Instead of going to the cheap and dangerous small hotels in the alleys, this time I found a relatively good hotel to stay temporarily.
On the first day, I ran around all day, looking for a house and asking about work. In fact, I haven't saved much money after working for three years. Firstly, my salary is not high, and secondly, I have to spend a lot on rent and food every month. When I was with Yi Tian before, people who didn't know it even laughed at how Yi Tian could marry an ugly and earthy man like me. For this reason, Yi Tian even gave me a card so that I wouldn't embarrass him. I didn't know how much money was on it, so I just returned the card intact, although I only got a mocking sentence from Yi Tian, "Don't look like I've insulted your sacred love."
The next day, we identified several houses in different price ranges and locations, and called people to confirm the viewing time. I went to several companies and asked, but got nothing. In the evening, I returned to the hotel exhausted, had dinner and went to bed early. But I couldn't sleep, tossing and turning. In my mind, I saw the mute woman peeling eggs for a while, and then she put the bag in front of me with bright eyes.
I sat up from the bed suddenly and threw off the quilt angrily. If you are worried, just go and have a look. I just need to take a look at her from a distance and make sure she is fine. I will come back. After making up my mind, I got dressed in two or three seconds, opened the door and ran out.
When they arrived at the residence of Aunt Li and the mute woman, the doors and windows of both households were closed, and the room was dark with no lights on. I was a little surprised. Normally, they must be at home at this time. It was still early and it was impossible for them to rest.
I walked in and knocked on the door and window. After waiting for a long time, no one came. Sure enough, no one was at either house. I walked back strangely, thinking about where the person had gone. I almost bumped into someone just as I turned the corner in front of me. Before I could take a breath, a surprised cry came from the front: "Xiao Mu?!"
I raised my head and saw that it was Aunt Li in front of me.
"Aunt Li? Why haven't you..."
"Xiao Mu, Axiu is gone! I'm so anxious!" I was stunned for a second before I realized what Aunt Li meant.
"What's missing?! What happened?!"
"After you left that day, I persuaded her for a long time, and then I went back to the house after seeing that she stopped crying and fell asleep. But she didn't come out the next day. I knocked on the door but no one answered. I have the key to her house. When I opened the door and went in, I found that there was no one in the house. I have been searching for two days and still can't find it." Aunt Li's face was full of exhaustion and anxiety.
"Aunt Li, please go back and rest quickly. I'll go look for her now." After saying that, she ran out without waiting for Aunt Li's answer.
I didn't know where she usually went, so I just ran around in the streets like a headless fly. The night is getting deeper and deeper, and the pedestrians on the road have changed from bustling to scattered. I have become more and more anxious. Where will she go so late? She is mute and stupid. If something happens, she can't even call for help. I simply don't dare to think deeply about it.
After searching for who knows how many hours, the soles of my feet began to ache, and I still had no clue. Standing in front of a hotel, panting for a rest, something suddenly flashed in my mind, and I immediately ran back. When I arrived at the entrance of the Xingyue Hotel, I continued along the alley and ran to the place where garbage was piled at the entrance of the alley. Sure enough, I saw a man sitting by the wall.
I leaned against the wall and gasped for air, my throat filled with fishy sweetness from running fast for a long time. The man raised his head to look at me when he heard the sound, and then his eyes suddenly lit up, revealing some unbelievable joy.
She stood up, took a step forward but stopped, looking at me hesitantly.
My breathing gradually became steady, and I walked towards her, stretched out my hand to hold her, and walked back without saying a word.
It was already late at night, and there were no stars in the night sky. There was no one around, only the tattered signs of a few hotels glowing slightly.
"Why did you come here?" I kept walking forward, knowing that there would be no answer from behind.
...
"Because you picked me up there, you think I will still appear there?"
...
"I am an orphan. I have no parents or relatives. I have always been alone."
At this point I stopped suddenly.
"So..." When I opened my mouth again, I found that my voice was shaking. I closed my eyes to calm down my mood.
"So, if you don't mind, if you think it's okay... Even if you treat me as your son's substitute, I will accept your care and love for him..."
...
"I mean, are you also willing to be..." My whole body was shaking, I took a deep breath to swallow the lump in my throat, and finished the last words.
"What about being my mother?"
All was quiet.
Not even the sound of wind blowing.
I lowered my head, knowing in my heart that she had no idea what I was talking about, but my hands were still shaking.
There was a rough feeling on my face, and the tears that had fallen at some point were gently wiped away. I raised my head, and the mute woman looked at me with a smile, her eyes bent into two crescents.
I looked at her silently, letting the warm smile at the corners of her mouth and eyes slowly dissipate the uneasiness in my heart. I laughed out loud for a long time and slowly walked back with her in my hand.
"Your son must not be as tall as me...so you won't suffer at all..."
"So don't run around next time... Aunt Li is still looking for you everywhere at such an old age..."
...
"Mom, let's go home."
After taking my mother home, Aunt Li walked around her for a while, checking and mumbling. After hearing where I found her, I sighed silently.
"Aunt Li, from now on, I will treat her as my own mother and be filial to her. I will take care of her." Aunt Li was wetting a towel and trying to wipe her face. When she heard what I said, she raised her head to look at me.
"Your home..."
"I'm an orphan." I knew what Aunt Li wanted to ask, so I interrupted her.
There were some tears in the corners of Aunt Li's eyes, and she nodded her head towards me: "Hey! From now on... the two of us will be a family, let's live a good life... Even though Axiu is like this, she... she is very good..." Aunt Li's voice was choked and a little incoherent. .
I stepped forward and took the towel from Aunt Li's hand, bent down and wiped my mother's face carefully.
"Yeah. She's fine."
While she was asleep, I ran to the hotel overnight and checked out the room. Now that I had decided to live with her as mother and son, I no longer looked for a house outside. Otherwise, I would take her over, and no one would look at her when I went out to find something to do. At least there is Aunt Li here who can help take care of her.
The top priority is to find a job and slowly save money. Then I want to renovate her room to prevent her from living in such a bad environment again. I just ran around for several days and there was still no news. Several companies obviously expressed their interest in recruiting me, but I don't know why they all dropped the gun in the end.
I don't know if Yi Tian is making things difficult for me, but I have no contact with him for a long time, and I don't quite believe that he will still spend all this energy on me. However, it is not impossible if he confessed it before and then forgot about me, making others afraid to use me.
Seeing that day by day went by and money could only come out but not come in, I became anxious and had to look for other jobs in another direction. There happened to be a large supermarket nearby that was looking for some stocking clerks, so I went there. It's just that the responsibility of male tally clerks in supermarkets is actually to carry goods, especially the daily distribution team I work in. There are more than a dozen employees in each team, and there are only three men. The daily products include frozen fast food, bulk grains, and bulk candies. The warehouse goods are put on and off the shelves. Without the help of machines, at the end of the day, people are so tired that they have backaches.
The thing that worries me the most these days is how to make my mother understand that I have money to support her and she no longer has to go out to pick up those waste cardboard and plastic bottles. Every time she took out the linen bags and the small iron hooks for rummaging through the garbage and prepared to throw them away, she would look panicked and hold my hand and shake her head desperately.
Even if I find a lot of money in my bag and give it to her to show that I have enough money, she doesn't understand. Instead, she goes through the yellow cloth bag and gives it to me as if she's offering a treasure. I talked about this issue with Aunt Li, and Aunt Li just smiled and asked me to let her go. For so many years, she has relied on that money to survive. Maybe now in her consciousness, she still needs to rely on that money to support me. .
I felt helpless and had no choice.