My Shoeless Husband

By Su Xin

My Shoeless Husband

By Su Xin

That was a night when my daughter turned one year old.I worked overtime that night until one o’clock in the morning.After work,I cycled home,alone,in the empty street,boiling with resentment.What a dull and cheerless man I married! There were no sweet words on the mundane days,and not even a caring and warming call on this special occasion.How disappointing it was to live with such a man.

The moment I saw the door of my home,I heaved a sigh of relief.I fumbled for the key in my bag for quite a while,but failed.I had to knock on the door,as light-ly as possible,so the noise wouldn’t wake up my little daughter.After a moment,just when I was about to try a second time,the door opened and my husband was at the door.He leaned over me while I walked my bike into the yard and whispered,“Be quiet...our daughter has a fever.I’ve given her some medicine and she is finally sleeping.”Lowering my head,I noticed he was only wearing socks.I figured that he,much like me, was avoiding making too much noise and waking up our daughter.Perhaps he was hurrying out to open the door for me and had no time for shoes.

We moved to a new house after our daughter began kindergarten.

Another night I worked overtime again,and it was already past twelve o’clock when I arrived at our residential building.I went upstairs,fumbling for the key in my bag.Just then,the door opened;my husband seemed relieved at the sight of me,“Long day at work again?I’ve prepared bathwater for you.Go have a bath and get some rest.”

Seeing his bare feet on the floor,I asked,“Why the bare feet?”

Nonchalantly,he replied,“I didn’t want to keep you waiting long.”

That reminded me of the night of our daughter’s birthday,when he rushed out to open the door for me, shoeless.When we were ready for bed,I asked him about that night,and he tried hard to recall.“That night,after I put our daughter to sleep,I was thinking of picking you up,but I was afraid that our daughter would wake up while I was away.I then thought of giving you a call,but again was afraid that I might bring you trouble.So I had to stay home,waiting for you.Iknow you are weary after long days of work,so at the sound of your knocking,I ran out to receive you—I had no time for shoes.”

Lying on the bed,I felt a warm feeling spread from my heart.For many years after we got married,my husband had been taking good care of me quietly.He was a man of few words.

Then my husband leaned towards me,asking,“What are you thinking about?”I replied with just a sweet smile.Nestling myself into his arms,soon we were sound asleep.

(FromMarriage and Family,Vol.5,2015.Translation: Liu liqin.Illustration:Tong Ling.)

女兒一歲多時，一天晚上，我加班到凌晨一點多。下班后，我孤身一人急行在空蕩蕩的大街上，心里越想越氣：那個木訥老公真沒勁，平時溫柔的話聽不到一句，加班到三更半夜也不打個電話問問，和這種人過日子真讓人寒心。

看見家門的那一刻，我長吁一口氣，在包里掏了半天沒找到鑰匙。抬手拍門，怕吵醒女兒，就拍得很輕。稍停，正準備拍第二次，門開了，老公站在門口。我推著自行車走進院子，老公跟在后邊：“你輕點兒，孩子有些發燒，我給她喂了退燒藥，睡得正香呢。”一低頭，看到老公只穿著襪子站在院子里。估計他怕吵醒女兒，聽到我敲門就跑出來，鞋也沒來得及穿。

女兒上幼兒園后，我們搬了新家。

又一個加班的夜晚，我回到家已經12點多了。上了樓，正在翻包找鑰匙，防盜門開了。老公一副如釋重負的樣子：“你又飛車回來的？我給你燒好了洗澡水，快洗洗睡吧。”

我看到他光腳站在地板上，問他：“你怎么光著腳呢？”

他淡淡地說：“我怕你等急了。”

我想起幾年前的那個夜晚，他也是沒穿鞋就跑出來開門，于是問他。老公回想著：“那天我哄睡了女兒，想去接你，就一直支著耳朵等你。我知道你膽小，聽你一敲門，就沒顧上穿鞋，趕緊跑出去開。”

躺在床上，我的心慢慢熱起來。結婚這些年，老公一直默默地照顧我，只是不善于表達。

這時，老公湊過來問：“你想啥呢？”我甜蜜一笑，沒說話，躺進他的臂彎里，沉沉睡去。

（摘自《婚姻與家庭》2015年第5期圖/童玲）

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