"Lijuan! Have you ever thought that this outburst is the culmination of all the pressure from the past? It's like a volcano. It's good that it erupted; the longer it's bottled up, the higher the flames rise. Luckily, no one died this time, but who knows what will happen next. Stop crying, think about the future. What are you planning to do?"
"There's nothing I can do, I'll just wait it out. As long as his father is alive, his mother won't leave, and I can't face them either."
"We're all family. Even teeth and tongue fight. Let's just pretend nothing happened and go home!"
"How can I reply? Ya Ping hasn't called me once since the accident. He probably hates me to death. Why should I go looking for trouble?"
"Then why don't you call him?"
"He slapped my left cheek, and I offered him my right cheek?"
"To be honest, Lijuan, from my outsider's perspective, I think that while you and Yaping's mother have acted normally this time since Yaping's father got sick, Yaping himself has been a bit irrational. You should have told his father the truth and let him understand the family's difficulties. I always feel that you chose the wrong hospital this time. The hospital my mother went to when she was sick only cost a little over 20,000 yuan a year. She didn't stay in the hospital the whole time; she spent most of her time at home cooperating with treatment, just taking traditional Chinese medicine and chemotherapy, and the effect was very good! Expensive doesn't necessarily mean good, and it also depends on your financial capacity. Yaping's statement about sparing no expense is the key to this dispute. We need to be rational when dealing with patients. If they can be treated, of course we should treat them. But if they can't be treated, throwing money into them feels as unreliable as injecting capital into a loss-making company. Don't take offense, I'm just being blunt. You can't let emotions cloud your judgment in these matters, otherwise, the end result will be back to square one—money spent, and the person gone."
“I told him he was useless, but he was struggling with his own feelings, after all, he was his father.”
"Sigh! In this life, you can't get around the word 'love.' I've suffered like you, and I've walked the same path, Lijuan. Let me share some advice from my experience: Never stand against your husband's family, or you'll lose him. You need to understand your own position. A wife is an outsider. If you want to integrate into a family that has been established for decades, you have no choice but to endure. Either give up this man, or endure. There is no third way."
"Why do I have to endure it, instead of them having to endure it?"
"You can't tolerate them unless you don't care about this man. If this man is someone you cherish, you have to change yourself to adapt to that situation. Their pattern has already formed, and you've broken the balance. Only by treating them with courtesy and showing sincerity in entering this family can you have a chance to change things later. You must already know about my situation. Before Lao Wu's accident, I even considered divorce. I was disgusted by this family. This man's subservience and attempts to please both sides, like double-sided tape, trying to force two different things together on his own, seemed ridiculous to me! I could never be a woman like my mother-in-law. But then, Lao Wu had his accident. As soon as he had it, I understood that family is important. I can't harm him because of my stubbornness, and even more importantly, there are the children. This time it was him who had the accident, but next time it could be the children. These two people are now my whole life, and for their sake, I've decided to endure it."
"That must be so uncomfortable."
“I thought so too at the time. People have to experience some setbacks. Setbacks reveal true character. I really extended a helping hand, and my mother-in-law didn’t seem so difficult to deal with. If you interpret many things from an adversarial perspective, you will definitely think the other person’s thoughts are incredibly filthy. But if you treat this person as a friend, or even interpret it as a normal person, it’s not hard to understand. I hope you don’t follow my old path and regret it only after something serious happens. Think about it now.”
The first thing Yaping's mother said when she woke up in the hospital was, "I'm better now, I don't want to stay in the hospital." No matter how much Yaping tried to pull her, she insisted on getting out of bed and removing the IV. But once she got out of bed, she was so dizzy that she couldn't stand it anymore and had to lie back down.
Yaping stood by, unable to say anything except "I'm sorry." After a whole day of silence, Yaping's mother said to him, "Tell your sister to sell the house and bring the money over! Get your father discharged from the hospital, try another hospital, and if it doesn't work out, go back home." Then she didn't say another word.
Four days later, Yaping's mother sat by Yaping's father's hospital bed. "I heard you fell ill from exhaustion?" Yaping's father touched Yaping's mother's hand, his voice filled with pity.
"It's nothing." Yaping's mother gave a bitter smile, tears streaming down her face.
Yaping's father quickly asked, "What's wrong? Has my condition changed?"
Yaping's mother gently touched Yaping's father's hand to her cheek, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Old man, if you were to pass away, I would have no family left."
"What are you saying! Aren't Guan Hua and Ya Ping family?"
"You can't rely on your children, especially after they get married. They'll be your spouse for life! The elderly are truly devoted to their children, they'd give their hearts and souls for them. But if the children are even half as devoted to their parents, that's already a good thing! It's all about fate. Every family is the same."
"Did Lijuan upset you?" Yaping's father asked with concern.
