Chapter 25 Chapter Twenty-Five

one The snow is still deep on the street.After getting off the bus on Fifth Avenue, Mrs. Fung, Tom and Eva walked to the side of the street through the muddy snow. The afternoon sun shone warmly on the street.Tom's cotton handkerchief wrapped a jar, his face beamed with joy, while Eva giggled.Mrs. Feng felt very happy and felt that today's visit was very important.As they were going through the revolving door of the hospital, Tom said to his sister: Eva, behave yourself!Eva didn't answer him. Ace's ward is on the fifteenth floor.The door was ajar, and Tom knocked on the panel and went in.

Ace sits on the bed.My mother is here to see you.Tom said.Mrs. Feng and Eva walked in with light steps. oh!Mrs. Feng, I'm so sorry!You shouldn't go out in the cold.Ace called. Who said I shouldn't be here?Mrs. Feng said happily, Eva, bring the soup to the nurses and tell them to warm it up and bring it in. Ai Si brushed her hair and patted the pillow, and Mrs. Feng and Tom sat down.Eva walked out the door and stared at Ace silently for a while, as if she had never seen her before.That look is a calm and understanding look.Eva came back after a while, and she went directly to Aisi's bed and looked at her.The two of them stared at each other for a while without saying a word, but the faint smiles on their lips showed that they understood each other and words were superfluous.

You'll be calling her Sansao soon.Mom looked at the two girls with pride.Ace, I want you to know that our whole family is very happy that you would like to marry Tom. Ai Si blushed: Mother Feng, you are too polite, I don't know what your son likes about me. I don't care about that, I'm happy anyway.Tom was a good boy, and I was sixty-one, halfway in my coffin.Mrs. Feng said sincerely. oh!Mother!You don't say that.Tom protested. When I go to see Tom's father, I know you will take good care of Tom, and I will die in peace.I know he must be very happy to hear the news under the Nine Springs.He used to mention you often!

There were tears in Mrs. Feng's eyes. mom!This is a happy event too!Stop this soon.Eva said. I just hope you don't forget, if it weren't for your father, where would we be now?At times like this, I don't know why Mom, Eva, I know you're going to cry again at the wedding. At this moment the nurse came in with a bowl of chicken soup on a tray.Mrs. Feng stood up and followed to the bed. This is fresh chicken stew, I picked it myself and made it myself. oh!Mother Feng!How dare I be that? When Ai Si took the first sip, she felt that the taste of this chicken soup and the feeling after drinking it lifted her spirits.Throughout our lives we are refreshed by a feeling of perfection.Regardless of whether this perfect feeling comes from color, sound or taste, it can make us feel the same effect of ironing and comfort.

Mother Feng, this chicken did not die in vain.Alice said. How do you say this? I can imagine that the soul of this chicken is saying to itself: I never knew I was so good until Mama Feng made me into soup.Everyone laughed, and she continued: I once read a passage in a book: the responsibility of a chef is to show the special original colors of vegetables and meat, if he can’t do this, then he is murdering cattle or chicken.If he succeeds, even the souls of animals will be satisfied, for their best features will be brought out.The poet says it's a matter of judging whether we kill animals for food or commit sin brutally.

Who said this?asked Tom. Yuan Mei. You are such a smart girl.Mrs. Feng said. Try it, Tom, is this chicken just right? Well!It's because you're married into someone who owns a restaurant. How did this work out?Ai Si asked Mrs. Feng, I have only tasted such delicious chicken twice in my life, the first time was in Suzhou, and the second time is now. how do i get itMrs. Feng replied, it’s really nothing, just pay attention to the selected chicken and the cooking time and heat.If the chicken is tender, well-raised and freshly slaughtered, you can't go wrong.Just pay attention to the time and heat when cooking.That's the secret.Get married soon, and I can teach you.

No, Mom!Tom quickly said we were both still in school and I wasn't thinking about marriage until I couldn't raise a family. Tom, what are you talking about?Mom's voice froze suddenly.You are twenty-one years old and it's time to get married. I'm only twenty, mother! No, you are twenty-one.I said you are twenty-one years old this year, isn't it the New Year? My birthday is still months away! That's the American algorithm.They confuse people.Obviously the same family, one adds a year in May, one in June, and one in July.How could they count this way?I really don't understand.I said you were twenty-one, and Ace was twenty-two.

