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墨書 Inktalez
"Seventeen years,"
"For seventeen years, I've given you all my money, dedicated my whole life to you. How could you do this to me?" I shouted angrily, gripping her shoulders tightly.
Wen Huaxiang lowered her head, rubbing the calluses on her hands, remaining silent.
Her demeanor only fueled my anger further.
"Do you even care about me at all?"
I slammed my hand on the table and stood up. "That Gui Lao San is just a lazy man who spends his days hunting and wasting time!"
"What are you shouting about?"
Wen Huaxiang finally lifted her head. "Who do you think you are? Whose house is this anyway? Chen Qingzhang is my legal husband; what are you to me?"
At those words, I stood there in shock.
Indeed, for these seventeen years, I had been nothing more than an unnamed 'second husband.' What was I even?
I opened my mouth to say something but couldn't find the words.
In frustration, I ran out the door, unable to face the woman before me calmly.
I wandered in the woods outside the village for the entire afternoon, lost in thought, yet unable to let go of the emotions tied to those seventeen years.
I looked up; the sun had already set.
With dusk at my back, I walked slowly homeward.
Upon returning home and pushing open the door, I saw Gui Lao San sitting in my usual spot, sipping tea.
Wen Huaxiang was gently peeling peanuts for him, tenderly offering the peanut kernels to his mouth.
That scene pierced my heart deeply.
"Get away from there; that's my spot," I said as I quickly walked over, my voice stiff and harsh.
Gui Lao San glanced at me with a contemptuous smile. "Your position? Do you even have a place in this family?"
"If I were you, I would have left long ago instead of coming back to embarrass myself. Why bother?"
I trembled with anger but found myself unable to retort. In some ways, he was right. I had no legal standing in this family; all I could do was endure.
During the day, as I walked through the village, I could feel the eyes on my back and hear the whispers. Once, the villagers had been indifferent to the relationship between the three of us; now, I had become a laughingstock, a pitiful creature replaced by a new love.
"I heard Hu Dongli is being kicked out."
"Serves him right; who told him to be a third wheel for over a decade?"
"Now there's going to be a good show; Wen Huaxiang is going to have one woman serving three husbands!"
No matter how one looked at it, Hu Dongli was still a man of stature. How could he tolerate such humiliation?
In the end, I decided to talk to Chen Qingzhang. After all these years, despite our strange relationship, we had shared some bond.
"Brother Chen," I began, "after all these years of friendship, you just stand by and watch Wen Huaxiang treat me like this?"
Chen Qingzhang leisurely puffed on his pipe. "Dong Li, people's hearts change. I once thought about getting rid of you too, but back then you were young and strong; you could work and earn money. Now Gui Lao San is younger than you and has a shotgun; he can bring home game. Life is just that realistic."
His words felt like a bucket of cold water poured over my head. In his eyes, I had never been family; I was merely a labor tool, an ATM. Once my value was drained, it was only natural for me to be discarded without mercy.
My self-esteem has suffered an unprecedented blow. I feel deceived, used, and abandoned. Seventeen years of emotional investment, seventeen years of financial support, and seventeen years of silent endurance have led to such an outcome.
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