Stories: Happiness Spread Over 90 Steps
After finishing the housework and putting her daughter to sleep, Meijie also got into bed and absentmindedly flipped through a magazine. As she read, she couldn’t help but laugh silently.
The magazine contained a humorous article about marriage, listing many funny “cold jokes.”
Meijie focused on the last part: “In the first year of marriage, the husband talks, and the wife listens; in the second year, the wife talks, and the husband listens; in the third year, both talk, and the neighbors listen.” This wasn’t at all accurate, she thought, as the sound of a key turning in the lock reached her ears.
Just from the sound, she knew it was her husband Weijie coming home. Every time he came home late from work, Weijie always tried to make as little noise as possible, even turning the faucet to the smallest trickle so as not to wake their daughter.
Then, he tiptoed into the bedroom and fell asleep. They had nothing to say to each other, a situation Meijie had grown used to.
Tonight was no different. However, Meijie decided to break the silence: “Weijie, I want to discuss something with you.”
“Go ahead,” Weijie replied briefly.
Meijie hesitated for a few seconds and said, “Let’s get a divorce.”
The thought of divorce had been churning in Meijie’s mind for quite some time. Just this afternoon, when she mentioned it to her friend Xiaomei, Xiaomei angrily shouted, “Are you crazy!”
Five years ago, it was Xiaomei who introduced them. Six months later, they got married. The following year, their daughter Jiajia was born. But to their surprise, even though Jiajia could understand every word adults said by the time she was three, she never spoke. The couple tried everything, but Jiajia just wouldn’t talk.
Looking into her daughter’s bright, star-like eyes, Meijie never gave up hope, running around to various hospitals, but her communication with Weijie became less and less.
Seeing how serious Meijie was, Weijie was silent for a moment and then agreed: “Alright, but please let me carry you downstairs tomorrow.”
Hearing this, Meijie quickly turned off the bedside lamp. In that moment of darkness, silent tears streamed down her face.
Weijie was referring to a joke he made on their wedding day. That day, the festively decorated wedding car arrived downstairs, and Weijie took Meijie’s hand to go upstairs.
Xiaomei, laughing, blocked his way: “Our bride is very precious. If you want to marry her, you must carry her upstairs!”
“Yes, carry the bride upstairs!” Amid the crowd’s coaxing, Weijie squatted down without hesitation and carried the red-veiled Meijie. Their new home was on the fifth floor, a total of 90 steps. Meijie lay on Weijie’s back, smiling happily.
“Weijie, you carried me upstairs. Even if we part ways in the future, you have to carry me downstairs,” Meijie whispered in Weijie’s ear at the time.
Weijie, panting, replied, “You can forget about that this lifetime!”
Despite his confident words, the day had come. The next morning, after breakfast, Weijie squatted at the door. It was clear he was no longer as strong as five years ago, worn out from work, family, and their child.
Meijie hesitated, standing still. Without turning around, Weijie said, “Come on. I’ll carry you downstairs to the civil affairs office.”
Meijie rubbed her red, sleep-deprived eyes and climbed onto Weijie’s back. Weijie slowly stood up and stepped onto the first stair: “Meijie, on our wedding day, you stood here, and I said: ‘Entering this home means we’re a family, heart to heart.'”
As he stepped down another stair, he continued, “Here, I said: ‘When you’re happy, I want to be happy with you; and here, in my heart, I said: no matter if it’s happiness or hardship in the future, I want to be with you.'”
By the time they reached the third floor, standing on the 36th step, Weijie was drenched in sweat but still showed no sign of putting Meijie down. Listening to him recount the scene from six years ago word for word, Meijie bit her lip, holding back tears.
“Here, I said, in the future, if I see beautiful women, I’ll think of how much better our Meijie is and not take a second look.”
“On this step, I said, if anyone dares to bully my wife, I’ll fight them.”
Meijie couldn’t hold back her tears anymore, and they fell onto Weijie’s neck, mixing with his sweat.
Finally, Weijie stood on the first step of going upstairs: “This was the first step of going upstairs. At that time, I said, thank you, God, for giving me a kind and good wife. I will love and cherish her forever.”
“Stop,” Meijie said, tears streaming down her face. “I won’t divorce you, I won’t!”
“Meijie, actually, I knew what you were thinking last night,” Weijie said, not putting Meijie down. “Don’t worry, I’m the pillar of this family and will never fall.”
He had understood my thoughts all along! Meijie tightly hugged Weijie’s neck. To her, Weijie was the best man in the world. But ever since discovering their daughter’s unusual condition, Weijie’s performance at work had declined. He was only 30, in the prime of his career. So, Meijie thought about divorce.
“Honey, let’s go back upstairs together!” Meijie said through her tears. Weijie heard her, turned around, and took her hand to go back upstairs: “Meijie, believe me, everything will get better, everything will be alright.”
“I believe, I believe. Honey, look—”
At some point, their daughter Jiajia had walked out of the room, standing at the doorway, smiling and vaguely calling, “Mommy…”
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
