family story: My Parents’ 33-Year Journey Together
The happiest couple I have ever seen was not in a magazine, not on a park bench, nor in a Japanese or Korean drama, but right in my own home.
When my father met my mother, he was still serving in the military.
When he reached the age for marriage, he came home on leave, and my grandmother said, “I’ve found you a bride. The bride price has already been paid. Go and meet her.” My mother was an orphan; her elder brother took on the role of their father. The eldest uncle managed everything at home, including how much the bride price would be for marrying off my mother.
The first time my father visited, my uncle did not let my mother come into the living room and demanded an additional 50 yuan for the bride price. My father was stubborn and, despite the heavy rain outside, turned and left. My mother, soft-hearted and knowing the marriage would be called off, secretly took an umbrella to see him off. Back then, 50 yuan was a significant amount. It was nearly impossible.
However, the memory of the girl with long braids seeing him off in the rain haunted my father. When he returned home, he was bedridden, crying to my grandmother every day.
After many days of weeping, he finally managed to get some more money from my grandmother and married my mother.
At that time, my mother was still studying at the only teacher’s college in the area. After graduation, she became a teacher. My father soon left the military and got a job at a department store. Three years after they got married, I was born—a daughter. My grandmother, who valued boys over girls, insisted on having a grandson. So, under the strict family planning policies, they sent me to the countryside and had my brother.
I was quickly brought back. The first home I remember was in the courtyard of the department store. It was a large courtyard where we raised rabbits, chickens, and grew vegetables. In the summer, we played Mahjong in the yard. We bought a television, and all our neighbors would come to our place to watch TV.
We also lived in the staff building of another department store. We lived on the fourth floor. To prevent my brother and me from sneaking out to play, sometimes they locked us inside. We would put money in a bucket, lower it down with a rope from the window to buy popsicles. The popsicle vendor would take the money, put the popsicles in the bucket, and we would pull it back up through the window.
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