Chapter 1291: Finale 5

“Yesterday, Mom received news from her former classmates at South Country University. Over the past two years, they have made great strides in their careers, achieving considerable success, with some even emerging prominently and quickly rising to the top. However, Mom plans not to go back to work for the next three years. This isn’t because Mom is making some kind of sacrifice, but rather because once a person chooses one happiness in life, they must give up another. Mom chose to accompany you, so she must give up the joy of working…”

“Many parents always think that spending time with their children is the least significant thing, that work is more important, and that career is paramount. Mom once knew a female professor from those days who had her first child at the late age of forty, but even the day before giving birth, she was still attending meetings. On the afternoon after giving birth, she immediately joined various conference calls, so much so that her work partners couldn’t handle it and told her to rest first… Compared to such workaholics, Mom would rather choose to accompany wholeheartedly. It’s simple, since you are a gift that Mom begged the heavens for countless times, then Mom has the obligation to care for you meticulously, to be concerned about you, to accompany you, beyond just your clothing, food, housing, and warmth throughout the seasons but also to care about your emotional changes, to experience every moment of your growth… This experience is much more important than money and work. I think this is the most important point for every parent…”

“Making money and working are lifelong endeavors; it is never too late. But the time for a child’s growth is limited. Mom has decided to also be a full-time housewife, to accompany you well and let you slowly understand everything in this world…”

“In life between heaven and earth, happiness is the greatest fundamental, just as the famous writer Wang Shuo said: What do I require from my child? Why should I demand her to distinguish herself? Isn’t so-called career success just about making some money so that fools can see and envy? Why bother! Mom deeply agrees with this statement. Nowadays, people’s values are success, and success is nothing but making money and having a status… But isn’t this contrary to life’s happiness?”

“There are many people making money in this world, but few who are happy. Mom is fortunate to have created stable conditions for you, so there are no other grand demands on you. The so-called ‘wishing one’s son to become Jackie Chan’ or ‘wishing one’s daughter to become a phoenix’… is nothing more than parents being lazy, unsuccessful in their own lives, and thus pinning their hopes on their children, selfishly wishing their children to accomplish tasks that are fundamentally impossible. If you live up to their expectations, they will consider you a dutiful child; otherwise, they will be disappointed and think you are not ambitious…”

“In our country’s tales of the 24 filial exemplars, there is a bizarre story. Someone was very devoted to his mother, but the family was poor. He discussed with his wife that they might as well kill their three-year-old son to save food so the mother could eat better, reasoning that a child can be born again, but a mother is irreplaceable. This person was actually revered as a model of filial piety, but isn’t this the most horrifying form of bullying? If he truly wanted to be filial, why didn’t he work harder to earn money? Why didn’t he save his own food for his mother? Children are merely the private property of parents, to be born if they require and die if they require. Mom believes this is extremely wrong, extremely vulgar, and parents like this must be resisted, lest they harm future generations…”