An Ning, Seventh Master, and I sat outside Liu Jing's front door.
Fang Yongshan's sobs drifted out from inside now and then.
Earlier, when we were at the door, we had seen a table laden with delicious dishes in the living room.
In fact, that whole spread had been an illusion. Liu Jing couldn't finish one last reunion dinner with Fang Yongshan, so this was the only way she could fulfill her final wish.
"I still don't understand."
I asked Seventh Master, "I can understand why Liu Jing wanted to see her husband, but why did she want to see the Old Lady too?"
If the Old Lady hadn't been so cruel, Liu Jing's depression might not have been so severe, and Wang Guofu wouldn't have been able to take advantage of her vulnerability.
"Exactly. The Old Lady is really nasty," An Ning complained as she ate from a bowl of rice noodles.
She was hungry.
Seventh Master said, "The human heart is more treacherous than mountains and rivers, harder to understand than the heavens. Even the heavens have their fixed cycles of spring, summer, autumn, winter, day, and night, but people's true feelings remain deeply hidden."
"This girl was simply too starved for love. Perhaps, deep down, she longed for a happy, harmonious family. She couldn't understand why her mother-in-law was so cruel to her, or why her husband treated her badly too."
"But even after things came to this, she still wanted her husband and mother-in-law to do one last thing for her: share this reunion dinner."
For some reason, I felt a little sad. I still thought Liu Jing was just too pitiful.
Some people were born to hardship and suffered all the way to the end, never finding the love they sought.
Others had no such