Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

"Mom, what are you daydreaming about? Come and eat some frozen pears. They're still warm, so eat them quickly before they get cold." Cheng Jinxiang nudged Wang Shi, who then snapped out of her reverie.

She looked at the frozen pears in the bowl and felt a little bitter. How many more times could she eat these frozen pears? Could she hold on until next year's New Year?

This large family is united because of her; if she leaves, the whole family will fall apart.

For a moment, Wang was thinking about many things.

Cheng Jinxiang noticed that Wang Shi was preoccupied. She sighed, put down the frozen pear in her hand, and asked tentatively, "Mom, is something bothering you? You seem distracted."

Wang pursed her lips, turned to look at Cheng Jinxiang, and took Cheng Jinxiang's hand, saying, "Jinxiang, Mom wants to take a family photo this year."

These days, few people take family photos. First, family photos are expensive, and second, their family doesn't have that much money. If they were to take a family photo, all the siblings would have to chip in. The eldest daughter had been busy with dowry money before, so she probably doesn't have much money to spare.

Deep down, Ms. Wang thought that taking a family photo would be a waste of money, but to be honest, she really wanted to take this family photo. She felt that she didn't have many days left to live, and in the end, she wanted to take a family photo as a memento.

Looking into Cheng Jinxiang's eyes, Wang's body trembled slightly. Cheng Jinxiang hesitated and said, "Mom, we should take this family photo slowly. It's Chinese New Year, and it would be expensive and not worthwhile to call a photographer here now."

Upon hearing Cheng Jinxiang's words, Wang Shi immediately deflated. She said, "Forget it. Taking a family photo will waste a lot of money. Mom's health is poor, and she has already been a burden to you all. Now she has no right to make any demands. Let's save the money if we can. It's better to spend the money on you."

After saying that, Wang turned away, feeling somewhat sullen and sad.

Seeing this, Cheng Jinxiang quickly comforted her, "Mom, it's not that I don't want to take a family photo, it's just that now is not the right time. Let me be frank, I've heard that taking a family photo costs several hundred yuan, and you also have to pay the photographer. Taking photos is very expensive now. Taking photos in the summer is much cheaper, more than a hundred yuan cheaper than taking photos in the winter. In the middle of winter, we have to go to the county to hire a photographer to come to our village, and we also have to pay the photographer for the trouble of going back and forth. Do you think what I said is right?"

Hearing this, Wang was envious. She waved her hand and said, "Forget it, forget it, you can go out. We don't have to take this family photo. Consider it me saving you money. This old woman is just a burden to you. I shouldn't spend your money today."

Cheng Jinxiang was both angry and heartbroken when she heard this. "Mom, what are you saying? You gave birth to me and raised me, so it's only right that I take care of you. How is that you holding me back? I'll get angry if you say these things again. Besides, it's not that we don't want to take a family photo, but can't we wait a few months until spring?"

Cheng Jinxiang didn't understand why her mother was in such a hurry to take a family photo. She picked up the frozen pear soup and said, "Mom, have a few bites. It's still warm. It'll get cold if you don't eat it soon."

Looking at the frozen pear syrup, Wang shook her head sadly and said, "I have no appetite, you can take it away."

Cheng Jinxiang was a little angry. "Mom, don't be angry. You didn't eat much this morning. This frozen pear syrup was specially made for you. If you don't eat some, how can your body take it?"

Cheng Jinxiang was worried about Wang's health. She was already partially paralyzed, and if she didn't eat properly, what would happen if she contracted another illness? Moreover, Wang was old and her body couldn't withstand the cold, so she needed to drink something good.

With limited resources at home, eating some soup made from frozen pears can help relieve my mother's cough.

Wang felt a tightness in her chest and was quite uncomfortable. She said with anger and distress, "My health is not good to begin with, and eating this frozen pear syrup won't change anything. Take this away and don't worry about me. Who knows, I might not make it to spring."

Cheng Jinxiang was furious when she heard this. "Mom! What are you saying? What do you mean you won't make it to spring? I won't allow you to say such things. You will not only live to next year, you will live for many, many more years!"

As she spoke, Cheng Jinxiang's eyes reddened, reddened by Wang Shi's anger. "Mom, do you have to do this? It's unrealistic to have a photographer come to our little village to take a family photo during the New Year. It's expensive, and it would be better to wait a few months. But you're still unhappy and insist on saying these things to upset me."

