple luggage in one hand, holding her daughter who was less than one year old in the other, facing the cold wind, she bid farewell to this prosperous and sad city without turning back, and came to a remote mountain village primary school.

……

When she got home from work, she went straight into her bedroom and slept with her head covered.

The husband noticed that her face was very emotional and asked her with concern. She lied that she was not feeling well and wanted to sleep. The husband listened and said, then you should rest well. I do things.

In the kitchen, a symphony of pots and pans sounded.

The symphony full of human fireworks entered her ears like a warm stream through her heart: ... That year, when she came alone to this remote village, all kinds of inconveniences, like a rough muddy path, stretched out in front of her. She gritted her teeth and trudged hard...

One day, a masculine man broke into her life.

After that day, her pale and monotonous life became colorful and the birds were singing. What excited her even more was that the word "daddy", which had never appeared in her daughter's mouth, appeared dozens of times a day in her daughter's small mouth, ringing like a silver bell through her simple cottage.

Spring is here!

...... However, while she was immersed in a spring-like warm family atmosphere, this annoying call came:

What if he took Li Li's little hand and cried out in despair and begged Li Li to call him "Daddy"? Didn't he reveal the truth that had been hidden for ten years between his father and daughter? Can Li Li's young mind stand it? A strange man who had not been seen for ten years would be her biological father, and a man who spent time with her day and night and loved her like a pearl in the palm of his hand was her adoptive father. More importantly, this man who lives with her, who has tasted hard and shared honor and disgrace, when his beloved daughter has changed his position from "birth" to "raising" overnight, a drastic change, even if there is a belly of the prime minister who can hold the boat, can he calmly treat it without changing his face and not being disturbed?

At this moment, she felt a difficulty she had never felt before: as a wife and a relative, she didn't know how to be good?!

The woman's phone calls kept going, and she was always silent about this. In the silence, she heard the woman sobbing softly over there.

The husband is still busy in the kitchen as he was two days ago. Seeing her return, he asked with concern: Is today better? She nodded nonchalantly and went into the living room.

She was stunned!

On the writing desk in the living room, a uniquely shaped vase appeared; inside the vase, a large bouquet of red rhododendrons was inserted. The red flowers are burning like a fire of life, and the verdant leaves stretch out among the flowers, revealing the message of spring.

This flower? ...... She wondered and asked her husband.

The husband held his greasy hand and smiled, saying that a friend was sick, bought this bouquet of flowers, and planned to see it tomorrow.

Who's sick? she asked. None of his friends, she didn't know.

A very strange one. His wife came from far away. He said.

Her face turned white, and her two big eyes stared at him, murmuring: A very strange? His wife came from far away...

yes. A very strange one. But for you and your daughter, it's special!

When he finished the last word, she pounced and fell into his arms. A string of crystalline tears rolled out of her beautiful eyes...

2021-10-4 at Shuntong Garden, Jiulongpo District, Chongqing