Narrator: Zhong Xiaomei (material from friends)
My name is Zhong Xiaomei, I am 49 years old, and I am now working as a manager in a large hotel.
My hometown is in the countryside of Sichuan, and my parents are sincere old farmers, raising three daughters, and I am their youngest child.
The eldest sister is 10 years older than me, and when I was studying in the county town, the eldest sister was already married, and her nieces were already two years old.
My second sister is only two years older than me, and after graduating from junior high school, she went to work in a nearby factory, and I was the only one in the family who went to school, and my parents and sisters took good care of me.
But when I graduated from regular high school, I didn't get into college, and my parents were a little disappointed.
My father said to me, "Your two sisters have only studied in junior high school, and since you can't get into college, you have to go to work." ”
Although I am not ready to enter society, my ability is limited and I have not been admitted to university, so I can only accept the arrangement of fate.
At that time, a junior high school friend of mine, Xiao Ni, set up a stall in our county, specializing in washing and ironing clothes for people.
When I went to play with Xiao Ni, I saw that she set up a small stall on the side of the street, all she needed was a rectangular table, on which she ironed and dry cleaned the clothes for customers, and it seemed easy to earn money.
I said to Xiaoni, "I have nothing to do now, and I will learn to do business with you, right?"
Xiao Ni and I are good friends, so naturally she selflessly taught me how to operate, and within two days of hard work, I learned this craft.
So, like Xiao Ni, I borrowed money from my parents, bought a full set of ironing tools, and started a small business on another street.
My fees are very low, cheaper than those in the dry cleaners, so there are also some residents nearby who take care of my business, and I have some income every day, although it is not much, but it is also very satisfying for me who has never made money.
I set up a stall for a few months, because there was no storefront, and when it was windy and rainy, I couldn't do business, so my income was very unstable.
On the side of the street where I set up my stall is a cake shop owned by a man in his 30s.
At first, the owner of the cake shop was very friendly to me, often came to talk to me, and asked me to put the ironing tools in his shop when the stall was closed.
I was very grateful to him, and when we got acquainted, he told me that his wife had run away with someone else, leaving him with a two-year-old daughter.
I sympathized with him and said some comforting words to him, but what I didn't expect was that he would later show a crush on me and want to pursue me and make me his daughter's stepmother.
This scared me a lot, I was not yet 20 years old at the time, I had never thought about having a boyfriend or girlfriend, and he was an old man with a daughter, so I shook my head and immediately rejected him.
But he was not willing, and when I was doing business, he kept coming to me, so I had to move places, but he still chased after me.
I had no choice but to tell my mother about my troubles, and of course, my father immediately found out about it, and he couldn't help but be angry at home.
The father said: "You are a little girl, you can't find a factory to do things, but you just show up to set up a stall to do business, and you don't want to think about how capable you are!"
"These days, you haven't earned a lot of money, but you still cause these troubles! Don't go to the stall anymore in the future, let your eldest sister find you something to do. ”
I was too timid to set up a stall anymore, so I could only listen to my parents, carry my luggage, and take the car to my eldest sister's house.
Everyone married in the countryside of another county, but my brother-in-law used to be a chef, and he had a flexible brain, so instead of helping people all the time, he opened a small restaurant in the city two years ago.
My eldest sister also helps out in my brother-in-law's restaurant, and when I first went to my eldest sister's house, I helped bring my niece and also worked in my brother-in-law's restaurant.
The eldest brother-in-law is a very enthusiastic and smiling person, not only obedient to my sister, but also treats me as my own sister, so I have lived in my sister's house for more than half a year, and I am quite comfortable.
In those two years, my brother-in-law's small restaurant was at the door of a large factory, and there were many people who came to eat in the restaurant, and their business was very good, and they were busy almost from morning to night.
My brother-in-law is a high school student, and I heard that his academic performance was not bad before, but because his family was poor and had no money to go to college, he went to learn to be a chef and embarked on the road of catering.
