Chapter 4 Daughter heart

The two elders of the Lu family were very low-key when they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary, the "Platinum Wedding". Relatives all gathered together for a great reunion.This time, I donated a primary school in my ancestral home in a low-key way, and brought my immediate family members who came back from abroad to congratulate me to pack a few extended limousines to cross the newly completed cross-sea bridge to attend the ground-breaking ceremony of the school building. Ten years ago, when they held a grand "Diamond Wedding" party for their 60th wedding anniversary on a luxury cruise ship in the Mediterranean, they officially announced their decision to return to their roots to their relatives and friends who were invited from all over the world.After getting off the cruise ship and returning to their mansion in the northern suburbs of San Francisco, they began to "take profits" on the wealth they had accumulated throughout their lives.At that time, the 80-year-old Lu family's father, Lu Yongtang, was deaf and blind, and dealt with the assets under the husband and wife's name one by one.

"Yes, all! Sell them all—" On the phone, Yongtang chatted and gave instructions to the agent of "Shanghai Hong Kong people" who had a similar background to him but belonged to children and grandchildren in English, Shanghai, Cantonese and Putonghua, "Shocked What? Don’t be alarmed by the Communist Party! I’m going back to Shanghai to buy a property—what kind of old house is returned? It’s been a park for decades! Do you want to pay five hundred dollars—yes, there are properties in Shanghai for speculation, and Hong Kong people will build them Li Lihua just booked one, and I said I’m going to be a neighbor with a big star, haha—what? Don’t you know who Li Lihua is? Sigh—Xiaoju, I can’t go back to earn copper coins, Wu Guangzheng and Tung Chee-hwa are not 'stupid', why are they vying to be the governor of Hong Kong?" "Fool" in Shanghai dialect is called "stupid head", which is homophonic to "Hong Kong governor" in Mandarin.

The two "Old Shanghai" and "Little Shanghai", who are dozens of years apart in age, made jokes about celebrities and fellow villagers half a world away, haha, goodbye.Yongtang looked at the profit percentage of the asset statement in his hand with satisfaction, and laughed loudly to his wife in the room: "Mommy! Lan Xi! I know what is the most profitable thing in the world-the cemetery, the cemetery." "The cemetery is great! You're going to die!" Lu's mother, Jin Lanxi, was in a good mood today, and when she heard the old man talking to her, she replied in a vicious voice, which was regarded as a commonplace chat.

After being a couple for sixty years, Lan Xi stopped talking softly to the old man a long time ago.In fact, thinking about it carefully, Lan Xi seldom speaks softly at home all her life. She generally doesn't like to talk very much, so that it doesn't stand out to be angry with others.But it just so happens that her ladylike demeanor that most fascinates her husband is manifested when she is silent. On the contrary, her indifferent temper indirectly promotes family harmony and makes her marriage last forever.After all, Lan Xi's ancestral home is Ningbo, not Suzhou. She speaks her hometown dialect in the same strain as the old lady who brought her up. On the contrary, she speaks Mandarin and foreign dialects with a gentle and educated tone. That's because the tone she learned at the beginning set the tone .But fortunately, that way, those who heard her speak would not be suspicious of her official family background.

As long as the language is learned in the classroom, no matter how fluent it is, it is far less "splashy" than the native dialect.It's not "spicy", but the "splattering" sound of fresh fish jumping into the water, just like the "sharp" sound that Hong Kong people like seafood.In the 1950s, the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party connected Hong Kong, a colony that was connected to the inland umbilical cord, and the British colony received a large influx of manpower and resources from the mainland; Waves of political movements in China have become a small window for the outside world to see through. The former fishing port gradually replaced the prosperity of Shanghai, the largest city in the Far East, and became the Pearl of the Orient.Hong Kong's market is also like a big raw fish just landed, jumping vigorously and vigorously.

Hong Kong is the place where the Lu family has lived the longest besides Shanghai.The male owner of the Lu family is an overseas Chinese "returnee" in the early years, and the female owner's natal family is an "old man" who has been a counselor for Western Affairs. Although they have six children, the mobility of "foreign-related families" is far higher than that of the general public.The two, who are proficient in foreign languages, also understand the proverb "Don't put all your eggs in the same basket". When the Nationalist government carried out financial reforms after the war, they hid a little movable and immovable property in Hong Kong, which was administered by the British.The businessman and his wife are keenly aware of the timing, and they don't believe that standing on the stage and clamoring to follow him can be regarded as being patriotic and loving the people. They are on the lookout at critical moments, and they are one step ahead of the refugees.Although it is far less than the assets lost in my hometown, the old shops on the island that I bought two years ago have become golden hens with the development of the city.At that time, Hong Kong's living index was not "one eye" lower than that of Shanghai, and the Lu family maintained its usual pomp on the surface, and did not appear to be in trouble.But unlike her husband and children who love Hong Kong as their hometown no matter where they go, Lan Xi has never liked Hong Kong very much.It may be because her husband always has "flower heads" there, or it may be because she has never learned Cantonese well, and no matter how long she lives there, she is a "Shanghai woman" who cannot integrate into the local society.

