At the end of 1948, one year before the founding of New China, Zheng Lie, the former Supreme Court Justice of the Nanjing National Government, decided to transport his family to Taiwan on a special plane.
However, at Longhua Airport, Zheng Lie's daughter Zheng Xiu refused to get on the plane. When Zheng Lie urged her daughter to get on the plane with her two daughters for the fourth time, she shouted at her father: "Didn't you say you informed Jiabao, where are the others?"
The "Jiabao" Zheng Xiu said was hers. Husband, Cao Yu, the author of classic plays such as "Thunderstorm".
Zheng Lie looked at his daughter and didn't know what to say for a moment. Just as he was deep in thought, Zheng Xiu resolutely walked out of the airport with his two daughters. Zheng Lie felt a convulsion in his heart. He could not have imagined that his daughter would eventually abandon the whole family for that man. He didn't stop his daughter. He knew that with her daughter's temperament, no one could stop her from deciding what she wanted.
So, Zheng Lie just stood there silently until his daughter's back slowly became smaller and finally turned into a blurry black dot. Then he sighed and turned back to the plane.
Zheng Lie knew that the farewell between father and daughter was almost an eternity. He also knew that his daughter, who knew politics, would also know the result. From then on, Zheng Lie and his daughter Zheng Xiu embarked on two completely different life paths. This ending is roughly what Pushkin said in his poem "The Road Not Taken": one choice determines the path of life.
Zheng Xiu never looked back when she walked out of the airport under the watchful eye of her father, because she was afraid of seeing her father's tearful eyes, and she was also afraid of letting her father see her eyes that were red from crying. Her steps were long, but she didn't walk fast, but her steps were clearly determined. That's right, her family treasure once told him, "He and she are one body and will never be separated from each other."
Zheng Xiu has always held this idea, even though she had already known about her husband's affair and had been living with a woman for many years. No matter what happens, she still firmly believes in her heart that her husband will never abandon her and her daughter. After all, they were a couple in need.
Another reason why Zheng Xiu has always believed that her husband will not abandon her is that not only did they have a vigorous love, she is also the noble person in his life.
When she was passionately in love with him, he created his masterpiece "Thunderstorm". She was also the transcriber and first reader of "Thunderstorm". It was precisely because of her silent efforts behind the scenes that many of his later works such as "The Wilderness" were created. ", "Sunrise", "Beijingers", "Transformation", "Home" and a series of famous works. She firmly believes that it is her company and the inspiration she gave him that allowed his talents to be extended.
On the other hand, Zheng Xiu also firmly believes that only she can truly take care of her family treasures. Thinking of this, Zheng Xiu couldn't help but remember that he had locked Cao Yu in the bathroom to force him to take a bath. Cao Yu didn't like cleanliness and even called it "celebrity style", but Zheng Xiu, who came from a famous family, loved cleanliness very much. Zheng Xiu always felt that a master like Cao Yu who didn't take a bath for half a month and a month would be prone to illness, so she often supervised He cleans "personal hygiene".
But Cao Yu often refused to accept Zheng Xiu's love. Once, he took precautions in advance and brought a book into the bathroom. It turned out that he only turned on the water from the faucet and then sat and read. When Zheng Xiu opened the door, he was already fast asleep.
Although Cao Yu had countermeasures, Zheng Xiu always found a way to make Cao Yu "submit".
Zheng Xiuben was a top student at Tsinghua University. After entering Tsinghua University, she became famous on campus. At that time, Cao Yu, who had not yet created "Thunderstorm", was just one of his many suitors.
Cao Yu is short in stature and has a round face. Naturally, he cannot catch Zheng Xiu's eyes. She loves ostentation and tall and handsome boys. But Cao Yu pursued her the most in Tsinghua University. At that time, he wrote passionate love letters to her every day. The words in the love letters made her feel a little dizzy now when she thought about them.
