Old things in the south

Chapter 65 Holly Tree

For my aunt's sixtieth birthday, I braved the scorching heat to come to Taipei.The two couples, cousin and cousin, both arrived early, and they only waited for me who was late.

I went in and put down my suitcase and shouted loudly: "Auntie, I'm here!" There was a burst of "ah" from the kitchen corridor, followed by my cousin and cousin, and my cousin and cousin-in-law came from the uncle's room. The study ran out, and my aunt was short and fat, and let her feet go. She wiped the sweat from the tip of her nose, dragged her bulky body, and rushed out.I was so happy to see my aunt, and hurried to meet her. My aunt held my hand, looked me up and down, and sighed with red eyes: "I lost weight!"

"Lost weight? Where! I just weighed it in the hospital when I arrived, and I gained two pounds more than last time!" My aunt was not satisfied with my answer and kept shaking her head.

"Mother is like this. Anyone who sees her says she's skinny. Does it count if she's too fat to walk like you?" Although the cousin is married, she still can't change her habit of competing with her aunt for sex.We all laughed when we heard it, my aunt poked my cousin's head with her finger and laughed and scolded: "Damn it! Damn it!" I heard my aunt's familiar scolding voice again. dependent home.

This is a rare reunion in the past two years. The younger generation, for the sake of their careers, cannot stay by the old man's side. My aunt kept saying: "It's better to go far away, and stay quiet!" In fact, I know how much she hopes that the children will be together around her.This time we wrote a letter and agreed that we would all go home on my aunt’s birthday—in fact, everyone had already married and started a business outside, but when it came to going home, it was always by my aunt’s side that I really returned home, because Here is an aunt.She puts your mind at ease no matter what.She arranges your life so that you are as comfortable as a lazy person, lying on a soft bed and falling asleep involuntarily.

But in this reunited family, what am I?I am just an orphan left by my uncle's sister, and I was left in this home by my traveling father when I was a girl.Whenever my aunt sees me thin and weak, she always sighs that I am an unfortunate girl, but I think meeting my aunt is the luckiest thing in my life.I have lost many relatives, but I will never lose my aunt. She is like a holly tree and will always exist in my life.If I say that I never felt like a sojourner in this family, it is because of my aunt's kindness that she never gave me a chance to feel like an extra member of the family.I live with a cousin and a cousin, safe and happy, but my aunt prefers to say that I am unlucky.

My aunt was a lovely woman in the old days. She often said that I was unlucky because she was a person with strong family values.My birth was the beginning of tragedy. My biological mother died early and was abandoned by my father.Later I myself played the unfortunate part in a marriage tragedy.If we take the new concept of family as an example, I don’t live in a complete family, so it causes mental insufficiency and causes emaciation, right?In fact, when I was at the age of relying on my aunt, I never had any such unhealthy thoughts.When I was married last year, I was calm, but I was anxious to my aunt. When she saw me, she stopped and cried, "Mr. Hui, how can I explain when your father comes back?" I am almost 30 years old, and my aunt still wondered suspiciously. Then, one day, my father who had not heard from me for more than ten years came back, and she handed me back to my father like a five-year-old girl!In my aunt's eyes, I was the embodiment of tragedy.No wonder the cousin blamed the aunt and said: "Sister is happy at first, but mother wants to cultivate a tragic atmosphere!" It hurt her: "What do you pay for, and raise some!" We laughed loudly, and my uncle laughed so hard that he was choked by a puff of cigarettes and coughed.The aunt shifted her target and stared at the uncle: "Old ghost, why are you laughing?" As I said, the aunt's scolding often shows the harmony of the family, and there is infinite love and care in the scolding.Aunt is really the authority of the whole family.

Cousin has already become the father of two sons, and when she came back this time, cousin-in-law stood up again with a bulging stomach.My cousin also had her first taste of pregnancy.Adding a child makes the aunt happy, and what he sees and hears is the child's problem.I was left out in the cold, and suddenly felt lonely and sad, but fortunately, this emotion was fleeting in my heart, and I quickly returned to normal.My cousin was shouting: "Kowtow, kowtow, Mrs. Shi's birthday!" My aunt laughed so hard that she couldn't close her mouth.

Under the aunt's way of life, it contains new hope and old morality. The kowtow ceremony is not a sign of the family's outdatedness, but a sign of some behaviors that children love for their elders. If the kowtow method can make my aunt and old couple happy, why not do it?My aunt also followed the old rules, people with four eyes don’t have to kneel down, except for my cousin and cousin. My cousin, my cousin, my husband, and my two cousins ​​and nephews lined up on the red felt and knelt down.A pair of red birthday candles on the table flickered and reflected on my aunt's round face that had just been powdered. On my aunt's shiny face, I saw the happiest time of an old woman.Suddenly, I suddenly thought that my aunt is really a woman who knows how to live, is full of fun in life, and has gained a real life.

This time we wanted to ask a table to honor my aunt, but my aunt refused. She said she would like to cook by herself because she knew each of us's taste. "But, you are an old birthday star! We should honor you, why do you cook it for us instead?" My cousin said with a smile.

"Forget it, eat a meal and leave tomorrow, what kind of filial piety is not filial piety!" The aunt scolded again, but this time the scolding was kind and sad. Although she was a very optimistic woman, the old man's heart was Those who hope to return but are afraid of leaving, how can aunt be an exception?

We ate so happily, the cousin and the old man guessed the boxing, five chiefs, eight horses, and uncle was about to get drunk.We also don't care what the aunt's baking is in the kitchen, we serve a dish, and we call it okay.

Among my two cousins, I have always been favored by my aunt, of course because she has more pity for my background.She wanted me to be in good health and a happy marriage so that I could have an answer to my enigmatic father, but in both respects I had disappointed and hurt her.I am ashamed that I have always put a heavy mental burden on my aunt. She cares for me far more than her own children. Although I am an adult and does not need help, her care has not diminished.

For my aunt’s birthday, I drew a picture of a holly tree and gave it to her, but I know that more eulogies and more gifts are better than giving her a confession that can make her feel at ease. I have been telling my aunt for a long time Yes: Although my body is still too thin, my will is strong; my marriage failed, but this does not mean that I have lost my bright future!
(End of this chapter)