LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 365
Gao Dalin finished speaking and went upstairs, pulling his wife with him as he walked out the door. His wife was a beautiful and virtuous woman. Pei JianGuo had come over many times, but the two had barely exchanged more than a few words, even when she was cooking in the kitchen. Other than that, she was almost always upstairs.
It was just the two of them in the house. Gao's younger sister was even more ignored as she pretended to be crazy from drinking...
It's inappropriate to describe in detail what happened next, but by the time Pei JianGuo left two hours later, one of the buttons was missing from the front of his shirt, and he had a silly grin on his face.
When ZhiXia returned home, she saw Sister Zhang wink at her meaningfully. "ZhiXia, Ping'an Mom came over. She's in the living room."
It had been a full 5 years since the person who had left just a letter behind was gone. With not a single phone call or letter in those 5 years, her sudden return felt somewhat surreal.
"I see. Sister Zhang, go take care of your things first. I'll go take a look." Not hearing the children's voices, she guessed they must have gone next door or out back.
ZhiXia walked into the living room. Guo Momo was already standing, looking at her longingly, wanting to approach but not daring to.
"Auntie, long time no see."
"Yes, it's been a long time."
ZhiXia went over and sat on a stool, signaling for her to sit as well. "You just got back from overseas?"
Guo Momo had changed quite a bit over the years. Her little round face and innocent features made her look quite young - you couldn't even tell she was nearing 30. Her soft hair draped over her shoulders. She wore an expensive plaid skirt with crystal sandals on her feet. It was evident she had been living well these past few years.
"I've been back for a while. I wanted to come pay my respects to you and Younger Uncle earlier, but I never found the time." Just getting back and being busy with work was normal, but to be so busy she didn't even have time to come over, that excuse could only be believed so much.
ZhiXia could vaguely guess the real reason she hadn't come over, but she simply said, "It makes sense to be busy arranging work after getting back. Since you've made time to come now, I assume things at work have settled down?"
Back then, her daring decision to study abroad for her career couldn't be entirely blamed on her.
Who could say it was right for the woman to be held back for the child's sake, while the man could just plant his seed and be done with it?
Perhaps neither she nor Pei JianGuo were qualified parents, but at least she had taken responsibility for PingAn's most difficult early years.
"Yes, I've gotten things arranged and have started working too. It's going well." Although she had left 1,000 RMB behind at the time, facing ZhiXia now still made Guo Momo feel guilty.
Ever since returning, she had been debating when and how to face ZhiXia and her child. She didn't even dare walk by here, afraid of accidentally running into them and seeing hatred in her child's eyes.
She had tried very hard these years and always felt remorseful. Of the several classmates who had gone abroad with her, two had chosen to remain overseas, while she had rejected a high salary offer to stay determinedly in her homeland.
Perhaps there was nothing worth staying for here, but there was a son she could never let go of.
How many nights had she jolted awake from dreams of her son looking at her despairingly as she walked farther and farther away, and she'd hate herself for being so heartless to abandon such a young child.
You could not detect any familiarity in their simple exchange - the one who couldn't hold back longing for her child was the mother. "Auntie, how has PingAn been these past few years? I...I want to see him."
She didn't know anyone she could ask about how PingAn had been living these years.
Privately, she surely hoped PingAn was raised by ZhiXia, since she was a good person who would definitely not shortchange the child or teach him bad things. If the boy had been living with Pei JianGuo, who knows what Wang Yue might have said about her to Poison PingAn's mind. She had left when PingAn was still little and he surely wouldn't remember anything from back then now, making him easy to manipulate.
What she feared most was PingAn being loathed in her absence.
It was her own fault, betraying the sincere feelings of others.
So before coming, she had prepared herself that even if she were beaten and scolded, she deserved it, though she knew ZhiXia would not act that way.
ZhiXia knew what she wanted to ask. She directly said, "These years PingAn has been living with his grandfather. Back then I also gave the 1,000 RMB you left to Big Brother. They bought a house in the back, the one directly opposite this yard. If you want to see PingAn you can just go over."
"His grandfather wasn't..."
When she had left, Pei Yong was still in the military and doing quite well.
"In the days right after you left when PingAn cried and threw tantrums, his grandfather retired and brought PingAn to live here for a while to get him used to things before they moved into the back house. In order to take care of PingAn he specially arranged a laidback job as Head of Security at the textile factory. Before PingAn started school he would either go with his grandfather to the security office or come over here."
Pei Yong certainly wouldn't tell Guo Momo these things himself. ZhiXia also felt Pei Yong had it hard and let a little extra slip.
These years PingAn had been raised very well by his grandfather and the two had always had a close relationship, relying on each other. She could scarcely imagine now - if Guo Momo came back this time wanting to take PingAn away, Pei Yong might not stop her but he would surely feel awful inside.
Letting Guo Momo know all this, even if PingAn ultimately went with his mother, as long as he came back regularly to visit, it would give Pei Yong some comfort.
Guo Momo had abandoned her child for her own prospects. Hearing now that Pei Yong, the grandfather, had chosen to retire in order to care for the child, effectively sacrificing his own prospects, made her feel even worse inside.
"It's my fault for wronging my child. PingAn must really resent me, right?" Guo Momo said with red-rimmed eyes. Even the strongest person has moments of fragility.
Thinking of the child PingAn brought a hint of a smile to ZhiXia's lips. "You'll know when you see him."
Guo Momo's worries were not unfounded - if the boy had been raised by Pei JianGuo and Wang Yue he would surely harbor hatred for his mother. She should be grateful to Pei Yong. Because PingAn had a good grandfather who never spoke ill of his mother in front of him, but instead always talked about Guo Momo's difficulties over the years.
Pei Yong was also planning for the future. He was getting on in years and couldn't accompany PingAn forever. Pei JianGuo and Wang Yue were unreliable. Other than his two grandfathers here, PingAn's only other support was his mother.