My stunningly beautiful female boss at 29 (1986-1992)

page views:1 Publication date:2023-08-23陈莫言

86.
Downstairs at my apartment, An Xiaomin sat in the driver's seat of her Mercedes-Benz E300L, her eyes fixed on the building's entrance.
Last night, when she called Zhuang Youting, she heard my voice and suspected that the girl wasn't with her colleague, but with me. So, she'd been lying in wait downstairs this morning to confirm her suspicions.
When she saw Zhuang Youting emerge from the building, she sighed inwardly and got out of the car.
"Tingting..."
At the call, Zhuang Youting turned around, startled. "Sister?"
An Xiaomin walked calmly to her, glanced upstairs, and asked coldly, "What are you doing here?"
"I..." Zhuang Youting stammered under her sister's intense gaze, her heart pounding.
"Don't you think you owe me an explanation?" An Xiaomin was genuinely angry that this little girl had lied to her.
On one hand, she was angry that I had brought a girl twenty years younger than me home for the night, and she was even my adopted sister; on the other hand, she was angry that Zhuang Youting was so unchaste, getting involved with a middle-aged man.
Zhuang Youting remained silent. In a fit of anger, An Xiaomin slapped her sister lightly and turned to leave.
"Sister, sister, listen to me..." Zhuang Youting quickly followed and grabbed her sister, "Last night, Xingyan was drunk. I just took him home, nothing else happened, we didn't do anything."
An Xiaomin didn't say a word, shook off her hand, got into the car, and started the engine. Zhuang Youting leaned over and knocked on the car window, saying urgently, "Sister, really nothing happened, you have to believe me!"
An Xiaomin didn't even look at her sister and drove away. Zhuang Youting watched the Mercedes E300L drive away, stomped her foot in frustration, and tears streamed down her face.
While driving, An Xiaomin also shed tears, cursing in her heart, "Chen Xingyan, you bastard!"
That night, Zhuang Youting came to An Xiaomin's bedroom door, knocked on the door timidly, and said, "Sister, are you asleep?"
There was no response from inside, so she called out "Sister" again, gently pushed open the door, and peeked in, "Sister..."
An Xiaomin, who was leaning against the bed reading a book, glanced at her and continued reading. Zhuang Youting walked to the bedside and stammered, "Sister, I really only took Xingyan home last night, nothing else happened."
Seeing that her sister was still engrossed in her book and ignoring her, she knelt on the bed and shook An Xiaomin's arm. "Sister, please believe me! Nothing really happened between him and me, please believe me, okay?"
An Xiaomin sighed, put down her book, and asked, "Then how did you two get together last night?"
"I was drinking with some colleagues at a bar, and we ran into Xingyan drinking alone. We chatted for a while, and when I saw he was really drunk, I took him home!"
"He was drinking alone?" An Xiaomin frowned, somewhat worried.
"Yes! Alone."
An Xiaomin looked at Zhuang Youting, "But you shouldn't have lied to me, do you? Do you know how much I hate it when people lie to me?"
"I was afraid you wouldn't want me to be with Xingyan!" Zhuang Youting stammered, glancing furtively at her sister.
“Don’t do that again. Also, you’re a girl, so avoid places like bars, it’s best to stay away from them altogether,” An Xiaomin said affectionately.
“Okay! Hehe…” Zhuang Youting happily got into bed. “Sis, I’ll sleep with you tonight.”
An Xiaomin gave her a loving look, lay down, and said, “Turn off the light.”
“Okay.” Zhuang Youting turned off the light and hugged An Xiaomin from behind. “I’ll sleep with you in my arms.”
“You brat, where are you putting your hands?” An Xiaomin said.
Only then did Zhuang Youting realize that her hand was just touching her sister’s chest.
She said “Oh,” and suddenly patted An Xiaomin’s chest.
"Hey, you little brat, how dare you molest me?" An Xiaomin turned around and said, "I'll touch you back."
She reached for Zhuang Youting's chest, but Zhuang Youting resisted and dodged, giggling, "I won't let you touch me, I won't let you touch me..."
An Xiaomin took the opportunity to straddle her, "Will you let me touch you or not?"
"No, no, I won't..."
The two sisters continued to bicker and laugh. A knock came at the door, along with Uncle An's voice, "Minmin, Tingting, it's late, what are you two girls doing?"
The two sisters quickly quieted down, looked at each other, giggled, and lay down in each other's arms.
"Sister, I love you!" Zhuang Youting said, hugging her sister.
"I love you too, go to sleep," An Xiaomin smiled.
In the quiet of the night, An Xiaomin held the sleeping Zhuang Youting in her arms, lost in thought, "Is Xingyan drinking alone because he's sad? Could it be that Tingting has really fallen in love with Xingyan?" The Lunar
New Year was fast approaching, and I would once again spend this holiday, which should have been a time for family reunion, alone.
In the years since my release from prison, except for last year when I spent the Spring Festival with the An family, I've spent every year alone.
A few days ago, Sui Jinglei took Li Suitang back to her hometown of Xi'an. She suggested I go with her to celebrate the New Year. I said, "Who brings their ex-husband home for the New Year? How could you
even think of that?" On New Year's Eve, a dinner for one wasn't very appealing. I fried some peanuts, cooked a bowl of noodles, and poured myself a glass of baijiu, intending to get drunk and go to sleep so I wouldn't have to think about anything.
Suddenly, I thought of the An sisters. Perhaps I'll never be forgiven by them, or even see them again?
Thinking about this, I felt a deep sadness. Just then, the doorbell rang. I was quite puzzled; who would be looking for me at this hour?
When I opened the door, I was incredibly surprised to see Sui Jinglei and her son standing outside. She was holding a suitcase in one hand and carrying a large bag in the other.
"Happy New Year!" Sui Jinglei greeted me with a smile.
I was both surprised and delighted, and laughed, "Why are you here?"
"We've come back to spend the New Year with you!"
"Shouldn't you be in Xi'an having New Year's Eve dinner with your family right now?"
After all, I have people to spend the New Year with, and they are my ex-wife and son, people I have feelings for. How could I not be overjoyed?
"Alright, let's go inside and talk. Are you going to keep blocking us at the door?" Sui Jinglei laughed.
Li Suitang clasped his hands in a fist and palm salute to me, "Uncle, Happy New Year! Wishing you prosperity and good fortune!
Give me a red envelope!" I picked up the little guy and kissed him twice on the cheek. "Uncle missed you so much! I'll give you the red envelope in a bit."
Once inside, I held Li Suitang and asked Sui Jinglei, "Seriously, why are you two back? You didn't go, did you?"
"Why wouldn't we go?" Sui Jinglei said, taking off her coat. "This morning I asked my son if he wanted to spend the New Year with his grandparents, great-aunt, uncle, and aunt, or with his uncle. He said he wanted to spend it with his uncle. So, the two of us came back."
I held back my tears and said, "You should have told me! I could have picked you up from the airport."
"It's okay, a taxi is easy. I wanted to surprise you."
"By the way, the New Year isn't even over yet, and you've already brought the child back. Aren't you worried your parents will be suspicious?"
Sui Jinglei smiled slightly, "I've been in Chongqing for so many years, and they haven't cared about me at all. Did they even come once during the two years you were in prison? It's alright. Didn't you tell me before, 'The country doesn't know its people, and the people don't know their country'? It's the same principle between parents and children." As
she spoke, she glanced at the noodles and peanuts on the table and asked me, "Is this all you're eating for the New Year?"
I smiled, "I'm alone! What more do you want?"
"I knew it..." Sui Jinglei gave me a charmingly glaring look, opened the plastic bag, and said, "When my daughter and I came over just now, we saw that the supermarket at the entrance of the community was still open, so we bought some flour, chives, and meat. The three of us will make dumplings tonight. Don't you still have some wine here? As the saying goes, dumplings and wine go hand in hand, the more you eat, the more you have. I'll fry some peanuts later, and our New Year's Eve dinner will be all set."
"Okay, whatever you say." Since we reunited two years ago, this was the first time I felt such tenderness in my heart because of her.
"Alright, you two can play whatever you want, don't worry about anything, just wait to eat," Sui Jinglei said with a smile, carrying the groceries into the kitchen.
With the arrival of the mother and son, my place not only felt like home, but also filled with the festive spirit of the New Year.
"Tangtang, what do you want to play?" I asked Li Suitang.
"Street Fighter!" he shouted, raising his hand.
"Okay, let's play Street Fighter!" I shouted back. It was the first time in my life I'd spent the New Year with my son, and it made me so happy I wanted to cry.

