Chapter 4

I spent a week in a daze. At lunch that day, I suddenly remembered that my father’s birthday seemed to be in the next few days. I looked at the calendar and luckily, it was one day away. In order to avoid forgetting it when I was busy the next day, I quickly transferred 5,000 yuan to him and called him. Everything was normal at home. When I went back to my hometown last time, my father was hesitant to speak when he learned that I had transferred to work in S City. I saw through his thoughts and told him that I had not seen my mother here yet.

My father didn’t say anything, just kept silent. Maybe he didn’t want us to spend too much time together, but he couldn’t stop us. We were getting closer, so it was only a matter of time before we met. This time, just like before, he didn’t mention my mother. When I was young, every time he mentioned her, his expression was like he wished she was dead out there.

In recent years, he has been doing well, and his family is happy and complete, so he has let go of some things. My father and stepmother’s birthdays are only two days apart, which is quite a coincidence. I also save trouble. In the past two years, I have transferred more money to my father on his birthday to celebrate his birthday. In this way, I don’t have to communicate directly with my stepmother. After all, she is not my biological child, so there are many polite ways to communicate with her. I am not good at transferring money and pushing it back and forth, so I just let my father do it for me.

The five thousand yuan was a bit much, so my father declined it for a while, but he reluctantly accepted it after hearing that my salary had increased. But later he brought up the same old topic again, asking me if I had any intention of buying a house and where I was interested in buying a house. He told me this when he went home for the National Day holiday, but I didn’t take it too seriously. I was only 23 years old, so there was no need to rush.

This time, my father was more direct. He prepared about 300,000 yuan for me. In my hometown, a fourth or fifth tier city, the house price is 5,000 or 6,000 yuan, and the down payment is 300,000 yuan. I can pay the mortgage myself later, so the pressure is not too great. If I move to a first-tier city like S City or H City, these hundreds of thousands of yuan will not be enough, and I will have to work hard for many years. My father meant that he would not be able to help me much in the future if I bought a house in a first-tier city. I understand and comprehend his idea, which is to treat everyone equally.

There are three children in the family. I am the eldest and I already have a job. He first settled everything for me. Then he had to prepare 300,000 yuan for each of my two younger siblings. I don’t know the exact amount of savings in the family, but after giving me my share, there will be 600,000 yuan left. My youngest brother has just graduated from junior high school. When he graduates from college and starts working, they have to work hard to get the money together. I have always believed that I am independent and don’t need to rely on anyone. When talking about this topic, I lose my confidence.

Even if I go back to my hometown to buy a house, I have to save money and work hard for several years before I can afford it. In S City, the average house price of 50,000 or 60,000 yuan can make people despair. But if nothing unexpected happens, I may continue to work here for a long time in the future. I can afford to buy a house in my hometown but I don’t have time to live there, but I can’t afford to live in S City for a long time. It’s a tangled and helpless reality.

I had no choice but to promise my father that I would pay attention to the market in my hometown when I have time. After the phone call, my mother’s upset mood became even more depressed. I was a little listless at work in the afternoon. I thought it was good to get such a salary shortly after graduation, but compared with the housing prices and consumption level here, I suddenly felt that the job was not so attractive.

When it was time to get off work, most of my colleagues had left, but I was still sitting at my desk, not wanting to move. I was randomly browsing the web on my computer to read the news, and of course, I also checked the real estate market in my hometown. When my colleagues left, I asked them to turn off the lights. As the sky gradually darkened, I realized how late it was. I looked up and found that the lights in the general manager’s office were still on.

As an assistant, I didn’t even know that my boss, who was just a few meters away and separated by a wall, hadn’t left work. This was incredible to me. You can imagine where my mind was flying. I rubbed my face to adjust my expression, knocked on the door and entered the office. Unexpectedly, the cold and beautiful strong woman Xu Yongmei was not working overtime as I imagined. Instead, she was slumped in the boss chair with a lazy look on her face, turning a pen in her hand boredly. I have known her for so long, and the image she has always presented to us is cold, wise, and resourceful. I have never seen such a lazy and delicate little woman.

