Gong’s mother knew their family was large, and the hospital was probably too noisy, so she nodded and let Mingxia lead them away.
Once they stepped out of the inpatient building, the eldest brother, who looked honest and kind-hearted, spoke up first.
"Little sister, didn’t you co back just yesterday? Why did you rent a house?"
After Mingxia explained, they couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.
"Three hundred yuan a month? That’s a robbery! And you still rented it?"
The sister-in-law was slightly overweight, and her smile appeared friendly and amiable, but when she spoke about spending three hundred yuan on renting such a house, she was the most agitated. Her voice even rose several pitches, leading Mingxia to think to herself, I’m spending my own money, not yours, so what’s there to be so excited about?
In the subsequent conversation, Mingxia could tell that this family, despite not being close-knit, each had their own concerns.
Perhaps because they were scared of being poor, Mr. Gong had already borrowed twenty thousand yuan for his illness. Each of these households had two children to feed and dical bills for their father to pay. With the money they earn from working the fields, how could it ever be enough?
They thought about going out to work, but couldn’t bear to leave ho, nor could they feel at ease about their hos. If they all went out to work, what would happen to the children? If they brought the children along, they wouldn’t be able to cope financially, and in ti, everyone would be left to clear the snow from their own doorsteps.
Mingxia’s departure years ago didn’t make much of an impact on the family. Even her two little sisters later found partners, had children, and didn’t seem to have a worse life than Mingxia, at least emotionally speaking. The money she’d sent over the years had actually indirectly subsidized her nieces and nephews through the grandparents. Although these grandchildren didn’t take much advantage, they rarely brought anything to their mother’s house. Anyway, the elderly couple’s attitude towards Mingxia had already changed in the past few years.
"Sister, what do you do in H province? You seem to be doing quite well, right?"
"Sister, you can find a civil servant while selling lunch boxes, huh? Your luck isn’t bad. Do you think the two of us could also go there?"
"Yeah, sister, you’re doing well now, can’t you help us out a bit? Look at the life we’re leading... Your big brother helped you a lot back in the day; you can’t be ungrateful now!"
"Little sister, can you tell us in detail how you’ve been getting by these years? How is Xiao Xiao doing? Why didn’t you bring the children with you this ti?"
...
Mingxia couldn’t listen anymore, "Big brother and sister-in-law, little sisters, brothers-in-law, and little brother, I didn’t invite you all here to talk about these things. I wanted to ask what plans you might have for our parents in the future?"
The three sisters-in-law looked at her at the sa ti, "Plans? What kind of plans?"
"I heard from mom that the old couple is still living in that rundown house. Have you all moved out and built your own hos?"
The four brothers knew they couldn’t keep this a secret and nodded, "Yes, that’s right, but if we have sothing good to eat, we still take so to the old folks."
Mingxia chuckled, "With dad’s current situation, do you still plan to let them fend for themselves?"
"If they don’t feel like cooking, we brothers can take turns looking after them. Now that we’ve talked about it today, let’s all voice our opinions and think of a more secure solution!"
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