Hello everyone, my name is Chen Xiaoming, I am 28 years old, and I am an ordinary employee of a manufacturing company. I was born in an ordinary family, and my parents were honest office workers. I have an older sister who is 5 years older than me, and her name is Chen Dafang.
My father, Chen Guofu, is 58 years old and has been an ordinary worker in a state-owned enterprise for more than 30 years. He is honest and honest, and he is very affectionate to his family. My mother's name is Zhao Shufen, 53 years old, she is a pure housewife, gentle and virtuous, taking care of housework, cooking and eating. My sister Chen Dafang is 33 years old this year and is the pride of our family. She has been smart and clever since she was a child, and after graduating from college, she founded a clothing company with her own efforts, and the business soon boomed.
We have a good relationship as a family and live in harmony. Every year, we will always be together, talking and laughing, and having fun. My sister has a successful career and a well-off family, she has never been stingy with the support of her parents, and every time her parents have birthdays and important festivals, she will give them large gifts.
Since last year, my sister's company has been in trouble. Due to the intensification of competition in the industry and the impact of the epidemic, the company's orders and cash flow have shrunk suddenly. In order to keep the company running, my sister had to lay off employees and cut her salary, but the situation has not improved.
Although the company's operation was in trouble, my sister never revealed anything to her family. She always pretended to be business as usual, and when she came home on holidays, she was still in good spirits and neatly dressed when she saw her, and continued to give generous gifts to her parents. I wondered many times if something was going wrong with my sister, but she always denied it, saying that the company was running normally.
The parents were also completely confused by the appearance of their sister, and had no doubts about her, and often praised her sister as a good daughter with a successful career at family gatherings, which made us younger siblings ashamed. Sometimes I want to remind my parents that my sister may be in trouble, but the thought of how calm she always looks like she is swallowing my doubts back.
Around the end of last year, my sister suddenly "disappeared from the world" and the contact with her family was suddenly cut off. Originally, she would always come to the house to reunite with us on major holidays, but since last year's Mid-Autumn Festival, she has not appeared again.
I was extremely conflicted. On the one hand, I was also very anxious about my sister's mysterious disappearance; On the other hand, I am angry and disappointed by her long-term concealment and deception. I can almost tell that the reason why she suddenly "disappeared from the world" must be because her company has completely fallen into a predicament from which she cannot extricate itself.
I am Chen Dafang, Chen Xiaoming's sister. Last year, my clothing company was in an unprecedented situation and was on the verge of bankruptcy. In order not to worry my family, I chose to hide the truth. However, the pain and self-blame in my heart are indescribable.
I started this company with a desperate gamble. I have been working hard since I was in my 20s, and with superhuman hard work and perseverance, I finally started my own business at the age of 30. At the beginning, I was very proud of the booming business, and my parents were impressed with me. However, the good times did not last long, the competition in the industry intensified, and the epidemic brought us a huge impact.
I could have chosen to stop my losses in time and simply close the company, but I couldn't. This company was my dream and all my heart and soul when I was young, how could I just give up? So I tried my best to pull the company out of the quagmire, but unconsciously fell into a deeper and deeper whirlpool.
I started to deceive my parents and Xiao Ming to cover up the company's actual predicament, just not to worry them. However, this concealment made my guilt and self-blame swell in the bottom of my heart. I began to stay up at night, worrying every day, for fear that one day the truth would be exposed.
As Chen Dafang's younger brother, I am haunted by her bizarre "disappearance". I inquired about some inside information about her company, and finally found out what was going on.
It turned out that as early as the first half of last year, my sister's company had begun to default on employee wages and supplier payments, and there were serious problems in the capital chain. But my sister often hides the truth to the outside world and borrows money everywhere to get by. By the end of the year, the situation was irreparable, the company had existed in name only, and all employees were left to fend for themselves.
When I learned about this, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I admire my sister's ambition and perseverance in starting a business; On the other hand, I was also disappointed and angry at her practice of hiding her family and indebtedness. I secretly decided that I had to find out my sister's whereabouts no matter what, let her go home and have a showdown with her parents, and I couldn't let this scam continue.
I have always admired and been proud of Dafang. She is the pride of Shufen and me, and the epitome of the success of our children in ordinary families. Whenever my friends and relatives complimented Dafang, I was always proud and felt that I was a noble person.
