“Go back. There’s no need to stay in the hospital anymore. If you have any unfinished wishes, go back and tell your children.”
The doctor looked at the emaciated Liu Guiying with pity.
After speaking, he turned and walked toward the door, shaking his head as he went.“Too late… if only she had come a few months earlier…”
He didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone present already understood.
“Brother, Mom’s really not going to make it. The hospital won’t even admit her anymore. How about this—you take her home first. I still need to deliver food to my kids. We’ll talk later if anything comes up.”
The fourth daughter of the Sun family, Sun Xiuju, hurriedly threw this sentence at her eldest brother before turning and leaving without hesitation.
“Fourth sister, you—”
Sun Jianjun reached out helplessly, but he couldn’t stop her as she rushed away like she had wheels under her feet. He sighed and turned back.
Just as he was about to speak, his third sister-in-law Wang Xiaofeng interrupted him.
“Big brother, don’t count on us. Jian Guo and I still have three kids to raise. Besides, Mom has always lived with you. Now that she’s dying, you want to dump her on us? Not a chance.”
“That’s right, big brother. Since ancient times, once families split, the parents stay with the eldest son. Don’t tell me you’re trying to back out now.”
Sun Jianjun’s fifth younger brother, Sun Jiandang, followed his second sister-in-law’s lead.
What a joke—whoever took responsibility at this point was a fool.
Anyway, the old lady’s savings had already been almost completely drained.
What little was left wouldn’t even cover her medical bills. He wasn’t going to take a losing deal.
“I’ve got no money, no job, and I’m still being supported by my wife. Don’t come to me about Mom’s affairs.”
After saying that, Sun Jiandang glanced sideways and noticed the sixth brother, Sun Jiancheng, sitting leisurely in a hospital chair.
Looking completely detached, as if it had nothing to do with him.
“Go ask Xiao Liu then. Mom worked herself to exhaustion raising you—she worked during the day and collected trash at night just to send you to college. Now it’s time to repay her, right?”
At this, Sun Jiancheng adjusted his glasses.
“Fifth brother, Mom sending me to college was her duty as a parent. You didn’t go to college because you weren’t capable.”
“Besides, when you got married, Mom paid your bride price, helped with your house, and even took care of your kids. Don’t act like you’re the one who suffered.”
“So I don’t think elder care is my sole responsibility.”
After speaking, he thought about his government job. If rumors spread about not supporting his biological mother, it could harm his position.
He pressed his lips together and reluctantly added:
“Still, she raised me, so I can’t be ungrateful. Out of humanitarian concern, I’ll contribute 500 yuan a month for her care. I can’t do more than that.”
He calculated quickly in his mind—his salary was over 3,000 a month. Giving 500 wouldn’t affect his lifestyle, and he could still gain a good reputation.
This cold and rational attitude angered Sun Jianjun.
“Get out. All of you, get out! I’ll take care of Mom myself.”
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone else left as if they had been freed.
Seeing this, Sun Jianjun sighed and carefully lifted the frail Liu Guiying onto his back.
She was so thin she felt like nothing but bones.
“Mom, I’ll take you home,” he whispered.
Liu Guiying lay on his back.
The pain from cancer made her consciousness blur and her breathing difficult.
She had known for a long time that she wouldn’t last. She didn’t want to burden her children—one son already had a wife and five mouths to feed.
The others had their own difficulties too.
If she could avoid dragging them down, she would.
When her eldest son noticed her worsening condition, he had asked her. She only said it was summer heat and a lack of appetite.
Yesterday, she fainted in the yard while fetching water. At the hospital, the doctor told her it was terminal stomach cancer.
Terminal… she understood exactly what that meant.
This was 2015. She was already seventy-five—practically eighty. What was the point of spending money on that?
After telling the doctor her decision, she asked her eldest son to call her younger children home so she could explain her arrangements while she still had strength.
But before she could even speak, they misunderstood and thought she was calling them to discuss inheritance and care responsibilities.
Thinking about their earlier words, she felt deep sorrow.
These were the “good children” she had devoted her entire life to raising.
After her husband died, she feared they would grow up timid and insecure without a father, so she took on both parental roles. No matter how tired she was, she never complained.
She never imagined she would raise a pack of wolves.
A bitter feeling rose in her chest. She leaned on her eldest son’s shoulder.
“Boss,” she said weakly, “Mom has some savings. I’ll give them to you later. If I’m gone, please take care of Xiaofang for me.”
“She’s a good child. After your second sister passed away, her life hasn’t been easy. She still remembers me and brings me things.”
“Your second sister… had a hard life…”
Her lips trembled, tears finally spilling over.
Her shoulders shook as she sobbed.
Sun Jianjun quickly comforted her.
“Mom, keep your money. Xiaofang is my niece—I’ll look after her. Don’t worry about the others…”
Before he could finish, Liu Guiying already knew what he was going to say.
“Listen to me,” she said weakly. “Your younger brothers and sisters… you saw them today. None of them have a conscience. Just take care of your own family from now on.”
“Don’t feel like you owe them anything just because you took over your father’s job. Your father passed away suddenly, and they weren’t old enough to inherit anything. And haven’t I already supported them enough over the years?”
“They’re all ungrateful wolves who can’t be fed enough.”
“Alright, Mom. I understand.”
He didn’t dare argue anymore.
The hospital wasn’t far from home. Sun Jianjun, still in his prime, didn’t take long to arrive.
“Lijuan, open the door!” he called.
“I’m coming!”
His wife Ma Lijuan quickly wiped her hands on her apron and rushed over.
“You’re back. What did the doctor say? How is Mom?”
She helped support her mother-in-law as she spoke.
Seeing her concerned face, Liu Guiying—whose heart had been broken by her other children—slowly felt warmth return.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine. This old body of mine still wants to stay with you a few more years.”
“That’s good, that’s good. You scared me. The sun is nice today—I already cleaned Mom’s room. Take her to bed and let her rest.”
Sun Jianjun’s eyes turned red as he watched them.
Not long after lying down, Liu Guiying vaguely heard her second son and his wife arguing at the door.
She tried to get up to see what they were doing.
Outside, Sun Jianguo and his wife were pushing each other, neither willing to knock.
Wang Xiaofeng’s voice rang out sharply:
“Are you even a man, Sun Jianguo? You hid behind me in the hospital, and now you won’t even knock on the door?”
“I earn money for this family. Without me, we’d all starve. Mom definitely still has hidden savings—we can’t let the eldest take everything.”
Sun Jianguo stayed silent, eyeing the gold bracelet and necklace on his wife.
You call that frugal? You’re practically wearing the house.
But he didn’t dare say it.
Wang Xiaofeng’s anger only grew.
She began ranting about how she once sent away a pregnant sister-in-law years ago just to secure resources…
And inside the room, Liu Guiying could hear everything.
Her anger surged.
She opened the door with force.
The couple froze.
“Animals… you’re worse than animals!” she trembled. “Why doesn’t heaven strike you down?”
Her hand shook as she pointed at them.
“Since heaven won’t take you, I, Liu Guiying, will!”
She turned and grabbed a shovel leaning against the wall.
But her body was too weak. After just a few steps, dizziness hit her like a wave.
Her knees gave way, and she collapsed.
Liu Guiying died—killed by the son she had raised with her own hands.
She died on the day she least wanted to die.