No matter how strong a woman is, she is still a woman. She cannot always maintain the aloofness of a strong woman. But in front of us at the company, at least she has never been weak. So everyone subconsciously ignores that this boss who is less than 30 years old is still a little woman in essence.

“Evelyn! Haven’t you finished get off work yet?”

“Hmm! You haven’t left yet!”

Evelyn did not hide her delicate state at all, and her speech was no longer as concise and cold as before, but had a bit more worldly flavor.

“Um ... there was something small that delayed me!”

“Really? I haven’t arranged much work for you these days!” Evelyn raised her eyes and looked at me with a half-smile, “You don’t look very well these days. There are difficult problems in life that need to be solved in time. If you need time, you can also take a leave and come back to work after you have dealt with them.”

“No, no, it’s just a small matter. Don’t worry, Evelyn, it won’t affect your work!”

I was a little panicked at once. It was not a good thing for the leader to notice that I was not in the right state at work. The leader was the leader. He didn’t need to put on airs or look cold. Just a few words could make me tremble with fear.

“Well, that’s good!” Evelyn nodded, didn’t look at me any more, leaned back on the chair, and said lightly: “If you have nothing to do, you can go home first, I’ll take a rest before leaving!”

“Oh, okay Evelyn!”

I felt as if I had been pardoned and left the office immediately. I was too lazy to care about this woman’s abnormal state. I was already in a mess, so why should I worry so much?

“John, wait a minute!”

Just as I turned off my computer and packed up to leave, Evelyn stopped me at the office door.

“Uh! What else do you want Evelyn to do?”

“You...” The tall woman in a professional suit leaned against the door with her arms crossed over her chest. She hesitated for a moment before continuing, “Where do you usually have dinner?”

“Dinner?” I was confused for a moment, but still answered honestly: “Just whatever I want. There are fast food restaurants and food stalls near the community where I live, so I can just make do with it. When I feel lazy, I just stay at home and order takeout...”

Evelyn looked at me with no emotion in her eyes. I was smart, so I immediately continued, “On weekends, I occasionally have dinner and drinks with my colleagues at food stalls or restaurants over there. This doesn’t affect work!”

The slightly playful joke made the cold and beautiful female boss’s mouth slightly raise, and her eyes seemed to brighten: “How can I control the time after get off work? Why don’t you plan to treat me to a meal?”

“Ah, this...”

I had already guessed it in my mind, but of course I still put on a surprised expression.

“Not happy?”

“You must be happy to do that! It’s an honor!”

Other colleagues may not have the opportunity to have dinner with their female boss, but I am used to it. But in the past, it was mostly for work reasons, such as meeting clients to discuss business. Or occasionally on business trips, I would have dinner with her alone.

But this is all work related, I have never done it privately. If the boss asked me to treat him privately, it would be a great opportunity to curry favor with him and to improve the relationship. I would be stupid to refuse.

I led Evelyn to the area I mentioned, which can be regarded as a food street with restaurants and food stalls. Looking at her pretty face with slightly frowned eyebrows, I laughed in my heart.

I asked her for her opinion along the way, but she just let me arrange it. Now I am not used to the noisy environment. I don’t have bad taste, so I finally chose a Cantonese restaurant with fewer people and a quieter environment.

After the dishes were served, I asked her for permission to order two bottles of beer for myself. I wanted to give her a drink, but she refused. In my surprise, this tall and beautiful woman in a professional suit opened a bottle of beer and filled it up for herself without paying attention to anyone around.

“Evelyn, do you want to ... get drunk?”

I started joking. In front of this arrogant lady, I had to relax a little more than other subordinates. Of course, I didn’t dare to be presumptuous.

“Why not!”

