After dinner, Dad took an old blanket, carried my brother, and left.

He said he was going to make a delivery and would be back later.

When I woke up, Mom wasn't in the room. I looked over the railing and saw Aunt Zhu's light still on downstairs.

I quietly went downstairs, stood under Aunt Zhu's window, and heard Mom's voice.

She was crying, saying, "You don't know how much pain I'm in. I was deceived into this marriage."

"I was only twenty that year, working at the duck factory. A coworker introduced me to Xiao Yu's father."

"My mom said he was six years older than me, and from behind, he didn't walk like a young man, probably already married."

"He swore to me that he had never been married. I foolishly believed him. When I got pregnant with Xiao Yu, he took me back to his hometown on his motorcycle, and halfway there, he admitted not only was he married before, but he also had a son."

"I was so scared that I ran back home that day. My mom said, 'You already have his child, what else can you do? Blame your bad luck. Treat his son well in the future when you marry over there.'

My mom wiped her nose, "But he was still deceiving me. After we moved to this street with him, one day, when he went out for a delivery, the landlord's child quietly told me, 'Auntie, the house you live in had someone hang themselves on the window.'

"I was terrified, sat at the door until dark, too scared to go inside. When he came back, I cried and begged him to change houses. He agreed verbally, then left again. I had no choice but to talk to the landlord myself. He angrily said, 'Your husband turned my house into a haunted house. I should have sued him for lack of righteousness!'

"That's when I found out the person who hanged herself was his previous wife. He said she died of an illness."

Mom shivered as if a cold wind had blown over her.

"In the end, I had to use up my dowry to change houses. Before my dad passed away, he left me a dowry of a thousand yuan."

Mom sighed deeply.

At that moment, Aunt Zhu turned and saw me, shouting, "This child! Why are you standing silently in the cold?"

Mom came over and hugged me, gently asking, "Does your head still hurt from when I hit you with chopsticks this evening?"

I suddenly felt wronged, not sure if it was for her or for myself.

I buried my head in my mom's shoulder and mumbled, "Mom, I want to eat egg cake."

"Okay, Mom will go buy it early tomorrow morning."