CHAPTER 489: CHAPTER 488 THIS IS A GOOD THING

Mrs. Zhen hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Aunt Li, you don’t look much older than me. Are you in your forties this year? Not fifty yet, right?"

"How could I not be! I’m already fifty-two!" Aunt Li explained cheerfully, "In my entire life, it’s only in the past two years, living alone, I haven’t had to worry about anything. That’s why I’ve gained weight! My face has gotten rounder, and I look younger than before!"

Mrs. Zhen unconsciously repeated, "Living alone, not having to worry about anything..."

Seeing that Mrs. Zhen took this to heart, Aunt Li quickly agreed, "Yes!"

"...That is indeed true!" Mrs. Zhen seemed to have thought of something and suddenly nodded in agreement.

Then she fell silent.

Seeing this, Aunt Li knew she couldn’t let the conversation drop, so she quickly started chattering again!

"Actually, if one could really have a good partner, who would want to be alone? People always say it’s best to stick with your original spouse, but my old man was short-lived, passing away at the age of just forty-eight! That was... well, six years ago! He was two years older than me, so if he were still alive, he would be fifty-four this year."

Mrs. Zhen casually responded, "Ah...So you’ve been living alone these past six years!"

"Yes! Didn’t I just say that! Once those two rascals realized it was unrealistic to expect me to buy them houses and find wives on my own, they both went out to earn money! Leaving me alone, living on the small pension from my disability retirement."

Hearing this, Mrs. Zhen was a bit surprised and asked, "You were retired due to illness? What happened?"

"Alas! Back then, I was just over forty! While working at the plant, I was hit by a machine, and suddenly my shoulder couldn’t move! Although it eventually healed slowly, I couldn’t continue doing heavy labor. I was then transferred to the boiler room to boil water! Later, when layoffs came, I quickly went to see the leaders... Fortunately, the industrial injury was on record, and I managed to retire early due to illness, getting my pension two years early!"

Being a laid-off worker herself, Mrs. Zhen deeply empathized and commented with a sigh, "It’s not easy at all! And being retired due to illness means you must get very little money, right?!"

"That’s right! When I first started, the monthly amount was not even enough for my own meals! So I had to go out and do odd jobs, and somehow managed to hold on until my official retirement, which eased my financial strain a bit."

Mrs. Zhen lowered her head and was silent for a while, then suddenly looked up at Aunt Li and asked, "...With life being so difficult, have you never thought about moving forward?"

A strange smile suddenly appeared on Aunt Li’s plump face.

"Is life difficult alone? Is it easier with two people?!"

Mrs. Zhen suddenly widened her eyes! "This,"

"When my husband was alive! Drinking, gambling, and smoking! He indulged in four out of those five vices!"

"Which four?" Mrs. Zhen’s curiosity was instantly piqued, and she hastily asked.

"The first two and the last two!" Reminiscing about the past, Aunt Li couldn’t help but feel emotional too. "At least he didn’t cheat, otherwise, who knows if we could have stayed together until the day he passed away!"

——

After a long silence, Mrs. Zhen suddenly asked, "Did you ever think about divorce when he was alive?!"

Aunt Li didn’t hold back at all and blurted out, "How could I not think about it! He demanded good meals every meal! He drank heavily every night! He could get totally drunk by himself! After drinking, he’d go out to play Mahjong! He didn’t care about the children or the household, and the little salary he earned was not enough even for his own smoking and drinking expenses! What use was he to me?! Without him helping me waste money, I might have even saved a bit!"

"Sigh... You didn’t divorce him because of the children, right?"

"That’s exactly right! If it were just him, I would have divorced him long ago!"

"But I have two sons, two sons! With their good-for-nothing father around, there might be a bit of hope for the future! Although at that time, I also felt in my heart that hope was very slim! But having someone there, doesn’t it still give a bit of solace? Unlike later... when the children knew there was no one to rely on, they had to go out and make a living on their own..."

After listening to Aunt Li’s confession, Mrs. Zhen finally related it to herself.

She muttered to herself, "Compared to you, I really didn’t know how blessed I was back then..."

Aunt Li, cunning with age, didn’t change her smile even after hearing that comment!

But in her heart, she harshly criticized, "You know it’s good! Wasting a perfectly good life with useless troubles and tormenting yourself to near death! I really don’t know what you were after!"

But what she said was another story!

"Big sister! Normally, as an outsider, I shouldn’t meddle in your affairs! But there are some words I really wanted to say last time! If I don’t say them now, I’d feel terribly bothered!"

Mrs. Zhen immediately responded, "Say it! I’m listening!"

"I’m really going to say it then!" Aunt Li first adopted a serious expression, then continued, "People say that the observer sees clearer than the player! I think this applies perfectly to you! That Gu family, although I only met them a few days at the hospital last time! Even from those few days I could tell! None of them had good intentions! You were simply deceived by them! And completely at that! I guess they later felt you were of no use to them, and that’s why they stopped pretending in front of you! Otherwise, I reckon you’d still be slaving away for their whole family unknowingly!"

Mrs. Zhen, faced with Aunt Li’s blunt truth, couldn’t save her face, turning beet red.

However, Aunt Li acted as if she hadn’t seen it, and immediately after delivering her criticism, offered a consolation.

"Think about it now and it’s a good thing too! If they hadn’t shown their true faces so quickly, would you have come to your senses now? Who knows how long they could have deceived you otherwise!"

Mrs. Zhen: "..."

"You! While you’re recuperating, take some time to reflect on your past, see if it’s like I said! Their whole family was just playing you for a fool!"

Mrs. Zhen’s complexion turned ashen: "... I will."

"No need to rush, take your time! Zhen Yan has already said, let you recover here properly! Whenever both your body and spirit have recovered, then you can leave." After saying this, Aunt Li suddenly became somewhat doubtful and patted her own head, "Is it spirit... or is it nerves?"