In Taiyuan in 1969, my father suddenly passed away at the age of thirty-five, leaving me, a fourteen-year-old child, and six younger siblings who were not well fed or clothed.
Grandma wiped away tears and wanted to take away the three children and separate the families to survive. Everyone felt that I could not support this family.
I straightened my back and refused to give in: "My dad can support a whole family. My monthly salary is thirty-eight yuan and eighty-seven cents, and my siblings don't get any share!"
From then on, he went up the mountain to cut firewood and earn money and grain to live his life. He had to send his young brother away due to lack of medical treatment and medicine, and suffered all the gossip and suffering from others.
With no room for rebirth and no support from noble people, I carried the wind and rain on the shoulders of my eldest sister, saved a mouthful of food, stayed up countless long nights, and managed to pull six younger siblings into adulthood.
Half of my life was poor and half of my life was tired. Only when my children grew up and the family was stable did I realize that what I gritted my teeth to hold on to was never a burden, but the complete home that my father left in the world.
