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First story
This is a true story about a poor family. When the child had just started going to school, the father passed away. The mother and child helped each other along and used a pile of red soil to gently cover it to say goodbye to the father.
The mother did not go any further and stayed alone to raise her child. At that time, there was no electricity in the village. Every night the boy lit a small oil lamp to read books and draw pictures. The mother used each needle and thread to sew and knit a shirt for her child. Day after day, year after year, certificates of merit continued to be plastered on their patchy mud walls. The child is like a green bamboo peak in the spring rising to the sky, looking at the child growing so fast, many wrinkles appear on the corners of the mother’s eyes every time she smiles when she sees the child receiving the reward.
But it seemed that God did not love their mother and child. When the child had just entered the district high school, the mother was seriously ill with rheumatism. I can’t do the farming work, and sometimes even two meals a day isn’t enough to eat. At that time, high school students had to pay 30kg of rice every month. The child knew his mother was incapable, so he told her: “Mom, I will quit school to help you work in the fields.” Mom ruffled her child’s hair and lovingly said: “You have such love for me, I’m very happy, but I can’t go to school, don’t worry. When a mother gives birth, she will have a way to raise her child. Go to school and register, I’ll bring the rice later. The child stubbornly argued back and refused to go to school. The angry mother slapped her child’s face hard. It was the first time in her life that a 16-year-old had been beaten like that by her mother.
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The child finally went to school. Looking at the child’s back, moving farther and farther along the path, the mother rubbed her forehead in thought. Not long after, the school kitchen also received rice brought by a sick mother. She limped into the gate, with panting breaths, dropping a heavy bag of rice from her shoulder. The person in charge of the kitchen opened the rice to look at it, picked it up to look at it, immediately tied the bag tightly and said: “You parents like to do things that benefit you. “Look at the rice, there are grains, grit, and grass seeds… how can you eat it?” The mother blushed embarrassedly and apologized. The person in charge of the kitchen did not say anything else and brought the rice into the house. The mother took out a few layers from her bag and took out 5 yuan and said to the person in charge: “This is my child’s living expenses this month. Please move it here for me.” He jokingly said: “How did you find it on the street?” She blushed shyly and said thank you then turned away.
Then another month passed, she struggled to carry a bag of rice to the kitchen, the person in charge of the kitchen just looked at the rice and tied it tightly, also rice of many colors. He thought, perhaps because he did not instruct this person clearly last time, he gently said to her: “We will accept any kind of rice, but please keep it separate, no matter what, do not leave it alone.” In general, we can’t cook like that, otherwise the rice will be soggy. If it’s like that next time, I won’t accept it.” She panicked and said sincerely: “Sir! My rice is all like that, what should I do? The person in charge said loudly: “Can you grow hundreds of rice varieties like that in one acre of your field?” So funny”. Being scolded like that, she did not dare to say anything, silently bowed her head, and the person in charge ignored her and let her go.
By the third month, she struggled to carry a bag of rice again. As soon as she saw the man yelling at her last time, a smile appeared on her face that was more guilty than crying. As soon as he saw the rice, he suddenly shouted angrily and said: “I said that but you still remain the same. How stubborn, this same junk rice, look at it. This time, whatever you bring, bring it back!”.
It seemed like she had predicted that, she immediately knelt down in front of the person in charge, two tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, and said sadly: “I tell you the truth, this rice is… I asked for it.” , he was startled, his eyes wide and speechless.
She sat down on the ground, revealing her deformed, swollen legs… and tearfully said: “I have rheumatism and have difficulty walking, so I can’t work in the fields. My child wanted to drop out of school to help me, but I beat him so he returned to school.”
She begged the person in charge of what to do, hiding it from the neighbors and being even more afraid that her child would find out and it would hurt his self-esteem. Every day, before dawn, she secretly carried a bag and walked with a cane about 10 miles away from the village to beg for mercy from others. Then, waiting for it to be dark, she quietly returned alone. Ms. Rice are pleased to share in. The next month, as soon as she brought rice to school, she looked at the person in charge, without saying a word, tears welling up in her eyes. He helped her up and said: “What a good mother, I will immediately report to the principal so that the school will waive tuition for your child.” As soon as she heard it, she shook her head in panic and said: “Don’t…don’t…if my child finds out that I’m begging to help him go to school, it will hurt him and that will affect his education. He understood what she meant: “Ah, so you want me to keep this a secret, okay, I remember.” She limped like a cripple and turned away.
