After Lu Xiaoman's death, his stepson received a letter replying to the reason, leaving his stepmother with no place to be buried
In 1951, Weng Ruiwu's wife Chen Mingliu passed away, and his eldest daughter Weng Xiangguang ran to Lu Xiaoman's house with red and swollen eyes.
As soon as he stepped into the room, Weng Xiangguang saw his father Weng Ruiwu. She couldn't suppress the anger in her heart, and asked bluntly: "Why didn't you divorce your mother earlier?"If she divorces early, she can still find a good family and live a happy life for a few years!”
Weng Ruiwu froze in place and did not respond. While the father and daughter were silently confronting each other, Lu Xiaoman, who was wearing plain clothes, stood aside, feeling very embarrassed and didn't know what to do.
Unable to get a clear answer from his father, Weng Xiangguang turned around and glared at Lu Xiaoman: "Why do you keep clinging to my father?"Why?Why?You tell me!”
These questions have been buried in Weng Xiangguang's heart for twenty years, and now that her mother has passed away alone, she no longer cares about her seniority, she just wants to figure everything out for her poor mother.
In 1931, when she was only 12 years old, the newspapers in Shanghai prominently reported the news of the poet Xu Zhimo's death in a plane.
She knew it was her father's friend, but she didn't expect that the death of this friend would completely disrupt her family's life.
Back then, in order to marry Xu Zhimo, Lu Xiaoman, who was already pregnant, did not hesitate to abort Wang Geng's child and signed a divorce agreement. However, the abortion operation caused Lu Xiaoman to lose her fertility and also left the root cause of the disease.
Out of concern for Lu Xiaoman's health, Xu Zhimo repeatedly prayed to the heavens in his diary, and asked people to look for famous doctors everywhere.
After learning that Weng Ruiwu was the founder of One Finger Zen Tuina, Ding Fengshan**, and his medical skills were excellent, Xu Zhimo invited him to his home for his wife**.
Lu Xiaoman fainted many times, but Weng Ruiwu always arrived in time to rescue her from danger. Therefore, Xu Zhimo was very grateful to Weng Ruiwu, and the two became good friends.
In addition to his excellent medical skills, Weng Ruiwu also likes to sing Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera, and has the same interests as Lu Xiaoman. The two often discussed opera together and performed together.
On December 6, 1927, the famous drama "Yutang Spring" was staged at the Summer Peike Film Theater on Jing'an Temple Road in Shanghai. Su San, the folk girl played by Lu Xiaoman, and Jinlong, the Shanxi patrol press played by Weng Ruiwu, went through a lot of hardships and finally became husband and wife. In order to please his wife, Xu Zhimo, who didn't know anything about opera, also took the stage to perform a trick.
After the performance, Lu Xiaoman and Weng Ruiwu became the focus of public and ** attention.
Shanghai socialite Tang Ying praised Lu Xiaoman's performance and singing skills that day.
Writer Chen Xiaodie praised Weng Ruiwu's fresh and handsome appearance, and said that his tacit cooperation with Lu Xiaoman added a lot to the stage.
Compared with Lu Xiaoman and Weng Ruiwu, Xu Zhimo is obviously a lot inferior. In the same month, Shanghai Pictorial even criticized Xu Zhimo for "walking like a robot, which makes people laugh" in "Yutangchun".
As the performance attracted wide attention, the ambiguous relationship between the three became a hot topic of discussion. Xu Zhimo does not pay attention to gossip, he believes that there is love between husband and wife, love between friends, and the emotions between men and women are different, and husbands should not prohibit their wives from associating with male friends.
On November 19, 1931, Xu Zhimo went to Beiping to attend Lin Huiyin's lecture and specially asked Weng Ruiwu to take care of Lu Xiaoman, because he was worried about her physical condition.
However, this entrustment became the last entrustment of Xu Zhimo's life.
A few days later, the news of Xu Zhimo's death in the plane crash came, which made Lu Xiaoman grief excessively, and even fainted on the spot. Yu Dafu still remembers this scene vividly years later. He said that at the moment when he learned that Xu Zhimo had unfortunately passed away, Lu Xiaoman's expression was the most unforgettable, which was momentarily stunned, followed by tears.
After waking up, Lu Xiaoman cried bitterly, trying to pick up Xu Zhimo's body in person.
However, because she was already weak, she collapsed and could not walk at this time, and her family members came forward to persuade her. In the end, Xu Zhimo's ex-wife Zhang Youyi arranged for Xu Zhimo's son Xu Jikai to go to Shandong to retrieve the body.
After Xu Jikai rushed to Shandong, Weng Ruiwu also went to the scene of the air crash on behalf of Lu Xiaoman to assist the Xu family in dealing with the aftermath.
