Love and loyalty: Love Can Be Plain Yet Extraordinary
The old lady woke up, her heart beating erratically, which made her feel a bit overwhelmed. She thought to herself: it’s almost time, it seems. If I am to leave, it will be in the next day or two.
The old lady was already 76 years old, and her health was still relatively good. But this year, the extreme cold and heat had been deadly for elderly people like her. Since the Spring Festival, she felt her health declining day by day. Turning her head, she saw her 78-year-old husband lying on the nearby warm chair, and her heart felt somewhat comforted.
The warm sun was setting towards the horizon, and the old lady began to recall the lifetime she had spent with her husband.
In her youth, the old lady was known as the beauty of the village. Many matchmakers wore out several thresholds of her house. However, she had long had someone in her heart. She had her eyes set on the only teacher in the village’s small school.
He was a gentle young man with very beautiful eyes. When he looked at you, his eyes were filled with a smile that made your heart melt. The two of them had often passed each other on the village paths, exchanging only brief glances, then both blushing and lowering their heads, hurriedly passing by each other. Those brief encounters were their happiest expectations.
But that year, her father went out to buy New Year’s goods and encountered bandits on his way back. In a moment of crisis, he was saved by a rough and burly passerby who took a deep stab meant for her father. While this man was recuperating in her home, she served him tea and meals, entirely out of gratitude for saving her father’s life.
When this man’s wounds started to heal, he began to take on almost all the farm and household chores. Despite his rough appearance, he turned out to be a jack-of-all-trades, handling everything from laundry to cooking, fieldwork to repairing things. Her parents were delighted and often basked in the praise and envy of their neighbors.
This made her very anxious because one night, she overheard her parents planning to take this man as their son-in-law. She leaned softly against the door, utterly helpless.
The next day, she deliberately went to the alley where she often met the teacher, lingering for a long time without seeing him. Later, she asked a village child and learned that the teacher had returned to the city several days ago due to family matters and would be back in three months.
When the teacher returned, he hurried to her house, only to see the glaringly conspicuous red wedding symbol on her door and her, dressed in red, with eyes full of sorrow.
From that day on, the teacher disappeared entirely from her life. Later, she resignedly settled down with the man.
The founding of New China, three years of natural disasters, ten years of the Cultural Revolution, reform and opening up, ups and downs, they moved from the countryside to the city, supporting each other, raising children, and building a family until they were old and grey.
It wasn’t easy, really not easy! Thinking about this, the old lady felt some discomfort in her chest and started coughing, waking up her husband who had been napping beside her.
Her husband quickly got up, looked at her with concern, and handed her a cup of water. Holding the warm cup, she looked at her husband and wondered if there was anything she regretted after spending her life with him. It seemed there wasn’t.
This man was truly considerate. He had taken care of the family with exceptional diligence.
No matter how hard times were, he had always taken good care of her and their children. Though they seldom spoke much, they had a deep understanding built over the years.
Sometimes, they would just sit together silently, holding hands, and do nothing but sit for an entire day. The old lady thought about everything her husband had done for the family.
She remembered one autumn when their second son needed school fees, and the family hadn’t seen any meat for a long time.
Her husband sat in the house for a long time, then got up and said he would go borrow some money. From whom? They had no relatives in the city and their few friends were just as poor.
To her surprise, he came back that evening with their son’s school fees and even a live chicken, something they hadn’t had in a long time!
That night, the family felt warm and festive, almost like celebrating the New Year. But when she helped her husband change clothes that night, she found a faint bloodstain in his sleeve. She quickly checked his arm and found a noticeable needle mark and a large bruise on his elbow.
Oh, this man! This husband! This old man!! For the sake of the family, he had become a bundle of ailments. Nearly 80 years old, yet he was still working tirelessly every day, like a machine that knew no fatigue. When she married him, she was so heartbroken and unwilling. But now, after walking hand in hand for so many years, he was the one who had always been by her side, never leaving, always steadfast. The old lady thought of this, and her eyes started to moisten.
Suddenly, feeling a bit childlike, she softly asked the man in front of her, “Old man, tell me, if there is a next life, would you still want to be married to me?”
The old man was stunned by her abrupt question, then smiled mysteriously, his face full of wrinkles, “Maybe not. If in the next life I become a wealthy official, I’ll come find you and let you live a good life.
If I’m still this poor, I won’t. I’ll help you find a wealthy family. As for me, I’ll just stay nearby and watch over you from afar, as long as you’re happy.”
The old lady was deeply moved and smiled happily, “You old fool, why would you stay nearby? What would you do?”
The old man turned seriously to look at his beloved wife and said earnestly, “Nothing, I’d just be a teacher.”
The old lady was suddenly taken aback, looking sadly at the man who had shared her life. She wanted to say something, but couldn’t, tears streaming down her face endlessly.
After a long time, the old lady spoke affectionately, “Old man, I’m about to go. Hold me.”
The old man slowly got up and gently, gently held her in his arms. She murmured in his ear, “Old man, in the next life, let’s still be husband and wife…”
When their little granddaughter came home from school, she saw the setting sun, with the fiery glow enveloping her grandparents. She said, “How romantic, grandpa and grandma, who would’ve thought?” Then she was startled to find that they were holding each other, having passed away together, peacefully.
Supporting each other through thick and thin, loving each other for a lifetime, plain yet extraordinary, love doesn’t have to be earth-shattering to be deeply moving. I hope that many years from now, I can leave this world like this too.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
