(1)
As the setting sun fades away, the weather outside in the waxing moon becomes colder. Ximen Zhu, who is nearly 70 years old, walks home in a hurry after buying New Year's goods.
Opening the door to the house, a warmth melted all over the body, the heating reform in the past few years is really effective.
Seeing the empty house, he remembered his wife, who passed away a year ago, and felt no warmth at all, as if the temperature inside was even lower than outside.
With New Year's Eve coming up in a week, Ximen Zhu was ready to clean the house and do the laundry, work that needed to be prepared in advance. Because in previous years, two people shared the household chores, now that he was working alone, he naturally had to be less efficient than in previous years.
After putting down the new year's goods, looking at this empty house of nearly 100 square meters, inside and outside the need for their own hands over again, the former vice president of the company retired Ximen Zhu, can not help but some heartache.
Morning and evening this is their own work, said dry. He washed three tops and two pants in one breath, feeling a little tired, after all, is the age of ah!
After resting for a while, he thought: while resting there is time, why not just follow the past habits, write a diary.
Just as Ximen Zhu was concentrating on writing his diary, there was a knock on the door. Opening the door, the visitor was his son Xiaowei.
Small Wei, who is in his 40s, suddenly lowered his voice after learning about his dad's purchase of New Year's goods, and said, "Dad, in the last two days, my inner brother's children will come to my house and go out of town right after New Year's. I want to give these two children a New Year's gift, so I can give them some money. I want to give these two children New Year's money, but I don't have cash in hand, you first get me a thousand dollars, after the New Year I will pay you back."
Ximen Zhu understood in his heart: this is gnawing on the old! In the past, Xiaowei and Daxia, husband and wife, often asked him for money, sometimes saying that they were paying tuition fees for their children and buying school uniforms; other times they said that the money for their own clothes didn't come together. Even though his own salary after retirement is slightly lower than the sum of Xiaowei and his wife's salaries, Ximen Zhu hesitated for a moment, then took out the cash and counted it one by one.
During this period, Xiaowei took a look at the unfinished diary lying on the table, and after seeing the title, he felt curious and wanted to continue reading, but was worried about an embarrassing situation if he was found by his father, so he photographed the diary with his cell phone.
While looking at his cell phone, Xiaowei could not help but shed tears.
Ximen Zhu turned around with the 1000 dollars and was about to give it to Xiaowei. Suddenly he realized that Xiaowei was wiping his tears, he couldn't help but be shocked and hurriedly asked, "Xiaowei, what's wrong with you, did you have a conflict with Daxia?"
"No, nothing, just ......"
"Tell the truth, what's going on? Where did you get the tears?"
"It's cold outside, my eyes have been too tired lately, probably from looking at my cell phone too much. It's okay, it'll be fine after a few days of recovery."
"Go back and talk to Daxia with as little argument as possible, she's rather impatient."
"Dad, don't worry, no problem."
In fact Xiaowei's tears came from Ximen Zhu's diary.
The cell phone displayed this image:
"To My Wife in Heaven"
Snowflakes drifting in the waxing moon,
Thinking of a virtuous wife can't even dream.
The cowherd and the weaver have reunion days,
and the magpies come to build bridges.
Unless we go to the underworld,
we may not be able to see each other.
Hearts are as high as the sky,
Lives are thinner than paper,
The road to the Yellow Springs is governed by fate.
Husband and wife are like birds of a feather,
gathered in one nest.
The end is near,
and each goes his own way.
Why did you escape?
The year's festivities are good,
and the evening of the 30th,
is a sad one for me!
Take a look at others and see what we are up to,
This year is not like the first.
It's a good idea to keep your mind at ease,
The moon has its ups and downs,
and people have their ups and downs.
It's a good idea to keep your mind at ease.
It's a good idea to keep your mind at ease.
There is no doubt that the world is in a state of flux,
not just us.
South of the sky, north and south,
South-east of the earth,
How can they all be complete?
On the way home, Xiaowei thought to himself, "In the past, I gave in to Daxia in many things, but this time she must listen to me.
(2)
Xiaowei returned home and sulked, he lay on the bed, crossed his arms under his head, and looked straight up at the canopy.
Daxia felt strange, Xiaowei usually as long as there is free time must be looking at the phone, today this is what happened? Could it be that his father did not give him money!
Daxia, who was cleaning the house, stopped her work and came to Xiaowei, "Xiaowei, why are you dumbfounded, did you borrow money?" Xiaowei did not answer, took out the 1000 yuan and waved it in front of Daxia.
"You're talking, like your father, you love to think about everything, but you don't talk fast at all. What's the matter? Speak up!"