It is a rare thing that Lan Xi can’t speak the local dialect well, because she is actually very talented in languages. Apart from her mother tongue, she is not fluent in Mandarin and English. I only speak Cantonese, and I can't speak but can't speak it after living for many years. In the first few years, Lan Xi didn't use Cantonese at all in Hong Kong. Friends, mahjong players, maids, and drivers all spoke Shanghainese, and even the cook at home spoke Subei dialect. The housewife surrounded her In the service system, only the local gardeners named "Kao" speak Cantonese, probably because the "Yankees" don't know how to take care of flowers and plants in southern China. The housekeeping agency really can't meet the employer's language requirements in this position.However, Lan Xi loves flowers very much. From what to plant in the garden to what is placed indoors, she is very particular about the four seasons.

"My wife told me to prepare wintersweet and daffodils early in the morning." Lan Xi's eldest daughter Lu Zhenni told the gardener.She is seventeen years old and has moved to Hong Kong with her family for six years. She has already been her mother's right-hand man.Zhen Ni's facial features look like her mother's, but her skin is not as fair as the Shanghai girls. On the contrary, it is golden with the sunshine of the southern country, more like a youthful local girl.After explaining the hostess' instructions, Zhen Ni did not leave immediately, but instead asked, "Will Fazi come over for the winter vacation?"

"Fazi will return to the countryside immediately after the big vacation—" Zhou Huawang is happy when he mentions his son who has received a scholarship to study medicine.Yafa is the pride of his family and even the whole village. If his son hadn't been so good at studying, he wouldn't have come to the city to work as a helper for his companion.Zhou Huawang is a local vegetable farmer. His hometown is Weicun in the direction of the New Territories. He is self-sufficient and lives a decent life.The transportation is not as convenient as it is now. A few decades ago, their place was really remote, and Yafa could no longer live in the countryside after he entered middle school.Lao Zhou left his wife in the village to grow vegetables, and found a job close to the campus where he could take a job with his family, so he didn't care too much about the salary.To help the Lu family take care of the garden, there is a gardener's dormitory in the garden that was originally converted from a warm house, and let him live with his son. Although the summer is warm and the winter is cool, but no matter how simple it is, he has a small house. It is very ideal for his father and son, so he took this Work for six years.Now my son who is in college is going to live in school, and he also plans to quit his job and go home before the Chinese New Year.

"Are you looking for Fazai to help you with tutoring?" Zhou Huawang asked, seeing that Xiaodong didn't leave immediately.Seeing Zhenni shaking her head, she asked again: "Tutoring for your younger brother? I'll leave before the Chinese New Year. I can't wait to come back." "It doesn't matter—" Zhenni was a little disappointed, and after thinking about it, she said, "Just talk to him, I'm going to the United States after the Chinese New Year." She wanted to tell Yafa herself that she was going to New York, but since she didn't It's fine if it happens, you'll know sooner or later.Ah Fa is considered to be Zhenni's first friend of the same age in Hong Kong.The Lu family had business dealings with local businessmen after the war. Even if the country changed, the capitalists who saw the opportunity early did not behave like a lost dog, especially in the eyes of the children, they just moved from a foreign house in Shanghai to a foreign house in Hong Kong. Large, deep courtyard.Children can't go out to call friends, they can only collect materials nearby inside the wall.Yafa is tall, robust and decent, half a year older than Zhenni. He is in the first class in the school and has excellent academic performance. "Servants" live confidently, with self-respect and self-respect, and don't see the distinction between master and servant.However, even if the two children did have a friendship without guessing, there is a difference between the inside and the outside after all within the high wall, and they cannot be called childhood sweethearts.

