06
ས 3 55%t
The next day, I opened the door to take out the trash, and my mother suddenly appeared. She was carrying local specialties from home and asked as she came in, “It’s the weekend. Where’s Leo? I came specifically to ask when you two are finally going to get married.”
I was silent for a moment, my voice choked with emotion. “Mom, we broke up.”
Mom almost dropped what she was holding when she heard that. She asked, shocked, “Broke up? When did this happen? This can’t be! You’ve been together for so many years. How could he just break up with you like that?”
“He’s cheating on me, Mom.” Saying it still made my heart ach
“What? He actually did that!” Mom’s face flushed with anger. “You poor thing, you’ve wasted so many years of your life. No, I’m going to go and demand an explanation from him.”
Mom started to head out, but I quickly stopped her, saying, “Mom, please, it’s over. There’s no point in going after him now.”
But Mom wouldn’t listen and insisted on going. Just as she stood up, her face suddenly went white, and she collapsed. “Mom! Mom!” I panicked and immediately called for an ambulance.
At the hospital, the doctor told me Mom had suffered a myocardial infarction brought on by extreme emotion. “We’ll prescribe some medication for her. Please go and settle the bill. The doctor handed me the payment slip as he spoke.
Holding the slip, I walked to the payment window and said hesitantly, “Doctor, I haven’t been paid yet. Could I possibly pay this in a few days?” The doctor glanced at me, said nothing, and just called the next person forward.
Helpless, I squatted down and called my dad, who divorced Mom years ago: “Dad, Mom had a myocardial infarction and collapsed. She’s in the hospital. I don’t have enough money right now. Could you lend me two thousand yuan?”
My dad said impatiently on the other end of the phone, “You never contact me unless you need money. You know how your mother treated me back then; I don’t care about her problems. He hung up the phone after saying that.
I’ve never had many friends, and since moving to Leo’s city, I haven’t made any new ones. Now, I’m stuck deciding whether to borrow money from my colleagues or apply for a loan.
“I’ll take care of that lady’s bill.” Just then, a familiar voice spoke. I looked up to see Leo and that woman, Luna, standing there. Luna said, clearly annoyed, “We’ve already broken up. Why are you still getting involved?”
Despair washed over me, but I still managed to say to Leo, “Thank you. I’ll pay you back next month when I get paid.” I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eye, and I hurried back to the inpatient ward with the payment slip.
That afternoon, Mom woke up. Seeing how weak she was, my heart ached. I tried to reassure her, “Mom, please don’t worry about what happened with Leo. I’m letting it go. Finding out he cheating before the wedding is actually a blessing in disguise. You should move in with me. I’ll take care of you.”
Mom sighed, nodding slowly. “When you get old. vou overthink everything. I just wanted vou
20:16 Fri, 9 May
to be happy. I never imagined things would turn out like this.” As she said this, Mom couldn’t help
but cry.
I hugged Mom and comforted her, “From now on, it’ll just be us, Mom. We’ll depend on each. other. I’ll sign you up for a senior college. You can learn something you enjoy, or maybe do some light part–time work to pass the time.”
Mom wiped her tears and touched my face. “My Anna has grown up. It’s better to rely on yourself than on others. From now on, we’ll live a good life together.”
20:16 Fri, 9 May