However, when Xiao Ming found out the fact that Dafang was on the verge of bankruptcy, my heart suddenly became extremely heavy. My pride vanished, replaced by utter disappointment and heartache. I thought that Dafang would stop the loss in time and admit her mistakes, but I didn't expect her to play her own game of "hide and seek", escaping from reality and not daring to face her family.
I began to regret why I didn't see some of Dafang's pretentiousness and vanity in time, and she just used our family as her own pendants and ornaments, so that others could praise her. Once there is a problem in her career, she chooses to escape and hide instead of facing it bravely.
Da Fang's disappearance has plunged our family into extreme anxiety and conflict. His wife, Shufen, washes her face with tears every day, and is always in panic and worry. Xiao Ming was extremely angry at Da Fang's behavior of avoiding and deceiving her family, and tried to find her whereabouts several times and reason with her.
The atmosphere between family members has also become extremely tense and depressing. It seems that we are all wearing invisible shackles between us, and we can't get along with each other easily. My wife often complained that I was too tolerant of my daughter; Xiao Ming pointed out my superstition and pride in Dafang, which led to today's family crisis. I can't justify anything, I can only stay up and wait for the final outcome of the matter.
Finally, under Xiao Ming's investigation, we found Da Fang's whereabouts. That day, Xiao Ming invited our family to a party at a restaurant. Da Fang looked exhausted and depressed, completely devoid of the spirit of the past.
Just when our family looked at each other and no one knew where to start, Da Fang suddenly spoke, with a sincere tone and a hint of banter: "Dad, Mom, Xiao Ming, I owe you an explanation." My company has gone completely bankrupt and I am now destitute and have nothing. "
When Shufen and I heard this, we felt that the world was spinning and top-heavy. We never dreamed that Da Fang would be so destitute! Her generous gifts to us, those ostentatious displays of wealth, in the past, now seem to be all fake.
Xiao Ming was furious and rebuked Da Fang fiercely: "Sister, do you know how despicable you are in doing this? You are on the verge of bankruptcy early in the morning, but you still have to hide the truth from your parents and pretend to be rich with swagger! Do you want to watch us be deceived and finally embarrassed?"
I was also carried away by anger at that time, and rebuked Da Fang fiercely: "Yes, what do you want to do? Do you want to watch us be deceived by you to the point of indecency, and finally become the laughing stock of others? As a daughter, how can you fool your parents like this?"
Da Fang was still expressionless, and she asked us in turn: "Have you ever really cared about my career? Have you ever sincerely blessed and supported me? The reason why you are so shocked is precisely because you have never regarded me as a person of flesh and blood, but only as your pendant!"
Da Fang's words undoubtedly pushed the contradiction between us to a new climax. We quarreled almost every word, and the old grudges and new hatreds were released together, and it was just a mess.
Xiao Ming said angrily: "Sister, you are quite good at exculpating yourself! Obviously, you have deceived us again and again, but now you are blaming us for not caring enough about you? Are you taking yourself too seriously?"
Shufen also cried and shouted: "Yes, Dafang, how can you treat our parents like this as a daughter? We really regard you as the pearl of our palms, but you treat us like grass mustard! How narrow-minded and selfish are you?"
I finally couldn't hold back the anger in my heart, and rebuked loudly: "Da Fang, you really disappointed me! I thought you were the pride of our family, but I didn't expect you to be so selfish and selfish, and you couldn't even maintain the most basic family affection! I really hurt you in vain!"
Da Fang was still expressionless, and she said coldly: "You are not qualified to judge me at all! You have never regarded me as an independent individual, but only as the embodiment of your vanity. The reason why I am doing this is to show you your hypocrisy!"
While we were arguing fiercely, Da Fang suddenly stood up, and finally showed a trace of emotion on her face. She took a deep breath and began to tell her true purpose.
"I'm sorry, Mom and Dad, Xiao Ming. The reason why I'm lying to you that I'm completely bankrupt is because I want to see if one day when I really have nothing, will you still care and support me as much as you do now, or that the reason why you care so much about me is only because I was the embodiment of your vanity?"
"Over the years, I have had a hard time starting a business, have you ever really sympathized with me? My company is on the verge of bankruptcy, have you ever sincerely comforted me? You just treat me as an ornament to show off to others. As long as I am the glamorous and beautiful Fang, you will turn a blind eye to my pain; Once I'm really destitute, you're going to rebuke me and hurt me like you are doing now!"
