lonely old bird

A few days ago, my wife and my family of three took advantage of the Sunday to take a ten-hour northbound car to visit our elderly parents in our hometown.

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Back to the long-lost hometown, everything is so kind and familiar, just like the lonely goose returning to the wild goose's nest. It also naturally caused quite a stir in our small mountain village. The news of my return home soon spread throughout the village, and the villagers came to our house one after another. In the afternoon, Aunt Xiulian, who had loved me very much since childhood, also When I came, the Kang in my cave was full of people, everyone was chatting, and naturally they talked about some household things, and the house suddenly became lively, full of chatter and laughter. As soon as I saw Auntie coming, I quickly gave her a seat, and I said to Auntie, "Auntie, I heard that your life is much better now, so you are enjoying yourself!"

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"What kind of blessings do you enjoy?" The aunt said, "It's good to not be guilty!"

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"You're born in a blessing, but you don't know how to be blessed!" Aunt Li next door continued: "Who doesn't know that your eldest son and his wife and Dazai's daughter's family are in Chongqing pepper wholesale business, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the second son Doing tofu business in Xi'an, also made a fortune."

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"Is that so!" The quick-talking Uncle Zhao continued, "Both sons have built a two-story building, and they are very well behaved. What else are you dissatisfied with? It's unsatisfactory."

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Aunt Xiulian smiled bitterly and said, "What you said is true, but do you know the depression in my heart? My son's father went to Xi'an to help the little one, all grandchildren and granddaughters moved to the city to go to school, and the school in our village also closed. Did you leave me alone, to watch the house for my eldest son? During the day, I can say, go out for a walk, do some work in the fields, I don’t think it’s over, but at night, I live alone in that empty house, I don't even have an appetite to eat. Especially during the Chinese New Year, I feel even more uncomfortable!"

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My mother also explained: "Your aunt is right, she accidentally broke her arm last year and was in the hospital for more than a month. The two sons were busy with their own business and couldn't come out. Each sent 10,000 yuan. Duan Xuan, let her mother take a good look at her doctor. Do you think your aunt can feel it in her heart? "

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Aunt Xiulian continued: "In recent years, the young and middle-aged people in our village have all gone to the city to earn money, and by the way, they have also transferred their children to school in the city, leaving us old ladies at home, the young people in the village have no A few. The fields are also desolate a lot."

My 6-year-old son asked inexplicably: "Grandma, why do they go to the city to earn money instead of farming? I heard that peppers and apples can also be sold for money!"

"Silly boy, you still know a lot!" Dad said with a smile: "That's a thing of the past, and now the land is no longer able to support people. Because of the rush, the price of peppers has plummeted, but the prices are constantly on the rise. The increase in the price of money, apart from various expenses in a year, can't make a lot of money, and now the expenses are huge, how can you do if you don't go out to make money?"

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In the past two days, I learned that there were quite a few cases like Aunt Xiulian. They stayed in their homes alone, their children went to the city to work, and some went to the south. Because our hometown is in a remote mountainous area, the school's hardware and software are backward, to let their children receive a good education, not to follow their old ways, and to have a better and better living environment, they also transfer their children to the city to go to school, leave the elderly at home, and live in the city all the year round. During the Spring Festival, due to the increase in train tickets, many migrant workers have to give up the idea of ​​going home to reunite with their parents because of the high fares, and the train tickets for a family of several people are not small for them. I went to the city and sent some money to my parents for the Chinese New Year. However, how do they know that what the elderly parents want most is not money, but the reunion of the whole family? Affectionate.

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Aunt Xiulian and the others are just like these aging birds, staying alone in their empty nests, lacking the care and greetings of their children, lacking the joy of being together as a family, and lacking the affection that blood is thicker than water. This reminds me of the song "Always Go Home to See", which fully expresses the mood that the old man needs to watch.

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Come back! Those birds who fly far away for food often go back to see their nests and their aging parents and send them some care and love, so that they are no longer alone and live happily.