Finally, the principal learned about the incident with a gentle face and said: “Because your family is so poor, the school will waive tuition and living expenses for 3 years. Three years later, the child passed the entrance exam to Tsinghua University. On graduation day, the gongs and drums rang loudly. The principal paid special attention to this difficult student and invited him to the stage. He said uncomfortably: “There are a lot of people who get high scores on the exam, so why did you ask me to go to the stage?” What surprised everyone even more was the sound of three consecutive drum beats on the stage. At that time, the person in charge of the kitchen took the mother’s three bags of rice up to the stage and told the story of the mother begging for rice to feed her children. Everyone fell silent on the stage. The Principal looked at the three bags and said eloquently: “This is the story of the mother’s three bags of rice begging, in this world, even gold cannot buy these grains of rice. I will invite that great mother to the altar.”
The child felt doubtful in his heart, looked back and saw the person in charge helping his mother step by step up to the stage. Mother and daughter looked at each other, from the mother’s eyes sparkling with love, a few strands of white hair flew in front of their foreheads. The child stepped forward, hugged his mother and burst into tears, “Mom… My mother…”.
After many years, her mother’s story still shines brightly in legends.
Story 2
Mom’s side!
Memories of the days with my mother…
Around me, there are thousands of people.
But in my opinion, only one person only.
He gave me this life, and more than that, made me understand the beauty of life, the meaning of life.
I call her Mother.
My mother is a charming flower girl, loved by her neighbors, and of course, pursued by many boys. In the end, my mother chose my father – a lowly official who understood her soul. Dad can’t give mom many things, honeymoon: no, wedding dress: no, wedding ring: no. But according to my mother, my father gave her the two greatest gifts: a lovely flower garden behind the house, and me, her greatest asset.
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In the spring, I toddled along with my mother to the garden to visit the flowers that had just opened their buds. Mom said that the Spring Fairy had awakened the whole flower garden, and each fresh flower was a smile of life. Mother’s hands care for and cherish every smile that blooms, sending a delightful fragrance throughout the garden. My mother also taught me to remember each individual scent in the garden, because scent is the soul of flowers and grass. I can’t differentiate as well as my mother and all the flowers in my eyes, I call them “mother flowers”.
One time, mother and son went to the garden to play before the sun had even risen. Mom hugged me, sang lullabies as sweet as milk, whispered fairy tales about Princess Hoa, Prince Leaf… and told me a few idle words:
– Do you see the dew drops trembling on that rose petal? – Mom asked – He’s crying. Because in just a little while, when the sun rises, it will disappear from this world and will no longer be with the flower. Happiness is sometimes very simple, do you understand?
I didn’t really understand what my mother said. Being able to live with my parents like this makes me feel very happy. And my greatest happiness is sleeping every night in my mother’s long, smooth, fragrant hair. Mother’s hair has a strange fragrance: both passionate and gentle, sometimes inextricably entwined, sometimes gently spreading… It seems like all the scents of flowers in the garden have been left behind. in my mother’s hair.
Summer comes with scorching rays of sunlight mixed with intense rain. The landscape withers under the heat of the sun. I hate summer! Summer makes flowers and leaves droop and makes my mother tired. Mom often suffered from dizziness and severe coughing. One time, she even fainted while watering flowers with me. I just sat and cried until my mother woke up. Yet my mother told me not to tell my father, that she only fell asleep for a little while, and that she would wake up on her own.
But the second time, my mother couldn’t wake up on her own.
Mother was immediately transferred to the hospital’s Emergency Department. My father only explained that my mother was slightly ill and had to leave me for a while. But I don’t believe it because if she was slightly sick, my mother wouldn’t have to be in the hospital, and my father wouldn’t have to worry so much.
Every day my father took me to the hospital to visit my mother. Even though I was tired, my mother still squeezed oranges and mixed milk for me to drink. Mom smiled brightly when she heard that I still carefully take care of the flowers at home. Mom also asked the old doctor for permission to donate some beautiful flowers to the hospital’s garden. Seeing my mother like that, I felt somewhat reassured. I swooped into my mother’s arms and asked:
– Mom, are you very tired? Mom, you must recover quickly from your illness!
Mom kissed me lovingly and replied:
– Yes, okay, I will recover quickly from illness so I can take my son out to the garden to play.
But when I returned, I saw that my mother’s eyes were filled with tears.