"We used to go to dad's place for New Year's Eve, but this year he's the only one left at dad's place, so I want to bring him over for New Year's Eve." Daxia's eyes rolled around and she bared her teeth and laughed, "Our two families are so close, it's just a ten-minute walk or so, I don't need you to say that, I'll definitely invite Gong Gong over for the New Year! I thought it was something."
"I have another thing I want to say to you, don't be in a hurry to grab the words, don't be in a hurry to answer, let's discuss it seriously."
"Why are you so polite today, what is so mysterious? You say it out to hear."
"Mom left us more than a year ago, dad alone whether it is dressing and eating or cleaning, all need to be his one person face to face, he will soon be 70 years old, it is not easy to live alone, I want to ......"
"Think what? You are going to get him to our home to live together is not it? You said we both work, children go to school, so many years we have been accustomed to, I feel that he lives in inconvenient. Besides, even if I agree, can he agree?"
"I don't mean that, I also thought that it's inconvenient for these grandchildren to live together. But we can't let him live alone, that would be too lonely, without even someone to talk to."
Daxia's eyes instantly glared round, and her voice rose 20 decibels, "What do you mean, you're looking for a companion for your father, aren't you? Xiaowei, I'm not talking about you, the child is in high school, in two years will go to college, maybe study and read a doctorate, the future to get married, buy a house, find a job, which link does not need money?
Even if your father finds a partner, one day she will give away half of the family's assets, including the house, so what will the kids do when they get married? Do you have that kind of money?
The average price of a 100-square-foot house in a first-tier city is around eight million dollars, can you afford to buy a house with our small salaries? You've got a mind of your own!"
"Then what? Dad will have to live alone and no one will take care of him from now on?"
"How can there be no one to take care of him? If he can move around, he can live independently, and when he gets old and can't move, I'll find him a babysitter, and he'll get a good paycheck anyway, so there's nothing to worry about!"
Small Wei still wanted to distinguish, Daxia shouted, "Shut up, you do not go down, I do not want to grind with you."
In the blink of an eye the Spring Festival arrived, Ximen Zhu came to Xiaowei's house, and he was so happy to see his fat grandson. Taking advantage of this happy energy, he immediately took out 10,000 yuan in cash and gave it to his grandson as new year's money.
The crow's feet at the corners of Daxia's eyes suddenly stretched out, "Oops, Dad, you gave him so much money ah, don't be like this in the future, no matter whether it's New Year's Eve or for his birthday, you less mean on it!"
The New Year's Eve dinner was very sumptuous, and Daxia kept pouring wine and food for her father-in-law, saying, "Dad, you should eat more, this is a reunion dinner! Even if you get drunk today, you won't be drunk."
This is the first time in his life that he has gotten drunk. This Ximen Zhu did not get drunk on wine, but on his heart.
These two days of New Year's Eve, Ximen Zhu was in a good mood and praised his son and daughter-in-law for their filial piety.
The next day, just when Ximen Zhu was ready to go home, Daxia called him to stop, "Dad, our neighborhood Xiaoyan his mother in her 60s after the reorganization of the family, less than a year on the lawsuit for divorce, the results of her share of half of the family property; the old family's Aunt Li also remarried, but less than two years after the marriage, due to serious illness, the other side can only be at the mercy of the wait for her, although the other side is very regrettable, but there is no way out of it. the other party regretted it, but there was nothing they could do, they had already registered."
"Daxia, what do you mean by that?"
"Dad, did you really not understand? Then go ask Xiaowei."
Xiaowei had long since pressed on, "Daxia, let me tell you, my dad's current situation is a shadow of your parents' future."
Daxia's eyes glared and she was just about to snap when Ximen Zhu snapped, "Xiaowei, shut up! Just like you guys, I'll stay away from you in the future. At the very least, I'll land up with a clean ear, and while other people's way of avoiding controversy is to leave their homes, I'm going to choose to leave my home!"
(iii)
The most ruthless thing in the world is not time, the most precious thing is not money, but emotion!
Xiaowei and Daxia both thought that Ximen Zhu was speaking in anger, and they both prepared to go back in a couple of days to explain to their dad. Surprisingly, they miscalculated this time.
When Ximen Zhu returned home, he could not calm down for a long time. He remembered his departed wife, the endless quarrels between husband and wife of Xiaowei and Daxia, and suddenly felt that the future was bleak. So he lifted his pen again and began to write in his diary.
The most bitter thing on earth is to be separated from the group,
Enchanting couples are very abrasive.
There is a desire to be among the lights,
To disperse my heart,
And then think of borrowing people's clothes can not cover the body for a long time,
Ears and eyes for a moment new.