Evelyn looked up at me with a half-smile. I raised my glass and clinked it with hers. I drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, and suddenly I felt heroic: “Then I will risk my life to accompany you. Anyway, tomorrow is the weekend and I don’t have to go to work!”

“good!”

The beauty’s satisfied smile made people’s hearts flutter. Evelyn changed her usual cold attitude and took the initiative to chat with me while eating, talking about various trivial matters in work and life.

It was rare to see her so approachable, so I relaxed a little more and ordered more wine. Before we knew it, we had drunk seven or eight bottles and were already tipsy.

I know the female leader’s alcohol tolerance to some extent, she is not worse than me, and can easily finish three or four bottles of beer. Her face turns red when she drinks, and it turns red when she touches alcohol. Every time I see her pretty face after drinking, I feel that the phrase “face like a peach blossom” is simply the most appropriate description.

“John, you are twenty-three years old?”

“Well, it’s almost twenty-four!”

Don’t you know my information very well? I felt a little strange, but I answered honestly.

“Twenty-three, ah!” Evelyn’s eyes became blurry, as if she was recalling something, “This age is exactly when I’m going to get married!”

“Really?”

Of course I knew she was married, and her husband was the big boss of our head office, but I never knew her exact age when she got married.

It is also because of this relationship that she was able to hold a high position when she was less than 30 years old - it was her own business, and no one could interfere with her position.

I actually know more. This cold and beautiful young woman in front of me comes from a family with an official background. Evelyn’s family has made a lot of efforts behind the scenes to make the head office as big as it is today.

“Yes! I got married when I was twenty-three, and it has been five years now.”

Evelyn picked up the glass and drank it all, then laughed at herself and said, “Ha! Five years is not that long. Fortunately, it didn’t waste more of my time!”

“Well...”

“Why don’t you speak?”

“This topic ... I’m not suitable for discussing it!”

I looked at her hesitantly, not daring to talk about the leader’s family affairs in person. But this woman didn’t give me face, and sneered, “Don’t pretend. You said it’s not suitable, but I’m afraid you’ve already guessed it in your heart!”

Yes, I could almost tell from the moment she took the initiative to pick up the glass. But after all, she is not an ordinary colleague or friend, so there are some things that I should not ask proactively.

“I’m divorced. I completed the paperwork this morning!”

As if she was talking about something that had nothing to do with her, there was no expression on Evelyn’s face, and no trace of sadness, disappointment, or joy or relief could be seen.

“oh...”

Since she knew I had guessed it, I couldn’t show any surprise, but I didn’t know how to deal with this kind of thing. Comforting, consoling or congratulating her was not something I was good at, and it wasn’t appropriate for her.

“That’s it? Nothing to say?” Evelyn looked at my dull expression, feeling both angry and amused.

“I ... Evelyn, I don’t know what to say!”

This time, I expressed my inner thoughts honestly. However, I didn’t expect her to laugh at me again: “You don’t dare to say it! I brought you all here from H City, so you all know that Deng Wei and I don’t get along. You should say that you all hope that I will leave as soon as possible so that you can have a good future!”

“No, Evelyn, don’t think too much about it!” I must have said this against my will, but it doesn’t sound good to say it out loud. Hoping for someone to get divorced is immoral.

“Haha! John, you are so cunning at such a young age.” Evelyn smiled and continued, “Don’t hide it. You followed me because of this situation. Don’t worry, in a few months, this company will be separated from the one in H City, and there will be some equity swaps. In name, it will be under the management of the head office, but they will not interfere with this side. It is my own asset.”

I was delighted when I heard that. If I could serve and curry favor with the woman in front of me, I would be promoted and get a raise without going through the review of the head office. As for the equity swap and asset distribution, that was the business of the couple and the shareholders. I, an ordinary employee, didn’t need to care about it.

