Chapter 12 Section 12

It was Guan Tong who interrupted the madness of the three women—seeing Guan Tong's photo flashing on the phone, Gu Xiaoying was taken aback for a moment before answering: "Husband?" "Where are you? No one answers the phone at home." Guan Tong asked with some hesitation. "I'm at my senior sister's house." Gu Xiaoying glanced at Xu Xin, and couldn't hold back her smirk under her warning eyes, "Xu Xin went on a blind date and met a perfect person, let me tell you..." Guan Tong patiently listened to Gu Xiaoying's 10-minute narration of Xu Xin's tragic experience with eloquence. Although Xu Xin violently interrupted several times in the middle, Gu Xiaoying stubbornly insisted on finishing the story.Guan Tong just listened like that, didn't talk much, and occasionally laughed "hehe" as if to cheer.It wasn't until Gu Xiaoying started to complain, "My husband, I miss you, why don't you go home", did Guan Tong clearly feel a smile on the corner of his mouth, and a warm current flowed through his chest in an instant.

He just didn't say it, he just wanted to hear her voice suddenly - jumping, excited, and lively, it was the breath from "home", he couldn't resist it, and fell into it deeply. Until he hung up the phone, Guan Tong didn't tell Gu Xiaoying that he met his former girlfriend Jiang Manlin that night. In fact, he was always walking in the officialdom, and he already knew that there were some people who couldn't be avoided. In these years, he has met Jiang Manlin many times in large conferences or certain workplaces, and he has a quick glance, and he can't even see each other every time.Occasionally, when I have some free time, nodding and saying hello are considered complete etiquette. As for communication, there has never been one.But this doesn't mean that you can't hear news related to the other party - from the personnel department to the provincial government, "good drinking capacity", "strong ability", and "great background" are usually the three major labels for Jiang Manlin.It just so happened that these three tags were a pass for a woman to walk in the officialdom, so when Jiang Manlin was mentioned, she was quite well-known in the circle.

Therefore, he never expected to see Jiang Manlin drunk. When he met her, she didn't know how to drink.The first time she drank alcohol was probably the eve of graduation from the third year of research. She was under the pressure of her family to break up with Guan Tong and drank beer after glass at the postgraduate dinner. direction.It was early spring, and Guan Tong remembered that he was holding her and sitting in the stands by the playground, pouring water on her, and then watching her vomit; after vomiting, continue to drink water, and then vomit again... He wanted to send her back, but she refused, Just holding him so tightly, crying loudly under the night sky.

That year and that month, they really loved each other. But love is no match for the secular world——Jiang Manlin's parents couldn't accept a son-in-law from the countryside, let alone let their daughter have a husband's family in the countryside, saying that they didn't want their daughter to be wronged in the future, so they still insisted after some high-sounding rhetoric Let them break up, and then find a "well-matched" boyfriend for her daughter, and the wedding was arranged in a short time. Later, because of work, Guan Tong also met Jiang Manlin's husband—a very nice young man, and he was considered a good-looking talent. His father was the deputy governor of the province. He himself worked in the Political Department of the Public Security Bureau. At a high degree, one can tell by looking at the temperament that it is the "children's skill" cultivated by the family of officials and eunuchs.Guan Tong didn't think it was unbalanced, on the contrary, he felt that such a man matched Jiang Manlin, the two of them were not at a loss for each other, it was considered a good marriage.

Therefore, he never expected that Jiang Manlin would get drunk - she was not happy, Guan Tong guessed. But at their age, with a good background in alcohol, no matter how drunk they are, it is impossible for them to lose their composure as they did back then. When Guan Tong saw Jiang Manlin, she had already come out of the restaurant and was sitting on the edge of the flower bed in the backyard, looking up at what she was looking at.There was a bottle of mineral water at hand, half-drinked, and left there uncovered.The phone fell on the ground, and I didn't even think about picking it up.

Guan Tong looked up at the upstairs—the banquet was still going on in a private room on the third floor—the grassroots has always spared no effort in receiving provincial government leaders. Once, I can't wait to mobilize a whole set of county party committee team to accompany the guests. Guan Tong looked at Jiang Manlin not far away, saw her sitting there like a sculpture looking up at the sky, hesitated for a long time, then walked over, stood about two meters away from Jiang Manlin and asked: "Are you okay? " Jiang Manlin turned her head to look at him, squinted her eyes slightly, and smiled: "Hello, County Magistrate."

"You dropped your phone," Guan Tong pointed to the ground, reminding her, "Don't forget to take it when you leave." Jiang Manlin tilted her head to look at Guan Tong, the expression at that moment suddenly made Guan Tong a little dazed, feeling that eight years had passed in a flash, and Jiang Manlin's face still had the hopeless innocence on the eve of graduate graduation. Then he heard her say: "Guan Tong, you have really changed. In the past, you don't need to say it, just pick it up for me." Now Guan Tong can finally be sure that she is drunk - when she is sober, they are the same, never mentioning the past.

"Guan Tong, do you have any children?" Jiang Manlin looked at him and asked. Guan Tong was stunned for a moment, looked at her, then looked at the mobile phone on the ground, and replied: "Not yet." "I miss my son," Jiang Manlin lowered her head and looked at the cell phone that fell on the ground, but still refused to pick it up, just looking at it like that, as if talking to herself, "Five years old, very smart, just now Tell me a little red flag..." "How many places are you going to go this time? It shouldn't take more than a week," Guan Tong comforted her, "It won't take long before you can go back."

