salt by salt

"Mr. Xu, you have been waiting for a long time."

Since returning to the capital, I have always had a close relationship with the hospital.

Mom's life assistant is a shrewd and capable man. He took half a step back politely, stretched out his hand and pushed open the door of the independent ward: "Dong Xu is inside."

I nodded to him, and I smelled a warm scent of flowers in my nose, but I couldn't hide the heavy smell of disinfectant.The scene of the housekeeper talking to me that day suddenly popped up in my mind, which made me hesitate for a moment when I looked at the hospital bed.

"Madam discussed with Mr. Xu and decided to give you, Xu Yuzhong, and Xu Yucheng all the shares in Xu's company, and you will take over the position of executive director of Xu's. In addition, there is also a 35.49% stake in Wendu International Development. The 22% shares of Bo Culture Group Co., Ltd., the 6.08% shares of Chaoyu, and the 3.7 real estate properties in my name worth about 14 million yuan will all be left to you."

She laid out the will in front of me in a serious manner, and I stared at the black and white words on the table, unable to digest this news for a long time.

After a while, I asked aloud, "Where's Andre?"

"Madam has her own arrangements." The housekeeper paused, "What's more, the young master doesn't know when he will be able to recover. It's more appropriate to let a special manager take care of it for him."

I propped my forehead and rubbed my face vigorously. When I came back to my senses, I realized the unreasonableness of her behavior: "Mom is only in her 40s, why did she suddenly think of making a will? Informal private occasion. You... told me this news for no reason, what are you trying to do? Did you want me to be moved by 'maternal love'?"

"Mr. Xu, you haven't been dazzled by the benefits, and you are worthy of your wife's blood."

The butler's expression remained unchanged, and there was a hint of approval in his eyes, which made me wonder if I read it wrong: "Madam has entrusted me to take care of the property in her hand, and made this will on my suggestion. She trusts me, but I'm not completely altruistic."

I was surprised by her calmness. The butler raised his head and looked at me with scrutiny: "My selfishness is Madam's happiness. Of course, the foundation of happiness is life. If Madam loses her healthy body, these extraneous things will be useless." Meaning. Leave it to you, or donate to the society, it makes no difference to her.”

I froze for a moment: "What's wrong with Mom?"

"My wife was found to have chronic renal failure after giving birth to the young master. This year, her physical condition has deteriorated sharply and she has reached the stage of renal failure. Although the condition has been temporarily stabilized after treatment, if it is not cured, it will develop into the end stage of uremia. It may not last for a few months." The housekeeper said, "The best treatment is a kidney transplant."

"Are you kidding me?" I said, "Even if the mother and child are biological, they don't match 100% to the source of the kidney."

"I know, but compared to waiting for a suitable unfamiliar donor, you and your wife have the same blood type and are related by blood. The chance of success is already very high."

She said: "There are many parents who donate kidneys to their children, but very few young people are willing to pay such a high price for their parents. I guess, you may be thinking, as long as your wife is dead, you can get this money without donating a kidney." Money. But Mr. Xu, what you see is not the only will."

"Madam can leave everything to you, or you can donate everything to the society. You won't get any money. But as long as you and Madam can match, after the operation, what I'm talking about will no longer be a marriage. A document that can be realized, and it will immediately become a transfer contract sent to you. If you don't believe it, we will sign the agreement in advance."

I stood up suddenly: "It's outrageous! Are you buying my organs with money?"

"No, I'm proposing to you a deal that gives you the best of both worlds." The butler said calmly, "Mr. Xu, you get the reputation of filial piety, a harmonious mother-child relationship, and your wife's property, and your wife gets health. This is a deal worth nearly ten dollars." I hope you will think about it carefully."

I sat back on the sofa, concealing my complicated mood with silence.After a while, I asked, "Does mom know?"

"I didn't tell Madam I would come to you."

I first breathed a sigh of relief, then grinned self-deprecatingly: "If you don't tell me, she can guess."

