My mother-in-law was a philosopher
Text/Huang Hongxuan (Nanjing)
My mother-in-law is the best mother in the world, and she is loved and respected by everyone.
My father-in-law was a veteran, and after the victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, he and his troops came to Heilongjiang in response to the call of the state and began the development and construction of the Great Northeast for many years. At that time, her mother-in-law was still in her hometown in Nanjing, because of her father-in-law, she resolutely abandoned the rich family business, took her three children to the northeast to reunite with her father-in-law, and has never been separated since. In the view of the mother-in-law, the traditional concept of "marrying the chicken with the chicken, marrying the dog with the dog" has always been deeply rooted in the heart. Husband, is her home, is her dependence, is her everything! In this life, she has cared for her father-in-law and has never abandoned it, which has won everyone's praise and the love of her children.
In those years in the northeast, they had a very bad life, living in thatched huts that leaked everywhere, eating snow and weeds, and wearing sackcloth shirts that were difficult to cover. After being with her father-in-law, her mother-in-law gave birth to five more children, a total of four men and four women, one of whom depended on each other's meager salary and her mother-in-law's meticulous calculations to survive.
Despite this, the mother-in-law's four daughters have never done outside farm work, no matter how busy, how bitter, how poor the family is, the four girls at most wash and wash at home, sewing and repairing, the mother-in-law has always insisted on telling the son to go to the field, how the boy and the mother compete is useless, the mother-in-law's point of view is very clear, "the son should be poor, the daughter should be rich." Because of this, in the local area, the elegant name of "Four Misses of the Zhang Family" is known to everyone, and the four sisters of the wife have become the most gorgeous and precious peonies.
In the early spring of 1989, my wife and I got married and went to the northeast for the first time, at the dinner table, my mother-in-law smiled and told me, "From today onwards, you have to call your wife 'my lover' or 'dear' outside, and you must not call 'my family's, insider, slut', and other indecent titles, only 'my lover' or 'dear', only called 'my lover' or 'dear', is the most appropriate, appear intimate, others will not take advantage of loopholes." Because of my mother-in-law's teaching, "I love my lover", these three words, I have been called thirty-four years.
In the summer of 1992, we returned to the northeast for the second time, during that time, our daughter was just 3 years old, under the careful care of the mother-in-law, the little guy grew white and fat, when leaving, the mother-in-law had to sew 400 yuan in the shorts of the lover, the 400 yuan at that time, equivalent to my salary for nearly two months, the mother-in-law hugged the youngest daughter tightly, tears, inseparable, "the mother-in-law is worried. Poor family rich road, home is not difficult. Don't know when you can get together? At that moment, my wife's brothers and sisters also became tearful people. That indescribable affection is worth cherishing with a lifetime of emotion!
The sisters of the lover's family are unusually united, they have never had a red face with each other, and they have not fought like the people around them because of the big and small things in the family. Even if they were separated late at night on the first day and met early the next morning, they were still like old friends who had been reunited for a long time, which was really enviable. The lover quietly told me that in her memory, when she was a young child, her two brothers had a fight because of a steamed bun, and the mother-in-law saw her son who was wrestling together, and immediately brought a bamboo basket of steamed buns here, and there actually used "Originally born from the same root, why is it too urgent to fry each other?" This witty remark came to educate them, and when the second boy who was already in middle school heard this, he suddenly stopped like a power outage... The wife said it was the only time she remembered a brotherly feud.
At the end of 1999, my mother-in-law was paralyzed by an overwork stroke, and in those years, my lover and I had to go back to the northeast every summer vacation to visit her, and my mother-in-law had an iron biscuit box full of money. As soon as the wife arrived home, she gave this box to her lover to take care of life, for this trust, the wife is always grateful to zero, but the mother-in-law said, "You are so far away, the economy is not rich, you can still rush back every year, for me, that is' carrying the child to worship the heavens and the earth - double happiness to the door', of course, I have to 'pour water in the bamboo tube - grunt to the end'. ”
You say, such a good mother, who does not love?
Good memories are always difficult to keep, a blink of an eye, decades have passed, now, my grandson has also become a primary school student, the respectable mother-in-law and father-in-law have passed away, but my wife and I always miss them very much, usually the most talked about topic is always their little life and deep love for us, they seem to have relatives have not returned, it seems that on the way back... Today, the brothers and sisters who love their wives have been separated in five provinces and cities across the country, and it is difficult to reunite. In my memory, my mother-in-law used to be so young and beautiful, so virtuous, so wise, and every word was an absolute classic. Looking back at me and my wife again, wrinkled faces, the traces of time that had crept up our cheeks.
It is said that the love of parents for their children is longer than the road, and the love of children for their parents is only flat. I think it is because of my mother-in-law's example and great love, my wife and I are also 100% deeply in love with our precious daughter, and I also hope that my daughter will continue this great love from generation to generation...
(Source: Wangyue Literature Mailbox)
Photography: Zhou Wenjing (Jining, Shandong)
Mochizuki Literature