"Sister, Mom has passed away now, and Dad passed away a couple of years ago."

This should have been the responsibility of the son, but my younger brother is unable to take care of them due to his work.

For the past ten years or so, you've been taking care of our parents all by yourself. Not only have I failed to fulfill my filial duties, but I haven't even offered a helping hand. It's my fault for being useless.

"I've let them down, and I've also let my sister down. This is the 50,000 yuan that's left after Dad and Mom passed away. I'm too ashamed to take it; you should keep it."

"Young man, what nonsense are you talking about? Being filial to parents and taking care of them until their death is a matter of course for children."

Besides, my sister has no burdens and has time to take care of our parents, so how can you say that she's not good enough?

Outsiders may not know your situation, but do you think I, as your older sister, don't know?

You're busy with work and have kids at home. Even putting aside work, the kids alone are enough to keep you both busy.

Besides, in our rural area, after the parents pass away, the family business is inherited by the son. Sister Qian can't accept this money.

Otherwise, if the uncles and cousins ​​in the village find out, they'll come over and talk to you, and you know they're not like they were a decade or two ago. They value sons more now, since there are fewer boys in every family in the village these days.

In their old-fashioned thinking, sons are still more important.

"Sister, you can't say that. This money was decided by my husband and me. We can't just leave it to others. Otherwise, we won't feel at ease!"

You've taken care of your parents for over ten years by yourself. Even if you don't praise them, you've certainly worked hard. My husband and I aren't the kind of people who don't know what's good for us.

Just take it. You've been taking care of them all these years, especially in the last four or five years, when our parents have both become seriously ill.

Because of work and taking care of our children, we can't take care of our elderly parents. You've been doing it all by yourself. If you don't take this money, won't the villagers gossip about my husband and me behind our backs?

"Since that's the case, then I'll take the money for now. I won't argue with you anymore. This money will be left to the children from now on."

It just so happens that you and your husband, along with the children, are all here today.

I also want to say something. As you all know, I'm getting on in years, and I have no children. Although my health is still pretty good, I don't need to hire a caregiver or go to a nursing home right now.

My sister will stay in our grandfather's old house for now. After she passes away, you can decide how to divide the property under her name.

My sister doesn't have much; she just saved up some money a few years ago, not much, but her two children don't mind that their aunt has little money.

“Auntie, what are you saying? My brother and I won’t take your money. You can keep it for yourself. I’m graduating from university soon, and I’ll be able to earn money after I start working. I don’t need your money.”

"That's right, Auntie. You can keep your money for yourself. Buy whatever you want to eat, go wherever you want to go. I don't want your money."

"You two! You're still the same as when you were little. Your aunt hasn't finished speaking yet, so stay put and listen."

"oh!"

"Originally, our grandfather's old house was also yours. But after my sister got divorced, you know our parents' temper, especially as they get older. There are some things you can't reason with them. In the end, we had no choice but to come back and rebuild our grandfather's house."

My sister said at the time that we were only staying in this house temporarily.

As for the day when my sister needs someone to take care of her, she won't need the children. She still has some money, so she'll go live in the nursing home in town.

"Sis, didn't we agree that we'd live together after my younger brother retires in a couple of years? He'll take care of you then."

"Alright, look at how old the kids are. By the time you retire, they'll be grandparents. I can still take care of them. You just need to take good care of the kids. That's better than anything else."

After you retire, you can help take care of your children's grandchildren!

"I don't need you here. And when I get old, just remember to bury me next to our parents. You don't need to worry about anything else."

"How can you do that, sister? I've already talked to the children and their father, and we'll all be living together."

How could you go to a nursing home?

Besides, everyone knows what the situation is like in nursing homes these days, especially since there are nursing homes all over this town. No way, no matter what my older sister says, it won't work."

"Yes, Auntie, we saw it on the news..."

"Alright, you all don't need to persuade me anymore. I'm not incapable of taking care of myself now. As for the future, we'll talk about it later!"

Nobody knows what the future holds! Why worry about it now? Let's just live in the present!

Also, everyone's been exhausted these past few days, so please go back to your rooms and rest. You all took leave to come back, and you have to rush back to work early tomorrow morning!

“Alright, big sister, I’ll also go and talk to my cousins ​​at home and ask them to look after you. They can lend a hand if anything happens, and they can also let me know if anything goes wrong,” said Li Tao, the younger brother, before heading out again.

"Alright, you guys get some rest, I'm going back too," he said, then got up and left.

It's only a three- to five-minute walk from my parents' house to my own place. It's just a few turns away; my place isn't very big.

As soon as you arrive at your door, you'll see a small house. After opening the gate and entering the yard, you'll find the house is not large, less than 150 square meters, with three main rooms and two side rooms on the east side.