87.
Sui Jinglei was busy in the kitchen, kneading dough, chopping meat, and cutting chives.
Amidst Li Suitang and I's shouts and cheers, her eyes would occasionally well up with tears, which she would wipe away with the back of her hand before continuing her work.
Once everything was ready, Sui Jinglei moved everything to the dining table in the living room and started rolling out dumpling wrappers. I glanced back at Li Suitang and said, "Tangtang, let's stop playing for now and help Mom make dumplings, okay?"
"Okay," Li Suitang obediently replied.
While rolling out the dough, Sui Jinglei laughed and said, "You two keep playing! I can manage on my own."
I sat down at the table and laughed, "You roll, I'll wrap, it'll be more fun!"
She glanced at me and laughed, "Teamwork makes the dream work, right?"
Looking at the large bowl of fragrant chive and pork filling and the neatly rolled dumpling wrappers, I said, "We haven't even played a few rounds, and you've already done all of this by yourself, you're quite efficient!"
Sui Jinglei smiled, "We Shaanxi people just love noodles and dumplings, I've been an expert at this since I was a kid..."
She then said in Shaanxi dialect, "Um, I'm a Shaanxi person, I'm all about noodles."
We all laughed. I said to Li Suitang, "Come on, Tangtang, let Uncle teach you how to wrap dumplings."
Sui Jinglei quickly stopped me, "Don't let him wrap them, they'll turn out weird-shaped, who's going to eat them?"
"I'll eat them! My son wrapped all the dumplings, I'll wrap them all." At this moment, I was in a particularly good mood.
"Okay, okay, you eat them." Sui Jinglei said sweetly.
In no time, Li Suitang's face was covered in white streaks of flour.
Sui Jinglei said, "Look at your son, he's covered in flour like a little kitten, take him to wash it off."
I said nonchalantly, "Wash it off? It's not like it's mud from the ground..." As
I spoke, I dipped my finger in flour and added another streak to Li Suitang's face.
"Hey! What happened to you?" Sui Jinglei complained.
Li Suitang giggled, and Sui Jinglei laughed too, shaking her head as she continued rolling out the dough.
Suddenly, she also dipped her finger in flour and smeared it on my face, and the three of us burst into laughter, making me feel like a family of three for a moment.
This New Year was really good! I couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
The steaming dumplings were ready, and Sui Jinglei said, "You two eat first, I'll fry some peanuts."
"That's enough, don't bother," I said. "
It's okay, it'll be ready in a bit," she said, going into the kitchen.
I took a bite of a dumpling, it was so delicious! I couldn't help but exclaim, "Mmm, delicious, delicious..."
Then I asked Li Suitang, "Is it delicious?"
The little guy, eating dumplings, said, "Delicious."
I picked up the condiment bowl, put two dumplings in it, went into the kitchen, picked one up, and fed it to Sui Jinglei, "Here, try it."
Sui Jinglei, while frying peanuts, said, "I'm not eating now."
"Are you disgusted by my saliva?" I laughed.
She gave me a coquettish glare, "Who's disgusted by you?"
Then she opened her mouth for me to feed her, but as soon as I put the dumpling to her lips, she immediately put it in her own mouth.
"Hey! Why are you like this?" she protested, half-scolding and half-flirting.
I ate and laughed, then picked up another dumpling and fed it to Sui Jinglei.
"Alright, you go eat with Tangtang, I'll be back in a bit," she said while chewing.
This New Year's Eve dinner lasted a long time; Li Suitang even went to sleep in the inner room. We moved the dumplings, peanuts, and wine to the coffee table and continued drinking while watching the Spring Festival Gala. We had already finished more than half of a 500ml bottle of Jiannanchun.
I'm not a big drinker, and I was already a little tipsy. Sui Jinglei's face was flushed too.
I looked at her and said, "You can hold your liquor! Honestly, I've known you for over ten years, and I still don't know how much you can drink."
"Let me put it this way," Sui Jinglei sipped her drink, "once, Li Jiaqi took me to drink with a client. The client thought I was pretty and insisted I drink with him, so Li Jiaqi took me."
"That client didn't know I was Li Jiaqi's wife. He was a bit inappropriate at the table, and a little handsy. I knew he wasn't up to any good, so I kept toasting him, one glass after another, and got him drunk in no time."
"So how much did you drink?" I asked with interest.
She said casually, "About a jin (500ml)?"
"You're okay?" I was a little surprised.
"I'm fine, I just threw up when I got home. Sigh!" She sighed. "You and Li Jiaqi are really different people. If it were you, you'd rather give up the business and beat him to a pulp."
She added, "But Li Jiaqi is very good to me. He's very perceptive when it comes to women. You two each have your strengths."
She wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes, filled two glasses with wine, picked up one, and looked at me with eyes that seemed to ripple like autumn water. "Another one."
I raised my glass and said, "Thank you, thank you for spending the New Year with me."
"What are you thanking me for? Why don't you just say you spent the New Year with my daughter and me?"
I chuckled. "Back home, you have a whole family of parents and relatives, how could I possibly be there to keep you company?"
She looked at me and said, "That's different. It depends on who you're happy with."
I avoided her gaze and said, "Come on, let's drink."
After a while, Sui Jinglei looked at the wine glass in her hand and said, "I've always had a strained relationship with my parents. After graduating from high school, I came to Chongqing to study, and that's when I met you. Your parents passed away when you were young, and you grew up in a foster family. You ran away from home at eighteen and started making your way in the world. We're both lonely people, kind of like fellow sufferers!"
Tears welled up in her eyes again. After wiping them away, she raised her glass to me and smiled, "Come, let's drink to those who are in the same boat."
After drinking that glass, I poured wine for her and myself while asking, "Can you tell me what's going on between you and your parents? From the time we started dating until after we got married, you and your parents didn't have much contact. I only went back to see them once with you. I've always wanted to ask you this question, but seeing how evasive you are, I didn't press you."
Sui Jinglei picked up her glass, took a sip, and smiled faintly. "Because of my sister..."
"Your sister? Your biological sister?"
"Yes, my biological sister."
I was quite surprised. I've known her for so many years, and we even lived together for a few years, and this was the first time I'd ever heard that she had a biological sister.
She took another sip of her drink, put down the glass, exhaled, and said, "I have a twin sister who looks exactly like me. No one can tell us apart except our parents. Relatives, neighbors, teachers, and classmates often mistake us for each other. Sometimes, even our parents get us mixed up..."
I looked at her quietly, listening to her recount her past. My intuition told me this wasn't a happy story.
"I always had good grades, was well-behaved and sensible, and was pretty—everyone praised me. My sister was different. Although she looked just like me, her grades weren't good, and her personality was different; she wasn't very likable. So, inevitably, my parents favored me more, and so did our relatives, teachers, and classmates..."
"Everyone who knows us often praises me in front of my sister, which over time made her jealous. But I still love her and treat her well as always. At that time, I told myself that I would take care of and protect this sister for the rest of my life. And I really did that, until we were eighteen..."
Sui Jinglei's tears flowed again. She wiped them away and continued, "That year, I was admitted to the Chinese Department of the School of Literature at Xida University, while my sister was only admitted to a junior college in Shaanxi. After receiving the admission notice, I took my sister on a trip to many places. We had a lot of fun along the way, but I never expected..."
She choked up and couldn't speak. I held her hand to comfort her. She wiped away her tears and said, "That night in Suzhou, she went out alone in the middle of the night and never came back. When I saw the suicide note she left behind at dawn, I immediately called the police and searched for her frantically until her body was pulled from the river..."
"Your sister committed suicide?" I asked in shock.
Sui Jinglei said sadly, "Yes! I only found out from her diary afterward that she had been suffering from depression for a long time, and she had been holding on until she couldn't hold on anymore..."
She cried and pointed to herself, saying, "I am such a bad older sister. My own sister has been depressed for so long, and I didn't even find out... Moreover, I think that the reason she got this disease must be related to me. She has lived in my shadow since she was a child. It would be impossible for her not to be depressed, but I was indifferent to her..."
I patted her back and comforted her, "Don't blame yourself too much. In the end, it's not your responsibility."

