Text/Cicada Phoenix
Dictation/Yang Duo
I am fifty-eight years old and have been retired for eight years. I retired when I was fifty, and since I retired, I have been helping my grandchildren in my son's house. Last year, my grandson went to elementary school, and I was honorably "laid off." ”
In the past, when I lived in my son's house, I was very distressed every day. Every time I see other retired elderly people who can enjoy sightseeing and leisurely retirement, I am particularly envious.
Not only can I not go sightseeing, but I am also busy every day. I have to buy food and cook, clean up the house, and wash the clothes and bedding of the family. While doing these things well, I also want to bring my grandson well.
I wake up at six o'clock every day and go to bed at ten. During this time period, I had no time for myself. At that time, I wanted to be like other retired old people, without the entanglement of housework, without the drag of the third generation, and live my life happily!
However, when I finally ushered in freedom and could live my life freely, I felt very dazed. Because when I came home and had a lot of time to do whatever I wanted, I found that I had nothing to do.
In the past, I felt that my son's family of three dragged me down and left me without time to enjoy my own life. When I left my son's home and returned to live in my own home, I found that life alone was not good.
My husband and I divorced many years ago, and my parents are no longer alive. Although I have an older brother, my relationship with my brother is not close at all.
My brother and sister-in-law have been deliberately keeping a distance from me in order to monopolize my parents' property, for fear that my parents will give me the property. Actually, I had no intention of dividing my parents' property at all, as my parents had always lived with my brother.
My brother and sister-in-law took care of my parents' old age, they have no credit and hard work, no matter how much property my parents leave to my brother, I will not fight with my brother. In my opinion, these are what they deserve, and I have no intention of fighting with them at all.
However, my brother and sister-in-law do not think so. Every time I went to my brother's house to visit my parents, my brother and sister-in-law would stare at me like enemies, afraid that what I would say to my parents alone would involve the issue of property.
What I bought for my parents, my brother and sister-in-law didn't want it, how I took it, how they let me take it, especially ruthless. Although I have repeatedly reiterated that this is my filial piety to my parents, they do not want it, saying that they will buy it themselves, not what I buy.
As long as I go to my sister-in-law's house to visit my parents, when I leave, my sister-in-law will deliberately beat my parents in front of my parents, making my parents tremble.
My parents are old and dare not disobey my sister-in-law's will, they can only do my work, so that I don't always go to my sister-in-law's house to visit them. I understand my parents' helplessness, so I rarely visit my parents at my sister-in-law's house except for holidays.
After the death of my parents, I don't know how much property they left behind, and I don't bother to ask. My brother and sister-in-law got their parents' property, and they became less and less afraid of me. During the New Year, I wanted to invite my brother and sister-in-law to have a reunion dinner together, but they said that they had no time, and they didn't even bother to meet me.
My sister-in-law's ruthlessness made me completely dead to them. Since the death of my parents, I have treated myself as if I had no sister-in-law, but I took care of my son's family wholeheartedly. After my daughter-in-law gave birth, I took on the responsibility of raising my grandchildren for seven years, and I returned to my home in September last year.
I thought I was finally free and able to enjoy my retirement. However, when I was completely idle, I found that the days of doing nothing were not easy at all.
I am a person who has no hobbies other than doing housework. I'm the only one at home, so where are so many chores to do? At home, I finished it in an hour or two, and after finishing the housework, I couldn't find anything else to do, so I could only sit in front of the window in a daze.
Later, with the introduction of an acquaintance, I enrolled in the University for the Elderly. At the University for the Elderly, there are many kinds of courses, including calligraphy, dance, painting, vocal music, pipa, health massage, and tai chi.
Because there are too many students in the elderly university and few teachers who teach classes, the school stipulates that each student can only apply for two courses. After careful selection among the many courses, I chose ballroom dancing and vocal music.
I chose these two courses because I think they are the easiest to learn. When I was young, I loved dancing very much, and at that time, I was an active artist in the factory, and whenever there was a cultural performance, I would perform on stage as a representative. I heard that learning vocal music allows you to practice lung capacity, so I chose this course.
As for the other classes, such as painting, calligraphy and tai chi, I had neither a professional foundation nor interest me, so it was not in my choice at all.
At first, I was very keen to go to the University of the Elderly. I would go to class every day, and ballroom dancing and vocal music would rotate. If the first day, I went to ballroom dancing, then the next day, I went to vocal music.