In order to get close to Zheng Xiu, Cao Yu asked her to star in his translation of the play "Sin" by the British playwright Galsworthy . Helplessly, Zheng Xiu, who had no interest in Cao Yu at that time, refused without hesitation.In order to persuade her to accept the invitation, Cao Yu mobilized all the girls in her dormitory to do persuasion work.
As a last resort, Zheng Xiu had no choice but to agree to star in "Crime" as the orphan girl Wanda opposite Larry, played by Cao Yu. This play later became a sensation throughout Tsinghua University. After repeated requests from students, the play was performed for eight consecutive performances.
Zheng Xiu (middle) and Cao Yu (right) appeared in the drama
However, what Cao Yu did not expect was that Zheng Xiu, who was already a little talented, had more suitors after the drama performance. During this period, some boys even took advantage of the school anniversary to visit the girls' dormitory and stuffed love letters under her pillow.
After the number of love letters increased, Zheng Xiu also began to think about her life's major events, but Cao Yu was definitely not in her consideration, even though his talent was quite extraordinary.
But the more Zheng Xiu ignored Cao Yu, the stronger Cao Yu's admiration for her became. In order to pursue her, he often wandered in the courtyard of Guyuetang, the girls' dormitory where Zheng Xiu was located. His pursuit of Zheng Xiu was later transplanted to Zhou Chong who was standing outside the dormitory in pursuit of the Four Winds when he was writing the play "Thunderstorm".
But the more Cao Yu behaved like this, the more stubborn Zheng Xiu became in not wanting to see Cao Yu. Cao Yu, who was unable to fall in love, soon fell ill. After Cao Yu fell ill, the boys in his dormitory finally couldn't stand it anymore. They frequently sent letters to Zheng Xiu on behalf of the sick Cao Yu: "Wan Jiabao (Cao Yu's original name) will do your surgery for you." He stayed up all night", "He only shouted the name 'Zheng Xiu' while crying and sighing, he must have gone crazy"...
Zheng Xiu is a soft-hearted woman. After hearing this, she felt full of love for him. Sympathy. Once sympathy takes root in a woman's heart, the results will be fatal. At this time, Zheng Xiu actually felt Cao Yu's love for her. People say that when a woman can feel a man's love for her, it is often the beginning of love.
In fact, Zheng Xiu had been attracted to Cao Yu long before this. When she met his eyes, when he sent her back to the dormitory in the rain, when rehearsing with him... However, due to the fact that she originally liked She just didn't want to admit it because he was tall and handsome.
Finally, Zheng Xiu couldn't help but rushed to Cao Yu's dormitory in No. 2 Courtyard of Tsinghua Garden when Cao Yu fell ill...
In the summer vacation of 1933, the 23-year-old Cao Yu decided to stay in the school library to compose "Thunderstorm". He begged Zheng Xiu to accompany him. she. Zheng Xiu thought about it and agreed. The lie she told her parents at the time was that she "wanted to review her homework at school."
The real situation is that throughout the summer vacation, Cao Yu has been writing furiously in a corner of the library, while Zheng Xiu has been helping Cao Yu keep copying. At the end of the summer vacation, "Thunderstorm" was also completed.
The next year, this masterpiece was published in a single volume under the recommendation of Ba Jin . Ba Jin specially printed a hardcover volume for him. Cao Yu wrote on the cover of this book: To Ying Ru (nickname of Zheng Xiu) ), family treasure.
Stills of "Thunderstorm"
In a sense, isn't this drama the product of their love.
After this, Cao Yu became famous and became a star in the theater world. Later, Cao Yu was assigned to teach at the Nanjing National Drama School. In order to follow Cao Yu, Zheng Xiu, who graduated from Tsinghua University with honors, decided to give up a better job and only became a clerk in the Nanjing Audit Department.
In many dramas, the result of women giving up their future for men is usually let down, because most men cannot afford women to be so "good", especially human nature. Zheng Xiu didn't seem to be able to escape this fate.
