Narrator: Lei Zhenping
Gender: male
Age: 33 years old
Occupation: Clerk
Venue: Interview Room of this newspaper
(Lei Zhenping called. First, I said that I would invite reporters to dinner after work in the afternoon. After the reporter declined, he reluctantly changed the time to noon. From the phone, he can hear that he is a man with strong subjective will. In short, he is stronger. His clothes are fashionable but not exaggerated, and his manners are very decent, which makes people intuitively think that he is a well-educated and professional person. )
She has never been the daughter-in-law that her parents like.
I am an early marriage person, and I got married at the age of 24. My wife Wang Li is very beautiful. She was the beauty queen, so I have to hold on to her.
But my parents are not Li. In principle, Wang Li is good-looking, has a college degree, and has a low income but a stable job. Although she is an only child, she has never been spoiled in my family. She is almost a perfect girl.
I asked my mother why. My mother said that girls who are too beautiful are hard-hearted and not good wives. I think my mother's statement is too extreme, but I just can't convince her to change her mind. Fortunately, both parents are intellectuals, so on the surface, they are still polite to Wang Li. Wang Li is quite simple and doesn't feel anything strange.
Although my parents don't agree, I still insist on getting married. At that time, I was only 24 years old and my career had just started. Where there is money to buy a house, I have to reach out to my parents for it. My mother said, if you marry her, we won't buy you a house. If you buy a house, whose house will it be in case of divorce? I said, where do we live? My mother said: The house is so big that you can move in. But judging from their attitude towards Wang Li, I dare not live at home. So I decided to rent a house outside.
She can't have children. My mother swore.
Because I got married very early, Wang Li and I discussed not having children for the time being until I was about 30 years old and had a successful career.
In this way, we fully enjoyed Dink's fun. Two years after we got married, probably in 2000, we went back to my parents' house for dinner on the Mid-Autumn Festival. My mother mentioned at the dinner table who her colleagues have grandchildren and who have grandchildren, and said how cute children are. I pretended not to understand, and Wang Li blushed and stopped eating. After dinner, my mother made an exception and pulled Wang Li into the room, where they muttered for a long time.
When I got home, I asked Wang Li what my mother had told her. Wang Li said: When we were asked to have children, I said there was no plan. She seemed unhappy and advised me for a long time. I said, if I ask you these questions again, you will stand on my head. Wang Li thought for a long time and said, I dare not. Parents don't seem to have stopped persuading Wang Li. During the Chinese New Year, my mother even gave the jade bracelet at home to Wang. Wang Li looked at the bracelet and said, Zhenping, your mother is bribing me. I don't want to accept it, but I dare not refuse it.
By 2002, Wang Li and I were both 28 years old. Through hard work, we finally bid farewell to the rented house, lived in the three-bedroom and two-bedroom apartment we bought, and bought a car. We also decided to have a baby. My mother is very happy to hear that we are going to have a baby. She changed her indifference to Wang Li and often invited her to have soup at home and gave her Chinese medicine.
But after half a year, Wang Li's stomach still didn't move. She went to the hospital for a detailed examination. The doctor told her that it was difficult for her to get pregnant because of improper contraception. The news came as a bolt from the blue. My mother was ill in bed at that time. Wang Li neither eats nor drinks. As soon as my mother was able to go to the fields, she ran to my house and scolded the king. In short, it's easy to get rid of new hatred and old hatred. Encourage me to move out and alienate my parents when I get married. I hardened my heart and told the old man not to have children. Wang Li just listened quietly. Afterwards, she said to me: I really didn't know your parents were so dissatisfied with me.
Divorce and remarriage under the pressure of parents
Wang Li asked for a divorce, but I firmly refused. After all, there are many reasons why she is infertile now. How could she divorce for this matter? I said: The doctor didn't say that you must not have children. Let's treat them. She said, well, I'll try my best to cure the disease, and we'll talk about it later. I said, besides, it doesn't matter if you don't have children. Isn't it good to be a carefree dink all your life?
That year, Wang Li didn't dare to go to my door, and I didn't dare to go home. The first thing my mother called was: that woman can't have children. What are you dragging you for? Why not get a divorce? Wang Li said: Zhenping, your mother is good enough. At least she didn't call me ugly. Looking at Wang Li like that, it really hurts.
The one-year deadline didn't come, and we finally divorced. My mother ran to Wang Li's office and knelt down without saying anything. So people in Wang Li's unit know everything. Then everything is like a bitter drama in Korean dramas. Two women I love cried and begged me for a divorce. I agreed. To make up for it, I left my house and car to Wang Li. I told her: I will take care of you all my life.
After the divorce, I moved back home. The first sentence when I go home is: don't make me blind date. I'm not a fertility machine.
(Reporter: You haven't looked for Wang Li since then? Lei Zhenping: Why don't you look for it? But she ignored me and said that if she divorced, she would leave me alone. Finally, she told me that if she met a divorced man with children, she might get married. I have hardly heard from her except occasionally texting her. )
My family and I were stubborn until 2005. That year, my father was diagnosed with severe diabetes, lost weight and was depressed. One day we were chatting, and he said, son, people must have a child to inherit themselves, otherwise the value of life will not be fully reflected. To tell the truth, my father never said a word about me and Wang Li, and now he gently advises me. I really don't know how to be stubborn anymore, so I choose to compromise.
Once you compromise, things will be easy. To tell the truth, with my family conditions, my present job and my appearance, it is not difficult to find a girl who has never been married. Soon, Xiao Jing appeared in my sight. Five years younger than me, with an average job, an average family and a poor appearance. But what is rare is that she is quiet, never asks me about my past, is not so enthusiastic about her, and doesn't lose her temper like ordinary girls. I said: I am not young. Now that we are married, we are going to have children soon. She said: no problem, I can understand, my child, I have to be late and leave early. Mother listened to her words and even smiled from ear to ear. After knowing each other for half a year, we got married.
I can't smile when I look at the child.
In early 2006, my daughter was born. She is the baby of the whole family, and I am the only one who won't cherish her. At the thought of divorcing the woman I like for her, she exhausted her youth for me and is still suffering silently, while I live a happy family here. The more I think about it, the more I feel that I am not a person.
(Reporter: Maybe Wang will make life easier without you? Lei Zhenping: How easy is it? She's looking for someone else. It must be her stepmother. )
And Xiao Jing, I feel sorry for her, too. Information in modern society is so developed that there are no secrets. I suspect that she knows everything about me. Once, she said to me: Zhenping, I am such a useless girl, and you respect me. I am very grateful to you. I really didn't know what to say at that time. Sometimes I get upset for no reason, and I will say something to her. She is always in a good temper and never says anything. We are the kind of couple who can't fight. But the more Xiao Jing is like this, the more she feels sorry for her afterwards, but she can't help losing her temper at the thought of Wang Li.
Now, I have a mild neurasthenia. I don't know how long I can hold on. I don't know how I got divorced for such a feudal reason, and remarried for this reason to harm another woman. I always felt strong, decisive and confident, but I became a coward on the issue of marriage and made a mess of things. (The characters in the text are all pseudonyms)