Directly opposite is the main room, which is what people usually call the living room. Inside, there is a sofa, a TV cabinet, a dining table, several chairs, a four-door refrigerator, and a cupboard.

The bedroom is on the west side, with a bed that is 1.5 meters wide and 2 meters long, a bedside table, a desk, and two wardrobes.

The east wing is a bathroom that was originally the kitchen.

It's a small courtyard of about 100 square meters. Near the southwest corner of the wall is the toilet, and next to the toilet is a chicken coop with a few geese.

Unlike other farming families, he didn't pave the open space in the yard with cement. Instead, he paved a path with pebbles, and planted vegetables and other vegetables in the rest of the yard.

As mentioned earlier, this courtyard was built after my divorce. I only came back to live here when my parents got old and needed someone to take care of them.

The reason was that my parents were over seventy years old at that time. They had only raised two children. Seeing that my parents were getting old and my younger brother had a family to support, with his children still in school and money needed to be spent, they couldn't do without him as the pillar of the family.

So in the end, I chose to come back myself. No matter what, I have the obligation and responsibility to take care of my parents until the end of their lives.

I was almost thirty when I got married. After several years of marriage, we had no choice but to get a divorce because we didn't have any children.

But now that I think about it, I'm glad I didn't have any pressure, so I can come back and take care of my parents with peace of mind.

Otherwise, if you also have children, taking care of your parents would be a big problem.

Because I didn't want to listen to my parents nagging me all the time about finding someone else, I upgraded this house.

The yard and land still belong to my grandfather. It looks a bit small now, but it's fine for me to live on. I heard before that the yard wasn't small at all, but my great-grandmother decided to allocate it to the neighbor's uncle to build a house and get married.

Because I was exhausted from crying for the deceased for several days in a row, I fell asleep as soon as I got home and lay down on the bed.

I woke up suddenly the next day, and as soon as I realized it was early, I quickly got up to cook dinner.

It wasn't until all the food was prepared that I suddenly remembered that I no longer needed to bring meals to my mother.

I don't know why, but I just sat there and tears started falling. Suddenly, I felt like I would never have parents again, like I had become an orphan, and that I would never be able to talk to my parents about anything that happened to me.

I cried for a long time when I heard a knock at the door. I quickly wiped away my tears, got up and went out, only to remember that my younger brother and his family had to go back to the city for work early this morning.

"They're here, they're here!"

"Hey sis, what are you doing? You've been calling me for ages!"

"It's nothing, I was cooking and didn't hear you. Are you heading back now?"

"Yes, the kids are all in a hurry to get to work."

"Okay, go back now! Be careful on the road, drive slowly, and call me when you get there."

"Sis, your parents are gone, don't be too sad, take care of yourself."

"I know, don't worry about me, go back now!"

"Then we'll be going now, sister. Remember to call me if you need anything."

"I know, go back, go back. I'll take good care of myself. Don't worry about things at home. I'll come over to check on you when I have time and clean the house. Let me know in advance when you're coming back, and I'll take out the bedding and other things to air them out."

"Okay, then go back and rest, sis! You haven't had a good rest these past few days."

"Okay, you guys get in the car now."

"Okay, we'll be going then."

"Gone"

"Auntie! You should go back now, we're leaving."

"Let's go, let's go."

Watching them drive away until the car was out of sight, I turned back into the house. Looking at the food, I had no appetite, so I went back to my bedroom and lay down.

After lying down, I couldn't fall asleep. Thinking about all the little things I did with my parents, tears involuntarily streamed down my face.

Suddenly remembering the things her mother had left for her before she left, she quickly got up, went to the wardrobe, opened it, and took the clothes aside.

Inside was a small, locked box. When opened, there wasn't much else inside, just a few bank cards, senior citizen social security cards, and some very ordinary jewelry.

Among these pieces of jewelry is a small piece of jade, though it can't really be considered jade. I bought it for my mother with the first money I earned after graduating from junior college and starting work.

There are also some gold and silver bracelets, which were gradually bought for my mother.

I looked at these bracelets over and over. The silver bracelet has turned a bit black. I'll take it to the shop to get it cleaned when I have time. As for the small jade piece, I'll change the cord and keep it with me. After all, it still has a lot of meaning.

Gather everything else together and put it in the box, then put it in the wardrobe and close the wardrobe door.

I went to my desk, found a black rope, added a few beads to embellish it, and wove it a little so I could wear it later.

It was quickly braided, and I found the scissors to cut off the excess part of the tied rope.

Then I heard a knocking sound at the door.

With a hiss, I saw the scissors pierce my finger, and blood immediately flowed out, running down the rope and onto the jade. But the knocking at the door was urgent, so I didn't have time to bandage the wound. I got up and walked away, calling out as I went:

"Who is it? Stop knocking, I'm coming right now, just wait a moment."