Emotional stories about love: Love and sacrifice
Ever since she came to the city to work, the woman had wanted a necklace. Every time she passed by the jewelry stores, she couldn’t help but stop and gaze longingly at the displays. But she never had the courage to step inside because the necklaces were far too expensive for someone like her to afford.
A year ago, the woman and her husband came to the city to work in order to save money for their child’s education. The woman worked as a nanny for a white-collar family, earning 1200 yuan a month, while her husband worked at a construction company, earning over 2000 yuan a month. To save money, they rented a dark and narrow basement room, which, despite being a place most people wouldn’t even look at, still cost them over 300 yuan in rent each month. Despite their best efforts to save, their lives were still financially strained. After paying for utilities, living expenses, and daily needs, all the remaining money was sent back home.
At the end of the month, the woman’s employer, impressed with her meticulous work, gave her a bonus of 300 yuan. The woman initially planned to save the money and eventually buy a necklace, but when she saw her husband’s clothes, worn and faded from frequent washing, she hesitated. Her husband hadn’t bought new clothes in a long time. He always said, “Why would a laborer need to dress nicely? Working with sand and concrete every day, wearing good clothes would be a waste.” Though he said this, the woman knew in her heart that he was just trying to save money. Who wouldn’t want to dress well and look presentable? Then she suddenly remembered that her husband’s birthday was coming up. Why not use the 300 yuan to buy him some new clothes?
November 8th was both the woman’s and the man’s birthday. That day, the man came home early. After dinner, he mysteriously took a box out of his coat pocket and handed the woman an item from inside, saying, “Here, try it on and see if it fits.”
This was the first time the man had ever given the woman a gift in all these years, so she was both surprised and delighted. She had always thought the man was careless and never really paid attention to her, which was why she had complained about him many times. But this time, she saw him in a new light and felt a warm sensation in her heart. When the woman took the gift and looked at it, she gasped in shock—it was a shining gold necklace! She had dreamed of it countless times and couldn’t believe she actually owned one now. She looked at it over and over again, kissed it repeatedly, and danced with joy.
After the initial excitement, the woman suddenly became suspicious. She seriously questioned the man, “Where did you get the money to buy such an expensive thing? You didn’t steal it, did you?” The man laughed and said, “Silly, it’s fake. I bought it for 30 yuan from a street stall. Even though it’s not worth much, it’s a token of my love. When we have more money in the future, I promise to buy you a real one.”
Hearing this, the woman finally relaxed. She asked the man to help her put the necklace on. Standing in front of the mirror, she admired herself repeatedly, feeling that she had suddenly become noble, like a princess from a fairy tale. To be honest, the necklace was truly beautiful, and she loved it very much. However, there was still a hint of regret in her heart—if only it were a real necklace.
Life continued quietly after that. Half a year later, one day, the woman suddenly received a call from her husband’s workplace, saying he had been in an accident at the construction site. When she arrived at the hospital, the man had already passed away. A coworker explained that the man had been overworked and accidentally fell from the scaffolding. He had apparently owed someone money and had been working extra shifts after his regular job to pay it off.
In a daze, the woman recalled how strange the man had been acting recently, leaving early and coming home late every day, always looking exhausted. She had asked him about it, but he never explained. How could he have owed money? The woman couldn’t understand. It wasn’t until half a month later, while sorting through his belongings, that she found a receipt in a ledger. It read: “Cartier platinum necklace, 4998 yuan,” dated November 8th, 20XX.
So the necklace was real! The man knew she loved jewelry, so on her birthday, he borrowed money to buy it for her. He knew her well enough to understand that if she knew the truth, she would never accept it, so he had lied, saying it was bought from a street vendor and hidden the receipt.
As she held the receipt in her hand, tears streamed down the woman’s face. She couldn’t tell if they were tears of happiness or pain.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
