Sacrificial love and divorce
They met through an introduction. At that time, he was poor but handsome and a college graduate. He was attracted to her, despite her average looks and education, because her family was wealthy and her parents promised to buy them a house. During their wedding preparations, she chose a house close to his workplace. He didn’t think much of it then, but after marriage, he realized that while he only had to walk a few minutes to work, she had to walk a long way.
He felt sorry for her and every night, he would prepare a large basin of water for her to soak her feet. She always soaked briefly and then hurriedly cooked and cleaned. He teased her for not knowing how to enjoy life, calling her a work machine, to which she would just smile silently.
As time went by, his already weak affection for her gradually eroded. At some point, he stopped preparing the water for her, and she didn’t notice. He began to hate coming home, finding her expressionless face annoying, and wondered how he had ever been attracted to her—neither capable nor good-looking. He regretted marrying for a house when his career had taken off, feeling he had sacrificed his happiness.
With this mindset, he began indulging himself, frequenting massage parlors, bars, and dance halls, and he had no shortage of women—beautiful, charming, educated ones. He couldn’t understand why other women were so attractive while she remained dull, unable to dress well or please him.
She knew about his affairs but didn’t argue or confront him. Whether he came home or not, she remained indifferent, as if he were an insignificant part of her life.
Her attitude didn’t give him a sense of freedom; instead, it made him uneasy. He couldn’t fathom her thoughts, feeling like she was an unfathomable deep water. He even hoped she would argue with him like other couples so they could divorce. Divorce was his ultimate goal, but he felt awkward bringing it up since he was the unfaithful one.
One day, some colleagues took him to a luxurious foot bath parlor. Inside, he saw a familiar figure cleaning the floor with her back to him. As he approached, his colleagues asked, “What’s wrong? Do you know that cleaner?”
He quickly shook his head, “How could I know someone like that? I only know beautiful women.” They laughed and walked inside.
That day, he returned home early. She was cooking noodles and asked casually if he had eaten. He didn’t respond, his face dark with anger.
Seeing his expression, she asked if he was ill, but he angrily shouted, “Did I not give you enough money? Why are you cleaning in a foot bath parlor? Are you deliberately trying to embarrass me?”
Tears welled up in her eyes. She swallowed her noodles and said, “Can you get me a basin of hot water?”
He was stunned. He wanted to refuse but, seeing her aggrieved face, he complied. He placed the basin of hot water in front of her. She put her feet in and sighed contentedly, then took out a divorce agreement and handed it to him. “I know you’ve wanted a divorce for a long time but couldn’t find a reason. I didn’t want to argue with you. I wanted to keep the feeling of you preparing the water for me. Maybe that was too selfish of me, hoping you would remember our old days. But now I see it’s impossible. Since we can’t go back, I’ll set you free…” She signed her name on the divorce agreement.
He was stunned, holding the agreement. He looked at her with regret and reluctance, but she had already finished soaking her feet. She left as he poured out the water. He wanted to call her back but couldn’t find the words.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
