I sold grilled fish in the 70s!

The old saying goes, "Raising a son is for old age security!" Because of this saying, some people are obsessed with having a healthy son. If their daughter-in-law gives birth to a girl, they believe that the daughter-in-law is cutting off their family line.

They never consider things from another's perspective: what if only men existed in the world and no women? Who would they mate with to reproduce? The children born would still carry their family bloodline! So how could their lineage be cut off?

Can raising children really provide for you in old age? This is a question worth pondering! When you are sick, the people who take care of you at your bedside are often the daughters you have long disliked! And your so-called beloved son may also be taking meticulous care of you at your bedside.

However, this is on the premise that your son marries a daughter-in-law who is sensible and filial to you. Otherwise, your son may not be as filial to you as your daughter.

In my past life, after Yiyao was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, she stayed in the hospital for more than a month. My four siblings and I took turns going to the hospital to take care of her. Even my eldest and youngest daughters, who worked in Fuqing, asked their bosses for more than a week's leave to come back and take care of Yiyao.

It's all thanks to Yiyao having three daughters, and Jianlin and I having four daughters as well. Otherwise, if she had been seriously ill and had to be discharged from the hospital this time, I really wouldn't know what to do! When Jianlin's later wife found out that Yiyao was hospitalized, she just bought a bag of fruit and went to the hospital to visit her.

If a mother is like this, what can one expect from a son? He hasn't even visited Yiyao in the hospital once, let alone taken care of him.

Perhaps it's because this boy isn't related to Yiyao by blood that he doesn't care about Yiyao's illness and hospitalization!

After that, I never visited Yiyao in the hospital again, let alone took the time to care for her. Whenever I think about this, I feel incredibly sorry for Yiyao. I had to help her take care of her two granddaughters when she was perfectly healthy.

She took care of the family for five or six years, and not only that, she also had to handle all the big and small things at home. But she forgot that two years ago, in the late autumn, she lost her beloved eldest daughter, Jianmei, because of her.

And so she could no longer see her favorite niece, Rousa, often! I heard that on the first New Year's Day after Jianmei's passing, she went to visit Yiyao. The first thing Yiyao said upon seeing her was, "Why haven't you come to see me in so long!" I feel like it's been years already.

At the time, we all thought Yiyao's words to Rousha were a bit of an exaggeration! After all, Yiyao had only not seen Rousha for two or three months. But if we calmly think about it, how much pain Yiyao must have been in when he said those words!

She had just lost her eldest daughter! The pain of a parent outliving their child was unbearable, and her beloved little niece had moved back to her hometown with her father. That's why she said those words the moment she saw Rosa.

Whenever Rosa thinks about this, she feels sad and sheds tears, because Rosa was raised by One Shake until she was ten years old. Therefore, Rosa has a very deep affection for One Shake! She can't bear to hear even the slightest bad news about One Shake.

I remember once when Rosa and I were taking a walk by the river alone, I casually mentioned Yiyao's condition to her, and she silently shed tears. That night afterward, she wasn't as talkative as before; instead, she silently played on her phone while crying.

Two years after Jianmei passed away, Jianlin's new wife began busying herself with helping her son get married. She then suggested that while Yiyao was still healthy, she should have a baby so Yiyao could help take care of it. However, she, her son, and daughter-in-law ran a supermarket in the town, so every day after finishing all the chores at home, Yiyao would go to the supermarket to help take care of the child.

At that time, Yiyao was already over seventy years old! It was time for her to enjoy the retirement life we, her children, should be able to enjoy! But for various reasons, she still had to worry about the younger generation.

That was the first time Yiyao had been seriously ill and hospitalized. As soon as she was discharged, she wanted to go home immediately. Only after repeated persuasion from us daughters did she willingly stay at Jianying's house.

Because she had already been diagnosed with mid-stage esophageal cancer! She could no longer eat many hard foods, and since she had always been a vegetarian, she was malnourished and extremely thin. She needed our meticulous care, which was the main reason we didn't want her to go back.

We all knew that she really wanted Rosa by her side, so during that time we always liked to call Rosa to Jianying's house to keep Yiyao company after dinner in the family group chat.

Rosa was very willing to do this! She would also bring Yiyao some wontons or fruit from time to time. I would also go to Jianying's house whenever I had time. Although I had been divorced from Jianlin for many years, I still treated Yiyao as my own mother.

Jianlin felt incredibly guilty that Yiyao couldn't recuperate at home. He had repeatedly expressed his desire to take Yiyao back to care for him.

But he and my eldest daughter refuted her claims! She meant that Yiyao was very comfortable staying with Jianying, being well taken care of. She even had someone accompany her for walks in the evenings, so why would she need to go home?

Actually, Yiyao herself didn't really like living in Jianying's house long-term, and had repeatedly asked Jianying to let her go home. Jianying always refused Yiyao's request with various reasons.

Summer has passed and autumn has arrived! Before we knew it, almost three months had passed since she was discharged from the hospital, and her health was gradually improving! So we took her to stay with our eldest daughter and son-in-law in Fuqing for more than half a month.

During this time, we took Yiyao to a large hospital in Fuqing for various examinations. We originally wanted to have Yiyao undergo surgery to remove the cancer growing in her esophagus. Unfortunately, Yiyao was too old at the time and was no longer suitable for surgery. We were also worried that her body wouldn't be able to handle chemotherapy.

So we opted for a very conservative treatment, having the doctor prescribe some traditional Chinese medicine for Yiyao to drink. We also frequently buy nutritional supplements like amino acid protein powder for Yiyao to take.

And so, the winter passed peacefully! I had hoped that spring would bring some good things. But Yiyao's health deteriorated further; her memory and hearing also declined significantly. She needed someone by her side constantly.