Yaping's mother only shed tears and didn't say a word.
“Oh, Yaping! You’re so foolish! How could you have chosen such a wife? We’ll both lose our lives to her sooner or later! Hu Lijuan, that name sounds so unlucky, she’s a real vixen! Don’t be sad, once I’m better, I’ll take you back home and never come back.”
Yaping's mother hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yaping and I have discussed it. We're thinking of trying a different hospital for you, seeing more doctors, and seeing if there are any better options."
"No need, it's fine here. Dr. Tan told me yesterday that my condition is under control as he expected, and after one more course of treatment, I'll enter the recovery period. You have to trust the doctor and not rush into treatment from unqualified sources."
“Guanhua’s dad, this place is nice, but the fees are just too high. We’ve already sold our house back home, and we can’t afford the third installment. Yaping and his wife even fought over it. You see…”
Yaping's father remained silent for at least 20 minutes before finally acknowledging the situation: "Forget it! Stop treatment, go back! Nobody can escape this day, it's just a matter of time."
Yaping's father returned home, only to find the house deserted and empty; Lijuan was nowhere to be seen. Yaping, filled with guilt, couldn't bring himself to look his father in the eye. When the three of them were together, they remained silent about Lijuan, as if she had never been part of their family.
Sister Yaping took the 55,000 yuan from selling the house and rushed to Shanghai. Everyone seemed to have already accepted the reality that her father was waiting to die.
More than half a month passed. One day, while chatting with his family, Yaping's father said, "In my life, I have sons and daughters, both of whom are quite successful. I've even seen my grandson, so I have no regrets. The only thing I feel is missing is a grandson! If I could live to see my grandson born, I could close my eyes in peace." As he finished speaking, his eyes were filled with longing.
Yaping, her sister, and their mother looked at each other.
That evening, Yaping went into the kitchen and said to his busy mother, "Mom, I'm heartbroken. I'm not a dutiful son. I watched Dad pass away without being able to do anything. After hearing what Dad said today, I'm thinking of bringing Lijuan back. No matter what kind of person Lijuan is, I want to have a child while Dad is still here, to fulfill his wish. What do you think..."
"So you've decided to ask me what?"
“I can’t go pick her up if you don’t agree. I know you hate her.”
“I don’t hate her. She’s your wife, and as long as you’re happy, I don’t care. As for me, once my son is grown up, I’ll just give him away. I’ve already come to that conclusion. What your dad said is your dad’s opinion. The key is your own choice. If you want to continue living with her, I have no objection.”
"I still want a child; it's my last gift to my dad. There's nothing else I can do; I'm truly incompetent."
“A person’s fate is predetermined in their past life. Whether it’s life and death, or marriage, it’s all arranged by God. If you think about it this way, there’s nothing to be upset about.” After saying this, Yaping’s mother turned around and continued talking to Guanhua. “You’re going back tomorrow? Take your own money back! Your father doesn’t need to be taken care of anymore. It wasn’t easy for you to scrape together 10,000 yuan. There are still children at home; we can’t be unprepared. We old folks are useless now; living is just a burden. It’s better to die sooner rather than later.”
Yaping left work early the next day to pick up Lijuan. They hadn't seen each other for almost a month, and both looked haggard. "Mom sold the house, and Dad's out of the hospital. He's not getting treatment anymore. Mom wants me to pay you back this 30,000 yuan," Yaping said, handing Lijuan the wrapped-up banknotes. Lijuan pushed the money back, saying, "Did you pay back the money you borrowed from work?"
"No. Not enough. The houses were sold in a hurry, and only a little over 50,000 were sold."
"Then you should return this money to the company first."
"The remaining amount isn't enough to pay you back."
"I don't know where you got the money for your mother's hospitalization, but take out 10,000 yuan from it to cover this hole! Consider it my apology. It all started because of me."
"Juan, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hit you, I was so angry."
“Everyone has gone crazy. I’ve been thinking these past few days that people under high pressure are bound to lose control; all it takes is a fuse.”
"Apologizing to my mom is much better than giving her ten thousand yuan. We're still family."
"Wrong. Giving your mom ten thousand yuan is much better than verbally apologizing to her."
"Why do you always look at my mother like that? She has suffered all her life and has never enjoyed any happiness. You wouldn't understand her."
“She wouldn’t understand me anyway; we’re from two different generations. Take the remaining 15,000 yuan to Dr. Song at the cancer hospital,” Lijuan said, taking out a piece of paper with a phone number and address from her bag. “This was given to me by Sister Cai. She said Dr. Song is very good; he’s very effective at treating cancer with a combination of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, and many late-stage patients go to him.”
“We’ve already told Dad we don’t want to get treatment anymore, but now we’re going to get it again. What if we run out of money halfway through the treatment? Wouldn’t that be an even bigger blow?”