Why did you sign a completely different will, why did you hand over the power of disposal to the steward, why did you show importance to this neglected son on various occasions since I came back.

I couldn't help thinking viciously, maybe my mother's original plan was to give me a little long-lost maternal love and tenderness, and let me obediently obey the command.I'm afraid even she didn't expect to come to this step: paying a high price to buy her son's kidney.

"I want to see her," I finally said, "whatever she wants, I want to talk to her face to face."

Mom, let me see how cruel you can be.

"Yan Yan, you are here."

I arrived very early, the morning sun was shining through the window into the room, and my mother was half lying and half leaning on the bed, reading a book in her hand.Instead of a hospital gown, she was wearing a long light-colored silk dress, with her black hair pulled back loosely.

Perhaps because she has let go of the tough aura she had in the company, she looks more beautiful than before, and even her cold attitude towards me seems to have softened a bit.

"Mom, how are you doing?"

No matter how tough my posture was when I came, standing still in front of her, I was always a little embarrassed.

Last time she tried to persuade me to listen to her arrangement, I threw down the sentence "Andre and I don't want to see you" and turned around and left. Afterwards, we never contacted again, which can be called a bad breakup; when we meet again, she Lying on the hospital bed, my posture was weak, and for no reason, I felt a little bit ashamed in my heart.

"Small problem, it's not a big deal." Mom lifted the subject and chuckled, "If you're not busy recently, you can come to Xu's to help me. Your two cousins, Yu Zhong, can't be counted on, so I dare not Count on him, Yucheng...I heard that he is working on your side? Be careful, don't be taken away by him too easily."

After being taught by her, I didn't express any rebuttals, but just listened patiently, and made a reply from my throat.

"Sit down a little bit."

She seemed to be in a good mood today, straightened up a little, and beckoned me to pass.I have never been treated like this by my mother. Although I have repeatedly told myself not to care, there is still a little flattered expression on my face.

I sat on the side of the bed, and she reached out and pinched my earlobe, her fingers were soft and delicate: "There is a red mole next to your right earlobe, it seems that I have a good memory. Look at me, there is exactly the same mole in a similar place." .”

She didn't wear earrings, and turned her head slightly towards me. Sure enough, there was also a small mole on the front side of her white earlobe, which was bright red in color.

"The year I gave birth to you was also today, May [-]th. I couldn't bear the pain, and I yelled several times that I would not give birth. Finally, when I gave birth, the nurse yelled at me, don't faint, open your eyes and take a look. I was so wronged that I burst into tears, wondering if it would be easy to have a baby, why should I be scolded?"

It may be because people's minds become more sensitive during illness, and today is a special day, which brings back memories of my mother.She said for a while and stopped for a while, she should be recalling what happened at that time, with a very shallow smile on her lips.

"I forced myself to take a look. You were wrapped in cloth, and you were red like a mouse, ugly and small. I couldn't believe it was born by me. After I woke up, I asked the nurse, did you hug me wrong? She was happy." Don't stop, put you in my arms and let me check it myself. I noticed a red mole next to your ear, just like me, it really is my child, and I didn't make a mistake."

"In a blink of an eye, you have grown so big." Those beautiful eyes met me, "Look carefully, the facial features have opened up a lot, and the face and mouth are most like me."

I was stunned, and asked in a low voice, "Didn't Mom always think I was ugly?"

She twisted a pair of thin eyebrows: "When did I say that?"

"When you came back to see me for the first time when you were young, you said I was ugly." I muttered a few words, and found it very boring to care about, "It happened a long time ago, and it's not a big deal."

"Oh—that day, I remember." Mom thought for a while, and then said naturally, "Did you wear a dark purple coat? Who bought it for you? The style is very old-fashioned, and the color is also dirty. It looks nourishing. Bad yellow, really ugly."

I didn't look good that day, so she told the truth.That's all.

That's all...that's all.

After a long time, the past grievances and pains have long been blurred.I stared at her beautiful face, the words became a piece of hard iron, swallowed from my throat, and fell heavily in my stomach.