Two years after their marriage, when Zheng Xiu had just given birth to her eldest daughter Wan Dai and became pregnant with her second daughter Wan Zhao, Cao Yu had an affair. Zheng Xiu discovered that her husband was having an affair by accident. At that time, she found a letter with a beautiful handwriting in her husband's pocket. Before she could open it, Cao Yu grabbed the letter from behind and crumpled it into a ball. Swallowed into the stomach.
At this moment, Zheng Xiucai realized that this letter must be a love letter written by a woman to her husband. The husband's actions said everything, and this seemingly unnecessary behavior of the husband was just to protect the woman. As long as she couldn't get any real evidence, she wouldn't be able to settle the score with that woman, and that way, she would be safe.
Zheng Xiu was extremely sad at that moment. He had never seen her husband protect any woman except her like this. She also began to regret it. She said to herself: "Jia Bao is originally an emotional animal. He himself said that he is just a bunch of emotions. How can I not be optimistic about him?"
A woman who loves a man madly is a woman. In this way, even if he did something to hurt her, she still felt deep down in her heart that "it was his fault, but she was also at fault."
Zheng Xiu also said many parts of her life that were too harsh on him Seeing her "wrong" part, she murmured, "I am too strict with Jiabao." The "too strict" here is actually just that she is strict with him in life. She always urges him not to do anything for writing. Stay awake, eat on time, and pay attention to hygiene.
Zheng Xiu thought that she was at fault, but in the eyes of others, if she was really at fault, these demands would not count. The only things that could be considered "wrong" for her were "playing cards" and "not working" That’s all. It is understandable that Zheng Xiu did not work, to a large extent, just to take better care of her husband and children. As for playing cards, Zheng Xiu did have this hobby, and he often invited Cao Yu to play together.
But every time Zheng Xiu invited Cao Yu to play cards together, it was usually not to make friends with him, but to try to achieve a balance between work and rest for her husband who was immersed in writing all day long.
When others see the life of a couple, it is mostly smoke and mirrors. Isn’t it the same when others see the marriage of Zheng Xiu and Cao Yu.
In reality, it is only the third party that shakes the foundation of the relationship between Cao Yu and Zheng Xiu. Even Cao Yu himself cannot deny this. In order to ensure that Cao Yu could create better, Zheng Xiu once took her children to live with her father Zheng Lie's house. She never expected that it would be her "accomplishment" that "accomplished" her husband and a third party.
As Cao Yu became more and more famous, more and more women surrounded him. This was an inevitable "sequelae" of fame. Zheng Xiu, who was busy with family and children, had never thought about this. All she knew was that her husband spent more and more time immersed in creation, and their communication became less and less. She thought that was the final stage of her husband's creative period, so she just tried to find a way to do her own things, such as playing cards, so that she could bother him less.
When Zheng Xiu realized everything, her husband Cao Yu could no longer look back. Once a man in a marriage gets a taste of a woman outside, it will be difficult for him to adjust his appetite back to the past. This is an aspect that men cannot look back on. On the other hand, people have feelings, especially when the relationship outside marriage is more comfortable than the relationship within marriage, it will be even more difficult for a man to look back.
In comparison, Cao Yu felt that the young woman named Deng Yisheng outside was not aggressive at all. She was gentle and virtuous and understood him better than his wife. The longer he stayed with Deng Yisheng, the more Cao Yu became trapped in it and couldn't extricate himself. Later, he simply lived with his wife after she took her children to live with her parents.
When you meet the right person, the more you get along with them, the more attached you become. After Cao Yu and Deng Yisheng were together for a long time, the two became increasingly difficult to separate.
Later, the plot developed as traditional: Cao Yu filed for divorce from his wife Zheng Xiu. The year Cao Yu filed for divorce from Zheng Xiu, Zheng Xiu was 30 years old, and her two daughters were 4 and 2 years old respectively. At this time, Zheng Xiu had no job and no fixed source of income. She could not imagine how her life would end without Cao Yu. Most importantly, she always felt that she could win back her husband's heart.
