Chapter 25 — The Bed of Your Own Choosing

I carried my daughter out to the living room, and she immediately peed on me. Meng Lan was laughing so hard in the bedroom that he couldn't stand up straight. We will still make mistakes. There are times when the company has a problem and I want to take care of it myself. Meng Lan still has times when he accepts a job and discovers that he doesn't have enough time. Both parents are not suddenly open, and every Tet holiday they still secretly compare which side has dinner. The only difference is that we no longer consider a choice as the final word. When our daughter was five, Gu Cheng came to Hangzhou on business and invited me to dinner. He was about to start a business again, this time doing business services, and asked me if I wanted to invest a little. I looked at the plan and invested a small amount. After knowing this, Meng Lan asked: "Aren't you afraid that he will come back to you to clean up the consequences?" "Afraid. So the contract and withdrawal conditions are clearly discussed." "Does Shen Nianchu know?" "It has nothing to do with her." Meng Lan nodded: "It seems that dream is no longer that useful in the end." "Sometimes still useful." "For example?" "For example, nowadays I rarely sit by the river and drink alcohol." She laughed: "Originally you don't drink either." Later, Shen Nianchu returned home and we met at an industry forum. She and a collaborator went on stage to talk about women re-employment in vocational education. At the end, she took the initiative to say hello. Meng Lan and her officially met for the first time. There is no awkwardness as imagined. Shen Nianchu looked at the girl in my arms and said her eyebrows were like mine and her eyes were like Meng Lan. The girl was not shy of strangers. "Is she Daddy's classmate?" Shen Nianchu smiled: "Yes, you studied a long time ago." When we broke up, she said to me: "You look pretty good." "Me too." "Do you still judge others first?" "Sometimes." "So judge a little." "You still know how to teach others." She smiled and left. I did not turn around. Not because the need to show off had given up, but because my daughter was snatching the conference card in my arms, Meng Lan urged me to go eat. The immediate life is specific enough, the old story no longer needed one final turn to prove its outcome. That fall, the school sent a photo of building six after it was repaired. Han Dongming sent a photo to the group, asking if everyone wanted to give a group photo of Room 407 on the wall. Zhao Yue proposed to give red pots, but everyone voted against it. I showed the photo to my daughter. She pointed to the dorm room and asked: "Which bed did you sleep in before?" I pointed to the position next to the window. "Why do you sleep there?" "Because you changed dorms." "Is the original bed not good?" "That's not true, is it? It was fine." Clearly the daughter was not satisfied with this vague answer, continuing to ask: "So why change?" Meng Lan came out of the kitchen and put fruit on the table. "Because your father knew how to cause trouble when he was young." I said: "Because there's someone better in the next room." The daughter asked: "Mom is also in the next room?" "Mom is in the women's dormitory." "So how did dad find mom?" I looked at Meng Lan. She held a piece of apple and deliberately said: "Your father looked for the wrong person first. He turned around a lot before finding me." The girl didn't understand, she just felt funny and laughed along. That evening, after putting the baby to sleep, Meng Lan and I went back to the room. It was cold, so she rolled all the blankets towards her. I reached out to pull her back, she closed her eyes and said: "Don't take it." "I don't have a blanket." "Don't you know how to change beds? Go to the next room to sleep." The next room is a girl's room, the bed is full of stuffed toys, there is absolutely no room for me. I pulled the blanket a little towards her, who also came closer. "This time it won't change." Meng Lan opened her eyes: "Why?" "Changed once is enough." She looked at me for a few seconds, then shared half the blanket with me. After turning off the lights, there was only very faint light left in the room outside the window. I used to think that the opportunity of reincarnation would help me avoid the wrong person. Later I understood that no one just made a mistake, and no relationship can be completely avoided by changing dorm rooms. What that bed really taught me is that when the position is uncomfortable, it's okay to stand up; When others need you, you can ask yourself if you are willing first; Loving someone doesn't have to rely on bearing all the consequences for her. More importantly, when I finally met someone who was willing to make the bed, collect the blankets, and discuss which side to sleep on, I was no longer afraid of losing her and decided whether she should stay or go. Meng Lan kicked me in the dark. "Zhou Yanxuan, you rolled up the blanket again." I relaxed a bit and moved closer to her. "Is this okay?" "Too close." "Then I'll step back a bit." She put her hand on my nightgown. "Okay, just like that." I didn't move anymore. Outside the windy window, the bedroom is very quiet. This time, I slept in the place I had chosen. And I chose the person beside me.