Cheng Jinxiang subconsciously felt that Wang Shi's health was still good, the kind that could live for more than ten years without any problem, but now that Wang Shi said this, Cheng Jinxiang was a little flustered and unsure.

Cheng Jinxiang's eyes reddened, and so did Wang's. She turned her back and refused to speak, her face looking sickly and haggard.

Finally, Cheng Jinxiang softened her tone. She picked up the bowl and persuaded, "Mom, I was wrong. I shouldn't have argued with you. Have some of this hot frozen pear soup. I'll discuss this family portrait with my older brother and the others later. But if you don't eat it, I won't mention it to them."

Cheng Jinxiang understood Wang Shi very well and knew how to speak to her heart. Sure enough, Wang Shi turned around, opened her mouth and took a sip of the sugar water, and was willing to eat, but there was still a lingering worry between her brows.

Seeing this, Cheng Jinxiang could only sigh and silently keep his mother's request in mind. After Wang finished drinking the frozen pear syrup, he took the bowl and went out.

She came to the kitchen, put the bowl aside, and sat down with a sigh. Seeing this, Cheng Jinxiao ran over, patted Cheng Jinxiang on the shoulder, and asked, "Second sister, why are you sitting here sighing like that? Have you encountered some difficulties?"

Even Zhu Yufeng and Cheng Jinxi, who were busy nearby, looked over. Cheng Jinxi asked, "Hey Jinxiang, why were you sighing just now? Didn't you just go to deliver frozen pear syrup to Mom? Why do you look so worried when you come back?"

Cheng Jinxiang sighed again and said, "It's because Mom is angry, you know? I specially made some frozen pear syrup for Mom to drink, just because I saw that she hadn't eaten anything this morning and I wanted to cook something warm for her, but she didn't want to eat it. She told me that she wanted to take a family photo, which is coming up in the next few days. I said that it's not convenient to hire a photographer right now, since it's the New Year and it's expensive to hire a photographer at this time, but Mom wouldn't listen and got angry with me, saying that she was holding us back. She said if she didn't want to take the photo, then she didn't want to."

“I got angry too, so I said we should take the family photo in a few months. Not only would it be cheaper, but the weather would be nicer then, and we wouldn’t have to wear such thick clothes. But my mom just wouldn’t listen to reason. She even got angry and refused to eat the frozen pear soup I made. I said that no matter how angry she was, she had to drink this bowl of hot frozen pear soup, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to stand not eating something for a day. But my mom actually said that she didn’t even know if she could make it to spring and told me not to worry about her.”

As she spoke, Cheng Jinxiang's eyes reddened with grievance. "What kind of things is Mom saying? What do you mean by telling me not to care about her? What do you mean by not being able to make it through the spring? Just because I didn't go along with her, she got angry with me like this. In the end, I had to give in to her and say that I would discuss taking a family photo with you before Mom drank this frozen pear syrup."

Cheng Jinxiao, who was listening nearby, felt very uncomfortable. She patted Cheng Jinxiang on the back and comforted her, "Second sister, don't be sad. Mom was just saying that in anger. Don't take it seriously."

Cheng Jinxiang wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said with a sob, "I know Mom was just saying things in anger, but I was also hurt and I feel really bad."

Zhu Yufeng also lost the will to continue working. She complained, "Mom is really something. Why didn't we just take the family photo in the spring? Why did she have to take it during the Lunar New Year? Isn't she just making things difficult for us?"

Cheng Jinxi rubbed her forehead, looking quite troubled. "How about we go along with Mom this time? She's not feeling well right now. Let's find someone to take a family photo. That way, Mom will be happy, and she'll recover faster if she's in a good mood. Mom has been feeling a bit cold lately, and she won't take her medicine. She keeps saying she has no appetite. The only time she ate a few extra bowls of rice was when my younger sister came over."

Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Zhu Yufeng, who disagreed. She stepped forward and said, "Then how should we pay the money, and who will find a photographer? It's the New Year now, don't you think anyone would be willing to come to a small village to take pictures and get a photographer? We'll have to pay more to get one, which means we'll have to spend another hundred yuan or so."

After thinking for a moment, Cheng Jinxiang said, "Of course, the money should be split equally among us."

If it's around a hundred yuan, then the four siblings would each contribute at most fifty yuan, which is equivalent to a farmer's weekly wage.

But Zhu Yufeng was a little unhappy. "Mom is at the Cheng family's house. I take care of her every day, cleaning her up after her, and cooking for her every day. Logically speaking, the cost of taking this family photo should be paid by you married daughters. You three sisters should pay for it."

