He was very young then. His older brother’s health was declining, but still pushed him to become a capable CEO, so the work placed on Tang Hua was extremely heavy. But this wasn’t the reason for his exhaustion. His fatigue came from her.
She remembered she didn’t attend the one-year celebration. More than a year of marriage had already made him heartbroken, fully understanding that having his wife attend would only lead to an even more unpleasant outcome. How could the dignified Mrs. Tang cower in a corner? No amount of psychological preparation would help; she could never become a competent lady of the house. So he stopped forcing her into crowds or family gatherings.
Of course, he didn’t even dare hope she would change her mind and attend their son’s first-year celebration. More than a year of marriage had ground his ambitions to ashes, and external achievements couldn’t erase the fact of his failed marriage.
A once vibrant man falling hard in marriage, not yet mature enough to face everything, could only move towards coldness. He couldn’t bear to verbally hurt her too much, only occasionally making sarcastic remarks when extremely frustrated before slamming the door. Without even shouting, he’d already terrify her to near death, causing her to avoid and fear him more, until this avoidance became an unbearable humiliation in his life. He finally left Taichung, mostly residing in Taipei, rarely returning, and even when he did, they slept in separate rooms.
At the time, he coldly threw out a mocking line: “As you wish,” before taking his son and completely leaving her life and sight.
Unable to cope with her parents’ successive deaths, her only thought was relief, that the “bad person” had finally left, because she felt constantly bullied by him. Years later, looking at the photo and reflecting on his depressed expression… could it be that she, who was so terrified she only wanted to die, had also hurt him?
This was hard to understand, but the him in the photograph truly made her think this way.