Just like that, the 18-year-old Zhen Ni left the garden with a little regret, left her parents, siblings, and Hong Kong, which she already felt like home. "Where do you live now—oh, I mean where is home?" Yafa asked.Forty years have passed since the teenage playmates reunited in a private clinic on Nathan Road, Kowloon.Shuang Shuang is approaching her sixtieth year, and although the description of Goodbye is strange, it feels both far and near, just like back then. Zhennifu’s family has real estate in Hong Kong, London, New York, Vancouver, Taipei, and Los Angeles, and they can live everywhere. In the past few years after the husband passed away, because the sons settled in San Francisco, they lived in hotels nearby or at their parents’ house. There are many times.However, the elders of the Lu family moved back to Shanghai last year, and Zhen Ni has only recently returned to Hong Kong, and has no long-term plans. "You're really like Mrs. Lu—" Yafa didn't wait for her to answer, and Gu Zi said with a smile, "Too much like your mommy! You're too lazy to talk to you, and you don't even ask." Zhen Ni has been a wealthy wife for many years, she takes care of herself well, and she doesn't like to go out very much, she always avoids the sun, she looks paler than when she was young, she is almost 60 and looks only forty years old, it is Yafa I remember the age of the hostess of the mansion back then. "My mother is seventy-eight years old——" Zhen Ni slightly raised the corner of her mouth, thinking that she was in front of her good friend who talked about everything when she was a child, so she answered a rare witty line, "Maybe eighty-three years old. Big It's a secret, no one knows." The children in the family have been hearing rumors from relatives that Mrs. Lu underreported her age by many years before she married a wealthy son-in-law who was younger than her actual age. "No, no one has known about it for decades?!" Yafa laughed in amazement, obviously family secrets were once a joke among children. "Her doctor doesn't know either?" Yafa put away the stethoscope, and said in English in a more serious and professional tone: "It all looks good, and the index on the report is also within the range. You—" He mused After a while, he still said, "Actually, I agree with your American doctor." The family doctor in the United States always told her to exercise and take vitamins, and also sent her to see a psychiatrist, who prescribed a prescription.She took the medicine and didn't take it, but booked a plane ticket to go to Taipei and Shanghai to find folk remedies and see Chinese medicine.The decoction and acupuncture and massage that lasted for a while didn't cheer her up, but it did improve her insomnia and body aches.The child is grown up, her husband is dead, and she has money and leisure. The major thing in life is to take care of herself. She wants to cure the root cause. Anyway, she is alone and has a house to live in. So she came to Hong Kong to listen to the recommendation of a well-known western doctor for examination. "Dr. Zhou-Ya-Lun? I've heard of it, but I don't know it's you. Remember your English name is not Allen!" Zhen Ni looked at her business card again and again, and she became old and changed. On the contrary, his appearance is not as upright as when he was a child, and his name has also been changed.He looks strange, but he still feels very cordial when talking about his childhood. After reuniting, old friends meet for dinner.Looking out from the small bronze-toned box is the beautiful Victoria Harbour, fresh big red roses and white candles scented with gardenia are placed on the almost black tablecloth.The British are gone, but Hong Kong is still full of colonial atmosphere.Sitting across from "Friends", which was not cherished by each other back then, Zhennike felt a little "home" again. "It's all about you, you always called me 'Ah Fat', so you changed it early in the morning." Yafa joked. The Hong Kong pinyin of "fat" is the same as the English word "fat". It's fine to act in a movie. The great doctor who often has to attend professional seminars to give out business cards or publish international papers is called A Fat Chow. It really needs a few more explanations.Yafa saw the haze on Zhenni's face fading away, so he worked harder and teased himself: "It's a pity that the surname is not easy to change, so everyone in the world is 'Pine Dog Doctor', Dr. Chow." The furry The big lion dog Chow-chow, referred to as Chow. "They're all called 'Fat Boy'! What's that fat?" But the siblings like to call people random nicknames, as if they've called a sturdy gardener boy "Fat".Thinking of her childhood, Zhenni actually smiled. