Huang Dehan came from a poor family. His father died in a traffic accident when he was very young. The insurance company paid out a large sum of money as compensation. His mother raised him into adulthood with this compensation money. In his senior year of college, his mother suffered a cerebral hemorrhage due to overwork, leaving her paralyzed in bed.
Li Man's parents were strongly opposed to the couple being together. They said that marrying into such a family meant a lifetime of hardship, having to take care of a paralyzed mother-in-law. When would this ever end?
But Li Man was determined to be with Huang Dehan. She felt he was ambitious and had potential to succeed.
As it turned out, Li Man's judgement was not wrong. After graduating from college, Huang Dehan joined a well-known company in Shenzhen with a good salary. Soon after, he bought an apartment and a car in Shenzhen.
Back then, Li Man had secretly taken her household registration book from home in order to register their marriage with Huang Dehan.
They didn't have a wedding banquet. They simply got their marriage certificate, bought some groceries, and made a hearty dinner at home to celebrate their marriage.
There was no bride price, no house, no car, no jewelry, nothing at all. They just got married like that.
It was a so-called "naked marriage".
When Li Man's parents found out, they severed all ties with her. To this day, there is no contact.
Li Man sat lifeless and dumbfounded in the driver's seat, as if her soul had left her body.
They have a daughter named Huang Duoduo, age 11, in 6th grade elementary school. She is smart and beautiful, completely inheriting the best qualities of her parents.
In the early years of their marriage, they lived very poorly. Li Man worked right up until she was 9 months pregnant. She only stopped working and rested at home when she was close to her due date.
After giving birth, Li Man resigned from her job.
With no one to help care for the baby, and her paralyzed mother-in-law to care for too, she had to quit working.
When Li Man was sitting the month after birth, Huang Dehan could only take half a month off work. He cared for her at home for half a month, then went back to work.
However, every morning before work, Huang Dehan would get up early to cook soup and rice for Li Man.
He cooked a lot in one go to last her the whole day before heading to work.
After work, he would buy groceries and cook dinner at home, and wash all the soiled diapers and clothes that had piled up throughout the day.
This way, Li Man didn't have to work too hard, just look after the baby.
As for Huang Dehan's mother, he helped her wear adult diapers. If she soiled herself, they could only wait for Huang Dehan to come home and clean her up.
Li Man only had to feed his mother meals every day.
But feeding a bedridden elderly person is not so easy.
Sometimes, before she could finish feeding mother-in-law, the baby would start fussing again.
Juggling between both, Li Man was exhausted and flustered, unable to properly recuperate from birth, and developed postpartum complications.
Even so, Li Man never uttered a word of complaint, nor did she feel bitter about it.
Later on, as their lives improved, Huang Dehan got busier and busier at work, leaving the brunt of caring for his mother entirely to Li Man.
She had to look after the child, look after her mother-in-law, do all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and emptying bedpans. She was rushed off her feet every day.
At that time, not to mention intimacy, she would pass out as soon as she hit the bed, too exhausted to think about that kind of thing.
Sometimes Huang Dehan wanted it, and she couldn't refuse, so she would just oblige perfunctorily while Huang Dehan went at it and she snoozed away.
After a few times like this, Huang Dehan lost interest too.
Come to think of it now, their sex life basically ended around that period.
As their child grew up, her burden lightened somewhat. With the child going to school, she could catch some shut-eye during the day.
Last year, her back pain got so severe that Huang Dehan finally hired a live-in helper for her.
With the helper now, Li Man is much more relaxed and has time to go out with friends, shopping and afternoon teas, doing her hair and beauty treatments.