Mrs. Feng's voice drew a conclusion for them.Especially when she mentioned Ai Si's age, she looked at Ai Si intently, and Ai Si understood what she meant.That expression seemed to say that she had never heard of a girl who was twenty-two years old and not married. two Ai Si went back to Mrs. Yang's house to continue her homework in college.Both she and Tom were busy, and the time passed quickly. ace?You don't have to rush back for dinner.Mrs. Yang said, as long as you call back, we will have dinner without waiting for you. But Mrs. Feng did not let them go.Tom's thoughts: He doesn't want to marry before he graduates and can't support his wife.Mrs. Feng felt that this was simply heresy.And she is getting older, like the parents in the world, she hopes to see all the children get married in her lifetime.Then she can hand over the responsibility of carrying on the family line to them.Even Eva, Mrs. Feng began to lose control, and always talked about it with unusual enthusiasm.Tom knew how much joy it would bring to his mother if he married at once.

If you and Eva are married, then I die with peace. This is entirely a psychological factor. But, mother, this is not right.Tom said. What's wrong? It wasn't right to marry when I couldn't provide for myself. Mrs. Feng had another attack: very good, very good!Then you want to live independently!then you go!Find your own way to go to college!Who is supplying you now!I support you, can't I support my daughter-in-law?You have no sense of responsibility for your family, you want to fly before your feathers harden, huh? mom!I don't mean that! Then what do you mean?Are you too proud to want your wife to be part of the family?

no!mom, but She wouldn't let him finish.You've become an American, and this is you! Mom, I mean she's still in school and I'm still in school. So, who said you can't continue your studies after you get married? She lives with Mrs. Yang and she is very comfortable there.If we get married, we'll have to rent another house. Can't she move back to her school dormitory in Chinatown?You can live there together.It's time for a girl of twenty-two to get married.No girl of twenty-two is really interested in books.They read to pass the time until she had a husband and a home.Tom!Listen to the old mother, do I still have to worry about Eva?You have no idea how fast girls grow up.