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this lighthearted.Did the carefree days disappear after leaving my hometown in Shanghai where the phoenix trees were planted in front of the door?She was a child then!So after leaving the Hong Kong parents' house filled with winter plums and narcissus to celebrate the New Year?She was already a young girl then. But the time to be a young girl is too short, and she became "Huang Lu Zhenni" at the age of eighteen. Doesn't it sound like a girl's name?It's ridiculous that when she left home, she naively thought that she was going to the United States to study in college.The little aunt, who was not much older than her, was visiting relatives during the Chinese New Year. When she heard that Zhenni had gone to New York to live in Huang's house, she felt sour because she wanted to send her daughter to "marry".Lan Xi frowned unceremoniously and scolded her sister: "Thirteen o'clock!" Zhen Ni thought that the sisters were joking.Later, I heard that the little aunt also talked about the Huang family when she first arrived in Hong Kong. Zhenni often thinks: If she hadn't been spotted by her husband Huang Zhicheng, who is 20 years older than her, she might have gone to college.Zhen Ni only went to Form Five. Although her education did not affect her life's prosperity and wealth, she always felt a little regretful that she couldn't get things done.Decades of seemingly perfect life, here is a little regret, there is a little regret, Zhenni left all the regrets in her life after her husband passed away, together with menopause, she clearly thought it was a sign of a terminal illness, but the doctor actually diagnosed it Trendy disease of depression or blues.This disease can't be seen, can't be touched, it still comes and goes, sometimes it's better, sometimes, Zhenni really doesn't want to live anymore. American psychiatrists prescribed antidepressant drugs to her.What's the use?Her regrets are all in the past, and her life cannot be repeated.Everyone in the Lu family lived a long life, but her husband died and her child grew up. If she was unlucky, "Huang Lu Zhenni" might have to live like this for another forty years.The doctor asked her to "be herself", "cultivate hobbies", and "don't keep regrets in your heart, just speak them out".Except for the bottle of pills that she didn't want to take, the other prescriptions were too abstract. Since she was eighteen years old, Zhen Ni had been the young grandmother of the Huang family, Mrs. Huang, and mother of the Huang family, and she didn't know what it meant to "be yourself".She has enough food and clothing, what else does she want?But houses, cars, jewelry brands, a small white ball into a hole-in-one, and playing mahjong can't seem to fill the emptiness in my heart. "Speaking out your regrets" is even more unreliable. Her life has been smooth, and the only things that are unhappy are the trivial things in life. How can she say the grievances that can hold back her illness? But after having a trustworthy doctor friend like Yafa, Zhenni began to face up to her depression and no longer objected to taking antidepressant medicine.She didn't go into the side effects of western medicine to scare herself, but the prescription prescribed by the psychiatrist was effective, and soon her mood became brighter, and her physical discomfort also improved.Gradually, she also had the energy to think about clarifying the entanglement in her heart.She thought: at least to determine at what point in life did she lose herself from that "self"?Zhen Ni really asked her mother Lan Xi about the old "marriage" one day. "Why don't you let me go to university and want me to marry into the Huang family? Could it be that Ala's house ran to Hong Kong without money?" Zhenni didn't think about Lu's family life until she talked with Yafa about all kinds of things when she was a child. It is not easy to maintain ostentation during the "escape from disaster", "The psychiatrist said that my problems may have existed a long time ago." "Thirteen o'clock!" Lan Xi still said the same thing.This time, he scolded foreign doctors, and also scolded his daughter who didn't know what to do. It is said that the children of the poor are in charge of the family early, but they do not know that the children of the rich have greater family responsibilities.Let’s take Zhenni’s natal family as an example. Mrs. Lu Jin Lanxi helped her stepmother housekeeper at the age of eighteen or nineteen, and almost delayed her life’s major events; When he was sent back to his hometown, he was asked to marry a noble lady and be responsible for "washing the bottom" of three generations of civilian families.Zhen Ni is the boss, doing something for the family that suffered heavy losses in the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and it is a good thing to do the in-laws who are door-to-door and can support the turnover in business. It is necessary to get it after 40 years. Doctor so serious? "I can't figure out my own psychology, I want to take medicine for the rest of my life!" The 60-year-old daughter is not as easy as before, and Zhenni is half coquettish and half threatening to ask her mother for an explanation. "Who doesn't like copper tin? Even if my Lu family has banknotes, it's not as much as your Huang family—" The doorbell rang.Lan Xi said: "Today you are at the same table with Auntie." As he set off, he walked towards the mahjong room. There are people outside the people, there are big riches besides small riches, and there are huge riches besides big riches.The change of the Republic of China, although the Lu family in Hong Kong is far better than most of the refugees who were too late to sit in the "Dangling Ridge", after all, they lost seventy-eight out of ten of their family property. The Huang family's fortunes on the beach a few years ago have been quite downgraded to nothing.Married to the Huang family, apart from the long-term benefits of many "powerful" allies in business, Lan Xi certainly believed that he sent eighteen-year-old Zhen Niyuan to the Huang family in New York as a "guest" for