Chapter 1352: Chapter 1351: Every Family Has Its Own Troubles
After the two girls finished their showers, their long hair flowed freely as they descended from the room together with Ye Qiu, heading up to the third floor.
The third floor of this villa wasn’t very high and there was even an elevator, but basically, Ye Qiu, his parents, and sister rarely came up here. Except for Chen Fang and Ye Xue occasionally coming up to clean, they seldom visited the third floor.
Ye Qiu turned on the lights on the third floor and also switched on the heater, slightly opened the window to let a breeze in, so it wouldn’t be too stuffy.
There was also a luxurious and plush sofa on the third floor; now Ye Qiu sat directly there, letting Liu Lingxiu and Ling Fei sit down.
Now what Ye Qiu wanted to understand was the situation concerning Ling Fei’s parents.
Ye Qiu had met Ling Fei’s father, Ling Zhengwei; it was evident that Ling Zhengwei usually worked hard, quite hard indeed. As for his personality, although Ye Qiu hadn’t met him many times, he could pretty much tell from his expression.
As for Ling Fei’s mother, Zhou Xiaolan, Ye Qiu had also met her. He felt Zhou Xiaolan was like Ling Fei twenty years later. However, Zhou Xiaolan seemed to dress stylishly, making her somewhat different in appearance from Ling Zhengwei.
“Ling Fei, you don’t mind talking about your family matters and letting Lingshow hear as well, do you?”
“I don’t mind.”
Ling Fei said.
“If it’s inconvenient, I’ll go down first.” Liu Lingxiu felt that if it was indeed Ling Fei’s family matters, it wouldn’t be her place to comment.
“No need.”
Ling Fei said.
“Then go ahead.”
Then Ling Fei began to talk about her parents’ situation.
More than twenty years ago, Ling Fei’s parents, Ling Zhengwei and Zhou Xiaolan, were working as factory workers in a printing factory. At that time, a printing factory like theirs, much like a textile factory, was a state-owned enterprise, and being able to get in was something like holding an iron rice bowl, considered a very respectable job.
And this printing factory mainly focused on printing books, and there was work almost throughout the year.
In theory, such a factory had very good benefits in all aspects.
Back then, more than twenty years ago, it was indeed like that; it was only after 2000 that the situation of the printing factory began to change somewhat.
At that time, Ling Zhengwei and Zhou Xiaolan were both workers in the printing factory, introduced and matched by someone, they soon got to know each other and married.
However, Ling Zhengwei worked in the production department, always doing the hardest and most exhausting tasks, while Zhou Xiaolan always had clerical work, later transferred from the telephone room to the office to do secretary work, making it even easier for her.
“The problem between my dad and mom probably started here; firstly, my dad’s usual work was the most exhausting and filthy. When he was at the company, he wore a uniform that was originally white and dark blue, but by the end of the day, it was definitely dirty with oil stains. Moreover, he was so tired, that he wore this work uniform both during and after work hours, only changing into regular clothes after taking a shower.”
Actually, as Ling Fei just mentioned, Liu Lingxiu thought of her own parents. Previously, when her parents worked in a factory, her father was somewhat the same, although perhaps not as hardworking as Ling Fei’s father.
“However, my mom? My mom, from the start, was doing clerical work. As a woman, surely she couldn’t handle heavy work, and later she transferred to the telephone room as a contact and recorder, because unlike my father, who needed to wear such clothes each day, my mom wore relatively clean clothes that even seemed fashionable. In fact, I know her clothes were bought from street stalls and night markets, not expensive at all, but they looked nice on her, making her and my dad look completely different in comparison.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Qiu indeed knew that these two people likely had different mindsets in this aspect.
“My mom dressed well, groomed well, even after being married, and even when she began to have me, she was still rather popular with the male employees at the factory, and perhaps some factory leaders also wanted to court her. But my mom was married, so she definitely couldn’t accept such ambiguous advances from other men.”
Ye Qiu and Liu Lingxiu continued to listen.
“A few times, when I went to the factory to find my mom, I often saw male factory workers giving her flowers, but my mom didn’t accept any.”
Ling Fei was very clear about these things since her parents both worked at that printing factory, just in different departments.
However, she mostly went to find her mom, because Zhou Xiaolan’s work was relatively easy, and she had more free time, whereas the production department factory where Ling Zhengwei worked was stuffy and hot, someone like him was too busy to stay there.
“Perhaps it had a lot to do with these factors because of which, over time, many rumors about my mom with other men reached my dad’s ear. Initially, my dad didn’t mind, after all, he could see that my mom liked to dress up. Later, when such rumors frequently reached my dad, he certainly couldn’t stand it. Furthermore, the workers’ gaze toward him became different. Returning home, my dad couldn’t vent, he talked to my mom several times, even asked her to resign and stay home. However, my mom was unwilling. Under such circumstances, their quarrels increased, even on several occasions, I saw them fighting.”
After Ling Fei finished speaking, reflecting on that period, she couldn’t help but want to cry.
Seeing the way Ling Fei looked, Liu Lingxiu realized that indeed every family has its own difficult story. How could ordinary people know about others’ family situations?
“If it weren’t for my upcoming college entrance exams, my parents would have divorced long ago; they endured for my sake, until after my exams.”
After saying this, Ling Die started crying directly.
As Liu Lingxiu looked on, Ye Qiu immediately embraced Ling Fei to comfort her, while Liu Lingxiu went to get tissues for Ling Fei to wipe her tears.
Of course, by Ling Fei’s account, Ye Qiu knew it was likely hard to resolve the grudge and conflict between Ling Zhengwei and Zhou Xiaolan, which had accumulated over more than twenty years.
Of course, Ye Qiu could also see their personalities.
Ling Zhengwei was an honest man, but he had strong self-esteem, yet he was a bit self-conscious. After all, his wife worked herself, and her income might not necessarily be lower than his, usually dressing glamorously, eliciting countless men to drool around her.
Ling Zhengwei wanted to support Zhou Xiaolan himself, yet found that he might not be capable enough, and Zhou Xiaolan didn’t want to be supported like that by him either.
In this context, these two had slightly different views.
“So do you think your parents still have feelings for each other?”
Ye Qiu asked.
Ling Fei shook her head and said, “I don’t know either. Even if they do, any feelings have probably faded over the years.”
In that era, nearly all men and women got to know each other through intermediaries, with very few instances of free love. Under such circumstances, it was impossible to say that they had deep pre-marital feelings for each other; most couples’ feelings were cultivated and accumulated slowly after marriage. Ye Qiu felt the same way about Ye Weidong and his wife.
Of course, this is what ordinary people call living as a couple. In the face of significant family crises, whether the couple can weather it together, Ye Qiu didn’t know, because human nature is like that.
Moreover, encountering such situations, men might be able to endure, but most women would either avoid or escape, which is why they say a married couple is like birds in the woods; when disaster strikes, they fly separately.