88.
Sui Jinglei gave a bitter smile. “But my parents don’t think so. After returning to Xi’an with my sister’s ashes, their attitude towards me changed completely from the previous ten years. They think I failed in my responsibilities as an older sister, that I didn’t take good care of my sister, that I didn’t protect her, which led to her suicide by jumping into the river… I also think they’re right, that’s really how it is.”
I could only comfort her, “Don’t take all the blame on yourself. Your sister’s illness and suicide were mainly caused by her own psychological problems.”
Sui Jinglei shook her head and continued her story, “For so many years, every time my parents see me, it’s as if they see the murderer who killed my sister. And I have always carried the heavy cross of the fact that my sister died because of me…”
"So, after graduating from university, I stayed in Chongqing and rarely went home, because I didn't want to cause them distress, and also to escape this painful past. This Spring Festival, if it weren't for an elder in my family celebrating their 80th birthday, I wouldn't have gone back."
On this New Year's Eve, I heard Sui Jinglei recount her sorrowful past for the first time. I had never known before that my ex-wife carried such a large and deep scar in her heart. No wonder I always felt she was quite withdrawn, didn't like socializing, and was sometimes even melancholic.
As she said, we were truly kindred spirits, which is why we came together. Today, I've come to know my ex-wife, the mother of my son, all over again.
After a long silence, Sui Jinglei sobbed, wiped away her tears, and said, "I've wronged you before. After everything we've been through, I've realized you're a truly rare and good person."
I said, "Don't say that. I also bear a lot of responsibility for what happened before. I only knew how to be loyal and responsible to my friends, but I never considered your feelings or ignored your hardships. Those years..."
I suddenly became emotional, pointing to myself, and said, "I, Chen Yu, owe nothing to heaven, nothing to earth, nothing to my friends, but I owe you happiness."
Sui Jinglei's tears streamed down her face. I suddenly thought of An Xiaomin. Back then, I didn't want to owe the An and Yang families anything, so I ran away from home, but I incurred a debt to her. She has never been truly happy in these past twenty-odd years, a debt I can never repay in my lifetime.
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I quickly wiped them away, saying, "Forget it, let bygones be bygones, let's not talk about it anymore."
She looked at me through her tears, "Tell me honestly, do you really not hate me anymore?"
I was silent for a moment, then said, "When I received your divorce papers in prison, I hated you. I thought, I only have a few months left before I get out, why do you have to divorce me?"
I choked up, "On National Day the year before last, I saw you and Li Jiaqi sitting intimately together. My mind went blank, I wanted to kill you both... But now..."
I shook my right index finger, "When I think about how hard it was for you to carry my child alone, I feel like, what right do I have to hate you?"
Sui Jinglei kept looking at me with tears streaming down her face. I said, "We just said let bygones be bygones, why do you keep bringing it up? The dumplings are cold, I'll go heat them up."
I was about to stand up when she grabbed me, looking at me with a drunken haze, her eyes filled with a certain expectation and hint.
My heart skipped a beat, but I still got up and took the dumplings into the kitchen.
While heating dumplings in the microwave, I thought that tonight, if I wanted, I could make love to Sui Jinglei and share a bed with her.
Since breaking up with An Xiaomei last National Day, I hadn't been with a woman; I could say I hadn't tasted meat for months. And Sui Jinglei, a charming young woman, was undeniably alluring.
Carrying the heated dumplings back to the living room, I had barely sat down when Sui Jinglei asked, "Chen Yu, do you still hate me?"
I smiled and said, "Why do you say that? I'm really happy that you and Tangtang came to spend the New Year with me today."
Sui Jinglei lowered her head and said, "You know, when I took Tangtang back on the plane today, I was incredibly happy the whole way. I felt like I was doing something that made me happy, and Tangtang was happy too. My son and I really wanted to spend the New Year with you..."
She looked up at me, "Tangtang needs his father, and I need you too. Although he always calls you 'uncle,' in his heart, he already considers you his father."
Hearing her words, my heart softened terribly, and I really wanted to say yes.
“Chen Yu…” she gazed at me with tears in her eyes, “You’ve wandered for most of your life, it’s really not easy for you. Let me… let my son and I give you a home, and at the same time, can you give my son and me a home too?”
Her words struck me deeply. I was now estranged from the woman I loved most, and another woman who loved me just as deeply had also been deeply hurt by me.
I believed the woman before me still loved me, and we had a son together. Tonight, after understanding her heart once more, I felt a desire to care for her and protect her, and at the same time, an even stronger longing to care for my son.
I was silent for a moment, then said, "Jinglei, thank you for your kindness, but... let's just be friends?"
At this moment, my heart had no room for any other woman besides the An sisters, even though I longed for a family.
Sui Jinglei burst into tears. I continued, "But in my heart, Tangtang will always be my son. Even if you marry someone else in the future, I will still give Tangtang a father's love."
She gazed at me for a long time, then smiled and said, "Okay, then let's be friends..."
I squeezed her hand and smiled back.
"But..." she wiped away her tears, choking back sobs, "we must be best friends."
I smiled and nodded at her. She added, "I have one more condition..."
"Go ahead..."
"Let's spend this Spring Festival together as a trio."
I raised my glass to her. "That's what I wanted too. It's settled then."
Sui Jinglei happily clinked glasses with me, and we both drank it down.
I thought for a moment and said, "Never tell Tangtang that I'm his biological father. After all, for the past few years, he's always thought Jiaqi was his real father. Besides, I don't want Jiaqi to be just a passerby in this child's life. When he grows up, he should still have a place for Jiaqi in his heart."
"Hmm..." Sui Jinglei started crying again.
Finally, she said, "How about we take Tangtang to Sanya?"
I laughed, "At this time of year, it's probably impossible to book a room in Sanya. Even if there are rooms, they'll probably be ridiculously expensive."
"A little expensive is fine!" she said nonchalantly. "We have such a big construction and decoration company; it's not like we can't afford this much money. As long as there are rooms available, we'll go."
I couldn't help but be tempted and said, "Then... let's go?"
"Yes, let's go!" she laughed happily.
That night, Sui Jinglei and her son stayed at my place. They shared a room, and I shared another.
The next morning, Sui Jinglei managed to book a room at a five-star hotel in Sanya Bay.
Although there was only one room, meaning that Sui Jinglei and I would have to share a room for the next few days, it was difficult to find a room in Sanya during the Spring Festival, so we didn't have to worry about the details.
We were overjoyed. I picked up a few summer clothes, and Sui Jinglei and her son and I drove to a supermarket to buy travel supplies—food, household items, and drinks—and then went to Sui Jinglei's house to pack their luggage.
On the afternoon of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the three of us, filled with the relaxed and joyful mood of a vacation, set off for Sanya.
We drove quickly all night, without stopping for any accommodations along the way. Sui Jinglei and I took turns driving, and we arrived at Xuwen Port on the morning of the second day.
Because passengers couldn't board the ferry by car, the mother and son got out of the car before reaching the ferry terminal, grabbed some food and drinks, and warm clothes for the wind on the ship, and prepared to walk onto the ferry.
“Chen Yu, my son and I are waiting for you up there!” Sui Jinglei leaned over to me from outside the car and said. Having changed into summer clothes, her breasts were briefly exposed as she leaned over—large, round, and white, quite alluring.
I thought to myself, this woman's breasts are indeed large, larger than the An sisters'.
I quickly reminded her, “There are luxury cabins on the ship, it's only fifty yuan more per person, and there's free coffee, drinks, and tea. Take your son there, I'll come find you later.”
“Okay, we'll wait for you there.” She said, leading Li Suitang onto the ship.