A loving couple is like a pair of shoes, as soon as one of them breaks down, the other instantly becomes worthless. But the shoe wears out every day, so how can it not break?
For thousands of years, people's traditional consciousness is to raise children to prevent old age, accumulate grain to prevent hunger. Now it seems that raising children can both prevent and nibble on old age, but there is a saying that is absolutely true, that is: old age is difficult!
Ximen Zhu thought about how to walk the road of his old age, and later can walk decently and live with dignity? He summarized several ways of old age.
One, home care. Some elderly people are under the same roof with their children, but because of the generation gap, most of them are not comfortable with each other and are often at odds with each other.
Second, living alone and hiring a nanny to take care of them. This method is practical and feasible, but the expenses are relatively large, because the price of hiring laborers nowadays has risen quite a bit.
Three, the old age of the group. This is to find a few like-minded relatives, friends or classmates to live together and help each other. There is a prerequisite for this though, everyone must be patient.
But many examples have proved that: in the first three months or so, we can get along very well, with the deepening of the degree of contact, the contradiction will become more and more obvious, and finally are not happy.
Four, go to the nursing home. For the elderly with children, go to the nursing home, which is controversial in the civil society. Individuals believe that the elderly with children need to age in place, which is in line with our traditional culture. There is also a part of the elderly initiative to ask to go to the nursing home, they believe that this is to open a new model of life old age.
After meticulous market research, Simon Zhu chose a large nursing home near the suburbs. Here the air is fresh, affordable, especially in terms of service, has a good reputation. Even more attractive is that this nursing home can be a trial stay of seven days.
Ximen Zhu examined some, immediately decided to try to live a week. The rooms here are divided into single and double rooms, he chose a single room.
After checking in, he realized that in addition to a simple breakfast, the rest of the two meals are four dishes and one soup. The whole courtyard is as big as six soccer fields, and the decoration conditions of each room are comparable to those of hotels.
There is a group of elderly people close to the same age who play poker, chess, mahjong, basketball, singing and dancing every day, while some are practicing their brushwork. The whole compound has a rich and colorful cultural life, and with more people of the same age *** speaking the same language, it's easier for them to communicate.
Ximen Zhu couldn't help but be secretly happy: this seven-day trial stay was a wise choice.
Besides men, there are also many women staying in the nursing home. They dance twice a day, morning and evening, and often play the piano and sing. The square dance leader is a 60-year-old woman who can sing and dance well and treats her fellow dancers not only with enthusiasm but also with patience.
Ximen Zhu side to understand: she is a music teacher retired, the name is Dongfang Na.
The news of Ximen Zhu's stay in the nursing home spread, and the news soon reached Daxia's ears.
Daxia faced Xiaowei without a word, and a rare gravity appeared on her face.
(IV)
After a week of trial stay, Ximen Zhu was ready to set up camp in the nursing home. When he returned home, he immediately began packing his bag, and it took him several hours off and on to categorize his seasonal clothes. After packing, he called his son Xiaowei to tell him about his plans to retire to a nursing home.
Xiaowei and Daxia rushed to Ximen Zhu's home at the first opportunity. Daxia, uncharacteristically, said to Ximen Zhu in a consultative tone: "Dad, you'd better live on your own for now, and when you're too old to move around physically, Xiaowei and I will definitely take you to a nursing home.
You have a son, now go to the nursing home to retire, I'm afraid it will let others gossip, don't you think so?"
Ximen Zhu's mind was made up, said, "I'm all alone at home, I don't even have anyone to talk to, and it's not very convenient to live in your home. Going to a nursing home there are people of the same age, **** the same topic is more. Besides, if I sublet the house, the rent and the original cost of living together, the money is still higher than the fees charged by the nursing home, and I don't have to cook for myself, which is equivalent to saving money. Overall, it's more cost-effective to go to a nursing home, and I'm ready to live for six months first."
Once Daxia heard that her father-in-law was determined to do this, she could only say, "Then let's do it this way, you'll go and live there for a while to try it out, and if you don't think it's suitable, Xiaowei and I will go and fetch you back right away."
In the blink of an eye half a year has passed, Ximen Zhu has long been integrated into the life of the nursing home. He has a wide range of hobbies: playing mahjong, chess and square dancing. When Xiaowei asked him about his follow-up plans, he replied without thinking, "I've found a home here, it's quite good."
Both in singing and dancing, Ximen Zhu has made great progress, thanks to Dongfang Na, the nursing home's literary leader.
In the process of many contacts between the two, Dongfang Na is very envious of Ximen Zhu's excellent writing, and Ximen Zhu is also very optimistic about Dongfang Na's talent, and the two appreciate each other.