Mom, have you ever thought about who in Xu's family will carefully choose clothes for me and teach me how to match them to look decent?

When I saw you for the first time when I was eight years old, I only dared to hide quietly at the corner of the stairs, waiting for your gaze to pass by me, even if you said a word to me and praised me for growing up.

"So that's what it is," I said to her. "Maybe I don't suit that color."

Following this topic, she told me some key points of color matching, and suddenly said: "Andre is sensitive to color, and the color he chooses is the most suitable. Before I attend a dinner party, I always take him with me to set the color. Dresses. He also liked to design jewelry when he was a child, I have two necklaces, which are the designs drawn by him.”

As soon as the voice fell, the air was instantly quiet.I lowered my eyes, and my mother stopped talking, and spoke again after a while: "Andre has a stubborn temper. In the past, in order to attract my attention, he deliberately did things that I forbid him to do. I originally wanted to strictly control him when I was young. That's good, I didn't expect to lose sight of him more and more."

"Homosexuality, combined with incest, is simply wrong. At first I felt sorry for him, and I was reluctant to use severe treatment. The result? After several years of treatment, I couldn't change it. He refused to take medicine, and the entire wall of the nursing home Write your name, put away the pen and bite your finger to write, your mouth is full of blood, you are crazy and out of shape."

"Until he injured the nurse and ran out, I still regarded him as my baby. In fact, he has changed a long time ago. What I want is the talented and well-behaved little son who is nestled in my arms. I don't need a head A wild beast that doesn't recognize its mother when it's captured!"

Her chest was heaving violently, her cheeks were flushed with excitement, and she calmed down after a few breaths: "Mother and child also pay attention to fate, I don't mention him, it makes my heart ache. What about the others, have you solved it yet?" ?”

I hesitated for a few seconds, not knowing how to answer.

My mother glanced at me: "Don't think they are some kind of infatuated species. With you, it's the icing on the cake; without you, I can still live very well. When I was young, I didn't meet such people. At that time, I was complacent and felt Someone is willing to give me everything because he loves me, and after listening to a few vows, he is completely moved. In fact, he pays within the range he can afford, and can leave at any time, so what is it to give everything?"

It was rare for her to calm down, touched my face, and said lightly: "Yanyan, I have suffered a lot emotionally. I am not a smart person. The only thing I can teach you is that I want to tell you. Tell my son not to follow my old path, as long as you know it clearly. Andre... you can take care of him in the future, and take care of him more, no matter what else, give him his share of your heart!"

These words can be said to be sincere, and I obediently responded, and my mother's face was much more relaxed: "I know you are obedient. Today is your birthday. If you like anything, mother will give it to you."

I whispered: "My birthday is also the day when my mother suffers. I should give you a gift. Mom, do you want anything?"

Once I received her call, I answered it carefully, with a humble posture, longing for a trace of maternal love from the woman in front of me.

My tone sounded gentle and patient: "What does Mom want?"

Why did she choose to meet today, why did she reveal her feelings as a mother, why did I repeat this question over and over again, we know each other's thoughts very well.

The two ends of the bloody umbilical cord connect the mother and the child. In this tug-of-war, it's your turn to bow to me, Xu Yan.

"Yanyan, I do have a request, you must agree."

Mother raised her chin, put away her soft expression, and resumed the arrogant posture of a noble lady.It's just that no matter how beautiful and noble it is, it can't stop the fine lines carved by time and illness.

She looked at me, her beautifully shaped eyes burst out with unusual brilliance, and before I could recognize the emotion in them, her slender white hands tightly grasped the shoulders.My well-groomed nails dug deep into the skin, and I gave a short hiss in pain.

"No matter how much Lu Changbai benefits you, you can't change his surname, and you can't recognize him as your father!"

My mother's voice rang in my ears, word by word, approaching my throat like a poisoned blade wrapped in infinite hatred:

"Even if I die, you will still be my Xu Yan's son, for the rest of your life!"