the lifelong happiness of his daughter. Create a platform near the water. Huang Zhicheng, who has a famous name outside, was once an innocent boy, but his vigorous love story when he was young is just an old story today: it is the son who finds a partner in the entertainment industry by himself, without the consent of his parents with economic power. A pair of lovers build a love nest together regardless of the family's opposition. Zhicheng resorts to procrastination tactics, and the parents will soften if they want to have grandchildren. As a result, the dude has not dragged himself into the head of the family, and the unmarried lover's passion has faded. Guo Minghua accepted the gold bars and boat tickets from Huang's family at the last moment of withdrawing from Shanghai, and left without saying goodbye with her daughter.After the abandoned son returns to his parents, he sees through love, except for sometimes going out to "do seven twists and three", and generally concentrates on the family business.There is a set of moral standards in the acquainted social circle. It is salty to think that a dude who has a serious relationship with a dancer and lives together is a prodigal and degenerate, but a rich man who goes around "white-faced" is considered a prodigal son, and his reputation is getting better. , and later married Lu Shi, the virgin son of a famous family that his parents liked, and gave birth to two boys and one girl, fulfilling his responsibility as the son of a rich family. People without money think that rich people don't worry about money.I don't know how to "accumulate wealth", which is called "financial management" in modern times, is actually sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat. The pressure is very high.Stop learning, but be a little behind, unless you lose your memory, the literate will not return to illiterate.Have wealth in your hands and leave it alone?If you don't pay attention, you may return to zero at any time, leaving your children and grandchildren in debt.Therefore, rich people tend to value money more than those without. Not only are they afraid of losing money in business outside, but they are also afraid that their relatives and friends who are poorer than themselves will ask for help when they go home. They are even more wary of new friends or relatives. Fear of making friends with others is an ulterior motive. However, the common spirit of the Huang and Lu families comes from the "Shanghai school". With the momentum of his in-laws on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, he can sail smoothly on the small Asian island, which is far from the "ugly look" of some modern parents who want their daughters to marry into "rich families".After marrying the Huang family, the in-laws seldom reciprocate unless necessary courtesy.Zhen Ni dropped out of school to obey her parents' orders in a foreign land and became the young grandmother of the Huang family, but she felt quickly isolated by her mother's family. , so as not to cause misunderstanding.The young Zhen Ni started another chapter of her life in the garden villa on Long Island, which is several times larger than her Hong Kong home. This area of ​​Long Island is very secluded, there are no pedestrians on the road, and it took a long time to see a car passing by almost silently.Every household has a tall iron gate hidden behind the dense bushes. Passing cars have to wait until they get closer to see a long driveway behind the fence leading to a mansion that cannot be seen but should be like a European castle in the imagination. .A black convoy drove over quietly, the two iron doors slowly opened inwards automatically, and the vehicles filed in.The driveway is very long, but the two sides are not the gardens like the backyard of the palace as passers-by imagined, but just an ordinary narrow asphalt road opened in the original bushes.After driving for another few hundred meters, we arrived in front of the plain-looking two-story New England mansion-style building with blue tiles and white walls covering an area of ​​nearly 10,000 feet. Suddenly, the surrounding area changed from the grassy scene beside the driveway to carefully manicured flowers and trees. Green grass like a thick carpet.Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Cadillac limousines stopped in sequence by the circular parking lot in front of the house, as if they were in a famous car show, and several drivers got out of the car first to open the door.The passengers got off one after another.Both men and women wear sunglasses and dark clothes, and Zhenni is even more black, even wearing Tahitian black pearls around her neck.She was helped into the house by her two daughter-in-laws. More accurately, they held her elbows lightly, pretending to be supportive, and did not leave until she was placed in the bedroom on the second floor to rest, and went out to greet relatives and friends. . Zhen Ni was lying on the bed looking at the exquisitely crafted log ceiling that looked like a big chessboard. She was still staring at her in the middle of the night on her wedding night, but thirty years had passed!She was also in the meantime, one day when she was young, she was wearing a black cheongsam, and she lightly supported Mrs. Huang's elbow, making a gesture of supporting her.In the blink of an eye, it was someone else's turn to help me!From the age of