Aunt Qiu and Uncle He are a couple who have a house in the neighborhood near my home, which seems to have been financed by my father for their down payment.
Our villa has three floors; I usually stay on the second floor while my mother occupies the third. As I entered high school, I began to feel increasingly lonely. One weekend, after returning home, I found myself unable to sleep at night. I got up, wanting to talk to my mother: surely our family life couldn't continue like this forever?
I put on my pajamas and slipped into my slippers, making my way upstairs. When I reached my mother's bedroom door, I faintly heard a man's voice coming from inside.
I felt a surge of happiness: my father must have come back! Just as I was about to knock on the door, I heard my father's heavy breathing along with my mother's soft moans: "Ah—"
I quietly stepped back. I was older now and understood many things. Although I longed to see my father, to cuddle with him and chat, I didn't want to interrupt their "good time."
The next morning at breakfast, it was just the two of us—my mother and me.
I asked, "Why hasn't Dad come down for breakfast yet?"
My mother replied, "Are you confused? Your dad is on a business trip in Shanghai."
I was taken aback. If it wasn't Dad, then who was the man with Mom last night? How could she do this? Was it all just a dream?
I fell silent. My mother looked at me curiously: "Missing your dad?"
I stammered, "Um... I dreamed about him last night!"
I desperately tried to think about who that man could be. Would Dad be furious when he found out? What would our family life look like moving forward?
These questions lingered in my mind, tormenting me day and night without respite. To clarify the first question, one day I took a leave of absence and quietly returned home at night, hiding in my room while keeping an eye on everything happening outside.
At six-thirty in the evening, my mother came home. Aunt Qiu served her dinner and cleaned up afterward: "Mrs. Zhuang, if there's nothing else, I'll head back now!"
My mother replied, "Okay, please lock the front door on your way out."
Then I heard her footsteps as she climbed the stairs to the third floor.
I hid in my room, completely still, quietly waiting. I hoped that I hadn't discovered anything, that it was all just an incredible dream.
However, around ten o'clock at night, I heard the sound of my front door opening. Someone came in and walked upstairs until their footsteps faded away above me. My hands and feet turned cold, and I could hear my heart pounding loudly.
I quietly opened the door and tiptoed upstairs, arriving at my mother's door. I pressed my ear against it.
My mother's voice came through: "When will these days come to an end?"
A man's voice replied, "Isn't this fine? The boss is busy with his things, and we have our own." There was a lewd undertone in his voice.
I recognized that voice all too well; it was our driver, Uncle He!
"That time Xiao Ya asked me about something, and I always felt she knew something," my mother said anxiously.
Uncle He reassured her, "You're overthinking it. She probably just misses the boss. If she brings it up again, just say she's under a lot of pressure from her studies and is hearing things."
"But what if she really knows? What would she think of me as her mother?" My mother remained worried.
"She's in high school now and living at school. Once she goes to college, she'll only come back during the winter and summer breaks... Think about it this way: others have to sneak around and book hotel rooms. We're much better off... Outsiders wouldn't even suspect it; Xiao Ya definitely wouldn't either."
"Shut up!" My mother snapped angrily. "I really regret listening to your sweet talk and being lured into bed by you. I feel guilty towards Lao Zhuang and my daughter Qiuya..." Then I heard her sobbing softly.
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