Zheng Xiu's belief that she could bring back her husband lasted until the moment she left her father. She believed that after leaving her father and family, she and her two children would soon be reunited with Jiabao's family.
When Zheng Xiu settled down with her two children, she packed everything as neatly as she did in the years without her husband, and then sat by the bedroom window to practice calligraphy with her daughter.
Zheng Xiu's bedroom is not big, but it looks very open and bright because she has kept it neatly. There is a white water cup with a handle on the cabinet in front of her bed, which is the one that Cao Yu often uses. Next to the water cup was a piece of clothing that Cao Yu often wore. The clothes were neatly folded, as if he wore them every day.
Zheng Xiu was sitting next to her daughter looking at Cao Yu's clothes in a daze. Suddenly a voice brought her back to consciousness: "Will daddy come back?" The voice came from her daughter Wan Dai who was practicing calligraphy. Zheng Xiu turned around The Queen of Gods immediately said firmly to her daughter: "I'll be back, don't worry." Her daughter nodded and continued to practice calligraphy. She was writing the word "uyou" in "to nothing".
When she wrote the last horizontal line of the word "you", Wan Dai suddenly raised her head and looked at her mother who was deep in thought: "Mom, what does 'wuyou' mean?" Zheng Xiu thought for a while and said, "wuyou means no more, what?" All gone.” After finishing speaking, Zheng Xiu suddenly felt at a loss when her daughter said "oh". She was originally determined that her husband would come back, but she began to waver as she said, "There is nothing left."
After patting her daughter on the shoulder, she sat back on the bed. She picked up the mandarin duck embroidered pillow that she and he had shared, and instinctively arched her body. The "no more" emotional chain pulled her back to the past, and she inevitably thought of the woman whose name she later learned: Deng Yisheng (also known as Fang Rui).
Zheng Xiu hated Deng Yisheng for taking away her husband. This hatred later evolved into the point where she would turn red-eyes when hearing similar pronunciations and seeing similar words. If it weren't for this woman, she and Jiabao would still be fine now. Thinking about this, she felt more and more uncomfortable.
From then on, Zheng Xiu's mood often fell into a bad state. The "bad" here refers to the uncertainty about the future of himself and Jiabao.
Soon, Zheng Xiu's "uncertainty" turned into "certainty". Countless people came to visit her and her daughter's residence. They all had only one purpose: to act as lobbyists and persuade her to divorce Cao Yu. Some of these people were sent by state leaders.
It turns out that China, which had entered New China at that time, was solving some remaining problems and was also thoroughly investigating illegal cohabitation. Because he and Zheng Xiu had not divorced, the cohabitation of Cao Yu and Deng Yisheng became "illegal". As a great playwright and relevant leader, this state is very unfavorable to Cao Yu. So, with much concern, Cao Yu once again considered divorcing Zheng Xiu completely.
People who could be persuaded came one after another, but Zheng Xiu still refused to let go. Every time someone comes before they say anything, she says: Let Jiabao come to see me, I won't talk to you anymore.
What finally made Zheng Xiu change his mind was a powerful persuader. He said: "His (Jia Bao) current situation is not good, and he may have to be punished. This is not conducive to rest and is not conducive to creation. He also It’s been a long time since I’ve produced a good work. You can’t bear to see him ruined like this!”
Zheng Xiu cherishes her family treasures. She always feels that his talents cannot be buried. She loves Cao Yu and is kind-hearted, so she loves Cao Yu the most. What is not allowed is that he is affected by her.
On the day the divorce was signed, Zheng Xiu met her husband, whom she had not seen for a long time, in the conference room of the Central Academy of Drama. He was still the same, but he looked fatter than before. He seemed to be well taken care of. After signing the divorce agreement, Zheng Xiu silently watched her husband take it. She clearly saw his hands shaking slightly. At that moment, her hearts clenched together. The past events flooded into her mind, and the words he promised her, "The family treasure Yingru will never be separated" also began to ring in her ears.