But my brother-in-law's hobbies are very extensive, at that time he was influenced by his friends, fell in love with stock trading, and often went to the trading floor to look at stocks, and the topics he talked about at home were often inseparable from stocks, which often provoked his sister to give him white eyes.
But once, my brother-in-law made money by buying stocks, and took us to travel to the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River by boat, and everyone had a great time, and after that, my sister didn't interfere too much with my brother-in-law's buying of stocks.
My sister said to her brother-in-law: "Xiaomei helps in our restaurant, it's not a long-term place, you have a lot of friends outside, so help her find a formal job, right?"
The brother-in-law thought for a while and said, "That's right, Xiaomei staying in our restaurant is indeed delaying her time, but letting Xiaomei go to work in the factory has no future!"
My sister said, "What's the solution? Xiaomei graduated from high school, she should be able to find an easy job, right?"
Later, with the help of my brother-in-law and friends, I was introduced to a small factory as an inspector, and the work was easier than that of ordinary workers, but the salary was similar to theirs.
I worked in the factory for a few months and was about to gradually adapt to the working life, but my brother-in-law suddenly came to me in the factory and said to me, "Xiaomei, do you still want to go to university?"
I looked at my brother-in-law in surprise and said, "Of course I want to study, but I don't make the list, and I can't go to college again, right?"
My brother-in-law directly helped me quit my job as an inspector, took me home, and asked me to prepare and go to a university in the city.
It turned out that my brother-in-law thought that I had graduated from high school and was only a few points short of being admitted to university, so I gave up like this, which is a pity.
Later, through some channels, he found out about my college entrance examination results and could study in some junior colleges, so he hurriedly went to help me find a place.
I said uneasily: "Brother, my parents will definitely not support me to study again, they just farm a little land, and they can't afford me to go to college." ”
The brother-in-law said: "Little sister, don't worry, I have already discussed with my parents, our business of opening a restaurant in the past two years has been good, so we will help you solve the tuition fees of the university!"
I was shocked and moved in my heart, it is difficult to describe in words, this opportunity to study at the university was really too sudden and too precious for me.
My brother-in-law is willing to pay for my tuition, I think so thoughtfully, I'm not his own sister, just his little sister, isn't he paying too much?
I quietly asked my eldest sister, "Sister, you put pressure on my brother-in-law to fund me to go to college, right?"
The eldest sister said: "Xiaomei, of course the eldest sister wants you to go to college, one of our three sisters can produce a college student, and my sister's face is also bright!"
"But in fact, the one who supports you the most to go to college is your brother-in-law, who always feels regretful that he didn't go to college back then. ”
Later, your brother-in-law encouraged his brother to read more, but his brother's qualifications were limited and he would rather go to work than study, so your brother-in-law put his expectations on you, hoping that you would study more so that you could have a future in the future. ”
When I listened, I had more respect for my brother-in-law, and I was determined to study hard so that I could repay my sister and brother-in-law for their kindness in the future.
When I went to study in the city, I was older than other classmates because I was not a fresh graduate, so I cherished this hard-won learning opportunity even more and worked hard to study for professional knowledge.
I majored in English, and because I studied hard, when I graduated from university, my grades were not bad, and my professional teacher suggested that I continue to take the postgraduate examination.
However, I considered that I was too old and didn't want to add financial pressure to my sister, brother-in-law, and parents, so I didn't choose to continue my studies, but left school and started an internship.
I first got a job at a front desk in a four-star hotel in the city, mainly responsible for reception, including some foreign guests, which was the perfect use of my expertise.
I also realized that my sister and brother-in-law asked me to study more, and without their funding, I would not have been able to stand in front of foreign guests so glamorously, talk to them in my good spoken English, and do a good job of reception.
Later, I also worked as a front office manager at a guesthouse and found my lifelong partner here.
My husband is also engaged in hotel management, he is from the city, he has a house in the city, and my parents-in-law are both working in public institutions.
I thought that if I didn't have a university diploma and professional knowledge, I wouldn't be able to do a job in hotel management.