three Two months later, Tom received a letter from Aiz's mother.In it she formally accepted his marriage proposal for her daughter.Mrs. Yang visited Mrs. Feng as a matchmaker and completed the engagement ceremony. Ace, what should we do?Tom asked, I can't argue with my mother, she wants us to get ready and get married as soon as we're ready.do you care Ace thought about it, and her feminine instinct told her that she was ready, that she would be happy if she had a man, a home, to take care of, or take care of her. Maybe your mother is right.She said that we can live in the dormitory assigned to me by the school, which is easy to solve.I continue to teach here and earn a little money, and you still continue to go to school.You know, Tom, your mother is indeed a wise person, and she is thinking about Eva's marriage now.I think that's the way it is.My mother used to tell me she was in favor of early marriage.After we get married, you must let me take care of you. Tom suddenly had the feeling that his world had always been dominated by women, that one woman had handed over responsibility for his care to another.From his early childhood, his mother had dictated what he should do; now it was Aiz, and she was ready to guide him through his life. Ace, I should be grateful to my father and mother.he said reverently. Both of us should be grateful to our parents.she answered. Four After a while, Eva wrote a letter to Freddie.He currently works for a shipping and marine insurance agency in Chicago's Chinatown.The letter reads: Dear second brother: The family is busy with many things, and I can't help but think of you living outside alone, and I feel sad.Tom and Alice are getting married this summer, and it was Mom's idea.My mother is getting older and has more and more white hair, but her temper has not changed, and her body is also very strong.Tom didn't want to get married at school at all, but mother wouldn't listen to his reasons.She was really outraged when Tom refused to agree at first.You know Mama.Flora and I told her that this is the modern way of thinking that a man should not get married when he is incapable of raising a wife, and she was so mad that she kept scolding us.The notion seemed utterly absurd to her.That's why, she says, so many men and women in America are unmarried. Brother, what do you think?Maybe I'm too young to understand, but Mom is pretty sure she's doing the right thing.She said everything was wrong in this country.Children grow up and don't want to live with their elderly parents, and parents don't want to live with their grown children.Children do not serve their parents, and parents do not want the support of their children.That's why we often see older people working as elevator attendants and laundresses.Mom said it was all stupid and sinful.I stand between these two concepts, and I can see both sides clearly, but I just don't go up or down in the middle. We have obeyed our mother since childhood.Tom will wait until the end of the term to hold the wedding, which will give them plenty of time to put together a new house.At present, in their room, there are wire coils everywhere, and there is no obvious reason for it. The purpose of my writing to you is mainly to tell you: April 29th is my mother’s 61st birthday.Second brother, you must come home, we are ready to celebrate, if you don't come back, we will all be very disappointed.We keep this matter a secret, so don't tell mom!If you can come back, Mom will be very happy that the family is together again.Big brother, Tom and I have been planning.If you can come back a few days early, we have another big helper.Big Brother, Tom and Mom want me to tell you that you are all missed! love you eva Freddy was back a week before his mother's birthday, and the family was very excited.Him and Sean.Tooy's breakup and months away from home have brought him closer to his family.His family welcomes him from the heart. Boy, you look darker and thinner than before.Mom said. How are you doing?Lowy asked. It's good, it hasn't been better in my life.There is good money to be made in marine insurance. The second brother is still the same.Tom thought, boasting again.But to be fair, the second brother really loves the family. Second brother, you have never refused to answer my letter.Eva scolded. Did I not reply? No, just a note saying you're coming back soon. alright!I'm back, aren't I?My own friends can open a table for two, and we're going to make the celebration bigger! What table?Make it bigger?Mom asked puzzledly. Your birthday, this is your sixty-first birthday!Everyone called out together, and several pairs of eyes full of love looked at mother. My children, it is so kind of you to remember my birthday.She said, but you are not allowed to spend too much money! There is only one sixty-first birthday in a lifetime!Mother!Eva replied that turning sixty is a major milestone in life, and a Jiazi should be celebrated in a big way, which is a tradition.There are still seventy-one and eighty-one birthdays on the top, but they are usually very rare. All expenses are borne by me.Freddy said. No, we share it together.Lowy said. That night, Flora said to her husband: Freddie was a generous fellow after all.But we should share the cost.I'd like to pay a hundred and fifty dollars for a treat, and we can afford it.I'm glad, Lowe, that you didn't tell him the truth when he asked how much money we had saved. We just can't tell him, Lowe replied, if he knows how much we have in savings how much do we have? Nearly five thousand dollars.Flora's voice was full of joy and pride. You should go down the street and buy a new dress for the feast, and one for Eva too.Flora, buy a ring by the way, I know you've been thinking about it for years. oh!Roy, Flora cried, is it true?Do you think I should have asked Mom first? No, it's all our money.You buy it first and then tell your mother.She knows you are worthy of the reward. Flora gave her husband a passionate kiss. The next morning, she and Eva went shopping for clothes together.Flora chose a dress with pink flowers on a black background, and Eva a blue one.Then they went to the jewelry store together, and Flora bought a five-hundred-dollar diamond ring.She could not help sighing with pleasure as she put the locket with the ring in her handbag. Eva yelled as soon as they got back to the restaurant. Mom, we bought Flora a ring, it's so beautiful! Flora hesitantly opened the box and showed the ring to her mother.I've been thinking about a ring like this for years, Mom.She said, I hope you can agree with me. how much did you spend? Five hundred dollars, this diamond weighs a little over one carat.Flora looked at Mom anxiously, it was taken from our deposit. Put it on, put it on! When Flora put the ring on her finger, she could see her infinite satisfaction in her smile. It fits