After Cao Yu wrote the last stroke, he lowered his head and remained silent. Zheng Xiu's eyes kept resting on him. There were new white hairs on his head. She looked distressed and bitter. When Cao Yu raised his head and looked at her, she finally cried out in his eyes full of various emotions. She shouted, seemingly to him and others:
"In the past, I loved Jiabao, I married him and I still love him. I agreed to the divorce and I hope he will be happy."
As soon as Zheng Xiu finished her words, she thought of what they had experienced together during their engagement in Nanjing and eight years of separation. Cao Yu had mixed feelings during the difficult years, and he couldn't help but burst into tears. He didn't expect that at the last moment, she was obviously let down and hurt by him, but what she shouted was still "love" instead of "resentment". hatred".
People's tears are very strange. They are often not easily stimulated by viciousness and cruelty, but they often burst out when they are moved.
The scene of their divorce made the male witnesses, Ouyang Yuqian and his wife, and the female companion, Zhou Youguang and his wife Zhang Yunhe, shed tears.
Cao Yu's tears made Zheng Xiu's heart soften. After the divorce, she became even more convinced that he still had her in his heart. She even had the chance to think that if he hadn't been forced to do anything, he would probably have returned to her and her daughter.
Zheng Xiu never knew that these thoughts were just wishful thinking on her part. The real situation is that the lives of Cao Yu and Deng Yisheng have always been harmonious and very loving.
After the divorce, Zheng Xiu started to work. After all, he was a top student who graduated from Tsinghua University and was very talented. It was not difficult to support himself at any time. I wonder if it was because he was in the same field as Cao Yu that Zheng Xiu finally gave up his high-paying job in the bank and entered the education industry. She successively worked as a teacher and principal at her alma mater, Beiman Middle School, Hui Middle School, School for the Deaf, and No. 12 Middle School.
During this period, Cao Yu's second wife Deng Yisheng had been unemployed after giving birth to two daughters. The reason for this is, on the one hand, to take care of the children and Cao Yu, and on the other hand, because Deng Yisheng has always been in poor health and relies on medicine to maintain his health.
Zheng Xiu felt very complicated after learning about these situations, but she was more worried about the situation of Cao Yu's family. This is often the case for people. After they are used to taking care of someone, they suddenly no longer take care of them. Instead of feeling free and comfortable, they feel uncomfortable. This kind of discomfort will also make the caregiver care about the other person involuntarily. This is what Zheng Xiu did to Cao Yu.
In 1966, fifteen years after Cao Yu and Zheng Xiu divorced, a special movement spread across the country, and Cao Yu suffered as a result. In order to protect Cao Yu and his daughter, Zheng Xiu burned all the more than 100 letters written by Cao Yu to himself that he had treasured for decades.
These letters were the past that Zheng Xiu recalled to her daughters more than once. They contained her youth, her first love, and all her happiness. But, when he faced difficulties, she could easily put all of this on fire.
Later, in order to take care of Cao Yu's family, Zheng Xiu resolutely sent his eldest daughter Wan Dai, who was studying medicine, to help take care of her father's family. Seeing that Cao Yu's family was in financial difficulty and Cao Yu was also ill, Zheng Xiu also tried to find a job for Deng Yisheng to supplement the family income.
Under the circumstances at that time, Zheng Xiu took a big risk by helping Cao Yu's family, but even with her help, Cao Yu's wife Deng Yisheng, who already suffered from lung disease, still had to die early on a dark and windy night in 1974. Farewell to this world. When she passed away, her bed was littered with sleeping pills.
Cao Yu also fell ill shortly thereafter. Although Zheng Xiu himself was also ill at this time, he always sent his daughter to take care of Cao Yu. Just when Zheng Xiu himself thought that the two were about to get back together, Cao Yu lived with the famous Peking Opera actor Li Yuru . Not long after, in 1979, the 69-year-old Cao Yu and the 56-year-old Li Yuru received their marriage certificate.
