April 8, 2021, sunny.
Wang Xiaobo once said that life was a slow process of being pounded.
People grew older day by day, their hopes fading day by day, until they became like oxen that had been pounded.
I used to think my life was supposed to be like that too. But things were slowly changing. I thought it all began with that prenatal checkup.
Wang Ruyuan closed her diary and turned to look at her daughter, who was taking a nap.
Her husband was nowhere to be seen in the empty, quiet room. He had become very busy.
Ever since that prenatal checkup, her life with Lin Zuo had changed dramatically.
As if he'd had enough of being poor, Lin Zuo began working hard to get ahead, devoting himself entirely to his career.
Even when she was wheeled into the delivery room, she could hear Lin Zuo loudly talking on the phone in the hallway.
In the past,
Lin Zuo used to tell her a lot of things.
For example, when work wasn't going well, or when there were disputes with colleagues.
But now, he preferred to sit in silence by himself.
At first, she was happy to see her husband working so hard to succeed.
But little by little, she realized he was paying less and less attention to their family.
She wasn't angry about it. After all, her husband was doing it for their family.
Besides, they'd moved into a new house and bought a car.
The man who worked himself to the bone hadn't replaced her with another woman, as he'd joked he would. Instead, he'd given everything he'd earned to their family.
Still, when their child was napping or the night was quiet and dark, she couldn't help feeling lonely.
So she began keeping