Xu Zhimo's father blamed Lu Xiaoman for his son's death and refused her to attend the memorial service, so she had to silently send it to the couplet.
Since then, the Xu family has almost cut off contact with Lu Xiaoman, and Xu Zhimo's friends before his death have gradually resented her, and they have less and less contact with her, making Lu Xiaoman fall into unprecedented isolation.
Lu Xiaoman was unwilling to defend himself, so he had to close the door and silently endure the criticism and white eyes of others.
After Weng Ruiwu returned to Shanghai, Lu Xiaoman was weak due to illness and was in a trance, and only close friends such as Qian Shoutie, Zhao Jiabi, Chen Xiaodie, and Chen Julai were with him. Weng Ruiwu came to take care of her every day, not only treating her personally, but also enlightening her with her heart, and did not return home until late at night.
As for how the two developed a cohabitation relationship, Chen Julai later recalled that one day the car broke down, and Weng Ruiwu slept all night on the second floor of Lu Xiaoman's house. Since then, whenever it is inconvenient to go home in the middle of the night, he will sleep in the smoke collapse on the second floor.
When Xu Zhimo was alive, Weng Ruiwu often lived on the second floor, and Lu Xiaoman had long been accustomed to it, so he returned to the bedroom on the third floor alone and let him sleep peacefully on the second floor.
After receiving a warning from Xu Zhimo's father, Xu Shenru, Weng Ruiwu was furious and moved to the third floor. Since then, while taking care of the livelihood of his wife and five children, he has taken care of Lu Xiaoman's life wholeheartedly.
Every time Lu Xiaoman fell ill, he played the role of a doctor and a servant, not only grabbing medicine and decoction, but also serving tea and water.
She has a desire to eat, and even if she has to brave the scorching sun or the cold wind, he will line up to buy it.
She doesn't drink milk, only human milk, and he even found a wet nurse for her.
She was determined to learn to paint, and he spent a lot of money to hire a famous teacher for her.
Even if he was shy, in order to maintain her high quality of life, he did not hesitate to sell the calligraphy, painting and antiques inherited by his family.
If companionship is the most sincere confession, then Weng Ruiwu's dedication to Lu Xiaoman can definitely be regarded as affectionate.
However, Xu Zhimo has left a deep mark in Lu Xiaoman's heart, and Weng Ruiwu's affection is destined to be in vain.
Although Weng Ruiwu has lived in Lu Xiaoman's house and takes good care of her, Lu Xiaoman insists on sharing the same bed and dreaming differently, and has made clear rules with him: you can't abandon your wife, and you can't marry her.
During the period of cohabitation, her living room was filled with photos of her and Xu Zhimo at different times, but none of them belonged to Weng Ruiwu;A portrait of Xu Zhimo has been hanging in her bedroom, and flowers are offered every day.
She decided to live like Xu Zhimo wanted, so she lived in a simple house, devoted herself to painting, and spent the rest of her life wearing plain clothes.
In the rest of her years, the only thing that piqued her keen interest was the editing of "The Complete Works of Xu Zhimo". In order to gather all of Xu Zhimo's works, she stubbornly dragged her frail body, tirelessly wrote letters to Xu Zhimo's relatives and friends, personally visited the library, and worked tirelessly to find bibliophiles.
In an article, she fondly recorded that under the torture of many serious illnesses, the only belief that supported her to continue to survive was to look forward to witnessing the final release of the work that embodies Xu Zhimo's life's work.
After living together for 30 years, there has been a lot of discussion about the delicate relationship between Lu Xiaoman and Weng Ruiwu. However, Lu Xiaoman is full of confidence in his actions, insisting that he is above board: "Shima has seen everything I have done, and Shima will understand me and will not blame me." The truth of emotions is not reflected in the face or mouth, but in the depths of the heart. In my dreams, I seemed to see and hear Shima's approval. ”
Lu Xiaoman was intoxicated with his thoughts of Xu Zhimo, but ignored Weng Ruiwu's deep affection for her.
Over the years, Weng Ruiwu paid for it, but did not get a response, and finally chose to betray Lu Xiaoman in his later years.
After entering the 50s, a female student walked into Lu Xiaoman's studio to seek teaching. Because of their love for each other, Lu Xiaoman decided to regard her as his goddaughter. The female students called Lu Xiaoman "Ji Niang", and Weng Ruiwu was called "Ji Dad". However, what is surprising is that Weng Ruiwu actually got together with this goddaughter and caused her to become pregnant.