Such an ending was something Zheng Xiu never expected. Until this time, she was still making excuses for her family treasure: He must think that we are both old and sick (after marriage) and it is inconvenient to take care of him.
The one who saw everything clearly was Wan Dai, the eldest daughter and Cao Yu’s personal doctor. She once returned home after taking care of her father and shouted to her mother: “Mom, can’t you stop letting me take care of him (father)? , do you still hope to get back together? Let me tell you, there is no chance of this."
Zheng Xiu immediately became anxious after hearing this. She hurriedly said: "How can that be done? He is your father. You have the responsibility to take care of him. He is not on good terms. Fortunately, it's our business."
After the news of her father's marriage to Li Yuru came, Wan Dai was worried about her mother, but Zheng Xiu didn't seem to have anything strange. She just continued to deal with her own affairs every day, as if nothing had happened. generally.
Cao Yu lived a sweet and beautiful life after his third marriage. Many years later, his loving photos with his third wife Li Yuru are still the envy of countless people.
Cao Yu and Li Yuru
In August 1989, 77-year-old Zheng Xiu passed away due to illness.When she was dying, she had always wanted Jiabao to visit her, but this last wish could not be fulfilled. When she was dying, what she called in her mouth was still "Jiabaojiabao", just like Cao Yu called her name when he was ill decades ago.
Zheng Xiu has been madly in love with Cao Yu from beginning to end. This madness has reached the point where she cannot see the truth clearly. She didn't know that Cao Yu no longer loved her. He might still have feelings for her, but he no longer had love.
In the world of love, a man who loves a woman madly will always have a happy ending. However, if the person he loves madly is a woman, he will always be let down, because men are chasing animals, and they only pursue things that require chasing. Prey is interested. Therefore, they often lose interest quickly if they chase something and then become obsessed with it, or if it is easy to get it without chasing.
And once this kind of interest is lost, it will be difficult to come back, especially when the man has a new pursuit object.
Zheng Xiu’s crazy love made her pay a heavy price. For such a sacrifice, her love rival’s daughter, Wan Fang, the daughter of Cao Yu and Deng Yisheng, also deeply sympathized with her. In a public interview, she said with regret: "Zheng Xiu should have accomplished something, but instead she lived her whole life in emotional entanglement and lived a 'long period of desolate and lonely days.'"
If we say that in this relationship, what did Zheng Xiu really have? If she got it, then it would probably be the last bit of guilt that her family treasure felt towards her. Cao Yu once wrote this in a letter to his daughter Wan Zhao:
"My mother passed away, and I feel very guilty. When you and Dai Dai were young, I I failed to take care of you and only relied on my mother's hard work to help you become successful. Thinking of this, I feel very guilty. The matter is past and cannot be repaired. "
All the things that filled the paper are related to Zheng Xiu. There is no connection between the love you have been waiting for your whole life.
At Zheng Xiu's funeral, Cao Yu was absent due to serious illness. He only asked his daughter to buy a flower basket and go to express condolences. That day, the flower basket became the most eye-catching in the entire mourning hall, not only because of the name of the owner of the flower basket, but also because it was placed in the most prominent position.
In his later years, when Cao Yu recalled his unhappy marriage with Zheng Xiu, he said with emotion: "She was at fault in this matter, and so was I." Come to think of it, as a woman, most women would disagree with this sentence. Most of them would think that if Zheng Xiu was really at fault, it was probably because he took him too seriously, just like placing Cao Yu's flower basket in the most prominent position at a funeral.
years later, Wan Fang, the daughter of Cao Yu and Deng Yi, both writers, wrote in the women's work "Women's Hearts": "The darkest and most dazzling things in a woman's life are marriage and love." This sounds like , how can it not make people think that it is talking about Jung Soo who is overly dependent on and values emotions.
"The Book of Songs" says: The delay of scholars can still be explained. A woman's laziness cannot be explained. Xinran!