When I went deeper into the group of universities for the elderly, I found that I was not welcome here. The men and women who thrive in the University of the Elderly are either good looking or rich.
I have neither good looks nor much money. In the past few years, I have been at my son's house with my grandson, and I am so busy every day that I rarely go out except to go to the vegetable market to buy vegetables. In those years, I hardly bought clothes, because I bought clothes and there was nowhere to show them.
My clothes are all old styles from many years ago, and they don't match the people here. Those who take classes at the University for the Elderly are very well-dressed, and I, the clothes on my body, are old-fashioned like freshly unearthed cultural relics.
The trainees looked at me like I was looking at a different kind of monster. Not only did the students do this to me, but even the teachers who taught the classes did the same to me.
In class, after the teacher briefly explained the essentials of the dance movements, he went to pick a good-looking female student, and the two danced together to demonstrate to everyone.
Almost every female student was given the opportunity to dance with the teacher, only me, who was missed by the teacher every time, as if I were a transparent person. That's all, the most important problem is that when I practice the moves, I can't even find a dance partner.
Each time the teacher finished the lesson, he would let the students freely form teams and practice the dance steps he had just taught. Almost every student can easily find a dance partner, only I can't find a dance partner.
None of the male students wanted to be my dance partner, and the teacher couldn't help it, so he picked the oldest old man and asked him to be my dance partner. Unexpectedly, the male trainee in his seventies, he refused to be my dance partner, he said that he would rather dance alone than be a dance partner with me.
When the male trainee said this, he amused everyone. The teacher said, you are in your seventies, people are only in their fifties, why do you dislike people? Don't want to be a dancer?
The male trainee said that she looked so ugly and dressed so old-fashioned, so I didn't want to dance with her, dancing with such an ugly person, it was better to dance alone.
The words of the male trainee embarrassed me very much. I never imagined that I would be so unbearable in the eyes of others. I think that at the beginning, I was also an idol in the hearts of many men, how did I become an object of disgust when I was in my fifties?
In order to fight for myself, I spent a lot of money, bought myself a lot of new clothes, and also permed my hair in big waves, making a complete change in my image.
Since changing my image, I have found that the attitude towards me by the male students who used to be dismissive of me has immediately changed radically.
Since then, I have never had to worry about having a dance partner, and the male trainees have invited me to be their dance partner and are extremely enthusiastic about me. However, what I didn't expect was that the male students treated me well, but the female students looked at me unfavorably.
In the past, in the eyes of those female students, I have always been the object of contempt. However, since I changed my image and became the target of male students, I knocked over the vinegar jar of female students.
Those female cadets, they are all senior members of the University of the Elderly, they have long formed their own gangs, and I can't win the fight with them. Every time I practiced my dance steps, the female students would join me inside and out, trip me for the reason, and not apologize to me. If I argue, they will rush up and attack me together.
Although a few male trainees helped me, I couldn't hold back the large number of female trainees, so I could only bow down. I saw that I couldn't stay here, so I never went to ballroom dancing again, but devoted myself to vocal music.
I went to the vocal class every day, and after a long time, I found some new problems. Since the tuition fees of the University for the Elderly are very cheap, most of the teachers hired here are of a public welfare nature, and the quality of the lectures is really difficult to say.
When the teacher is in a good mood, he will teach a new song; When the teacher is in a bad mood, he doesn't teach new songs, just starts an old song and lets us sing it ourselves. Here, I feel that I haven't learned much, and what the teacher talks about is not as deep as what I learned online.
Not only that, but there is also a big problem that I completely cannot stand. The students who take classes here are all elderly. So many elderly people gathered in airtight classrooms, and the smell of old age was filled with unpleasant smells. There are some old people, their bad breath is particularly bad, as long as they open their mouths to sing, I can't wait to cover my nose and run.
After only half a year of studying at the University for the Elderly, I couldn't hold on anymore. My original intention in taking classes at the University for the Elderly was to delight myself and enjoy a better life. However, in the University for the Elderly, not only did I not get happy enjoyment, but I also added a lot of troubles to myself. If that's the case, why should I force myself?
When I figured out a lot of things, I never went to the University of the Elderly. In order to pass the boring time, I learned flower raising and yoga online, which enriched my retirement life and pleased my body and mind. When I'm not working, I go around the nearby park and see the beautiful scenery.
Although this life is uneventful, I feel very happy. When people reach a certain age, they no longer like to make fun, as long as it is a comfortable and peaceful day, it is the best enjoyment for the elderly.