Cheng Jinxi was in a dilemma after hearing this. It was not as good as four people contributing money as three people, which put a lot of pressure on her. Her eldest son's engagement had cost a lot of money in dowry, and then a lot of money was spent on the New Year. Now she did not have that much money to spare. Moreover, she did not know how much the expenses would be. If the photographer asked for several hundred yuan, then each of the three sisters would have to pay about a hundred yuan more. Cheng Jinxi felt bad about spending that money.

After much deliberation, Cheng Jinxi said, "How about we wait until spring? It's been snowing heavily lately, so it's not a good idea to have a photographer come over. Besides, the roads into the city are difficult to navigate, and it would cost a lot of money for a photographer to come during the Lunar New Year. It's better to wait until spring."

It's better to do it in the spring. Not only will it cost less, but you'll also have more money on hand then, so you won't have to be so reserved.

Cheng Jinxiao had some complaints about Zhu Yufeng. "Sister-in-law, logically speaking, this money should be paid by all four of us siblings. Although you've worked hard taking care of Mom these past few years, all the dowry money from our married daughters went to Mom. Then Mom used that money to build a new house for you and my eldest brother. The dowries we married daughters brought were very meager, just a few worthless bracelets and necklaces. Before Mom became paralyzed, she helped you and my eldest brother so much, and even helped you take care of your grandson. Now that Mom has only been paralyzed for a few years, you don't appreciate the good things Mom did for you. You're always nitpicking about this and that, even about the money for this family portrait."

Zhu Yufeng's eyes widened, clearly furious. She retorted, "What right do you, a girl who's been married for several years, have to talk to me? In the five years you've been married far away, you haven't come back to see our mother even once. You only came back once after you got divorced and suffered some injustice. For the past five years, I've been taking care of our mother without complaint. At least your two older sisters would come back to help out, but you haven't shown any appreciation. Even though you've married far away, you haven't sent a single penny. In my opinion, the money for this family portrait should be yours to ask for, and you should be able to show your filial piety!"

Zhu Yufeng hadn't forgotten that Cheng Jinxiao had several thousand yuan on her, making her richer than everyone else present. Besides, she hadn't really fulfilled her filial duties in recent years, so it was only right that she pay for the family portrait.

Cheng Jinxiao was breathless from the retort, clearly furious, but she didn't know how to retort. As Zhu Yufeng said, she hadn't been home for five years since her marriage, only returning to her parents' home when she was bullied by her husband's family and threatened divorce. In recent years, she hadn't shown much filial piety. Her mother was paralyzed, and it was her older sisters, older brother, and sister-in-law who took care of her. Now that she had money, it was reasonable to ask her to contribute, but Cheng Jinxiao was somewhat reluctant. She was willing to contribute a portion, but she was unwilling to contribute all of it.

In this awkward atmosphere, Cheng Jinxiang stepped in and said, "Alright, alright, let's leave it at that for now. I told Mom that we'll take a family photo in the spring. If my sister-in-law is unwilling to pay, then she can contribute her time and effort by finding us a reliable photographer. The three of us sisters will contribute our money, those with money will contribute money, and those with strength will contribute their strength. No one should have any complaints."

When Cheng Jinxiang spoke, everyone accepted it. Even Zhu Yufeng nodded in agreement, saying, "Jinxiang makes sense. When we take a family photo, I'll be responsible for finding a photographer, and you can just pay for it. Unlike some people who don't show any filial piety and complain everywhere."

Zhu Yufeng was specifically calling out Cheng Jinxiao's incompetence, which embarrassed Cheng Jinxiao, who stormed out of the room.

As Zhu Yufeng watched Cheng Jinxiao walk away, she shouted, "He's leaving already? Aren't you going to help with the New Year's Eve dinner?"

Cheng Jinxiao ignored him, walked straight out of the Cheng family home, and went outside to sulk.

Zhu Yufeng didn't tolerate Cheng Jinxiao's temper and shouted, "You're already divorced, and you still have such a bad temper. Which family will want you in the future?"

Cheng Jinxi couldn't stand it anymore. After all, she was her younger sister. Next time she saw the older sister, she would pull Zhu Yufeng's arm and advised, "Alright, sister-in-law, say less. Don't mention divorce. You're just stabbing Jinxiao in the heart. Just talk things out. We're all family, don't make things so awkward. We still have dinner together tonight."