"What about you, sister? Who are you giving this to?" Jian Shu turned the weeds in her hand into a grass ring, put it on her hand and admired it in the sun. She thought it was really beautiful and asked curiously while looking at it.

Seeing how sadly my elder sister was crying just now, the person who sent it must be no ordinary person, right? Her husband? It doesn't seem like that.

After hearing this, a trace of sadness flashed across the eldest sister's face and she fell silent.

Seeing this, Jianshu knew she had asked the wrong question, and had touched someone's sore spot again. She was unusually at a loss, "Sister, I'm sorry." She shouldn't have asked.

"You didn't say anything wrong, so why should you say sorry?" The eldest sister shook her head. She was the one who brought up this topic first, so how could she blame others?

After organizing her words, the elder sister smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, there's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm here to see my parents off. My parents' home is in Harbin, which is far from Beijing. Since I got married, I've only been back three times in the past ten years. The last time we met was five years ago."

This time, it was my youngest son's first birthday, and the old couple came to celebrate their grandson's birthday, so we met again. We hadn't seen each other for many years, and I wanted them to stay a few more days, but they were worried about their pigs and chickens and refused. So, just after their birthday yesterday, they were eager to go back today.

Jian Shu patted his elder sister's hand and said comfortingly, "Old people are like this, they love home. When they're away from home, they always worry about the chickens and ducks at home, and they don't like to stay overnight away from home. This time, you came all the way here for your grandson, and I'm sure you're thinking about home all the time."

Her words weren't exactly comforting, because her grandmother had been like that in her past life. Even though her family was well off, she still preferred to raise chickens and ducks, believing they were better raised home. If her uncle hadn't stopped her, she might have even wanted to raise pigs. Fortunately, their home was large, so raising chickens in a small area wasn't a big deal, so her aunt and uncle granted her wish.

Ever since she started raising chickens, the old lady refused to stay overnight wherever she went. She would always go and come back the same day, no matter what she was told, for fear that the chickens would be gone if she was away for a day. At that time, Jianshu's mother wanted to let the old lady stay at home for a few days and asked her to be filial to her, but she was unsuccessful and was very angry about this matter.

I can only say that sometimes when the old man gets stubborn, no one can do anything about him.

After hearing Jianshu's consolation, the elder sister felt a bitter taste in her mouth. It wasn't because of this. There were a whole family at home, including her brother, sister-in-law, younger brother and sister-in-law. There was no shortage of people to feed the chickens and pigs. Even if they had to earn work points, the old couple would not be short of them.

The reason for this is because I don't want to cause her trouble. She was born in the countryside, and in the early years of her life, she lived in hiding with her parents and brothers, fearing that she would die if she was not careful. At that time, her biggest wish was to no longer live such a precarious life.

After liberation, the family settled down and even had land. As long as they worked hard, they could support themselves. Her parents sent her and her brother to school, but by then they were already old and hadn't made much progress.

Her two older brothers didn't even finish elementary school before going to work in the fields with their parents. She had much better grades and made it all the way to junior high school. By then, she was almost 20, and the high tuition fees, coupled with the burden on her family, meant she wasn't willing to continue.

But her parents and two brothers were unwilling to let her go. They said that she had good grades and would definitely be able to get into a technical secondary school, and then she would be assigned a good job, so they asked her to continue studying.

Under their persuasion, she compromised and focused on studying hard, trying to get into a technical secondary school, getting a good job, and letting her family live a good life.

But when did everything change? The eldest sister was a little dazed for a moment. She had been avoiding the past, as if not thinking about it could make it disappear.

If she hadn't run into the mountains to cool off and study that afternoon because the weather was too hot, would she never have met that person?

If she hadn't met that man, would her life have remained as peaceful as before? Would she not have lost her reputation and left home with him?

If she hadn't gone far away with him, would she have been able to get into a good technical secondary school, get a good job, and find a suitable partner as she expected?

If she could find a suitable partner, wouldn't her parents and family no longer have to worry about causing trouble for her and not stay for long? Would she be able to invite her parents home to stay every now and then, just like her sister?

It's not like now, where I have no control over anything and can only rely on men's guilt, pity, and that ridiculous love. Oh, how funny.

The eldest sister laughed at herself. What else did she have left now besides that ridiculous love? Her closest relatives, parents, brothers and sisters, were thousands of miles away; she couldn't see them even if she wanted to. Her children, while close to her, were just as close to their father and grandparents. Her so-called friends weren't drawn to her personally; they were just casual acquaintances, just chatting to pass the time in their spare time.

It can be said that in the huge city of Beijing, she had no one with whom she could talk intimately, so when she met Jianshu, a stranger, she couldn't help but start a conversation. There were some things she had been holding back for too long.

"Yes, old people are all homesick. A nest of gold or silver is not as good as a home in thatched house. But my home is thousands of miles away, and I can't go back even if I want to." The eldest sister spoke lightly, her eyes blurred, as if she was thinking of the small village thousands of miles away, and those poor but peaceful days.

Even though she had lived a wealthy life these years and had never been short of money, she always felt empty inside. She was not as satisfied as when the family wolfed down sweet potatoes with porridge with only a few grains of rice.

Seeing that the elder sister looked a little absent-minded, Jianshu hurriedly held her hand. The road was bumpy and there were a lot of gravel. She must not trip. If she fell, the pain would be minor. If she scratched her face, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Because they were chatting and walking slowly, they had already fallen to the back of the group, and the sister who had been there before was already some distance away from them. So they didn't have to worry about others hearing what they said.

Jian Shu held her elder sister's hand and said, "There's no way I can go back. Harbin is only a day or two's train ride away from Beijing. If I really want to go back, I can ask for leave from my work. It's just a matter of money, which is nothing for you, elder sister."