89.
After parking the car in the ferry, I went upstairs to the luxury cabin. Looking around, the mother and son were sitting on the sofa. Sui Jinglei stood up and waved to me, “Over here!”
Li Suitang was eating instant noodles. He looked up and called out, “Uncle, come quickly…”
I smiled at the mother and son and went over, my heart overflowing with warmth.
“Are you hungry? I made you a bowl of noodles too, eat quickly,” Sui Jinglei said.
I waved the thermos in my hand. "I'll go refill the teacup."
"I'll go..." She took the thermos from me and smiled, "You and your son eat your noodles."
After a while, Sui Jinglei returned with the refilled thermos. As I ate my noodles, I asked, "Why don't you make yourself a bowl?"
She smiled and said, "I'm not hungry."
An elderly man sitting opposite us asked, "Young lady, where are you from?"
Sui Jinglei smiled and replied, "Chongqing."
The old man asked again, "When did you leave? How long did it take?"
"Yesterday afternoon..." Sui Jinglei smiled, glancing at me, "My husband and I took turns driving; we didn't stay overnight along the way."
I didn't mind her telling a stranger that I was her husband; in our current situation, we looked like a married couple to everyone else.
The old man said, "No wonder you were here so quickly..."
He then asked, "Is it just the three of you traveling? Do you have any other relatives or friends?"
"No, just my husband, my son, and me... Uncle, where are you from?"
Sui Jinglei chatted warmly with the old man; she was in a very good mood.
After Li Suitang finished his noodles, he asked me to take him outside the cabin to play. Just as I was about to take him outside, the little guy said to his mother, "Mom, you come too."
Sui Jinglei was chatting happily with the elderly family and said to her son, "Mom won't go, you go with Uncle... Dad."
Li Suitang and I walked out of the cabin, and Sui Jinglei called out, "It's windy outside, can you put a jacket on our son?"
I said, "No need, it's quite warm, he won't get cold."
Then we heard the elderly family members say behind us, "Your husband and your son look quite alike."
"Yes!" Sui Jinglei chuckled, "That's what everyone says!"
The father and son went to the ship's railing. Under the bright sunshine, the Qiongzhou Strait stretched as far as the eye could see, the sea sparkling, and a flock of seagulls flew back and forth in the distance. The scenery was beautiful.
"Uncle, look, so many seagulls!" Li Suitang pointed to the sky and shouted happily.
"Yes! So many seagulls." I smiled and gently stroked my son's little face.
"Uncle, I want to fly like a seagull too," the little guy said again.
“Okay, when you’re a little older, Uncle will take you to go paragliding.”
“Uncle, what’s a paraglider?”
“It’s a big toy that lets you soar through the sky like a seagull.”
I said, glancing into the cabin. Sui Jinglei was still chatting and laughing with the elderly family. She happened to look our way and smiled sweetly at me. Just two
days ago, I was spending the Spring Festival all alone, with no one to confide in. Today, it feels like I have a wife and children; it’s like a dream.
I suddenly thought of the An sisters again, and a pang of sadness shot through my heart.
After playing on the ship’s railing for a while, Sui Jinglei came out of the cabin and exclaimed, “Wow! What a vast sea!”
I chuckled and asked, "We're so familiar now, why aren't you chatting with her?"
She pinched my waist and said coquettishly, "I came out to see you two, father and son. It's so windy, don't catch a cold."
"It's alright, not too windy," I said.
She took out her phone and said, "Let me take a picture of you two..."
So Li Suitang and I posed for Sui Jinglei to take two pictures. Then the three of us stood together, Sui Jinglei and I half-squatting on either side of our son, and Sui Jinglei held her phone far away to take a group photo.
"Son, are you happy?" Sui Jinglei smiled and gave our son a big kiss on the cheek.
Before I knew it, she kissed me on the cheek too. Caught off guard, I muttered, "What are you doing?"
"You're my son's father, is it illegal to kiss you?" She looked at me and giggled.
We arrived in Sanya in the afternoon and checked into a five-star hotel by Sanya Bay.
Sui Jinglei was very lucky; she managed to book a sea-view room facing the ocean, with a breathtaking view.
Although we had been traveling for over twenty hours, we weren't tired at all and decided to go swimming in the sea first.
While Sui Jinglei was changing her swimsuit in the bathroom, I quickly changed into my swim trunks, and then I had Li Suitang change as well.
When Sui Jinglei came out, she was wearing a sexy bikini, her voluptuous and hot figure on full display, her breasts almost spilling out, her cleavage quite deep, and her large white buttocks half-exposed, making my gaze a little uneasy.
She wore a beach skirt over her bikini to prevent being too revealing on the way from the room to the beach.
I also put on a t-shirt, put my phone and room key in a waterproof bag, tied it around my waist, grabbed a backpack containing two bottles of mineral water and a bag of biscuits, and headed out with the mother and son.
The beach was very close to the hotel; we just crossed a road and a coconut grove.
Sui Jinglei and I took off our outer clothes, stuffed them into our backpacks, and threw them on the beach. Each of us held one of Li Suitang's hands, and the three of us laughed and played as we plunged into the embrace of the azure sea.
That afternoon, the three of us swam happily in the ocean, our laughter echoing between the blue sky and white clouds—a family of three that everyone envied.
After swimming, we returned to our room, and Sui Jinglei and her son went to the bathroom to shower. I had originally asked Li Suitang to shower with me, but Sui Jinglei was worried I wouldn't get her son clean enough, given his body covered in sea salt, especially his hair.
I thought to myself, Li Suitang is seven or eight years old; it's inconsiderate of Sui Jinglei to shower with him. I'll have to talk to her about it later.
After Li Suitang came out, Sui Jinglei called from the bathroom, "Change his underwear and clothes too."
I did as she said. A little while later, Sui Jinglei also came out, wrapped in a towel, and called me to come in and shower.
I went into the bathroom and found that not only had Li Suitang's swim trunks and underwear, and my swim trunks, been washed and hung out to dry by Sui Jinglei, but even my underwear, which I had hung in the bathroom, had been washed.
I had to come out to get another pair of underwear. By then, Sui Jinglei had taken off her towel and was only wearing a pair of briefs, putting on her bra.
As I looked down in my suitcase for my underwear, I said, "You don't need to wash my underwear."
Sui Jinglei fastened her bra clasp and laughed, "Hey! I just rubbed it in, no big deal."
She then asked me what we wanted to eat that night. I said we should go to the First Seafood Market for seafood, which wasn't far from here. That
evening, we had a hearty seafood meal at the First Seafood Market, took a taxi back to the hotel, and the three of us went for a walk on the beach.
Night had fallen, the moon was bright, and the stars were few. The sea was pitch black, and the beach was deserted, with only the sound of the tide punctuating the tranquility.
Sui Jinglei and I walked side by side on the beach, while Li Suitang ran around ahead of us.
“Baby, slow down…” Sui Jinglei called to her son, then smiled at me, “This child is so happy.”
“Yes! I’m happy too,” I smiled.
Sui Jinglei reached out and took my arm, murmuring, “Thank you, Chen Yu.”
I smiled, “Why are you thanking me?”
“You gave Tangtang and me this time,”
I said, “You and Tangtang have given me so much too. Just a few days ago, I was all alone, thinking I would spend the Spring Festival alone, but now I have you and Tangtang by my side.”
Under the moonlight, Sui Jinglei looked at me with such longing and melancholy in her eyes, but I was completely oblivious.

