Dictation: Mr. Lam
Author: Xiaoya
I'm 53 years old, one of hundreds of millions of migrant workers, and my wife and I are currently working in coastal areas.
My wife is three months younger than me, and if it were those city dwellers with formal jobs, she would have retired a long time ago, and she could have lived a life where she didn't have to do any work every month and got paid.
However, we have been working outside for decades and have encountered many black-hearted factories, and until now, the basic social security has not been paid in full for 15 years, so it is naturally impossible to live a good life with money.
In addition, we have a son under our knees, who is 27 years old this year and is not married, which has become a problem for us.
To this day, I still remember my son crying two years ago after receiving a text message from his girlfriend about the breakup, and at that time, not only my son felt heartbroken, but my wife and I also felt very guilty.
The reason why the woman chose to break up was because we could not meet their family's requirements and could not afford the bride price, let alone buy a house in a big city.
Although my son didn't blame us, and comforted us afterwards that they were destined, I knew very well that if I wanted to marry my son, bride price and a wedding room were mandatory requirements.
We had no choice but to return to the construction site and work hard, hoping to make up the expenses for our son's marriage as soon as possible, so that our son could start a family and start a business, and also fulfill our wish to hold our grandson.
Just as we were busy making money to marry our son, the visit of our second brother yesterday broke the peace of our lives.
Yesterday was New Year's Day, my wife and I were on vacation, and since there was only one day off, we didn't plan to go out, just thinking about having a good meal and catching up on sleep.
At seven o'clock in the morning, I was woken up by the ringtone of my mobile phone, I reluctantly opened my eyes, touched my mobile phone, glanced at the number, and found that it was the second brother calling.
I answered the phone and said hello to my second brother, who told me that he had come to my city and had come to see us.
Hearing this, I hurriedly woke up my wife and asked her to buy some good wine and food to entertain my second brother, and on the other hand, I put on my clothes and went to the train station to pick up my second brother.
An hour later, I brought my second brother back, and my wife also came back from grocery shopping. Then, my wife went to prepare lunch, and I chatted with my second brother.
My second brother is 5 years younger than me and has the same half-brother as me. When I was two years old, my mom died of illness, and a year later my dad was introduced to my stepmom.
My stepmother is a kind and generous woman, she treats me as her own, even if she has her own flesh and blood, she has always loved me very much, and has always taught my second brother to respect my brother, telling me that I can discipline my younger brother at any time. Under the guidance of my stepmother, my second brother and I have a deep brotherhood and have always had a good relationship.
Twenty years ago, at the age of 33, I decided to go out to work in order to earn money to support my family and provide for my son's education. When the second brother found out, he fully supported me and said that he would take good care of the two old people.
After I went out to work, I only had the opportunity to go back to my rural hometown to visit my father and stepmother once a year, and I could only stay at home for 10 days. Over the years, my dad and stepmom were both taken care of by the second brother.
Three years ago, my father passed away due to illness, and before he died, my second brother and my second brother's daughter-in-law stayed in front of the hospital bed to take care of him, and I only had time to see him for the last time. When I felt guilty, my second brother always comforted me: "Brother, we are brothers, and the family doesn't talk to each other." ”
Chatting and chatting, I learned about the recent situation of the second brother, and he told me a good news, that is, the old house built by my father when he was alive was demolished, and 400,000 yuan of demolition money was distributed, and now the demolition money has been paid to the second brother's account.
Hearing this, my wife, who was washing vegetables, stopped the movements in her hands, looked at the second brother, and then looked at me, her eyes were full of pleading, I quickly gave my wife a look, signaling that she could not speak.
Seeing my reaction, my wife stopped talking, but finally lowered her head and didn't say anything more.
I understand what my wife means, she hopes to get a share of the money, even if it is tens of thousands of yuan, it is good, after all, we urgently need to marry our son now, and money is very important to us.
However, I couldn't open my mouth because the demolition money had nothing to do with me.
The reason why I say that the demolition money has nothing to do with me is because of two points. First, the house that was demolished was built by my father 10 years ago, and the strength was contributed by my father and second brother, and the money was also made up by my father and second brother, and I didn't contribute money at all.
Second, before my father died, he made a will, giving me the 40,000 yuan he had saved over the years, and the newly built house was given to my second brother.
At my dad's funeral, my stepmother took out her will and asked if we were in favor of such a distribution plan, and my second brother and I both nodded. Therefore, this house really has nothing to do with me.
Although I knew that if I opened my mouth, the second brother would be very likely to agree, and he would be willing to lend me a little no matter how bad it was, but I didn't know that I would be able to pay it off in the Year of the Monkey. No matter what, I can't pit my second brother, he has honored my father and stepmother over the years, and has contributed a lot to the family, I already owe him, how can I be embarrassed to speak?
So, without saying a word, I asked my wife to make a table of good wine and food to entertain my second brother, and we had a good drink.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the second brother proposed to go back, I thought that I was renting a house after all, and it was inconvenient for the second brother to stay, so I didn't keep it, and personally sent the second brother to the train station.
When I got home, my wife took out a bank card and handed it to me: "Half an hour ago, the second child sent me a message, saying that he had left something under the pillow, and we must accept it, and if we don't accept it, we won't treat him as a brother." ”
At this time, a message also came to my mobile phone, which was sent by my second brother.
"Brother, don't you treat me as a brother? Or do you think that I will ignore brotherhood for the sake of money, knowing that you are trying to scrape together money to marry a wife for your eldest nephew, but you will still stand by and watch? Let me tell you, you underestimate me. I went to your house this time, not to see you, but to help my eldest nephew marry a daughter-in-law. Half of the demolition money, don't want to shirk it, there is 200,000 in that bank card, and the password is the birthday of the eldest nephew, don't send it back to me, otherwise I won't call you brother again. ”
Holding the bank card, my wife and I looked at each other, and soon, my wife cried: "How can we repay the kindness of the second brother?"
I took the bank card and fell into deep thought, thinking about it all night without thinking about whether to return it to my second brother. On the one hand, I really deserve it, on the other hand, I know the temper of the second brother, if I send it back, he will really turn against me.
When I went to work today, my colleague was very curious when he saw my sad face, and asked me what was wrong, and I told him everything.
Hearing what I said, my colleague gave me an idea: "This is a wish from your second brother and your stepmother, and if you go back, you will brush off their kindness and make them unhappy, so you should accept it! When your son marries a daughter-in-law, you are not busy, you can go back to your stepmother as soon as possible to provide for your old age." Later, when your stepmother is sick and hospitalized, and you need someone to serve you, the two of you will take on it. Also, doesn't your second brother have only one daughter? You can tell your son to treat his cousin as his own sister for the rest of his life and support his cousin. ”
I thought about it for a while, and felt that my colleague's words made sense, and I swore in my heart that I would definitely repay my second brother's family, and I would honor my stepmother and protect my eldest niece.
END.
Today's topic: Do you have any good advice for Mr. Lin? Feel free to share your views in the comment section.