eighteen, he left his home in Hong Kong to "be a guest" in the Huang's mansion, and he has become the head of the family today. "Old lady", "old lady", friends of today's daughter-in-law "Mrs. Huang" respectfully call her this way.I can finally let go of my desire to be a good guest for decades.heart?She put her hand on her left chest and felt her heartbeat.When she came back then, the three original owners of the big house: the father-in-law, the mother-in-law and the husband had all become pictures hanging on the wall, but she was still the guest.But she is not the eldest lady of the Lu family. She is temporarily staying at the family's family and waiting for the university admission notice. What is she waiting for now?Do you wait for your son to celebrate his 60th birthday next year?Zhen Ni joked about the precious gifts her mother-in-law received from her children and grandchildren on New Year's Day before her death, and said, "I'll ask you to borrow it for now, and keep it for you. When I leave, it will be yours!" Zhen Ni thought: I have put the responsibility of helping the Huang family to keep their wealth in my own hands.The two sons have already been trained to take over in business. On the surface, she doesn't want her to worry about anything, but Zhen Ni knows that the "widow" who shoulders the responsibility of guarding Huang's wealth cannot relax for a day. Zhen Ni herself saw with her own eyes that several families were injured due to infighting over the division of the family property.It is a trivial matter for the wealth accumulated by the previous generation to go to waste, and Zhen Ni absolutely does not want to see her son's brothers fight against each other in the future.Well, there is also my younger sister, Zhen Ni's favorite little daughter, but her younger sister belongs to someone else, Zhen Ni thought, in the future, she will leave her jewelry and private house to her as a thought.Zhenni's third child is a daughter, just like Zhenni's surname is no longer Lu, her daughter's surname is now Chen, and the Chen family is richer than the Huang family.Following the example of her mother Lan Xi, Zhen Ni deliberately kept a low profile. Although she often misses her and the two live not far away, she doesn't even go to play mahjong if her in-laws don't come to invite her. The three generations of mother, daughter, grandchildren and grandchildren are all rich ladies.What's so hard about being a rich wife?After giving birth to a babysitter, don't you go shopping, shopping, doing beauty treatments, playing ball, playing mahjong, treating guests, and taking care of how many servants you have?If this "job" is not good, why do ladies want their daughters to be "hereditary"?Why do the current female celebrities see a rich second generation, so they don't care about the ugly appearance and go up to snatch it? "Mom," the youngest son knocked on the door and came in, "We'll stay here for a few days." The relatives and friends who attended the father's farewell ceremony were all sent away, and the two brothers took turns to accompany their mother in the mansion.The elder brother's family first went to live in the apartment under his name next to the park in the city for a few days, and greeted relatives and friends who came from afar and were not there.It is not popular to live in the suburbs anymore, the city is convenient and lively, unlike here where each household encloses its own ten acres, and does not hear from the neighbors, and does not communicate with each other until death. She told her son that she didn't want to be disturbed and that the meal should not be brought up.Later, when I talked to a psychiatrist, it really seemed that she had lost interest in food since that day, and before that, she had to resist eating too much all day long in order to maintain her body shape.Loss of appetite is just one less worry for a long-term dieter like her, so she doesn't worry about it.But everyone around her believed that her husband's death had brought her a great blow, and she would suffer from malnutrition if she ate so little, and she needed immediate treatment.She didn't believe it.Of course being a widow is sad, but not so sad that you go on hunger strike.It is said that there is no filial son in front of the bed for a long time. Zhicheng was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease ten years before his death. More than half of them were with a patient.After the husband was diagnosed, the mother-in-law tried to explain it to her son, saying that Zhicheng's bad temper for many years was due to illness. Before that, the mother-in-law blamed Zhenni on the blame, thinking that the daughter-in-law was not well-behaved enough to please her husband. Zhenni didn't say anything at that time, but she was not convinced by her mother-in-law in her heart.She thought: When she first got married, Zhicheng absolutely loved her. Even if she had never been in a relationship, Zhenni felt that as a woman, she could not make a mistake whether her man liked her or not. Zhicheng used to love her very much, and also loved her two sons very much.Does your daughter love it too?Don't they all say that the daughter is the lover of the father's previous life?However, the Huang family is generally indifferent to their daughter, and often jokes: "In the future, they will belong to them!" Although the family lives in Hong Kong, New York, and