"Sanya, you're here. There was an imperceptible tremor in my mother's voice, and her eyes were full of grief for her deceased loved ones.
On the Qingming Festival, it was drizzling, and I stood in front of my father's tombstone, and my heart was surging with deep thoughts for my father. My musings were interrupted by my mother's voice, urging us to finish the ancestral ritual and then go home for dinner together.
I nodded lightly, handed her an umbrella, and together we laid flowers and lit incense in front of the tombstone. The rain was so dense that it seemed that even the sky was crying for the deceased loved ones.
After the ceremony, our family sat around the dinner table in the old house. The table was full of home-cooked food, steaming hot, but it couldn't hide the heaviness in the air.
My mom first asked about the children's situation with concern, and then suddenly the conversation changed and casually turned the topic to savings. There was a shrewd flash in her eyes, but her tone was as calm as possible.
"You are all old, and you have to leave a way back for your old age, and you can't count on all your children. As my mom said this, her eyes wandered between our siblings.
The eldest sister was the first to speak, with a hint of pride in her voice: "I have prepared 200,000 yuan, and our monthly pension adds up to more than 6,000, which should be enough for the two of us to spend our old age in peace." ”
My mother's gaze turned to me, and my heart tightened, remembering my daughter-in-law's advice. I took a deep breath and tried to make my voice sound calm.
"Mom, my pension is only 2,000 a month, and the family's savings are used to buy a house for my son. As soon as I finished speaking, I felt that the atmosphere at the dinner table had become a little awkward.
My mother's face was a little displeased, and my brother and daughter-in-law ignored me, their eyes were more focused on the eldest sister, as if they were thinking about something.
I ate silently, with mixed tastes in my heart. I know that such a concealment is not a long-term solution, but I have to do it in order to protect my own home.
I was born in 1970 in a small mountain village in Guizhou Province, with two older sisters and a younger brother. As the third girl in the family, I was given the nickname "Sanya".
At that time, families without sons could hardly hold their heads up in the village, and even the division of land was closely related to whether there were sons in the family. As a result, my parents were under heavy pressure to have to give birth to their son.
My parents made a living from farming and had a meager income. Life at home is tight, but the family is still harmonious. Until the birth of his younger brother, the atmosphere in the house became even more tense.
After her mother gave birth to her younger brother, her health was not as good as before, and she couldn't do heavy work, and the burden of the family suddenly fell on her father alone. In order to alleviate the burden on the family, my two older sisters dropped out of school one after another and began to help their parents with farm work as much as they could.
I am eager to read and change my destiny through knowledge. I once knelt in front of my parents and tearfully begged them to let me go to school.
I remember it was a dim evening, the kerosene lamp in my house glowing faintly, and I held my father's hand tightly, my eyes full of pleading.
"Mom, Dad, let me go back to school. I promise to study hard and help my family more in the future. My voice trembled, tears rolling in my eyes.
His father was silent, his eyes full of helplessness and pain. My mother, weeping silently, knew my longing, but she also understood the plight of my family.
Two older sisters also interceded with me, their eyes full of reluctance and encouragement. But in the end, I could only finish elementary school and not go to junior high school. In my memory, that was the first time I felt the cruelty of reality.
When I was 23 years old, I was introduced to my current husband. After marriage, life was destitute, and we lived in a dilapidated adobe house with old furniture and not even a decent electrical appliance. But I never regret it, because I know it's my own choice.
In 2003, in order to improve the life of the family, my husband decided to go out to work. I became a left-behind woman, living with my young son. In those years, I tasted almost all the ups and downs of life. During the day, I worked in the fields, and at night, in the dim light, I mended clothes and told stories to my son.
In 2014, my son was admitted to a university, and at that moment, my husband and I seemed to see the hope of getting through. Our son, with his efforts, has earned dignity for our family.
However, the mother's claim never stopped. Every time he came to me, he was asking for money for my brother, buying seeds, fertilizer, and cars...... I was unable to meet their demands and gradually became the most incompetent daughter in my parents' mouths.
In the dead of night, I always think about my life. I was a girl with dreams, but I had to bow my head under the weight of reality.
I used to be a student who was hungry for knowledge, but I had to stop at the threshold of junior high school. I used to be a hopeful mother, but I had to feel powerless again and again in my mother's demands.
But even so, I still insisted, for the sake of my son, for the sake of this family. I told myself that no matter how hard life is, as long as we are together as a family, there is hope.
In 2021, my son got married and married his college classmate, a gentle and intelligent girl. She didn't ask us for anything, and the two decided to start from scratch and create their own future together. My son and daughter-in-law are very filial to our old couple, and their care and respect make us feel warm.
My relationship with my daughter-in-law is very close, there is no barrier between us, we are like mother and daughter. I often confide in her about my mother's family, and she always listens patiently, giving me comfort and advice.
Over time, my daughter-in-law learned about my experiences, including the financial pressures that my mother's family kept demanding.