People need to vent their feelings in a proper way. Even Evelyn, who is so cold, rich and beautiful, felt much more relaxed after she talked to me over a drink. It can also be seen from this that her relationship with her ex-husband has faded to such an extent that she does not have too many sad feelings. Are people who have been in business for a long time so indifferent to emotions?

After that, the atmosphere became better and Evelyn became more talkative. From her mouth, I learned that her ex-husband was six or seven years older than her. He graduated from the same university as her, but was a lot older. After graduation, he applied for a job at his company, and then he naturally pursued this cold beauty and got married a year later.

As to whether he was attracted by Evelyn’s outstanding appearance and personality, or her background, or both, I have no idea.

“John, I’ve been talking so much, why don’t you talk about yourself?”

After talking about myself, this woman became interested in me again, which is really frustrating.

“I, I don’t have anything to say, right?”

“Don’t give me that!” Evelyn rolled her eyes at me, with a playful and charming manner that I had never seen before. Perhaps at this moment, she didn’t regard me as a subordinate employee, but ... a friend with whom she could chat and confide?

“You’ve seemed a little absent-minded these past few days. Tell me what difficulties you’ve encountered. Well ... if it involves anything private that’s inconvenient to talk about, forget it!”

How could I refuse after hearing that? Then I told her about the dilemma of buying a house, but she couldn’t give me any good advice. A rich and beautiful girl like her who was born with a good start probably can’t deeply understand the bitterness of the people at the bottom.

Fortunately, I was comforted in the end, saying that I was so young and there was no need to belittle myself. There were infinite possibilities in the future. When I became stronger, I would have more options. Moreover, most of my peers were not as well off as I was now, and they still had the motivation to strive. I should not have fallen into anxiety so early, and there was no need for that.

Although everyone would say this, it still felt like a spring breeze when she said it. Besides, there was some truth in it, and I felt much better. But when I thought about the dispute with my mother, I had no idea how to deal with it.

“That woman ... I met her a few days ago. What’s her relationship with you?”

Just as I was thinking about my mother, Evelyn suddenly stared at me and asked.

“That’s my mom!”

“oh?”

As soon as I said this, I felt something was wrong. I just thought of my mother. When she asked me this, I didn’t think much about it. In addition, we were chatting well, so I said it carelessly. The reason for this should be that alcohol affects thinking and memory.

Because I quickly thought of the situation when Evelyn first met my mother. It was really bad.

After calming down a little, I explained, “It is indeed my biological mother. Do you remember the time when she came here on a business trip?”

“Yes, I remember!”

Evelyn picked up the wine glass and took a sip, hiding the shock on her pretty face. I didn’t hesitate and continued, “My mom divorced my dad a long time ago and has been in S City for many years. What kind of job do you do? I believe you can tell from that time! Haha! Daniel and his friends treated us to a meal, and you asked me to handle it. In the end, they called a bunch of prostitutes to accompany us for drinks, and one of them was my mom!”

It seemed as if my mind went back to that night, and I still felt a little sad: “Can you understand that feeling? One of the prostitutes I hired turned out to be my own mother! Haha, I wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground at that time, for fear that others would know about our relationship. I couldn’t bear to see her having fun with others in front of me, so I had to hire her myself.”

My tone was as depressed as my mood, and Evelyn was affected by my mood. She didn’t care about finding a prostitute, which she was disgusted with. She asked with sympathy and curiosity: “Then, what happened later?”

“Afterwards ... we went to the room we had booked. I scolded her and stormed out. The next morning, she found out which hotel I was staying at and came over. You saw what happened next.”

After I finished speaking, I pretended to be calm and looked carefully at Evelyn’s face, trying to analyze her thoughts. Combining our encounter that day with what I said today, how much did she hear and how much did she believe it now.

“Then you gave her a bank card that day...”

“Well, haha! She opened the card for me. Over the years, she has been transferring money into it for my living expenses. That time, I used her job to humiliate him and returned the card to her. There was still 200,000 yuan in it.”