If I'm just a rural girl who graduated from high school and works as a working girl on the assembly line of a factory, I won't be able to get the recognition and respect of my husband's family, right?
So, I married into a city where my eldest sister and brother-in-law opened a restaurant, and whenever I was free, my husband and I would go to my eldest brother-in-law's restaurant to help out and get together with them.
When the second sister got married, because the second brother-in-law was from the mountains and the family conditions were not very good, my parents made him a son-in-law, so the second sister and the second brother-in-law have been living with my parents.
My parents are getting older day by day, and they are no longer able to farm, so my two sisters and I are vying to honor our parents, give them living expenses, buy new clothes, supplements, and so on.
Although my mother's family is in the countryside, a few years ago, my family's land and house were expropriated because of the expansion of the county seat.
My parents and my second sister's family have all lived in the resettlement community, they have enjoyed the demolition money, and their parents also have pension subsidies, so it can be said that they basically have no worries about food and clothing.
However, in the eldest sister's family, some changes happened at this time.
In 2014, the eldest sister suffered from a herniated lumbar disc because she worked in the restaurant every day, and the doctor told her to rest more, so the eldest sister didn't dare to work too hard, so she discussed with the eldest brother-in-law and wanted to end the business of the small restaurant.
At that time, the niece had already married out of the city, and the eldest brother-in-law also felt that the burden had been lightened, and they had already saved a sum of money for retirement, of course, there was no need to overdraft their bodies to run a small restaurant.
After the restaurant closed, the eldest sister and brother-in-law had already built a house in the countryside, so they went back to the countryside to retire, grow small dishes every day, and take a walk in the village.
The eldest brother-in-law is idle, and he invests his time and energy in stocks.
However, I don't know if it's too lucky, my brother-in-law, who has always been profitable, failed to escape the stock market crash in 2015.
Although my brother-in-law did not tell us exactly how heavy his loss was, overnight, his hair turned almost half gray and his spirit was extremely depressed.
The eldest sister was frightened, afraid that her brother-in-law would not be able to think about it, so she followed her brother-in-law all the time, and called our sister to ask everyone to help persuade her brother-in-law.
My husband and I, niece and my wife, all made an appointment to visit my brother-in-law in the countryside, took him on a trip to relax, and said a lot of reassuring words to him, and my brother-in-law's mood gradually improved, and he came out of sadness and loss.
After that, my brother-in-law never went to buy stocks again, he also wanted to open it, and said with a smile:
"I'm not young anymore, I don't have the capital to gamble on life anymore, at this age, it's better to live a plain life, and good health is the most important thing!"
My brother-in-law can think like this, and we all can rest easy.
But since then, the eldest sister has begun to live a thrifty life, she said, her brother-in-law lost so much money in stock trading, if they don't save a little more, there is a major illness or something, the family will not be able to live.
The niece is married in a foreign country, although she is also filial, earns a salary, and often sends red envelopes to her parents, but her sister and brother-in-law feel sorry for her daughter and have her own small family to support, so she generally does not open red envelopes.
In the past, the eldest brother-in-law felt sorry for the eldest sister and bought her an endowment insurance, so when the eldest sister reaches the age of 50, she can receive a pension of more than 1,000 yuan a month, which is also a comfort.
But my brother-in-law didn't think about buying one for himself, and at that time he also said that it was not cost-effective for men to buy social security, and they would not get the money until they were 60 years old.
But when a person really reaches the age of fifty or sixty, and his savings are unintentionally emptied, then this pension insurance is also a good guarantee, at least it can subsidize basic living materials and bring himself a sense of security, right?
Just like my parents, when it is time to receive their pension every month, they always go to the bank early in the morning to queue up with great interest, although each person only has one or two thousand yuan, it is the source of their happy life every month.
The parents told the eldest sister to buy an insurance for the eldest brother-in-law, and when the eldest brother-in-law reaches the age of 60, he can have money every month.
Of course, if the brother-in-law wants to buy social security, he is a little old and it is unlikely, but rural insurance can be purchased at one time, which is more realistic.
