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My family originally lived in a shantytown in a village within the city. Our living conditions were poor. My dad has a disability in his leg, and all the expenses at home depended on my mom’s earnings. However, as a single woman, she couldn’t earn much, so we were quite poor.
When I was in college, I attended a local university because it was close to home and could save money. I met him during my college years; he was also from our locality, and his family was significantly better off than mine.
But upon reflection, his family was just an average family. They had moved from the countryside, and both of his parents were workers. They owned an apartment in the city center, and his parents had pensions; it was just an ordinary family.
At that time, I was extremely self-conscious, so I felt I was reaching above my means by being with him. When I first met his parents, I was particularly reserved, and they didn’t care about my feelings at all, constantly making remarks that felt directed at me and my parents.
When I graduated that year, I was willing to marry him, even inviting a simple marriage without any demands, and I was also willing to live with his parents. However, his parents were unwilling, criticizing my dad’s disability and our family’s financial situation, claiming it would drag him down.
Therefore, our marriage never materialized. At that time, we hadn’t broken up yet. It was more than half a year later that we split. The reason for our breakup was still his parents; they introduced him to a girl from a family more socially compatible with theirs, which led to our separation.
After breaking up with him, I worked hard to earn money. I never wanted to be looked down upon again. I wanted to improve my parents’ lives, buy retirement insurance for them, and ensure my mom didn’t have to wash dishes for others every day.
Now, my family’s conditions have finally improved. Through my own efforts, I have become a project manager. Our house was demolished, and we received two apartments in compensation; we are now waiting to move back next year. Life seems to be getting better, and my parents finally have smiles on their faces.
This year, I encountered him at a classmate’s wedding. I felt that fate is indeed strange; we live in the same city, but since our breakup, we had not met again. If it hadn’t been for that wedding, perhaps we would have never seen each other again in our lives.
In our conversation, I found out that he hadn’t gotten married. The girl he was interested in wanted her family to buy an additional 120-square-meter apartment and demanded a dowry of 160,000, which his family simply couldn’t afford, leading to his rejection.
The next day, he began to contact me frequently, wanting to reconcile, claiming I was still the one for him. He said he was willing to marry me despite having nothing. I told him we were no longer possible; I was afraid of his parents’ disdainful looks that seemed to be ingrained in them.
He immediately called his parents to discuss marriage, and they admitted that they had been wrong to break us apart, urging me not to hold a grudge and to reunite with him. I guessed the reason for his parents’ change of heart was the demolition of our former neighborhood, where the housing prices surged beyond what they could afford.
Looking at him and his parents, I just found it funny. When I was willing to marry him without any demands, they looked down on me. Now they regretted their previous actions. I told him and his parents that I used to know nothing and was very insecure. The current me is no longer the same as I was back then; some things do not offer opportunities for regret.
