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With no one to take care of her,my mother had to be discharged from the hospital early.I drove them home,the home that I hadn't set foot in for six or seven years.
The 130-square-meter house was crowded and messy.My brother-in-law had gone to work,and my elder sister was cooking baby food for the child.
When she saw us coming back,she quickly threw herself into my mother's arms and acted coquettishly,"Mom,you're finally out of the hospital.I've been so busy taking care of your grandson that I didn't have time to visit you.Luckily,you're okay."
My mother pushed her hand away indifferently and said in a sarcastic tone,"I thought you had forgotten that you still have a mother!"
My elder sister was stunned for a moment,then she held the child in front of my mother and said pitifully,"Mom,don't be angry.Look at your little grandson.Isn't he so cute?I was so busy when you were away.You're the best,Mom."
My mother fell for my elder sister's act the most.
Before my elder sister got pregnant,she and my brother-in-law secretly inquired about all kinds of folk remedies,just to have a son and consolidate her position in the family.
As she wished.I watched the scene in front of me and just smiled without saying a word.
My elder sister seemed to have just noticed my presence,"Second sister,you haven't been back for a long time.Thank you for bringing mom and dad back!"
I didn't miss the tone of her being the hostess,"We're all family,and they're my parents too.If I don't go to pick them up,who will?"
"That's true.How have you been in touch with the family all these years?I've been taking care of all the big and small things about mom and dad.Why did you suddenly remember to come back this time?"She kept reminding me of my indifference to my parents over the years.
It was more accurate to say that my parents were taking care of their family of three rather than she was taking care of my parents.
My elder sister quit her job in order to get pregnant,and my brother-in-law's monthly salary was only over two thousand dollars.
How could he support such a big family?It was all thanks to my parents'demolition compensation money.
Since the demolition,my parents had been helping her take care of the child,cook,wash the dishes,and do the housework at home.
"Don't worry.I'll leave soon,"I replied.
After not seeing each other for many years,I didn't have a good temper towards her.
"Where are you going?It's not easy for you to come back.Stay at home for a few more days,"my father interrupted and started packing the luggage.Perhaps because of the face that I paid the hospitalization fee,my mother also acquiesced.
My elder sister was a bit unhappy and pouted,"The house is already crowded.Where is there any more room?"
"This is my home.When did it become your turn to make decisions?If there's no room,clear out all your miscellaneous things for me,"my father rarely lost his temper.
My mother saw that my elder sister's eyes turned red from being scolded by my father.She sighed,"Forget it.If she doesn't want to live at home,why force her to stay?"
I almost choked with anger.Now I really didn't want to leave.I put on a fake smile and said,"Since you all want me to stay a bit longer,I'll ask for leave from the company and stay at home today."
My elder sister was a bit surprised.In the past,I would have slammed the door and left,and that would have made my mother dislike me even more.
She and my brother-in-law had to vacate the guest room for me and piled the sundries in the corridor.
Lying on the bed with a bit of a musty smell,I sighed that when I didn't care anymore,I actually got the things that I could never get no matter how hard I tried before.
When I was in college,our house was demolished.My parents were afraid that we would quarrel over the unequal distribution,so they gave each of us a small house,and we all lived in a big house together.
My elder sister,like my mother,married a man who moved into her family.After she got married,she didn't want to live in her new house and insisted on squeezing in together,trying to occupy this house that had no clear ownership yet in advance.
My younger sister stayed at home playing games all day long.She couldn't stand my parents'nagging and asked for some money on the pretext of going out to work and moved to her own house early.
My mother rented out the house that was supposed to be mine to subsidize the family expenses on the grounds that I was still at school.
I was always the redundant one.This room and this bed were filled with their sundries.Every time I came home from vacation,I could only make do on the sofa.
I felt the feeling of having no home even before getting married.
Now that I have achieved material satisfaction,I still often cry out in the middle of the night.
The neat scars on my wrist remind me all the time that I'm not happy.
