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In the past few years, I helped my mother-in-law to sit up slowly on the bed, and she was paralyzed on the right side of her body because of the sequelae of stroke. I carefully cushioned underneath her, then hugged her upper body and slowly adjusted her to a sitting position leaning against the bed.
The mother-in-law's face turned pale, and she gritted her teeth and said, "Light! You stinky monkey, your movements are so rude, my bones are going to fall apart!"
I endured the depression in my heart and said as gently as possible, "Mother-in-law, I have been very careful. Come, take the medicine, and I'll make breakfast in a moment. "
The mother-in-law reluctantly swallowed the medicine in her mouth, and muttered vaguely: "This medicine is too bitter, can't you afford to buy a genuine medicine, do you have to buy this inferior product?"
I sighed and ignored her complaints. This is already the best Chinese medicine I can afford, and we can't afford to pay for it. My mother-in-law has been paralyzed in bed for three years after a stroke, and our family's expenses are all about her medical bills and my resignation to take care of her at home. Only my husband is still working, and the family is under a lot of financial pressure.
I sat on the edge of the bed with porridge and fed my mother-in-law breakfast spoonful by spoonful. She had to complain a few words every time she took a bite, saying that the porridge was not soft enough, the water was salty, and it was cold. Although I was irritable, I still patiently coaxed her: "Mother-in-law, the porridge is freshly cooked, and it is not cold." You drink slowly, it's hard to do it yourself for a while, and I'll feed you again. "
My mother-in-law gave me a blank look and said, "You are so pampered, how can you know that I am uncomfortable? "
I cheered up and continued to feed her porridge, thinking that if I endured it a little longer, my husband would come back in the evening. But that night, my husband returned late from overtime, and I was alone in the face of my mother-in-law's unreasonable trouble.
That night, I went to the kitchen as usual to help my mother-in-law decoct medicine, but my mother-in-law was delirious that day and did not take medicine. I coaxed her for a long time to eat a little, but she suddenly knocked over the medicine bowl to the ground and scolded hysterically.
I crouched on the ground, looking at my bleeding fingers, and my heart swelled up with despair that I had never felt before. My mother-in-law was still scolding hysterically in bed, and I felt that the last shred of my sanity was about to collapse.
Just then, my husband came back. His face was tired, and he said impatiently: "What's the matter, what a noise in the big night!"
I stumbled over with red eyes, wanting to tell my husband about the injustice tonight, and to let him share my hardships and despair. But as soon as I opened my mouth, my mother-in-law's scolding overshadowed my words: "It's this lazy girl who won't give me the medicine! I almost fainted! Why don't you hurry up and teach her a lesson!"
I looked at my husband and wanted him to listen to me. Who knew that the husband yelled with a black face: "What's the situation, don't you decoct my mother quickly! You still let the old man take medicine on an empty stomach so late, you want to kill her!"
"I'm really serving your family for nothing!" I wiped my tears and shouted, "I quit my job and stayed at home, serving your daughter-in-law day and night, your mother will find fault with me, I'm half tired and sad, none of you care!"
"You!" My husband stared at me with a frown, as if surprised that I would suddenly be so excited.
I choked up and pointed at him, "You too! You will only scold me for listening to your mother! Didn't you say that you would take care of me for the rest of my life when we got married?! Now you send me to serve your mother, and you work overtime every day outside, and you don't care about my feelings at all!"
My husband's face became more and more ugly, he strode over and slapped me in the face, and scolded bitterly: "Li Mei, you unfilial slut! You married into my family to serve your parents, how can you be reasonable?!" Get out of here and decoction for me!"
My mind flashed through the torture of my mother-in-law over the years, and the scene of my husband mercilessly slapping me just now. I asked the strange man coldly, "Who are you, and why did you ask me to save your mother?"
I was silent for a few seconds, and then said to Li Jianhua, who was crying on the other end of the phone, "I'll go back now." "
After hanging up the phone, I looked at my husband's swollen eyes, nodded and said, "Let's go back to the hospital." "
"You have to hold on, Mom!" Li Jianhua knelt in front of the hospital bed and sobbed. I looked at my mother-in-law's sick and miserable appearance, and my heart was mixed. Years of grievances came to my heart, and I even had red circles in my eyes.
So, we gathered around the hospital bed and recited the Heart Sutra in a low voice. The mother-in-law's complexion seemed to have eased a little, and the beating on the ECG had stabilized a little.
After we finished reciting, Li Jianhua couldn't cry: "Mom, you must hold on!"
That night, I stayed outside the hospital room. Nurse Xiaoling came out and said to me, "Dr. Li is in good condition and is out of danger. This is all thanks to your Heart Sutra! Otherwise, with her age and condition, she would not have survived tonight. "
Xiaoling hugged my shoulder: "You will definitely get back together with your mother-in-law in the future! You are so filial, how can she be bad to you all the time!"
That night, I sat in the corridor and was distracted.