well and looks great.Mom looked at her daughter-in-law kindly and said, you deserve it. five They started inviting friends over for birthday treats, and in the days leading up to their birthdays, the gifts kept coming.Freddy invited the leaders of Chinatown, which made the Feng family feel very proud. On Mrs. Feng's birthday, her children were sitting next to her, and she felt very happy.Their dinner was booked at the Pacific Restaurant, as their own restaurant was too small to hold so many guests.The whole family is dressed in their best clothes.Red and golden festoons and congratulatory couplets were also hung in the restaurant, and everyone greeted people happily.The sons and daughters of birthday stars should really be happy and grateful for their mother's advanced age.Two-year-old Ma Ke is dressed as a Chinese doll and waddles around in his tiger hat.The scene would be more lively if there were half a dozen or a dozen grandchildren.But Mrs. Feng is already very satisfied. Her three sons and one daughter are all very well.The feast proved that she had managed to maintain a family, the best hope in a world of pitfalls and failures.The congratulators kept toasting her.It would be very disrespectful to omit the leader of Chinatown to give a speech at the banquet, so Mrs. Feng is full of people complimenting her as a standard good mother. As usual, old Doug was still the most respected orator in the room, and after some hesitation, he said: My friends!Each of us wishes to live longer.I have been thinking about this question for twelve years, and now let me tell you the result of my hard thinking.But listen to a story first: Two thousand and five hundred years ago, there was an old man who was at the same time as Confucius and Laozi. He was ninety years old when Laozi was young.One day Lao Tzu came to visit him and saw that he had gray hair but a ruddy complexion, so he asked him the secret of longevity.He opened his mouth wide to show me, have my teeth fallen out? Lao Tzu looked at it and replied: Almost all of them are gone. Where is my tongue? still good!Lao Tzu replied. You remember, said the old man, that hard and brittle things break sooner or later, but soft things remain.This is the secret of my longevity. Old Doug went on to say: Life is a good gift, and no one wants to give it up easily.Some of us wish to live longer, others wish to live forever.The human spirit, work, and competition are of an indestructible nature.Zhuangzi calls death the great journey home. I know everyone wants to live long and not die, but it's in the hands of nature.Every oak or apple tree is immortal. Although the tree dies, its image will always be remembered by people. The old tree withers, and the young tree grows.I don't doubt why nature doesn't give us something like a tree, or an elephant, or a person that never grows and never dies. Nature brings a child from childhood to maturity.He is attuned to certain things, but at the same time he is detached from others.Once a person forms a habit, it is very difficult to change it.Rigidity is impotence for the process of growth, chance, and risk-taking.If I were to lead a team across Wyoming today, I would be out of luck.Not only was I incapable of doing it, but my soul refused to do it.Therefore, nature has given us a new generation on the battlefield of life, so that immortal deeds can be carried out.When the old dog's bones harden and he loses his freshness, the younger generation will replace these roles.This is how nature itself can last forever. I respect Mrs. Feng and her children and grandson Marco, as well as the immortal Feng's second child, my good friend. At the end of the banquet, Mrs. Feng was a little drunk.Many speakers also mentioned the Italian daughter-in-law, praising her for knowing how to help her husband and run a business.The whole Chinatown knows that she is a good wife and daughter-in-law.Old Doug said seriously: This is what keeps society in order. The next day, under the mother's order, the whole family went to Bubu Kepu to pay homage to their father's grave. Mother insisted that they must go, especially because Freddie rarely came home, so they should take the opportunity to go together.This day is only four or five days away from the second anniversary of my father's death.Since my father passed away, the family has changed a lot! At the birthday banquet last night, Mrs. Feng told Ai Si: Ai Si, it's best to go together.This is the first time that Ai Si has been regarded as a member of the Feng family.She was dressed in black and white flowers, and went with them. The restaurant was closed for business, and Uncle Cheng left his shop aside to go with the Feng family.They brought a can of rice wine, a basket of fruits and nuts, and a large bouquet of flowers.Freddie took his camera, too. They filed into this Western-style cemetery.The tombs are closely spaced and neatly arranged.The family offers fruits, nuts and flowers in front of the tombstone.The elder brother was the eldest son, who poured wine on his father's grave as a libation.Mrs. Feng knelt in front of the tomb and wept, and the others knelt down as well, Flora knelt down too, and only Eva cried loudly among them.Aiz didn't know what she should do, still standing, holding little Marco by the hand.A few minutes later, Mrs. Feng stood up, panting heavily, without saying a word, just stood there quietly, and the others followed suit. The tombstone in front of the grave is a square flat stone slab with the names of the deceased and the person who erected the monument engraved in the middle.The mother pointed to the tombstone and said: We will add the names of other grandchildren soon.I am very old, and I only have one grandson, Marco.ace!It's up to you. Ace blushed. Freddy stood in front of the tombstone, trying to read the Chinese characters. Where is Marco's name? It's on the bottom left corner. Everyone stands at the tombstone, and Freddie pulls out his flash. Let's take a photo together.He put the tripod in place, and the whole family gathered around the tombstone, with Mom and Uncle Cheng in the middle, Roy, Flora, Eva, and Marco on one side, and Tom and Ace on the other. Eva, come over here, come over to me.Freddie said, remember that photo we took at the port when you first arrived in America?You and Tom are still carrots! Freddy adjusted the aperture and speed, then pressed the automatic timer and shutter, and quickly ran to his place.The camera ticked, the spotlight flickered for a moment, just as a breeze blew across the turf, and at that moment it seemed that the father's spirit was with them. They were going home, and along the way, Tom and Essie followed Mrs. Feng, and Eva helped Mrs. Feng.When they reached the gate of the cemetery, Mrs. Feng turned to Tom and Essie and said: Now I only have Eva to worry about. (End of the book)