After the female student became pregnant, her mother made a big fuss, but Lu Xiaoman didn't seem to care. When someone mentioned this, she lightly said that she and Weng Ruiwu were just friends, and she did not have any complicated feelings about this relationship, let alone feel jealous because of it.
In 1961, Weng Ruiwu died of lung cancer. Before dying, despite being terminally ill, he still couldn't forget Lu Xiaoman, and specially invited her friends Zhao Qingge and Zhao Jiabi, asking them to take more care of Lu Xiaoman in the future.
Weng Ruiwu's children think that their father has given everything for Lu Xiaoman, so it is natural that they should set up a spirit in Lu Xiaoman's house.
However, Lu Xiaoman resolutely rejected the Weng family's request and explained: "The reason why Weng Ruiwu appeared at my house back then was because Shima wanted him to treat me. He lived in my home for 23 years, also to treat me. Weng Ruiwu is a good friend of my husband Xu Zhimo, so I am embarrassed to drive him away. At most, we are just concubines, not husband and wife. ”
Although Lu Xiaoman's response seems ruthless, it is actually because she has a straightforward personality and does not like to disguise. For her, her only husband is Xu Zhimo, and no one can replace her.
Countless talented people appreciate her frankness, but she is also difficult for the world to understand.
After Weng Ruiwu's death, Lu Xiaoman became completely alone.
Although she was already a full-time painter at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts at that time, she was also rated as the "38" Red Flag Bearer by the National Artists Association, and worked hard to become the progressive woman Xu Zhimo expected. However, when she met Wang Yingxia on the street, she admitted that she lived in a loneliness as deep as the sea.
In the Mid-Autumn Festival of 1964, Lu Xiaoman was admitted to Shanghai Huadong Hospital for emphysema and asthma. In the spring of the following year, her condition deteriorated dramatically and she coughed profusely.
In her final days, she would say most often: "I often dream of Shima and we are about to meet again!".”
Eventually, her prophecy came true, and she died in a hurry in April.
When she was dying, she gave the manuscript of "The Complete Works of Xu Zhimo" to Xu Zhimo's cousin-in-law Chen Congzhou, and constantly expressed her wish to be buried with Xu Zhimo.
After her death, she was cremated, but not immediately buried. Her urn was numbered and stored at the funeral home. However, due to years of unclaimed, the funeral home has been relocated several times, and her urn has gradually disappeared.
What is surprising is that Lu Xiaoman, who was famous during his lifetime, was extremely deserted in front of the mourning hall. In addition to the closest relatives, only her friend Chen Julai came to mourn, and there was only one pair of couplets, which was sent by her students.
After the funeral, her cousin Zhuang Chi wrote a letter to Xu Zhimo's son Xu Jikai, hoping to fulfill Lu Xiaoman's last wish to be buried with Xu Zhimo.
Xu Jikai quickly replied, politely rejecting the request, and detailed three reasons for refusal:
First of all, the first grandfather of the Xu family has never accepted Lu Xiaoman as the daughter-in-law of the Xu family.
Secondly, the late father and Lu Xiaoman had a fierce quarrel when they met for the last time, and the relationship between the two was not harmonious.
Third, Lu Xiaoman and Weng Ruiwu have lived together for a long time, and even if their father is still alive, their marriage is difficult to last.
In the end, Lu Xiaoman was not buried immediately after cremation, and her urn was labeled with a number and name and deposited at the funeral home. Due to years of unclaimed, the funeral home was relocated several times, resulting in her urn gradually disappearing.
Pictured: Lu Xiaoman in his later years.
Since ancient times, China has paid attention to the burial of the dead, and "there is no place to bury the dead" can be described as the most serious curse.
Lu Xiaoman, who once amazed the entire ** with a smile and a smile, has now become a sad example of death without a place to be buried. Such a fate undoubtedly makes people feel absurd and sad.
Over the years, the Lu clan has been trying to find Lu Xiaoman's urn, but due to the long passage of time, they finally returned to no avail.
It wasn't until 1988 that her cousins Lu Zongmudan, Lu Zongqi and her niece Lu Zonglin joined forces to build a memorial tomb for her in the Dongshan Overseas Chinese Cemetery in Suzhou.
Her tomb is located in an inconspicuous corner of the cemetery, surrounded by moss, overgrown weeds, and the tombstone is simply engraved with the words "Ancestral Aunt Lu Xiaoman Memorial Tomb".
She burned like a rose during her lifetime and had countless admirers, but after her death, her cemetery was only accompanied by moss, and it was slightly bleak.
However, perhaps in the case of not being able to sleep with her beloved, she would rather choose this quiet and unobtrusive, just like after Xu Zhimo's death, she faced the sky, closed the door and lived the rest of her lonely life.