90.
During those days in Sanya, we either visited tourist attractions or swam in the sea.
Although we stayed in the same room every night, and Sui Jinglei was very casual in front of me, I always kept the boundaries between men and women in our relationship and never crossed the line.
In the midst of this beautiful time, I felt a vague unease.
One night I woke up in the middle of the night and found Sui Jinglei sitting alone on the balcony crying. I went over and asked her what was wrong? She just kept crying and didn't answer me.
I hugged her and asked, "Are you thinking about your sister again?"
She nodded, choking back tears. I patted her back and said softly, "It's okay, it's okay, let bygones be bygones."
Sui Jinglei sobbed, "But in my heart, I can never get over it..."
She stopped crying, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Eighteen years. If my sister were still alive, she would be thirty-six this year, just like me, but she'll always be eighteen..."
She choked up, unable to speak, "She really did die because of me!"
At this point, she sobbed uncontrollably in my arms. I held back my tears and said, "Don't think like that. Even if you didn't care enough for your sister, her death wasn't your responsibility."
That night, Sui Jinglei cried all the time, and I kept comforting her. I thought, in her heart, how heavy that cross must have been, to the point that her sorrow flowed like a river.
After returning to Chongqing, I still often spent time with the mother and son, frequently picking up and dropping off Li Suitang from school. But I had a bad feeling, a sense that something bad was about to happen…
That day, I was inspecting a construction site when I received a call from Sui Jinglei. She asked me to come to her house; she had something to talk to me about. I asked, "Don't you have classes today? Why are you home so early?" She said she had swapped classes with another teacher.
That ominous feeling surged into my heart. Feeling uneasy, I drove to Sui Jinglei's house and found her sitting on the sofa, her face grave.
She picked up a folder and handed it to me. I took it and asked, "What's this?"
"You'll see when you read it," she said.
I opened it and saw a will prepared by a lawyer for her. It divided all her real estate, assets, and shares in the construction and decoration company left to her by Li Jiaqi. If she unfortunately passed away, the real estate and assets would be inherited by Li Suitang and her parents, and the company shares would be inherited by me.
I immediately panicked and said to her, "Jinglei, are you sick? If you're sick, let's get treatment, don't try this on me!"
Sui Jinglei said, "I'm very healthy, I don't have any illnesses."
I breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Then what are you up to?"
"Maybe, I'm going to jail..." she said.
I was shocked, "Go to where?"
She looked at me and said calmly, "Prison."
I gripped her shoulders tightly and asked urgently, "Jinglei, what happened?"
She smiled sadly, "Don't call me Jinglei anymore. I'm not Sui Jinglei at all. My real name is Sui Jingfei. For over seventeen years, this is the first time I've told anyone my name is Sui Jingfei..."
Under my utterly astonished gaze, Sui Jinglei continued, "Yes, I am the younger of those twin sisters, but I didn't die. The one who died was my older sister; she is the real Sui Jinglei."
I was stunned, finding it hard to believe, but seeing her so serious, it didn't seem like a joke. I asked, "So...so, suicide?" "That's the real Sui Jinglei, not Sui Jingfei?"
Sui Jinglei (I will still refer to Sui Jingfei as Sui Jinglei here) shed tears. "Although my sister died, she died in an accident, not by suicide. She never had any suicidal thoughts."
She burst into tears. "Many times in my dreams, that scene that I can't face, that makes me suffer unbearably whenever I think about it, reappears before my eyes. My sister is struggling and calling for help in the water. She desperately cries out, 'Sister, save me, Jingfei, save me...'"
Hearing this, I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine, and I understood why she was so heartbroken that night in Sanya.
"That year, my sister and I both received university admission notices and went on a trip together..."
Sui Jinglei stopped crying, wiped away her tears, and began her story. I already had a premonition of what a tragic story I was about to hear.
"After traveling to many places, we arrived in Suzhou. That night at the hotel, my sister and I had a fight over something trivial. In a fit of anger, I stormed out of the hotel in the middle of the night. My sister chased after me, all the way to the riverbank before catching up with me."
"At that moment, all the resentment I had accumulated since childhood exploded, and we had a huge argument. I said, 'We look exactly alike, even our voices are the same. Sometimes even Mom and Dad can't tell us apart. Why is it that everyone has always loved you, not me? Why are you our parents' darling daughter, their pride, while I'm not? Why can you get into a top university, become a middle school teacher, or even pursue a master's and doctorate to become a university professor, while I can only get into a teacher's college and become a primary school teacher?'"
"My sister listened to me, tears streaming down her face. She cried and said to me, 'You're my sister, I don't want this either! If we could switch, I would switch with you.' I called her a hypocrite and turned to leave. She grabbed me, and we started to struggle. I suddenly shoved my sister, and she slipped and fell into the river."
“I knew she couldn’t swim, and I was terrified. I was about to jump in and save her when suddenly a thought popped into my head. And it was this thought that made me suffer for the next seventeen years, never having a single day of peace, never escaping the torment of my conscience…”
Sui Jinglei (actually Sui Jingfei) broke down in tears as she spoke.
I looked quietly at this woman who was both familiar and strange before me. I had lived with her for many years and even had a son with her, but she was another woman who had impersonated Sui Jinglei. I found all of this utterly unbelievable.
“I could have gone down to save her, or shouted for help, but I didn’t move, didn’t utter a sound, just stood on the bank watching her. My sister struggled desperately in the water, bobbing up and down, calling out to me, ‘Sister, save me, Jingfei, save me!’”
“Finally, she couldn’t shout anymore, she couldn’t struggle anymore, and she sank little by little, first her mouth, then her nose, then her eyes, and finally her hands. I will never forget the moment she was submerged, the look of disbelief and despair in her eyes as she looked at me. That look, every time I think of it, is like a sharp sword piercing my heart again and again.”
Sui Jinglei’s tears streamed down her face, and my tears also flowed uncontrollably. For her, and for the real Sui Jinglei who was swallowed by the cold river more than seventeen years ago, for the tragic end of these twin sisters who should have loved each other.
"I rushed back to the hotel and wrote a suicide note in my own name, stating that I had jumped into the river to commit suicide. I also drafted my own diary overnight, revealing in it that Sui Jingfei suffered from severe depression due to low self-esteem..."
"From then on, there was no longer a girl named Sui Jingfei in the world. I became Sui Jinglei, and the life of the real Sui Jinglei remained forever in that cold river in Suzhou."
"I lived as her, and even took her place at Xida University. We looked and sounded exactly alike, only slightly different in tone of voice, demeanor, and hobbies. So I tried my best to imitate her, saying what she liked to say, eating what she liked to eat, listening to what she liked to listen to, and even getting the illnesses she liked to get, so as not to give myself any flaws to anyone, including our parents."
"Because my foundation was relatively weak, studying at a prestigious university like Xida University was naturally quite difficult. In order not to fall behind, I studied desperately, and finally graduated. I got a job teaching at an ordinary middle school, and only then could I breathe a sigh of relief."
"So all our relatives and friends were surprised. With the real Jing Lei's talent and grades, she could have at least finished her master's degree, and might even have had a chance to get a doctorate. But I only got an undergraduate degree and then stopped. Little did they know that I, the imposter Sui Jing Lei, had already worked my butt off to finish my undergraduate degree."
"My sister is dead. Such a beautiful, smart, and outstanding girl is dead, and I am alive, living in her place, living such a miserable life, every day is worse than death. I often see the scene of my sister questioning me in my mind. She said, 'Jing Fei, we are twins, I am your own sister! Why did you do this to me?' Every time this happens, I want to die and go down to apologize to her."
Sui Jing Lei cried uncontrollably. After she calmed down a little, I asked, "So what do you plan to do now? When you told me about your last wishes, did you want to turn yourself in?"
She nodded and said, "Only in this way can I find a little peace of mind. I killed my sister, and I should accept the punishment of the law."
I grabbed her shoulders and said urgently, "Jing Lei, listen to me." "This matter has been going on for eighteen years now. If you persist for another two years, the statute of limitations will have expired. Why would you turn yourself in and go to jail at this time?"
she said sadly. "I've always thought the same way. Since the day my sister died, I've been tormented by my conscience, counting down the days, hoping to live to see the day I can finally be safe. But as that day draws closer, my conscience becomes more and more uneasy. Why did my sister die so unjustly, while I get away with it?"
I said, "Jinglei, you can't think like that. The real Jinglei is dead. If you do this, can she come back to life? What will happen to your parents? They've already lost one daughter. Do they really want to see their only remaining daughter imprisoned at their age?"