"I don't want to see anyone except my son," Jiang Manlin lowered her head, Guan Tong couldn't see her expression, "I've had enough." She raised her head, with tears in her eyes, Guan Tong's heart softened, and finally walked over, picked up the phone for her, and put it beside her.The moment she straightened up, she suddenly grabbed the sleeve, and Guan Tong was stunned. "Guan Tong," she called him, with an occasional clarity, "I'm letting you see a joke..." "No, you just drank too fast." Guan Tong pulled his sleeve a little, but he was caught too tightly and couldn't break free. "It's white wine, not white water, so what if you don't drink it?"

"I hate socializing, but I have no choice," Jiang Manlin slowly pressed her face on Guan Tong's sleeve. Guan Tong's heart was shocked. For some reason, he remembered the time when they could still cuddle together a long time ago. She said, "But at this point, how can you not socialize... If you don't drink, people say you are putting on airs based on the background of the governor. If you drink, my husband doesn't want to, saying you don't care about the family... My son and I are not at all. Dear, he was brought up by my mother-in-law. As long as there is a grandma, my mother will never come back and I will never feel missing... My mother-in-law... Hehe... I really don't know what to say about her... What do others think of me I have everything, but I have nothing but my son..."

She was talking like this, Guan Tong didn't leave or didn't go, and finally hoped that her mobile phone rang, took out to answer, and heard the county magistrate anxiously asked: "Magistrate Guan, where have you been? You haven't come back for so long Is it inappropriate? Let me tell you that Director Jiang has gone somewhere, she is a lesbian..." "I came out to answer the phone, and I saw her, and she was also answering the phone, it seems that the family has something to look for," Guan Tong lied, "I'll go back right away." "Okay, hurry up." The county magistrate then reeled in peace of mind. Guan Tong turned to look at Jiang Manlin, only to see that she raised her head and looked at him with blurred eyes, as if she was looking at the moon above his head. Guan Tong sighed, stretched out his hand and Jiang Manlin stood up.Jiang Manlin's actions were fairly quick, and she didn't say much, she just stood up obediently and walked out with Guan Tong.When he walked to the main entrance of the hotel, Guan Tong hesitated for a moment, then turned a corner and took Jiang Manlin to the room department, asking for a spare key, and sent her back to the room.Before leaving, Guan Tong poured a cup of warm water and put it on the bedside table, and then turned on the night light.Under the warm light, he glanced at Jiang Manlin, and saw that she was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, and there were tears in the corners of her eyes. Guan Tong suddenly didn't know what to say. As a result, from that night until after he left, images of Jiang Manlin kept alternating in Guan Tong's mind: past, present, high-spirited, frustrated and sad... She hasn't changed much, she is still beautiful, her temperament is getting better and better, her hair It's been cut shorter, and it looks more shrewd and capable. It is estimated that no one will know, and tell others the pain in her heart. When it comes to Jiang Manlin's mother-in-law, Guan Tong knows a thing or two: the party secretary of the Provincial Local Taxation Bureau is capable and says what he says.If this toughness is brought into family life, Guan Tong knows without guessing that Jiang Manlin is definitely not her opponent.It would be fine if Jiang Manlin was a little daughter-in-law who could bear grievances, but Jiang Manlin herself had a strong sense of superiority since she was a child. She could endure it for a day or two, or even a year or two, but she might not be able to endure it for a lifetime. Guan Tong didn't take pleasure in other's misfortune - even though they broke up, even though her second choice was not as happy as he imagined, but thinking about Gu Xiaoying, how could their own life be smooth sailing? After all, it's not easy for anyone. That's why he wanted to hear Gu Xiaoying's voice so much. Whether she acted like a baby, lost her temper, or told him jokes with dancing, it was full of life.This is what he likes most about her—she is not without troubles, but she doesn't keep troubles in her heart, and often transforms troubles by herself, and then infects people around her with a kind of genuine happiness, quickly and quickly. And sincere. With her by his side, his life is much easier. After thinking about it, he thought of Jiang Manlin's bewildered expression, and the wronged words: I miss my son... She only has this sustenance, because of this sustenance, she will still smile after waking up, and forget everything she said to him that night like a normal person.Because of this kind of sustenance, she can swallow all the suffering - Guan Tong suddenly thought, maybe, he should really have a child. It's not perfunctory, it's not consolation, it's because I really want a child.As a continuation of life, watching him (her) babble, toddler, like Jiang Manlin said, accompany the child to grow up... In fact, even in the past, it was not that he didn't want children, he just thought it was inappropriate and strict Speaking of it, he felt that he did not have this condition and qualification. Isn't it true that he can't do just "grow up with the child". But during this period of time, he also knew that he had changed: he began to hesitate, hesitantly, he didn't want to treat Gu Xiaoying badly anymore and make her wait forever, alone.She had never said that she was afraid before, but now he knew that the loneliness day after day could indeed eat away anyone's original strong and brave shell.Gu Xiaoying's nightmare, the phrase "I miss you, when will you come back" every time she called on the phone, and all those longings for having a child... It may not be her intentional repetition, but it is enough to make him I'm so sorry, I can't forget it. Yes, now he knows that marriage is not only a backing for a man to move forward with confidence, but also a GPS global navigator-that is a kind of planning, telling you to move forward as much as you want, but with a speed limit , Pay attention to the traffic lights ahead, know how to change lanes, and don't deviate.Remember, no matter how far you go, there is a home behind you. This is the courage and strength for you to move forward, and it is also the limitations and concerns that you must take into account. In fact, everything is like this - because of giving love and caring, you can gain trust and dependence, support and motivation. Guan Tong thought, maybe, now, he should really do something for their future and the future of this family.