Particularly Ximen Zhu, when he learned that Dongfang Na is due to the mother-in-law-daughter-in-law relationship has always been the reason for the old age here, his heart can not help but produce a subtle change.
Since then, their interactions have not only been limited to singing, dancing and writing, but also to talking about their past experiences and their visions for the future.
The annual recreational competitions have begun, and the nursing home hosts a variety of events, including poker tournaments, chess tournaments, mahjong tournaments ...... and, more appealingly, singing competitions.
This is in the courtyard of the temporary construction of a simple stage, the height of the stage is only one meter up and down, surrounded by a circle with a thin rope as a demarcation line, to participate in the game of many players.
Singing or not, 3,600 sticks! Drums and gongs, in the sound and music came in full costume announcer, countless spectators have long been waiting here. These spectators are joined by elderly people from the home, as well as enthusiastic citizens from the surrounding area and villagers watching the spectacle.
The female announcer began to vocalize, "Now out on stage are our classic partners Ximen Zhu and Dongfang Na, who are singing the classic Huangmei Opera cantata 'The Pairing of Heavenly Immortals', everyone applaud!"
As soon as the words fell, enthusiastic shouts came from the audience, "Hold the prize, Na Zhu, go for it!"
"Nachum" is a unique reference in the nursing home, which is the name of Dongfang Na and Ximen Zhu together.
Ximen Zhu and Dongfang Na played Dong Yong and the Seven Immortals respectively, and their costumes were exactly the same as in the TV series.
The birds on the trees are in pairs,
and the green water and mountains bring smiles.
Pick a flower by hand,
I'll put it in my mother's hair ......
Singing here, "Take hold" the duo suddenly stopped singing. Dongfang Na moved her head closer to Ximen Zhu, who understood and put a flower on her head, then Dongfang Na arched slightly harder and Ximen Zhu stumbled, as if he were playing drunken boxing.
The audience laughed and applauded at the sight.
From now on no longer suffer from that slavery,
Husband and wife to return home ......
Sung to this point, the sound of the music came to an abrupt end, the two people on the stage arm in arm to walk in circles. Just half a circle, Dongfang Na fierce a sharp stop, the body to the left quickly rotated 90 degrees, followed by the head tilted back hard, as if it is a model in the catwalk, but also seems to be in the performance of ballet dance. Ximen Zhu wasted no time in wrapping his arms around her waist to keep his body balanced.
Dongfang Na, while keeping her balance, looked straight at Ximen Zhu, smiling with spring in her face, discharging electricity with her two eyes, and then kept adjusting her posture, daintily showing a thousand kinds of styles.
Ximen Zhu beautifully wrapped his arms around the waist of Dongfang Na, on the stage of the two just like a pair of immortal couple.
The sound of applause came from the surroundings, and the audience had already gathered around in three layers. To come to the lively Erma feel their own six meters tall is too short, simply just pick up the express open, put on the newly purchased high heels.
Just then, someone behind shouted: "The front row of squatting, affecting the back row of the line of sight!" Just as the front rows have squatted down, the three nuns behind Erma let out a scream, "Ouch, it hurts!"
It turned out to be the front row of people squatting at the same time, arching to Erma, Erma stepped backward, high heels stepped on the surface of the three Niezi's feet.
Three Nizi jumped up a moment, involuntarily took a step back, this time the body contacted Dagang's cigarettes, suddenly the back of the clothes burned out a hole in the eye. Committed smoking addiction Dagang straight said, "three Nizi, sorry, sorry." Three Niezi where to care back, the pain of showing teeth, she back to whack Dagang a punch.
"Hahahahaha ......" came a loud laugh from behind. Everyone turned their heads to see that it was Dacheng, standing in the bucket of a pickup truck parked in the yard. Climbing up to the top, he had a good view of everything that had just happened.
While laughing, Dacheng shouted, "Oops, what's going on here?" Just turned around, the caregiver Ms. Song lowered her voice and said: "You are a caregiver, can not be off duty, the family of the elderly over there looking for you everywhere. I don't twist your legs a little harder, for fear you won't remember!"
"Heh heh, I was so into it I almost missed the point."
The singing contest ignited the enthusiasm on and off the stage, the thoughts that tumbled through the hearts of the audience, and more joyfully: it ignited the fire of love!
(5)
After the singing competition, Na Zhu and his wife won the first prize, and they shared the results of the competition while discussing the next step of cooperation.
The frequent contact between the two attracted the attention of the caregiver, Ms. Song, who has always been enthusiastic about helping people, and watched Na Zhu's harmony on and off the stage, and thought: why not do something good for the two old people to get together?