I don’t need to make this up, it’s the truth. Thinking of that scene, I still feel a little sad.

After explaining all this, I was actually very nervous, fearing that there might be something I missed that Evelyn would notice. Later I thought that it was because I was guilty. As long as we explained our relationship with our mother, no one would think that way!

Even if my mother has a special profession, how many sons would be as beastly as me?

“You ... are so worried about buying a house, have you ever thought about the two hundred thousand?”

After a moment of silence and digestion of what I said, Evelyn looked at me and asked cautiously, as if she was afraid of hurting my self-esteem, and she kept staring at me.

It was rare for such a cold woman to be so considerate, which easily warmed my heart. After putting away my defensive mentality, my words became more sincere: “I have never thought about it, but maybe when I am at the end of my rope, I will ask her for money. Unless it is absolutely necessary, I don’t want to spend a penny of her money anymore.”

I forgot how many years it has been, or maybe it has never happened before, that I have revealed my inner self in front of outsiders.

Maybe it was Evelyn’s approachable attitude that warmed me, or maybe it was just the emotions that had been suppressed for too long, which were too heavy for me to keep alone and needed to be released. I drank a few more bottles of wine, but I didn’t count them, but I complained about the hatred I had for my mother since I was a child, the discrimination I suffered during my growth, and the psychological process.

Throughout the whole process, Evelyn just listened quietly without expressing her opinions. Occasionally, she took a few sips and topped up my drink. As I spoke, a look of pity appeared on her flawless face from time to time. She was like ... a big sister who listened gently.

At this moment, I kind of understood why the two of us were sitting here and having a heart-to-heart talk. The young assistant and the female leader, one was mature and smooth, the other was aloof and difficult to approach. In the past two years, the two of them didn’t communicate much in private, but subconsciously they had long regarded each other as someone they could trust and confide in.

After dragging Evelyn to the taxi with a dazed body, I staggered back to my rented apartment. His last words echoed in my mind: “Any woman who takes this path, unless she is a promiscuous person by nature, has more or less other factors. Family reasons, money temptation, being forced to do nothing, etc. Your mother may have simply been young, ignorant and vain, and that was her own wrong choice. But from the two times I met her, she still cares about you very much. You might as well think back to when she left, was she really as heartless and heartless as you said?”

Lying on the bed, I began to recall the past events between my parents.

My mother studied in high school for a year and a half, but dropped out halfway because she was not good at studying and her family was poor. At the age of 17, it was impossible to stay at home to support her. She had to be sent out to work or be married off to a family to receive some money as a gift. In any case, she had to subsidize the family.

Given that my mother had a volatile personality at the time, my grandparents estimated that she would not be able to save much money to support the family by working, and that she had younger brothers and sisters who needed to go to school, so they decided to find a good family for their eldest daughter so that they could recoup some of the costs.

In this way, my father, who was working away from home at the age of 20, happily met a beautiful girl on a blind date. Of course, the gift money should be quite generous.

The couple originally thought that they would get engaged and the two families would get to know each other for a year or two before holding the wedding. However, not long after, the young couple, who had already tasted the forbidden fruit, did not take proper contraceptive measures and accidentally got pregnant. The parents of both sides were furious and helpless, so they had to hurry up and hold the wedding.

I was born the following year. My parents were too young, and they met and got married in a hurry, so they didn’t have much affection. After having a child, they found that their personalities were not compatible after a long time together. One was introverted and the other was extroverted and lively. The only thing they had in common was that they were stubborn. Then, when I was hungry, the two of them started to live an uncomfortable life without quarreling for three to five days.

The parents of both sides thought that it was too much for the young people to take care of the children, so they simply drove them out to work and left the children to the elderly. The elderly’s idea is actually not bad for the young couple to leave their hometown to live in their own world and cultivate the emotional foundation that was previously missing.

