“‘The Funeral of the Rose,’ burying the memories of you. My hands feel numb; I can no longer hold on to you…”
The moment this song began playing, Lin Wan knew, even without looking at her phone screen, that the call was from her family back home.
After all, she had specifically set this song as the ringtone for calls from her birth family.
Lin Wan took a deep breath and swiped to answer. Her mother’s anxious voice immediately came through the phone.
“Wanwan, your father is seriously ill! When he was first admitted to the hospital, he was afraid you would worry, so he wouldn’t let us tell you. But now, the doctor has issued a critical condition notice. You need to come home right away!”
Lin Wan’s voice trembled uncontrollably. Clutching her phone tightly, she asked, “Mom, what exactly happened to Dad?”
Her mother’s voice grew heavy, and she was clearly struggling to hold back her sobs.
“Your father has terminal stomach cancer. The doctor told us to prepare ourselves mentally! He doesn’t have many days left. He’s been waiting and hoping you would come home. Ever since you married and moved to Jiangsu, more than two thousand kilometers away from your family, how long has it been since you last came home?”
“Wanwan, it’s not that your mother wants to blame you! It’s just that your father’s life is already counting down to its final moments. He keeps looking toward the door, hoping you’ll walk through it. He wants to see you one last time!”
Lin Wan’s tears rolled down her cheeks like pearls from a broken string.
Even the hand gripping her phone trembled silently.
“Mom, I’ve been an unfilial daughter! I’ll come home. No matter what, I’m coming home this time.”
Her father had terminal stomach cancer. Even when he was hospitalized, her mother had kept it from her out of concern, afraid that her daughter, living more than two thousand kilometers away, would worry.
It was only after the doctor issued a critical condition notice that her mother finally called her.
Yes! In the ten years since her marriage, the number of times she had returned to her parents’ home could be counted on one hand.
Her mother wasn’t blaming her for not visiting home all these years.
It was that her father was spending his final days longing for his daughter, yet she wasn’t there by his side.
Lin Wan opened Alipay and began preparing to buy a ticket.
She was checking which option would get her home the fastest—a long-distance bus, a regular train, or a high-speed train—when her mother-in-law, Zhao Ling, suddenly snatched the phone right out of her hand.
“Lin Wan, what? Are you planning to go back to your parents’ home?”
Lin Wan nodded. “Yes! I’m going back. My father has terminal cancer, and the doctor has already issued a critical condition notice. I have to go home and see him one last time.”
“In the past, you wouldn’t let me go home, so I made do with chatting with my parents over WeChat video calls. But this time is different. I will not give in! Mom, give me my phone. I need to book a ticket home.”
Zhao Ling held the phone high above her head and looked down at her daughter-in-law condescendingly.
“Lin Wan, your father-in-law is your father, too! He’s lying in the hospital right now, and as his daughter-in-law, it’s only right that you take care of him. You’re already married to Yang Chao, so you’re a member of the Yang family now. What kind of behavior is it to keep thinking about running back to your own family?”
“Besides, so what if he’s been declared critically ill? Everyone goes through birth, old age, sickness, and death. If he dies, then he dies! You’re not the only child in your family, are you? You still have your older brother and your mother. The two of them are enough to take care of your father! Even if you go back, you won’t be able to help with anything. You’ll just be wasting your time and money on travel expenses.”
Lin Wan continued arguing her case.
“Mom, how can you say something like that? I married Yang Chao. I wasn’t sold to him! My father is seriously ill, and as his daughter, it’s only natural that I go home to see him.”
“Besides, my father-in-law only injured his foot by stepping on a nail. During these past few days in the hospital, I’ve been taking the children to school, preparing whatever food he wants, and delivering it to the hospital. I was also the one who handled his hospital admission arrangements in the first place.”
“My father-in-law’s injury is minor. You, Yang Chao, or my sister-in-law can take turns looking after him.”
“You can criticize me all you want in ordinary circumstances, but please don’t speak disrespectfully about my father. The reason I’m still speaking to you patiently and explaining myself is out of respect. You’re my elder, and I was raised with principles and good manners that are ingrained in my very bones.”
“But if you continue speaking without any regard for what comes out of your mouth, don’t blame me for refusing to show you any courtesy.”
If her earlier words had been polite, courteous, and patient explanations, then that last sentence carried a subtle warning.
Her mother-in-law could pick on her all she wanted under ordinary circumstances. Lin Wan could choose not to take any of it to heart!
But her father was her bottom line. No one was allowed to speak ill of him—not even her mother-in-law.
This time, it was only a warning.
Next time, she wouldn’t be so accommodating.
The moment Zhao Ling heard her daughter-in-law speak like that, she exploded.
“Lin Wan! How dare you talk to me like that? You’ve been married into the Yang family for ten years! You’ve never spoken to me in such a harsh tone, and you’ve never dared to talk back to me! Who gave you the nerve to threaten me now?”
Lin Wan stubbornly lifted her chin.
“I gave myself that nerve. You were the one who just said that everyone goes through birth, old age, sickness, and death. If you were seriously ill and bedridden, and your daughter wanted to come home to take care of you and see you one last time, but her mother-in-law refused to let her return to her own family, preventing her from seeing you for the last time because she was married and now belonged to her husband’s family, how would you feel?”
“Can you understand how I feel now? You’re a mother yourself. Why can’t you put yourself in someone else’s shoes and consider things from their perspective?”
However, Zhao Ling hadn’t listened to a word of what Lin Wan had said.
The only thing she had heard was Lin Wan mentioning that she might become seriously ill.
So she strode toward Lin Wan and snapped, “Lin Wan, were you just cursing me, wishing I’d get seriously ill and end up bedridden? I’m standing here perfectly healthy! Are you hoping I’ll leave this world as soon as possible?”
Lin Wan was just about to explain that she hadn’t meant it that way
Slap!
Zhao Ling suddenly slapped her across the face.
The blow landed in an instant.
Lin Wan’s head snapped to the side, and a clearly visible five-finger mark appeared on her cheek.
Even the corner of her mouth had begun to bleed slightly.
Her clear eyes were filled with unmistakable defiance.
“Even if you hit me today, I’m still going home. I absolutely must see my father!”
Zhao Ling immediately raised her voice and began shouting at the top of her lungs.
“Yang Chao! Your wife is cursing me, wishing me dead! Aren’t you going to do something about her? Lin Wan clearly doesn’t respect you as her husband! She actually dares to curse her own mother-in-law and show such disrespect to her elders!”
“You do nothing but play video games! Are you really going to ignore whether your own mother lives or dies?”
Only after hearing his mother’s noisy complaints did Yang Chao finally tear his eyes away from his game.
He stood up from the sofa and asked, “Mom, what’s wrong with you now?”
Although he had long since grown accustomed to scenes like this, he still found them frustrating.
Zhao Ling immediately complained, “Your wife insulted me, and she’s insisting on going back to her parents’ home at a time like this! Lin Wan, if you want to return to your parents’ home today, you’ll have to step over my dead body first! Otherwise, don’t even think about taking one step out of this house!”
Yang Chao walked over to Lin Wan and said, “Wanwan, even if my mother is in the wrong, you still shouldn’t insult her! After all, she’s my mother the woman who gave birth to me and raised me. You’re the younger generation, and you’re her daughter-in-law. Can’t you just be a little more accommodating toward her?”