London, the daughter grew up in the United States most of the time. Refutation, still reluctant to let go, poured out on the grandmother and acted like a spoiled child.My daughter was originally quiet and shy like her, but American education is especially good at curing shyness, and she became lively after school.Zhen Ni thought: My younger sister is lively and lively, but she is still good. As soon as she graduated from university, she listened to the family's arrangement to marry the Chen family's son.But how long did it take to get divorced?She also refused to have a child, which annoyed Zhenni a bit. Zhen Ni doesn't let her mother worry about herself.After marrying into the Huang family, it was rumored that she was happy in the family. After she even gave birth to her second son, she also earned a little status in the Huang family. She wanted to go back to college while she was still young, and with her husband's consent, she temporarily stopped having children.But the Huang family had a lot of entertainment, and the relationship between husband and wife was good at that time. Zhicheng had to accompany Zhicheng when he went out to travel and do business. With Xiangxue's heart, she concentrated on being a young mistress. A few years later, the old man of the Huang family passed away, and the mother-in-law was promoted to the head of the family. In a birthday speech, she told Zhenni that the Huang family was not prosperous enough, and that giving her jewelry would be better than having more children and grandchildren.Zhenni herself also wanted to pursue a daughter, and she didn't object to the old man's intentions. She didn't want Zhicheng, who was just over forty-five years old, to slack off work. Later, thinking about it, did Zhicheng have health problems at that time?However, the Huang family had higher demands on their daughter-in-law than their son, so only the woman went to the doctor to help her conceive.After a year of hard work, Zhen Ni was still pregnant with the third child, and it was a daughter, Zhen Ni was overjoyed, and called her mother to announce the happy news, Lan Xi was also very happy, and congratulated her in a lucky tone: "Lucky luck! Mr. has two sons!" With two sons at the vanguard, the arrival of a daughter is a pure joy indeed.But Zhicheng's temper obviously turned bad after Zhenni gave birth for the third time. "It's embarrassing to eat! It's embarrassing to eat!" Zhicheng, who had finished eating and was about to leave the dinner table, suddenly became angry.Mrs. Huang, who was already sitting in the living room, glanced at the dining table indifferently and said nothing. Although there are servants, when eating Chinese meals at home, the rice and soup for the husband, mother and child must be served by the young lady according to the rules.Since she was tasked with serving meals, it was common for Zhen Ni to be late.Although she has become much plumper after giving birth to her third child, Zhen Ni is definitely not fat.She has been taught by her mother since she was a child, and she learned from a young age that no matter how delicious it is, she must not show greed, let alone it is just a common meal. "Eating is embarrassing and ugly" couldn't be referring to her, but she was the only one left at the dinner table.Zhen Ni silently checked in her heart whether she ate too much for this dinner: ah, maybe she drank too much soup. Zhen Ni put down her chopsticks a little ashamedly, and the servant quickly came over to clean up.As usual, he brought the freshly brewed tea over on a tray, and when she got up, he prepared to follow her and take the tray to the connected living room to serve green tea after dinner.It was also a bad time that day, Zhen Ni stood up a little too fast, the new maid instinctively tried to make a move, but stumbled on the thick carpet under her feet, the tray tilted, and the tea splashed everywhere. "Oh! Is it too hot?" Zhen Ni didn't care about the hot spots on her hands, and hurriedly asked the maid who was already sitting on the ground. "Don't be careful!" Zhicheng rushed over, cursing, "What are you thinking? How can you be careless!" He kicked a dropped cup under his feet, stopped drinking tea, and turned around angrily gone. Mrs. Huang also came to take a look at the scene, frowned and said: "How can I make a world for a day? Get refreshed!" and left. Zhen Ni and the housekeeper who rushed over helped the maid who was sitting on the ground crying.The butler scolded the maid in a low voice: "What a day! You're out of your mind!" I don't know if it's the new maid's carelessness, or the host is very irritable. After that, the abnormality gradually became normal. Zhicheng, who was originally gentle and polite, became more and more irritable, and the frequency of losing his temper became more and more frequent. Even Zhen Ni wondered if her husband was really "crazy"?I didn't expect to be diagnosed with Parkinson's disease many years later. I don't know if it has anything to do with my bad temper?But my health is not good, and my temper and mood may not get better.Zhenni thought that it was because her mood affected her body.She has been paranoid since she was fifty years old. She felt that something was wrong with her body, and sought medical treatment everywhere, only to find out that it was a mental illness several years later. But it's all right now!Zhen Ni took the water glass