01
When I was playing at my grandma’s house in Shanghai when I was a child, I could always see a photo of a woman wearing a cheongsam in an old Shanghai cigarette advertisement under the glass of the mahogany table in the middle of the living room!
Although the photo is dim, the charming charm of the woman in the photo is vaguely visible. She is my cousin, my cousin’s mother, the famous dancer of Paramount back then!
It is said that my cousin’s biological father was a foreign executive. He returned to China not long after my cousin was born, so my cousin’s appearance is mixed. She has lovely fair skin and flaxen hair. She is an out-and-out exotic beauty!
After liberation, my cousin, who had no merit, married a worker and gave birth to my uncle. A family of four squeezed into a small Shikumen house. A violent and vulgar husband and a life of poverty made my cousin's life fall from prosperity to the abyss!
02
Every time my cousin and aunt moved to a bench to sit at the entrance of the alley to enjoy the cool air on a dull summer night, they talked about the luxurious life in Shanghai at night. Those alluring memories from my cousin’s mouth were like a seed that took root in my cousin’s future life!
When my cousin joined the queue to settle down, she had a short marriage. It is said that in order to return to the city, it ended without a trace at the instruction of her cousin! Back in Shanghai, because of her outstanding appearance, my cousin was assigned to the front desk of the hotel to be in charge of reception.
Gold will shine wherever it is, and beauty will never give up in the dust!
A middle-aged Hong Kong man spent all his money to find a beautiful woman. The imported cosmetics, snacks, and clothing materials were piled up in the small, dark room. The dazzling light emitted by the gorgeous outer packaging of the products made the cousins ??and aunts choose to forget the fact that this man was married and had children.
03
In this way, the cousin announced that she was married, but in fact she became this middle-aged man’s extramarital affair!
Not long after, my cousin got a fashionable perm and carried a delicate bag in and out of the apartment rented for her by this man.
This man gave her a lot of money every month, and she gave it to her mother and half-brother.
In the name of family affection, the cousin clung to her daughter like a vine and made her think of ways to ask this man for money regardless of her dignity!
04
A year passed like this, and suddenly one day, my cousin became pregnant. After the son was born, everyone was happy. But because it is inconvenient to declare household registration and other reasons, the man wants to take his cousin and son to Hong Kong to recognize his ancestors!
My cousin was worried that if her cousin would never come back, the whole family would have no hope of happiness in the rest of their lives, so she cried and made a fuss and firmly opposed it! My cousin was also forced to stay in Shanghai because she was worried about the language barrier and other reasons. Because of this incident, there was a estrangement between her and the man...
At this time, the man's first wife in Hong Kong gave birth to another daughter. It is said that it hurt her body and it will be difficult for her to have children in the future. After the first wife found a Feng Shui master to calculate the birth date of her cousin's son, she agreed to raise her cousin's son and vowed to treat him as her own.
The man was moved and came to discuss it with his cousin. In order to have a bright future for her son, my cousin reluctantly agreed!
After several negotiations, the man gave his cousin a house and a lot of cash and left. This house was later given to my cousin's brother, who married and had children and lives there until now.
05
After the man and his son left, the cousin originally planned to let her cousin give birth to the man's child. Who knew that the man had a few letters and photos of his son at the beginning, but then he lost his voice.
My cousin also entered middle age while waiting. The little sisters around me are all getting married, having children, and leading busy lives! She was alone and found it difficult to reintegrate into her former circle of friends.
Because of that past incident, it is difficult for her to find a good man to spend the rest of her life with! The one with good conditions despises her because of that past, and the one with poor conditions is unwilling to marry.
After my cousin learned that her daughter could not remarry, she strongly opposed her remarriage.
The reason for this is unknown. Relatives speculate that they are worried that the cousin’s property will be divided after remarriage!
06
Although my cousin’s life is exquisite, it cannot stop her rose from slowly withering! Before she graduated from junior high school, she was sent to a remote area, and what she saw and thought was as poor as a blank slate. After marrying a man from Hong Kong, her material life has become much better, but what the man loves is her young body. Cousin's advice was just a way of winning money, and no one cared about her inner feelings. Her spiritual world can be said to be barren!
Her cousin’s vision and pattern made her slowly lose color in that golden birdcage! No one cares about her joys and sorrows. As long as she is still alive in the birdcage, she is fine!
I remember clearly that one year at a family gathering, everyone was talking and laughing enthusiastically, and she was the only one sitting lonely next to her cousin like a beautiful white sculpture.
She ate the food in silence without smiling or speaking.
After finishing, I immediately took out an exquisite powder box to tidy up my appearance. When I was a child, I looked at her curiously. Although the face reflected in the compact mirror was painted with red lipstick, it was so lifeless...
07
As I grew up, my cousin passed away. The nephew who originally promised to provide for his cousin sold her house and sent her to a nursing home.
I had just started working at that time, and one day I went to visit my cousin with my elders. It was said that she was running out of time. When we arrived at the dim nursing home, there were more than a dozen elderly people lying in various postures in a large room. I still recognized my cousin at a glance.
She was sleeping on a small iron bed. Seeing us coming, she reluctantly opened her eyes, smiled and fell asleep again...
On the small wooden table next to her , there is a photo of her and her son when they were young. When a man in Hong Kong was seriously ill, he arranged for his cousin to see him for the last time and asked her to sign many documents in English.
When my cousin’s aunt saw her chubby son raised by a man’s original wife calling her auntie, she couldn’t control her emotions and ran out of the mansion crying!
After the man died, she completely lost contact with her son! It is said that my cousin later went to the mansion in Hong Kong to look for her son, but unfortunately the building was empty!
In this way, the rest of my cousin’s life came to an end in loneliness!
Time flies by, and the winter solstice arrives again.
It is said that during the winter solstice, paper money is burned to the deceased relatives. I wonder if anyone still misses that woman who was as lonely as fireworks!