One day, my daughter-in-law held my hand and said to me seriously, "Mom, I understand your difficulties. But you have to learn to protect yourself and protect our little family. ”
She taught me to learn to pretend to be poor so that my mother wouldn't beat us up again for the sake of her grandson. I listened to her words, and my heart was both moved and a little helpless, but I knew that she was right.
Remembering this, I took a deep breath and gave my mom an answer. I said, "Mom, our savings have been used to subsidize our son, and now the monthly pension is only 2,000, and your son-in-law is still working." ”
I tried to make my voice sound calm, but in my heart it felt like I had knocked over a five-flavor bottle.
My mother's face was very ugly, and her eyes showed disappointment and distrust.
She asked me, "Sanya, you can't hide it from your mother, where did all the money in the family go?
She didn't finish her sentence, but I understood what she meant.
I felt a sense of sadness, but at the same time a sense of relief. I finally mustered up the courage to say "no" to my mother's unreasonable request.
I replied firmly, "Mom, what I said is true." We really don't have any extra money left. ”
There was a hint of disgust in my mother's eyes, and she shook her head, as if she had lost faith in me as a daughter. My younger brother and daughter-in-law ignored me, and their attitude was obviously much colder, and they all circled around the eldest sister, as if looking for the next object to ask for. As for me, I left after lunch, and there was no one to keep me.
When I got home, I told my son and daughter-in-law about it, and they praised me for doing the right thing, and on the other hand, they worried about my eldest sister, thinking that she didn't know how to hide her true situation, and that she was likely to be entangled by my mother and brother and daughter-in-law.
My son and daughter-in-law did not expect badly, the day before yesterday, the eldest sister suddenly came to my house, and as soon as she entered the door, her tears rolled down like beads with broken threads. She choked up and told me that she had been kicked out of the house by her son. I was shocked, and an indescribable feeling welled up in my heart.
I quickly helped her sit down, poured her a cup of hot water, and comforted her softly: "Sister, don't worry, speak slowly." ”
The eldest sister sobbed and told the story in fits and starts. It turned out that after lunch that day, my mother dragged my eldest sister to wipe her tears for two hours, and my younger brother and younger daughter-in-law were also crying about my little nephew's wife, and the atmosphere at home was extremely heavy.
The eldest sister relented, and under the begging of her family, she gave my mother all the 100,000 yuan in the mobile phone behind the back of her eldest brother-in-law, and promised to help with another order.
After listening to this, I had mixed feelings. I thought of what my daughter-in-law said to me, and she told me to learn to pretend to be poor so that my mother wouldn't beat us up again for the sake of her grandson. Now, I understand what she meant.
I shook my eldest sister's hand and said distressedly, "Eldest sister, why are you doing this? ”
The eldest sister was teary-eyed and choked up: "I don't want to, but they are my family, how can I bear to see them sad." ”
I sighed, not knowing what to say. I know the kindness and helplessness of the eldest sister, but is such a sacrifice really worth it?
The eldest sister continued to narrate that when she returned home, before she could ask her eldest brother-in-law for money, the eldest brother-in-law found out about it, he was furious, and the little nephew and his wife were also very unhappy, accusing the eldest sister of being a demon who helped her younger brother and drove the eldest sister out of the house, and the eldest brother-in-law also roared for a divorce, but that's it.
"Sanya, what do you think I should do?" The eldest sister choked up, tears flowing uncontrollably.
I caressed her back and comforted her, saying, "Sister, don't worry, we'll figure it out." ”
Just then, my phone rang and my mother's number was displayed on the screen. My heart tightened, knowing that this phone call would not be so simple. When the eldest sister saw the caller ID, she had a look of embarrassment on her face.
"Sanya, don't take it," the eldest sister whispered, "it must be for money." ”
I didn't hesitate and pressed the answer button. On the other end of the phone, my mother's voice carried a hint of urgency: "Sanya, is your eldest sister there? Why doesn't she answer the phone?"
"Mom, the eldest sister is here. I calmly replied, "She's in a bad mood right now, what's the matter with you?"
My mother didn't answer directly, but continued: "Does your eldest sister have any money there? ”
I took a deep breath and plucked up the courage to say, "Mom, eldest sister, she has done her best, we can't keep asking for it like this." ”
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while, and then my mother's disappointed voice came: "Sanya, are you going to turn your elbow out? Why have you all become so selfish?"
I replied firmly, "Mom, we're not being selfish, we're just protecting our family." The eldest sister also needs to have a life of her own. The little nephew marrying a daughter-in-law is a matter of the younger brother and daughter-in-law, we are not fucking, we can't care. ”
After saying that, I hung up the phone, but I don't know how to solve the matter of the eldest sister. After all, this 100,000 yuan is not a small amount, and it is absolutely impossible for my mother to pay it back, and whether the eldest brother-in-law and little nephew can forgive her has become an unknown.
Do you have any good advice for my eldest sister?
(The story material is provided by the people around the author, and the love is responsible for sorting it out.) If you'd like to share your story, please let us know. ）