and swallowed today's medicine.She has been receiving treatment for several years, and she feels that her body and mind are gradually recovering.Although Gaotang is in Shanghai and her children and grandchildren are in the United States, she feels that Hong Kong is more like her "home".She thought, all of this is thanks to Yafa. Without such a trustworthy doctor, she might have committed suicide a few years ago without knowing why.Being a young mistress of a wealthy family is stressful, and rich widows are also in trouble.She is also a widow. Her primary school classmate's husband became obsessed with Feng Shui after his death. He spent all his money on superstition. He went to court with his family and went on TV every day. Gossip Weekly also caught wind and hinted that there was winter melon tofu with Feng Shui masters. This has always been low-key. What a dishonorable thing in Weishang's circle of wealthy households in Hong Kong and Shanghai! Zhen Ni stood up and walked to the large floor-to-ceiling windows to look at the blue sea and blue sky in front of her, with white sails dotted, feeling relieved.The Filipino maid came over to change into hot tea, and then quietly walked out.Her house was also changed recently after Yafa's introduction and instigation.It turned out that the Huang family's villa in Hong Kong had a large garden, but the gardener hadn't taken care of it for many years. Grass grew on the driveway, which looked big and bleak. "No popularity, bad feng shui!" Yafa showed her the real estate company's advertisement, "If I have money, I will buy this invincible sea view, No. 5888, and I will definitely make money." I imitated the Shanghai people's emphasis on auspicious numbers, but Yafa insisted that it was the custom of Hong Kong people to open first. Recently, Yafa also actively introduced construction businessmen to talk to Zhen Ni about the joint construction of old houses.This Zhen Ni is not very interested, although the children rarely come back, the whole family will be a little younger when they come to her.The Huang family has real estate everywhere, and they have to support one or two people everywhere, and they have to fire the old housekeeper when they sell the house, which hurts their feelings.Zhen Ni said: "Just leave it at that, I don't want to trouble you." Yafa gave her a strange look, and sighed: "You know what? I have a few pennies now. Compared with you, I look like a pauper, as if I still live in your family's flower house. This is Shanghai style! You have the kind of style you are waiting for Shanghainese to talk about!" Yafa tried to learn the Shanghai accent for the last two words. Zhen Ni blurted out: "Is money really that important?!" Thinking of her natal family, her father, Lu Yongtang, who is in his 80s, observes global events and the stock and foreign exchange markets every day. "Rolling stones don't grow moss", so they sold the cemeteries in Taipei and Hong Kong, and bought cemeteries in the suburbs of Shanghai, claiming that they were looking for their "Last Home", so they smiled and said: "My mother told me, everyone Everyone likes the rich." "But——" Yafa seemed to be lost in thought, before he said after a while, "How rich do you have to be—does it matter if money comes first?" The social status of Western medicine in Hong Kong is high, and it belongs to the "upper class" social circle.In his spare time, Yafa speculated in real estate, stocks, and even bought shares in restaurants, but he failed repeatedly. Now that he is approaching retirement age, he feels nervous and often feels anxious about his financial situation, so he can't sleep well at night.他结了两次婚，和原来诊所一个护士也生了个小孩，维持着长期的关系，算起来有三个家要养。第一次婚姻的太太、小孩都恨他抛弃；第二次婚姻的太太、小孩又恨他外遇；在两次婚姻之间不小心失足成了外室的第三者和庶出的女儿更恨他不讲先来后到的规矩，让怀了儿子的感情劈腿对象抢先扶了正。 “好似我三个老婆六个崽女，都使我的钱，仲系咁憎我！”亚发跟贞霓诉苦。他们的友谊在人生最纯洁的时候中断。几十年后重逢，有如开启了封存的醇酒，色清如水却回肠荡气。两人都重新找回少年时期可以分享心事和秘密的朋友。 贞霓微笑着点头。她只管借只耳朵给亚发，却说不出什么安慰的话。对婚姻不忠的男人贞霓从小看多了，妈妈兰熹穷毕生之力防范丈夫出轨，还曾为了拆散陆永棠的一段孽缘想大费周章把家搬到遵循一夫一妻制的台湾去。香港华人适用大清律法，贞霓自己就参加过几个世伯娶妾的喜宴。 “一世人除了揾钱，唉！仲有乜耶？”亚发被三个家和工作弄得烦不过了，就会逃到有美丽海景的大客厅里来找贞霓喝杯茶。“不过像你等这样含着银汤匙出世的就不同了。”他往沙发上一靠，又老话重提，“我要有钱，我也要在这里买间屋。” “你要都要买三间啦！”贞霓揶揄道。 “好，你笑我！”亚发忍笑佯怒道，“费事同你千金小姐讲耶！我都抑郁啦，压力咁大，想退休都不得。真是惨——” 门铃响起，菲佣过去应门。 海景豪宅有两道关卡。大楼的管理员显然已经盘查通过直接放行，来人已到楼上单位门口，听见佣人在对讲机里说：“哈啰？”就用英语找松毛狗医生，菲佣毫无戒心地打开大门迎客。门口两个打扮入时的中年妇人就一个箭步抢进门，鞋也不换，直奔客厅，两双高跟鞋打着大理石地面像敲响杀气腾腾的战鼓。 贞霓还未明就里，有被捉奸经验的亚发已经从沙发上跳了起来，挡在前面呵斥道：“喂喂喂！你等不要乱来啊！” 贞霓也一下就想到这二位一定是亚发的妻女或妻妾，虽然自己和亚发之间没有暧昧，毕竟重逢数年了也没结成通家之好，跟亚发的家人初次照面气氛如此紧张，不知道她们对自己这么一号“老朋友”怎么做想？总之，看来来者不善，贞霓忽然想到八卦杂志上胡乱引用的“红粉知己”一词，竟感耳朵一热，心中有点莫名的慌张。 两位不速之客，稍微年长的是妾，年轻点的是妻。来以前她们也知会了家里跟着小孩喊“大妈”的下堂妻，把周亚发这个“老色狼”又找第四任还密置海景豪宅藏娇的消息透露了。下堂妻冷哼一声，几近幸灾乐祸地道：“不关我事啰——”想想又恨声道：“老椰成日话自己冇钱，仲买咁贵个屋——他试下给少一个仙我啦！”不过他们已经离婚，下堂等同退役。金屋？哪怕有海景，也不是她的战场了，就识相没去。 嫩妻正气凛然，看到老公能供这样一间富丽堂皇的梦想之屋藏娇，虽然住的还不是自己，也不想搞得鱼死网破，就收了前冲之势，大剌剌往落地窗前一站挡住美景，昂头高声唱名道：“周亚伦，你如今仲有乜耶讲？！” 长妾却不出声。她注意到恐怕比自己还大得多的贵妇比较像个主人，虽然稍微露出心虚的样子，可是年纪偏老又气度华贵。妾自己经历过那个“位置”，直觉贵妇不是“娇”。她们一路尾随“老椰”来到这里，还在外面耐心等待了一个钟左右，虽然闯进门来只看到喝茶有点出乎意料，可是两人客厅对坐，气氛自然温馨，年龄外形十分匹配的“二老”就像坐在自家“屋企”品茗一般，何况大厦管理员表现得周医生就是这家男主人的样子，直接就放她们上来，所以老东西是常客不会有错，至于屋主是谁？长妾心想：老公虽然年过六旬，可是风度翩翩，最近又喊穷，难道是找到一个富婆可傍？自己两个会不会莽莽撞撞破坏了风流医生的老版美男计啊？ “这位是黄氏集团的黄夫人，”亚发稳下场面后，郑重介绍，“我是她的医生。”他转头对贞霓文绉绉地说：“黄夫人，这两位是贱内。” 贞霓也想通了是怎么回事，心火上升却强自镇定，面上即刻罩上她被训练了一生的淡漠神情，未发一语，却已充分表达了不屑跟面前人打哈哈，也不准人家在她这里闹家务的意思。她头都未点，直接把一干人都当成空气，顾自从妻妾之间优雅却冷若寒冰地穿过去。她边走向内室，边平静地叫菲佣送客，将到卧室门口时头也未回地用英语说：“Dr. Chow，我想我要换个更专业的医生，请你把账单寄给我的秘书，谢了。”身后众人只听到她的声音清冷不带一丝感情，没看见她开卧房门的手抖得厉害。 贞霓心想：糟糕！不要抑郁去了，帕金森来了。