Ms. Song first found Dongfang Na, said his idea. The Dongfang Na always love to talk and laugh at this time even like a girl to maintain a reserve, the face unconsciously blush.
After hesitating for a while, Dongfang Na said: "Xiao Song, I thank you for your kindness, but this is a little bit inappropriate. Today's society can hold hands of people divided into three cases: one, young people at the object, as long as the two agree, this is basically a done deal; two, middle-aged people remarried, which involves the grandchildren of both sides, is not as simple as the two people to express the wishes of the heart; three, the elderly remarried, which is even more complex than the experience of the middle-aged people. For this matter, I need to deliberate before saying anything."
When Ms. Song mentioned this matter to Ximen Zhu, Ximen Zhu first showed a smiling face, then it was a long sigh.
There's a saying: "A smart-mouthed matchmaker conceals from both sides, while a dumb-mouthed matchmaker spreads the word from both sides". Ms. Song, who is good at reading people's faces, spoke up: "Uncle, I've made a deal with Auntie, she basically has no opinion, just waiting for you to say a word. As long as you say yes I'll go tell her right away, don't let her heart hang there all the time."
Ximen Zhu nodded, but then frowned with a sigh.
Ms. Song's mind's resilience was indeed good, "Uncle, I understand what you mean, you're worried about the future distribution of the family's property as well as savings involved after the remarriage, as well as your children's attitudes towards the matter, right?" Ximen Zhu nodded yes.
"You don't have to worry about this, we have a precedent here, the elderly who hold hands here have no worries." Ximen Zhu looked puzzled, "This is talking in your dreams!"
Ms. Song went on to say, "In the past, we have had a precedent here of elderly people not going to register after holding hands, which naturally has nothing to do with housing or deposits. As they were both single, it made sense for them to eat and live together in a nursing home.
Think about it, a teenage couple in their old age, you're alone without even someone to talk to, so how can it work? Besides, a full house of children is better than a halfway house of husband and wife, this is an old man's saying that has been passed down through the ages. Uncle, you make a stand."
The sorrowful clouds on Ximen Zhu's face were swept away, and at this time his eyes became glittering, "Xiao Song, I'll listen to you."
The dean was overjoyed after learning the news. "Sister Song, you have successfully introduced two pairs of elderly people to hold hands, which is very useful in terms of stabilizing people's hearts in the nursing home, and at the same time, you have also earned a good reputation and word of mouth for our hospital. Your contribution to the nursing home is great, your bonus for this month is increased by 800 yuan."
Dongfang Na's daughter-in-law nodded calmly after learning the news. Daxia was first shocked when she heard the news of Ximen Zhu's remarriage, then after learning the full story, she slapped her chest twice with force, what does it mean? The heart of a stone fell to the ground!
When the higher authorities came down to inspect, the leader learned about Na Zhu's experience, and immediately said: "This is a good method, in the aging of today's increasingly prominent, old age has become a difficult problem for the whole society, which directly involves each family's manpower, material and financial problems, and many families have follow-up disputes.
The advantage of this combination is that children do not have to worry about the elderly's diet and living, and there is no future property disputes. This model sets a precedent for civilized old age, and this experience is worth promoting."
When Ximen Zhu and Dongfang Na successfully held hands, the nursing home's chess players and dancers offered their congratulations! Everyone agreed: no matter what, they should organize a ceremony, even if it's simple.
Three days later, the two held a hand-holding ceremony, which was watched by hundreds of people in the courtyard of the nursing home.
When the host, Ms. Song, said the first program would be the two reciting poetry, everyone knew in their hearts: this was Simon Zhu's work.
Dongfang Na: There are always ups and downs in life,
Ximen Zhu: There are always breakups in relationships.
Dongfang Na: The road always has twists and turns,
Ximen Zhu: Life always has ups and downs.
The two read in unison: There was originally no road in the world, and then the wise man produced the road of the heart. The way of the heart determines the way of the mind, and the way of the mind guides the way out. Only the way out leads to the right way (person).
The second program is a two-person chorus.
Having seen how many merges and separations,
It is still decided to be with you in this life.
There are three thousand drops of weak water, as long as this drop is you,
I am willing to pay more.
This life is not who and who can meet,
Meet you have to cherish.
Red dust love affair we drifted down together,
To be with you even more bitter and difficult ......
Those old friends around together shouted, "Hug it, hug it!"
Ximen Zhu and Dongfang Na hugged each other y, each other's hands were reluctant to let go for a long time, both of them had tears in their eyes.
Na Zhu's tears, those were tears of happiness that were almost a year late!