91.
Sui Jinglei kept looking at me. I took a breath and said again, "What about Tangtang? Aren't you going to take care of him? He's your own son!"
I pointed to myself, "And me. If you go in, what am I supposed to do?"
Her eyes widened in shock. I said again, "Let's get married! Jinglei, I'm truly sincere."
At that moment, I felt this might be the only way to stop Sui Jinglei from turning herself in.
A relieved smile appeared on her face. I continued, "So, Jinglei, you're already Jinglei, you've been Jinglei for over seventeen years. Just live as Jinglei! It's better for you and for everyone."
She was silent for a long time, then said through tears, "Thank you! Chen Yu... But if I don't do this, I won't have a single day of peace. Do you know what this kind of torment feels like?"
I was speechless. Indeed, living with such a tormenting conscience every day was worse than death.
“Chen Yu, you really are a good person…” Sui Jinglei said, “Actually, you understand now that what happened when I brought Tangtang to you on New Year’s Eve, and everything that followed, was all intentional. It was all to put Tangtang in your hands. And even now, you’re still thinking of me. I, Sui Jinglei—no, I, Sui Jingfei—haven’t loved you in vain, haven’t loved the wrong person in this life.”
I smiled bitterly, “Tangtang is my son after all! Besides, didn’t you say you love me? I believe you truly love me.”
She looked at me for a long time, sighed, and said, “After I go in, you’ll leave Tangtang in my parents’ care. If they don’t want to take him, send him to a children’s welfare home. There’ll always be a way for him to survive.”
I was quite surprised and angry, “What are you saying? Tangtang is my son, of course I should take care of him!”
She looked at me for a long time again and said, “Actually, Tangtang is Li Jiaqi’s son.”
I said, “I know, I’ve never denied that he’s Jiaqi’s son, but he’s still my son!”
“No, Tangtang isn’t your son. He is indeed Jiaqi’s biological son.”
I was stunned.
“The year you went to prison, Li Jiaqi called me one day. He started crying before he even spoke…”
Sui Jinglei told me about her relationship with Li Jiaqi. Only then did I realize that their relationship started even earlier than she had told me before.
“He said, ‘Sister, something’s happened, I’m finished…’ I’ve always considered him my brother, so I rushed to his house and asked him what had happened.”
“Li Jiaqi cried and said that the two electricians he hired didn’t have licenses and died on the construction site. He couldn’t take responsibility for that and would definitely go to jail. Seeing how scared and distressed he was, I hugged him and comforted him…”
“I told him, ‘Don’t be afraid, your brother’s here! He knows a lot of people and will take care of things for you.’ He cried bitterly, saying that this was a huge matter, two lives! Even his brother couldn’t handle it. He hugged me tightly, crying in my arms, calling out ‘Sister’ over and over again, asking me what to do. Seeing him like this, I was also in a state of panic and cried with him…”
“I cupped his face, wiped away his tears, and said to him, ‘Sister’s here! Sister will save you, sister won’t let you go to jail.’ At that moment, our faces were so close that we unknowingly kissed…”
“He pinned me to the bed, groped me, and started taking off my clothes. I panicked and didn’t know what to do. I told him, ‘Jiaqi, don’t do this. I’m your sister, your sister-in-law, please don’t do this.’ But he didn’t stop…”
Sui Jinglei said, her face filled with guilt, tears streaming down her face. “At that time… I don’t know what came over me. Maybe I saw how much pain and helplessness he was in, and I didn’t know how to comfort him, so… I just did it with him in a daze…”
She wiped away her tears and smiled bitterly. “I never thought you would actually get away with it for him, and end up in jail for him…”
“Not long after you went to prison, I found out I was pregnant. I know very well that this child is Li Jiaqi's, not yours.”
I felt deceived again, my kindness exploited once more. I asked coldly, “So, before I met you on National Day two years ago, Li Jiaqi had already been diagnosed with cancer, and from then on, you two were planning to entrust the child and the company to me, right?”
Sui Jinglei quickly said, “No, no, you've misunderstood Jiaqi. He didn't know the child was his; he always thought it was yours.”
I was taken aback again. Sui Jinglei calmly said, “The reason I haven't told Li Jiaqi the truth is partly because I was afraid he would feel too guilty. After what happened, especially since you took the blame for him, he felt extremely guilty. If he knew about this, he might even want to die…”
"On the other hand, I sincerely hope this child is yours, and I want to treat him as your child, because the person I truly love, the only person I love, has always been you."
I couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you tell me back then that you fell in love with Li Jiaqi while he was taking care of you?"