There was a sudden commotion in my mother-in-law's ward, and I was startled and hurriedly ran in. I saw that my mother-in-law had woken up, and the nurses were surprisingly gathered around her bedside.
My body trembled slightly, but I slowly bent down and hugged my mother-in-law. Her thin hand gently patted my back, and my nose was sour and my eyes were red.
At this time, Li Jianhua ran in and was very excited to see his mother wake up. My mother-in-law pulled him over and asked me to introduce him. I hesitated for a moment, but I still told Li Jianhua's life experience truthfully.
When the mother-in-law heard this, tears welled up in her eyes: "It turns out that I also have a son! God treats me very well, so I saw him on my deathbed!"
Li Jianhua also couldn't cry. The mother and son, who have not seen each other for more than 30 years, cried heartfelt and moved everyone to tears. I stood aside, and the long-lost warmth in my heart slowly overflowed.
For the next few days, I went to accompany my mother-in-law every day. Her attitude towards me became so gentle that it was like a different person. Sometimes she shed tears of gratitude, telling Li Jianhua to love me as a daughter-in-law.
The relationship between me and my mother-in-law seems to have taken root and blossomed after her near death. I also forgave her from the bottom of my heart, and felt that many things in life are not right or wrong, only in a thought.
"Mother-in-law, cheer up, don't leave me!"
I rushed in and saw that my mother-in-law had stopped breathing in Li Jianhua's arms. The doctor was examining the equipment, his face solemn.
I couldn't cry, Xiaoling hugged me in her arms. I think of my harsh criticism of my mother-in-law, and the good times I have had with her in the past few days. God, how can you be so ruthless that my mother-in-law and I will part with each other before we have time to regain our old friendship!
The mother-in-law finally died in the arms of her children. Li Jianhua hugged his mother and didn't let go, and my father-in-law and I cried bitterly on the side. We had the hardest night of our lives.
I looked at the old man's gray-haired head, and a thousand thoughts were surging in my heart. I finally gently helped him up, and a tired smile tugged at the corner of my mouth: "Father-in-law, I won't leave." Let's start over. The funeral of the mother-in-law was very grand, and the funeral home was very grand, and Li Jianhua hired the best service. I stood behind the guest hall and looked at my husband and father-in-law in the front row, crying bitterly, and my eyes were slightly red.
After the funeral, Li Jianhua took me by the hand and said, "Sister Mei, I know very well that you have taken care of your mother in the past few years, and you have been a great favor to our family! ”
I shook my head and said to Li Jianhua, "It's my blessing to be able to take care of my mother-in-law. Please don't mention compensation again, let me be an ordinary daughter-in-law again. ”
I touched the old man's rickety back, and my eyes moistened: "Father-in-law, I have forgiven you." It is my greatest wish that you and your mother-in-law can pass away peacefully. ”
After moving to the United States, I gradually adapted to life here. With Li Jianhua's funding, I have lived a well-off life. Occasionally, I think of the bits and pieces I get along with my mother-in-law, and I still feel a faint pain, but those unwillingness and hatred have long since disappeared.
Life is like this, no one can escape death. I began to learn to tolerate things that didn't go my way in life. When I hugged my newborn daughter, I vaguely saw the smiling face of my mother-in-law, and I will always remember her understanding and gratitude to me.
Another decade passed, and the news of the death of both parents came. They didn't make it to the U.S., and I didn't get back home to see them one last time. Hanging up the phone, I cried on my husband's shoulder. I think of the happy smiling faces of my in-laws on the day the girl got married. More than ten years later, they still hold a place in my heart.
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, I am a gray-haired old lady. My husband and I are dependent on each other, our children are also successful, we have bought a house in the United States, and we have a stable life. Occasionally, I still suddenly think of my mother's family, and I still remember my mother-in-law's peaceful smiling face before she died.
One day, my father-in-law's former scalpel appeared in my dream. That slender blade has cut the flesh of countless patients, brought endless pain, and indirectly ruined the relationship between me and my in-laws. Now, however, I miss it so much.
A month later, Li Jing called me excitedly, and he actually found his father-in-law's scalpel in the old house!
I kept the scalpel in the deepest part of the drawer. Every time I open the drawer and the blade reflects the sunlight, I think of those green years, and I think of all kinds of past events when I laughed and scolded my in-laws. Those memories are like this scalpel, sharp but real, engraved in every inch of my changing life.
During the Spring Festival that year, my grandchildren came to the old house and placed the urn containing my ashes in my in-laws' grave. I finally returned to my homeland, to this place that carries the memories of half my life, to reunite with my in-laws.
Before leaving, my granddaughter opened my belongings and found my father-in-law's scalpel. She picked up the knife and reflected the sunlight, just like I did every time. This knife has witnessed my unfortunate life, and now, it is finally resting peacefully with me and my in-laws in this small cemetery, becoming the last witness of those green years.