I said to my eldest sister: "I heard that now you can pay more than 90,000 yuan at one time in rural areas, and when you are 60 years old, you can receive about 1,300 yuan per month, so I buy a rural endowment insurance for my brother-in-law, which is actually quite good." ”
The eldest sister told me: "Not long ago, your eldest brother-in-law went to find a job as a security guard, saying that he was earning some living expenses to subsidize the family, and if he took 90,000 yuan out at one time, I really don't have that much in my hands now, and your brother-in-law will not agree to buy it for him." ”
I smiled quietly: "Eldest sister, we took my brother-in-law's identity certificate and went directly to help him buy insurance, and he couldn't agree if he didn't agree." Don't worry, I'll pay for it. ”
The eldest sister refused: "Little sister, your son is now in college, and it is also the time to spend money, how can my sister increase the burden on your family?"
I said, "Eldest sister, when you say this, you don't treat me as a family, and when I was able to go to college, it wasn't all funded by you and my brother-in-law." ”
"If it weren't for your help, I wouldn't have the ability to take out the money to buy insurance for my brother-in-law now, right? I have always kept this kindness in my heart, and I want to be able to repay you!"
Although my sister was reluctant to accept my help, at my insistence, we still went together to buy a one-time new rural insurance for my brother-in-law, so that as long as my brother-in-law reached the age of 60, he could also receive a pension every month.
During the Spring Festival this year, when our sisters went back to their parents' homes to pay New Year's greetings to their parents, they mentioned the matter of buying pension insurance, and our parents talked about the benefits of receiving pensions.
The eldest brother-in-law said with some disappointment: "You all have pension insurance, I knew that I shouldn't have spent so much money to speculate in stocks at that time, but invested some money to buy insurance, and now I have a lot less worries." ”
The old mother couldn't help but smile and said, "Son-in-law, don't worry, it won't be long before you can queue up to go to the bank to withdraw money!"
The eldest brother-in-law joked: "Mom, is it possible for me to collect your pension?"
My mother smiled happily: "My pension will not be given to you, you will receive your own insurance, it has nothing to do with me." ”
At this time, my eldest sister said to her brother-in-law: "Didn't you always want to buy insurance? Or Xiaomei took the money out and asked me to buy you a rural insurance, you can get more than 1,000 yuan a month when you are 60 years old, not bad?"
My brother-in-law was stunned when he heard this, he looked at us and said, "Why don't I know this? Little sister, how do you do your secrecy work so well? It seems that if I don't work hard to earn more money, I won't be able to pay you back." ”
I said seriously: "Brother-in-law, I took the money out to buy insurance for you, just to repay your kindness back then, this is all I owe you and my sister, where do you need to pay me back?"
The brother-in-law said: "At that time, you were just a little girl, and your sister and brother-in-law should help your sister, I didn't think about letting you pay off the debt!"
"This is the same thing, although the eldest brother-in-law is down now, he is not a person who does not admit it, little sister, don't worry, I will make up the money to pay you back." ”
I shook my head: "Brother-in-law, if you see me like this, that is, you don't treat me as a sister, your help back then can be said to have changed my fate." ”
"We are a family, brother-in-law, you have worked hard to create me, this insurance, even if it is a gift I give you in return, only by giving this heart, my heart will be calm. ”
My husband was also very supportive of my approach, saying, "Brother-in-law, Xiaomei has always told me that my sister and brother-in-law are her great benefactors, and they are all like a family. ”
"I think that in our big family, no matter who has temporary difficulties, everyone will lend a hand, and our generation, our next generation, will definitely work together to help each other, and the family relationship will always remain the same. ”
My parents nodded again and again, praising my husband for being reasonable, the eldest sister, the eldest brother-in-law, and the second sister's family, and everyone's faces showed warm smiles.
Parents are here, brothers and sisters are here, this family affection will always connect us, inherit each other's true feelings, from generation to generation, go far.
Everyone's right?