Sui Jinglei gently shook her head. "That's not true. I've always treated him like my own brother, nothing more. I agreed to be with him back then entirely out of need for him. I'm a woman, and do you know how difficult it is for a woman to be pregnant and give birth alone?"
"The reason I told you that later was to protect him, because I was already his wife, and he was already Tangtang's father. I had no other choice."
"We never started planning, when we met you, that you would take over taking care of Tangtang and managing the company after Jiaqi passed away. It was only in June of last year, at the very end of his life, that I really didn't want to see him leave with worries and regrets, so I made that call to you."
“From beginning to end, Jiaqi never knew Tangtang was his biological son. So when he handed Tangtang’s hand to you on his deathbed, he was truly returning Tangtang, me, and even his company to you! His last look at you was truly a confession!”
After saying this, Sui Jinglei sobbed again. She cried for a while and said, “If we’re talking about planning and purpose, it’s that my decision to bring Tangtang back to you on New Year’s Eve, including our trip to Sanya, was also planned. Besides entrusting Tangtang to you, there was another reason: I wanted to spend my last moments with you before going to prison, and those moments would be enough for me to remember for the rest of my life…”
I said, “So, before going to Sanya, you had already decided to turn yourself in, right?”
She nodded, looking at me with tears streaming down her face, “Chen Yu, I love you, I’ve only ever loved one man in my life. Those few days in Sanya, and the days we spent together before that, were truly the happiest and most beautiful time of my life! It’s just too short.”
"Then why..." I asked again, "Now you're telling me Tangtang isn't my son? Aren't you afraid your plan will fall apart?"
Sui Jinglei wiped away her tears and said, "I don't want to lie to you anymore. I don't want you to take care of someone else's son as your own, and still be kept in the dark. Good people shouldn't be deceived. If I deceived someone as good as you like this, I'd go to hell after I die."
After a long silence, I said, "Listen to me, Jinglei. I don't object to you turning yourself in. After all, you broke the law and committed an unforgivable crime against your sister. However, it was manslaughter, so many years have passed, and you surrendered yourself. You shouldn't be severely punished."
Although this woman had made a grave mistake and had wronged me, at this moment, I considered her my closest relative. I stared at her. "Ten or eight years, even longer, Tangtang and I will wait for you. As long as you're here, as long as Tangtang is here, my home will be here."
Sui Jinglei looked at me, tears streaming down her face. "Chen Yu, you're such a good person. How can there be someone like you in this world?"
She paused, wiping away her tears. "But I'm not worth it. Please forget me and send Tangtang to my parents. Also, go find the An sisters and tell them that you've never been with me. You only used me as a cover because of your feud with the An family. No matter which of the sisters you're with, you should be with one of them. Either of them is far more worthy of you than I am."
In my heart, I thought, "Silly woman, my relationship with the An sisters and even the entire An family is over. There's no possibility of it in this lifetime.
" "Jinglei, you..." I said.
She interrupted me. "Don't say anything more. I'm begging you, okay? If you're even slightly willing to put my mind at ease, just do as I say."
I remained silent. After a while, I asked Sui Jinglei when she was going to turn herself in. She said she was going now.
"Okay, I'll go with you," I said.
She gently stroked my face and smiled, "Don't forget to pick Tangtang up from school this afternoon and tell him that Mommy won't be able to pick him up anymore..."
Tears welled up in my eyes. "Don't say that, Jinglei..."
She smiled and said, "I want to take a shower and change my clothes, then we'll go to the police station. Wait for me in the living room, okay?"
I got dressed and walked to the door. She called out to me, "Chen Yu..."
I stopped and turned back. Her eyes were filled with endless longing and sorrow. "I love you!"
I smiled slightly at her and left the bedroom. Sui Jinglei picked up her phone, typed a message on WeChat, and sent it to An Xiaomin. She and An Xiaomin had already added each other on WeChat last year when she was handling Li Jiaqi's funeral.
"Sister Xiaomin, I'm so sorry for causing you trouble. From beginning to end, Chen Yu never rekindled our old feelings. He just used me as a pretext to settle his score with your An family. So, no matter how heartless he was or how hurtful he was, it wasn't his true intention. Please forgive him, Sui Jinglei."
Then she sat on the edge of the bed and cried silently, tears streaming down her face.

