Chapter 32

The neighborhood was as quiet as usual, but my mood was turbulent. I forced myself to be calm, leaning against the car and smoking one cigarette after another, imagining how to tear off my mother’s mask.

It’s not that I didn’t think about going home first and sitting in the yard to examine my mother’s return like a presiding judge, seeing her embarrassment and shame, listening to her lies, and despising her hypocrisy.

However, I finally decided to go home later than her, like a hero wearing a medal to prove to her that her son was also in the neighborhood where she had an affair, and she didn’t recognize the wrong person at all!

Each cigarette would be thrown to my feet after a few puffs as an idea was disillusioned, and then stepped on a few times. After a new idea emerged, I would unconsciously take out a cigarette and light it. It was my first time smoking, and I became more and more skilled in lighting a cigarette. Soon, my feet were covered with dense cigarette butts.

It was already dark. It was only seven o’clock. I had been waiting for my mother for almost an hour. A pack of cigarettes was almost empty, with only two or three cigarettes left. My irritable mood had turned into worry. From the depths of my soul, I felt a heavy worry, worrying about what happened to my mother on the short journey home.

When I put out the last cigarette, the door of my house opened. The street lights illuminated the small yard. My mother finally came back and her car was turning into the yard.

After waiting for so long, she finally came back, but I hesitated. All the plans I had made just now were in vain.

While I was hesitating, my mother called.

“Zhang Hao, where have you been? Come back soon. I’m cooking your favorite sweet and sour pork ribs.” My mother’s beautiful voice came from the receiver.

“Oh~ I’m on my way home.” My mother’s voice was like a heavenly sound, which soothed all my dissatisfaction. The desire for revenge was wiped out, and I said something completely opposite to my mood just now.

I mustered up the courage to go back home. Mom was chopping vegetables in the kitchen. The range hood was humming. Mom’s graceful back was shaking slightly with the knife in her hand. The chopping sound echoed in the kitchen. Soon the potatoes were cut into shreds.

“Are you back? Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner!” Mom turned around and saw me. She smiled and wiped her hands with her apron. She looked as if nothing had happened, but I seemed to see a trace of panic and uneasiness in the depths of her eyes. Her smile was also a little embarrassed.

I stared straight into Mom’s eyes, trying to find something else, but Mom had turned her head away and reached out to put the shredded potatoes into the basket to drain the water and wash off the starch on it.

I walked to the wash basin to wash my hands, and Mom also came over with a basket to drain the water. I tried my best to act as if nothing had happened, and peeked at Mom’s beautiful profile and graceful neck.