Unfortunately, they didn’t fulfill their parents’ wishes. They worked in factories outside and still didn’t develop a good relationship. They quarreled over trivial matters from time to time. When I was older, my mother came home twice to take care of me for a year or so. It seemed that because the factory was not doing well at the time, my mother, who didn’t work hard and didn’t want to work overtime, was forced back by my father to take care of the baby.

Later, my mother met a few female workers who were not doing their jobs properly. My father later told me that these women were occasionally working as prostitutes outside. It was these women who often wore gold and silver and were glamorous that corrupted my mother who was only 21 or 22 years old at the time.

It was probably because of their instigation, and the little emotional foundation between my parents was exhausted in long-term quarrels. During a long vacation when my father went back to his hometown to repair the house, my mother was instigated by those so-called girlfriends to go astray.

Everything was so natural afterwards. Not long after returning, the father discovered that his child had turned green, and then they had a big fight. When the child was two years old, he spent a lot of effort to get a marriage certificate, but before it was even warm, he went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to exchange it for a green book.

My father left that sad city and took me to live a peaceful life in my hometown. My mother, who was born as beautiful as a flower, had long surpassed those girlfriends who led the way. She left the factory area and stepped into the prosperous big city with her outstanding figure and appearance, walked into a higher-end place, and made several times more money than before.

Although I basically learned about these past events from my father or other people, I have the ability to distinguish right from wrong, and I know that there won’t be too many discrepancies or exaggerations.

No matter how hard she thought about it, apart from the fact that they had always had a bad relationship and bad friends were instigating the problem, the only major factor that tempted her to indulge herself was the temptation of money.

Such a woman, her ex-husband, my father, has enough reasons to resent her and never forgive her. Such a mother, as a son, I also find it difficult to let go of the grudge in my heart and respect and be filial to her like normal children.

The days slipped away silently, and another week passed. The feeling of being watched on the way home from get off work became less and less. It seems that maternal love also has its limits, I thought self-deprecatingly. Anyway, I was used to this feeling. No matter where I am, I will never be the most important person in the eyes of others.

That is, I look strong and handsome, and I get some attention from women at school or in my current work environment. To be honest, I really enjoy this feeling, but I just pretend not to care.

After that heart-to-heart talk, the female leader, oh no, now my only boss, Evelyn. Although this woman looked as cold and strong as ever, she was no longer stiff and rigid when we were alone. I knew that, apart from our status, she and I were at least friends who could chat.

I spent another boring weekend lying in bed. Thinking of the busy work the next day, I didn’t want to leave the bed anymore. On Sunday evening, I was hesitating whether to order takeout or go downstairs to find a restaurant, when suddenly the doorbell rang.

“Who is it?”

I walked to the door impatiently in my slippers and looked through the peephole. My long-lost mother appeared in my sight ... Just one glance and my heart began to beat faster. I didn’t feel excited or anything like that, but I felt a little flustered and at a loss. I hadn’t thought about how to face her, and I couldn’t imagine why she would appear without saying a word after disappearing for so long. I also pulled her phone and WeChat back from the blacklist, but I didn’t see her send me a message to say hello in advance. Looking at her through the peephole, her face looked a little anxious after waiting for a long time. After hesitating for a while, I still opened the door.

“John!”

The first thing my mother did when we met was to call me, with a gentle smile on her face. She was wearing an ordinary V-neck white T-shirt, which was not too tight, but still couldn’t hide her majestic chest and slender waist. The dark grey wide-leg pants hid her long and plump legs, but her plump buttocks were still unreasonably outlined...

“Why are you here?”

I was a little confused as I watched my mother carrying a few plastic bags and going straight to the kitchen. I had no choice but to follow her and pretend to be nonchalant and asked casually.

“Why? I need a reason to come and see my son!”

Putting down the bag in her hand, the mother turned around and walked towards the living room again, as if she was the owner of this house. She sat on the sofa and crossed her legs: “Pour me a glass of water. I’m a little thirsty.”