92.
I waited in the living room for a while, but Sui Jinglei didn't come out. I went to the bedroom door and asked, "Jinglei, are you done?"
There was no response from inside. In that instant, I suddenly realized something, and tried to turn the lock, only to find it locked from the inside.
"Jinglei, Jinglei, what the hell are you doing? Don't do anything stupid! Jinglei..."
I was extremely anxious, shouting and pounding on the door, twisting the lock with all my might.
Sui Jinglei's voice came from the bedroom, "Chen Yu, I will be your wife again in the next life..."
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I roared, "Sui Jinglei, don't the hell leave me! Don't leave me!"
I kicked the door with all my might, and it took several kicks to open it. I rushed into the room and saw that it was empty, but the window was open.
"Jinglei..." I shouted, and rushed to the window to look down. I saw a figure lying on the concrete ground dozens of meters away from me. Frightened people kept gathering around, but they didn't dare to get close. Many people were looking up at the building.
Just moments ago, after Sui Jinglei stood on the windowsill and said those words to me, she looked up at the sky, tears streaming down her face, and
said, "Sister, I'm here..." Then she jumped.
"Jinglei!"
I let out a heart-wrenching wail, my legs gave way, and I knelt down, leaning against the window, weeping silently...
A week later, Sui Jinglei's parents and Li Suitang prepared to return to Xi'an.
Sui's parents had arrived in Chongqing the day after Sui Jinglei's suicide, partly to handle her funeral arrangements, including inheritance procedures, and partly to take their grandson to live in Xi'an.
Li Suitang, who had just lost his father half a year ago, had now lost his mother; the little guy was truly pitiful.
However, what I found most unbearable to face were Sui Jinglei's parents. Both in their sixties, they had twice buryed their children; the grief and pain in their hearts was beyond the comprehension of anyone else.
To my surprise, Mr. and Mrs. Sui already knew about Sui Jinglei's nearly eighteen-year-old secret. They had seen through it from the beginning that the so-called Sui Jinglei was actually Sui Jingfei in disguise.
"That year, she came back alone for only a few days before we noticed the flaws. She's our daughter; she could fool others, but how could she fool us? Your mother and I discussed it, and although we didn't know the specifics, we estimated that her sister was probably killed by her. It's unbelievable! Who could be so cruel as to kill their own sister?" "
After much thought, your mother and I decided to do nothing. We've already lost one daughter; are we going to let another one go to prison, or even be executed?"
Mr. Sui wept bitterly, and Mrs. Sui beside him also wiped away tears. Their sorrow and helplessness made me particularly sad. As parents, knowing that one of their daughters had killed another, yet being unable to do anything or say anything—there is no more tragic thing in the world than this.
"Sigh!" Mr. Sui sighed deeply. "She wanted to be Jing Lei since she was little, so let's grant her wish and let her be Jing Lei! But..."
The old man wiped away his tears, "Our hearts... are truly aching! Every time we see her, it's like facing the murderer who killed Jing Lei, yet we act as if we know nothing and nothing has happened. How are we supposed to face her?" "
So, out of sight, out of mind. For so many years, we haven't wanted her to come home, and we've never gone to Chongqing to see her, precisely for this reason."
I wiped away my tears and said, "Dad, she's dead, so please forgive her. For the past ten years, she hasn't had a single good day; she's been tormented by her conscience every day."
After all, I had once been the Sui family's son-in-law, and although I had only met Mr. and Mrs. Sui once before, I still called them Dad and Mom.
Mr. Sui sighed heavily again, "What else can we do if we don't forgive her?"
Then he burst into tears, "My poor daughter Jing Lei, Jing Fei!"
Mrs. Sui was also beside him, hugging Li Suitang, crying uncontrollably.
On the day I said goodbye to three generations of my family, near Terminal 3 of Jiangbei Airport, as I returned to my car, I heard Li Suitang call out to me from behind, "Dad..."
This was the first time he had called me "Dad." I wasn't quite sure why the little guy would suddenly call me that. Perhaps, after losing both his father and mother, he had developed a deep dependence on me, the adult man who had always been close to him?
I turned around, and the little guy was crying. His eyes pierced my heart like a sword. "Will you come to Xi'an to see me?"
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I nodded to him, saying, "I will come, Dad will definitely come."
For the next few days, I was constantly tormented by the little guy's eyes and those words. Finally, one day, I boarded a flight to Xi'an.
In my eyes, regardless of who Li Suitang's biological parents were, his biological parents were gone. Since he called me Dad, then he was my son. From now on, let's rely on each other, father and son!
When I appeared before Mr. and Mrs. Sui, they were both surprised, but Li Suitang was overjoyed and rushed into my arms.
Holding the little guy, I said to them, "Dad, Mom, I'm here to pick up Tangtang. Should I take care of him?"
Mr. Sui asked, puzzled, "Son, Tangtang has only been here a few days, and you want to take him back? What are you thinking?"
I said, "Dad, Mom, I've thought it through. I know you'll miss Tangtang, but I will too. If you're willing, come back to Chongqing with me. From now on, you'll be my parents, and I'll be your son. Let me take care of you in place of Jinglei and Jingfei."
As I spoke, tears streamed down my face. They also wept, exchanged a glance, and Mr. Sui said, "Chen Yu! Your mother and I know you're a good boy, but why should we, these old bones, trouble you?"
"Dad, Mom, you're not causing me trouble, you're doing me a favor. I lost my parents when I was little, and if you could be my parents, it would be like giving me a home. Jinglei, oh no, it should be Jingfei, promised to give me a home before, but she didn't keep her promise. I beg you two to do it for your daughter."
The two elderly people kept wiping away tears, and I pressed on while the iron was hot, "That way, you can help me take care of Tangtang over there, taking care of his daily life, picking him up and dropping him off at school, and so on. I'm busy with work, so I won't need to hire a nanny. Besides, transportation is very convenient now. Whenever you want to go back to Xi'an, you can come back for a short stay. Chongqing and Xi'an, one home on each side, isn't that great!"
Sui's mother said to her husband with tears in her eyes, "Her father, I think what this child said makes sense. Why don't we grant her wish?"
And so, Sui's father, Sui's mother, and Li Suitang went back to Chongqing with me.
Before leaving, I visited Sui Jingfei's (actually Sui Jinglei's) grave. Looking at the familiar face in the portrait on the tombstone, I couldn't tell if the beautiful girl in the photo was Sui Jinglei or Sui Jingfei.
But I knew that buried there was the real Sui Jinglei.
I said to her, "Jinglei, although I never met you, I lived with another Jinglei, the real Jingfei. Please forgive Jingfei, because she has already repented for you with her life..."
Two lines of tears silently slid down my face...
Back in Chongqing, I had my parents move into my old house with Li Suitang to avoid being reminded of Sui Jinglei's house.
I listed that house online, intending to sell it, with the proceeds going to my parents.
Just as I promised, I truly treated Sui's parents as my own, and they treated me like their son.
I kept saying in my heart, "Jinglei, Jingfei, you can rest assured!" I will take care of Mom and Dad, and I will be there to care for them in their old age and see them off in their final days.
I hope you two sisters can love each other dearly in heaven. Considering that the fake Sui Jinglei (the real Sui Jingfei) is quite cunning and scheming, and in case she deliberately says that Li Suitang is not my son, even though I can't think of any reason why she would lie about this before she died, I still secretly had Li Suitang's hair compared with mine for DNA testing.
The results showed that Li Suitang is not related to me by blood; he is indeed Li Jiaqi's son.
That day, holding that test report, I couldn't help but smile bitterly at Li Jiaqi in heaven, "Jiaqi, do you see? Tangtang is your own son. My brother and I were completely fooled by this woman. But, forgive her!"
In these days, I have also often thought about the grudges between me and the An and Yang families.
I think that even if Uncle An and Uncle Yang did very bad things to my father back then, it certainly wasn't their intention. Rather, under certain circumstances, the selfishness and evil in human nature were aroused, which led to an irreparable tragedy.
For over thirty years, haven't they, like Sui Jingfei, suffered daily from the torment of their conscience?
I often say that forgiving others is being lenient with oneself. But how difficult it is to truly do it!

(To be continued, the long-buried past will soon be revealed)

URL 1:https://www.sexlove5.com/htmlBlog/4936.html

URL 2:/Blog.aspx?id=4936&aspx=1

Last access time:

Previous Page : female neighbor

Next Page : My boyfriend and I

增加

comment Open a new window to view comments

Contact Information

My stunningly beautiful female boss at 29 (1986-1992)

comment Open a new window to view comments