As autumn passed into winter, time passed faster and faster and my mother became weaker and weaker. When I visited my mother, I was startled to see that she was so pale and that her hair was falling out in patches. I kept complaining so everyone had to let me stay at the hospital with my mother. One time, in my sleep, I vaguely heard my mother sobbing:
– Brother, I’m about to leave… I don’t regret anything, I just miss my child… I wish I could see my child grow up, take him to school, and then get married.. I wish I could live a few more years, no, just a few more months, or even a few more weeks. It’s almost Tet, right? I will take my child to the market to buy dong leaves to wrap banh chung, and buy him new clothes…
My mother’s illness is in the final stage. Although my mother tried to hold back her moans, looking at her face, I knew she was in extreme pain. I overheard the old doctor say to my father:
– I don’t understand why she was able to hold on for so long. What keeps her alive now is not medicine anymore. But maybe… maybe it’s love…
Because my mother is so weak, people won’t let me stay with her anymore. I slowly returned to the familiar garden alone. The cold winds scoured everywhere as if wanting to destroy the remaining life. The “mother flowers” withered and collapsed, withered and crushed petals covering the ground, occasionally blown up by the wind, flying away. But behold, in the middle of the garden there is still a beautiful flower. Although its branches and leaves have completely collapsed, it still defies the cold and lives resiliently. I rushed forward, using both palms to protect the last smile of my life. A sharp wind blew like a knife, the beautiful flower trembled slightly and then collapsed, leaving only loose petals in my hand. I burst into tears. Mommy! Mom, come home! I miss my mom so much… I don’t like banh chung. I don’t like new clothes. I just need mom…
One evening, my mother suddenly asked the doctor to let me sleep with her. That evening, I will never forget it for the rest of my life. My mother is as beautiful as before, her skin is rosy, her eyes are sparkling. There were no longer painful expressions on her mother’s face. Mom didn’t say anything, she just smiled brightly like a flower and hugged me, tightly. I happily pressed my head against my mother’s fragrant hair and fell asleep.
The next morning, I was awakened by screams and the sound of people running frantically. I open my eyes. My mother still lay quietly on the bed, a satisfied smile on her lips. My father knelt beside my mother, his body stiff as a stone statue. I screamed for my mother, then called my father. But no one answered… The nurse quickly carried me out of the room, but before that, I still had time to see the old doctor pull a bloody handkerchief from my mother’s crooked teeth:
– Poor! She wants the baby to sleep peacefully…
***
The Spring Fairy returns to awaken the whole garden. Butterfly wings fluttered around hundreds of colorful and fragrant flowers. Taking care of that whole flower garden, now only my father and I are left, and my mother quietly lives in a corner of the garden watching the two of us. I stood in front of the incense sticks that had just been lit on my mother’s grave and suddenly felt sad. To live forever in this garden with loved ones is my mother’s wish. Dad sighed softly and patted my shoulder:
– Don’t be sad anymore… Mom has flown to heaven but she still loves us like we love her. Because dad, mom and child are forever a family, right?
I keep silent. A warm and familiar scent suddenly emitted, embracing father and son. The scent of incense, or the scent of flowers and grass? It seems not… This is a strange fragrance: both passionate and gentle, sometimes gentle and pure, sometimes inextricably entwined, sometimes gently spreading…
Story 3
In a remote countryside, there was a woman who lived alone even though she was pregnant.
One stormy night, she had severe stomach pain and realized she was about to give birth. She decided to go down to the city, which was quite far away. To get to the city she has to cross a small bridge. When she reached the middle of the bridge, she was in so much pain that she couldn’t walk anymore. And she decided to crawl under the bridge and she gave birth there. The next morning, another woman was driving across the bridge when her car suddenly stalled. When she got out to check, she heard a small cry somewhere. She went down to the foot of the bridge and discovered a baby wrapped in thick layers of clothing belonging to the mother who had died of cold and had not a single piece of clothing covering her body.
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That kind woman took the baby home to raise him. Later, on his 10th birthday, she told the child that story. I thought the baby would cry but no, the baby just asked her to lead him to his deceased mother’s grave. Even though it was a cold winter, she still took the baby away.
When they got there, the baby told her to leave the baby alone at his mother’s grave. She immediately walked away but she still kept her eyes on the baby. The child stood in front of his mother’s grave, taking off his coat one by one. She thought: “Maybe he won’t take it all off since it’s so cold.” But the boy took off all his clothes until he was no longer wearing anything. She panicked and ran to hug him. The baby broke free and burst into tears, hugging his mother’s grave and asking: “Mom! Am I as cold now as you were then?”…