"That's why I have to resort to this plan, so that you can see your hypocrisy. Yes, I lied to you, but you never really cared about me! If even the closest family members are like this, what right do I have to expect from others?"
Da Fang's words undoubtedly made us fall into an even more turbulent thought. None of us could have imagined that the reason why she did all this scam was actually out of such a motive.
Xiao Ming was still indignant, and he accused: "Sister, you're too selfish, aren't you? Just because you think we don't care enough about you, can you fool us like this? This is simply unreasonable!"
Shufen burst into tears and said bitterly: "Da Fang, how can you treat us like this? As parents, of course, we want you to get ahead, but this doesn't mean that we don't care about your feelings! Why can't you see our kindness?"
Just when we were at a stalemate, Dafang suddenly spoke again, her voice becoming low and hoarse: "I'm sorry, I know I did something wrong. But I'm just too eager for your approval and love. If I can't even do it to my relatives, how can I expect outsiders?"
For a long time, we have been more or less engulfed by the tension of matter. After Da Fang's entrepreneurial success, we did focus too much on her wealth and achievements, and skipped her inner torment and loneliness. We used her as a pendant to show off to outsiders, without really caring about her journey.
Xiao Ming pointed out bluntly: "The reason why we are so angry is precisely because Da Fang's 'deception' hit our vanity. If she had honestly admitted bankruptcy in the first place, we wouldn't have reacted so much. It can be seen that our obsession with money has seriously distorted the importance we attach to family affection. "
Shufen said bitterly: "As a mother, I should have paid more attention to my daughter's inner world, rather than only her achievements and wealth. The reason why Dafang came up with this plan is that we caused it ourselves!"
I also had to confess my sins: "Our family is overly important about money and material things. Although Da Fang has gone a little too far, she is indeed reminding us that the bond of family is the most important thing for us. "
Xiao Ming said indignantly: "Sister, you have gone too far! Even if we are suspected of one-sided pursuit of money, you can't deceive your parents so blatantly." You're just playing with fire and messing up our whole family's relationship!"
Da Fang asked in turn: "But have you ever thought that the reason why I did such an 'excessive' thing is because you didn't give me enough family affection and care? You just regarded me as the embodiment of vanity, and never really cared about my inner world!"
Shufen was even more distressed and said: "Da Fang, what you said is so reasonable! As parents, we should first focus on the happiness of our children, rather than pursuing their financial achievements. But we can't do that, so you have to resort to this plan!"
While we were arguing fiercely and accusing each other, Dafang suddenly and silently shed tears. Seeing her like this, our whole family seemed to be infected by her crying, and gradually calmed down.
Da Fang choked up and said, "I'm sorry, Mom, Xiao Ming." I know I'm being too impulsive, but that's because I'm so hungry for your love and approval. Over the years, you have only seen me as the embodiment of vanity, and have never really entered my inner world. Have you ever understood the hardships of my business? Have you comforted me when my company is in trouble?"
"The reason why I made such a 'scam' is just to let you see clearly, if one day I really have nothing, will you still care about me as much as you do now, or will you just leave me behind completely? I know what I did wrong, but you are also wrong!"
Looking at Da Fang's heartbroken appearance, our whole family set off a huge surge in their hearts. Yes, we do lack the least care and understanding for Dafang. We only see her as the embodiment of vanity, but never really as a flesh-and-blood individual.
Just when we were heartbroken and angry, Dafang suddenly knelt down, kowtowed to us and apologized: "I'm sorry, I did wrong, I shouldn't have deceived you like this." But please also reflect on yourself, do you really put family and affection in their rightful place? I am willing to start over and cherish the relationship between us. "
Seeing Dafang so sincere and unreserved, our whole family couldn't be angry with her anymore. We looked at each other and cried, and finally regained the purest family love at this moment.
Dafang's "scam" has taught us a heavy lesson. We have to face up to the fact that we have been blinded by money and material things for a long time. We treat Dafang as the embodiment of vanity, and ignore her most basic emotional needs; We seek her wealth and accomplishments, but we never enter her inner world.
Although Da Fang's approach is biased, she is well-intentioned and wants us to reflect on ourselves. In this extreme way, she is using the practice of "sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat" to wake us up. In this way, her "scam" is actually a good medicine, reminding us to face up to the importance of family affection.