The 96-year-old Caretaker

By Yu Jiacheng

It is a chilly early autumn day in the mountainous village.72-year-old Ren Caimei sits in a wheelchair, looking far into the panoramic hills in the distance.“Caimei, a bit cold?” Another whitehaired old woman briskly fetches a coat and covers her. Then the old woman helps comb Caimei’s hair into a central parting style, the same as her own, using a water-dipped wooden comb while humming songs.

This white-haired old woman has been taking care of the paralyzed Ren Caimei for the past 28 years. Her name is Sun Yincong, the 96-year-old mother-in-law of Mei.

The Bond Between the In-laws

Sun Yincong lives in Tai’an Village,Guwei Town of Ruicheng County in Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province. She lives a simple but happy life. She’d never imagined the disasters that piled up in the latter part of her life. In the winter of 1989, Sun Yincong’s husband passed away because of an illness.Ten days right after the funeral, her 47-year-old son Gao Jianjun died of a gas leakage in his home. In an age when she was supposed to enjoy the peace of life, the 68-year-old Sun Yincong suffered from the loss of both her husband and son within two weeks of one another. The double tragedy hit her and confined her to her bed temporarily. At the same time, Ren Caimei, her daughter-in-law, also fell ill after the shock.

In such miserable days, Sun Yincong and Ren Caimei had only each other to count on. But Ren Caimei did not have the same mental fortitude as Sun Yincong. Her son and daughter in their early twenties were working far away and rarely returned home. The sudden loss of her husband struck her deeply. She repeatedly murmured,“Mom, life can’t go on. I no longer want to live.” They would then hug each other and cry.

Sun Yincong always comforted her daughter-in-law saying, “Don’t be so sad. As long as I am here, our life will not collapse.”

As time went on, Sun Yincong slowly recovered from her pain. She got back to her old routine, tidying the house and making meals. She was as deft as before. In contrast,Ren Caimei’s physical and mental conditions were getting worse day by day. One morning, Ren Caimei ran to the river with faltering steps, shouting in a trance that she was calling her husband for breakfast. She almost drowned in the river. Sun Yincong only realized then that her daughterin-law was mentally unstable.

Sun Yincong helped Ren Caimei home and began watching her closely.However, one day six months later,Ren Caimei suddenly vomited and soon became unconscious just as the two were about to sit down for lunch.

Ren Caimei was immediately sent to the hospital where the doctors diagnosed the event as a stroke.Though her life was saved, the stroke caused hemiplegia and only her wrist and lips could move. She could no longer speak a complete and clear sentence.

初秋的山风还有些凉，72岁的任彩梅坐在轮椅上，向远处的山头张望。“阿梅，有点冷吧？”另一位白发老太脚步轻快地拿来一件外套给她披上，又拿出一把蘸了清水的短木梳，边哼着歌儿边给她梳了一个跟自己一样的中分发型。

28年来悉心照料半身不遂的任彩梅的白发老太，是她96岁的婆婆孙银聪。

婆媳同病相怜

孙银聪家住山西省运城市芮城县古魏镇太安村，一直过着平淡却幸福的日子。没承想，厄运在她的后半生接踵而至。1989年冬天，孙银聪的老伴因病离世。就在老伴儿出殡10天后，47岁的儿子高建军在家中因煤气中毒，不治身亡。短短半个月，68岁的孙银聪在本该颐养天年的时候遭到了暴风骤雨般的打击，送完白发人又送黑发人的伤痛让她一度卧病在床。此时，她的儿媳任彩梅也因为精神刺激过大而病倒。

同病相怜的孙银聪和任彩梅在那些日子里始终相依相伴。可是任彩梅没有孙银聪坚强，她一双20岁出头的儿女在外打工，长期不在家，丈夫的骤然离世让她陷入崩溃。她总是反复念叨：“妈，日子过不下去了，我不想活了。”婆媳俩抱头痛哭，但孙银聪还是不断安慰着儿媳：“别难过，只要我在，这个家就不会垮掉。”

随着时间的流逝，孙银聪慢慢从伤痛中走出来，收拾屋子，烧菜做饭，手脚利落，一如往常。任彩梅的身体和精神状况却一日不如一日。一天早上，任彩梅脚步蹒跚、神情恍惚地往河边跑去，说是要叫丈夫吃早饭，险些栽进河里。孙银聪这才意识到，儿媳可能因为悲伤过度，精神出了问题。

把任彩梅扶回家，孙银聪开始寸步不离地看着她。然而，半年后的一天，婆媳俩正准备吃午饭，任彩梅突然呕吐，很快便昏迷不醒。

任彩梅被送往医院，确诊为突发脑溢血。在医生的抢救下，任彩梅虽然脱离了生命危险，却留下半身不遂的后遗症，全身只有手腕和嘴唇能动，讲不出一句完整清晰的话。

“奶奶，你年纪大了，我们来照顾妈。”任彩梅出院后，孙子打算辞去工作专心照顾他母亲。孙银聪思虑再三，婉拒了孩子们的请求：“你们都是快结婚的人了，工作也才刚起步，你妈就交给我这个老太婆了。从现在开始，我跟她同吃同住，我来管着她。只要有我一口吃的，就不会让她饿着。”孙银聪一锤定音，招呼着亲戚把任彩梅抱到自己屋里，开始了婆媳同住的生活。

奏响锅碗瓢盆

生病后的任彩梅不像以前那样大方洒脱了，看谁都怯生生的。太阳刚被山头挡住一点儿，她就指指灯，让婆婆早些打开；孙银聪到后院摘蔬菜时，任彩梅觉得屋子里没响动了，嘴里便发出抽泣声，眼泪一颗颗往下掉。

为了让儿媳感觉好一点儿，孙银聪开始刻意大声说话，走路时使劲儿跺地，洗菜做饭时也不忘用锅碗瓢盆碰出声音，她甚至在家养鸡的脚上绑上石头，让鸡在院里走来走去，发出声音。

虽然家里的活儿特别多，但孙银聪做得井井有条。她非常“讲究”，每天要给任彩梅梳头、洗脸、擦身，换上干净的衣服。28年来，这些事每天重复一次。

长年坐在轮椅上，任彩梅的腿和脚肿得厉害。有一次，她在电视里看到大象，便用手指指大象，又指指自己的腿，眼含愧疚地看着婆婆。孙银聪愣了几秒便笑了：“你是不是说，我每天都好像在给大象穿鞋子啊？”任彩梅点点头，笑出了眼泪。

Ren Caimei’s son decided to quit his job and take care of his mother. “Grandma, you are too old to take care of others. We are her children and we should take care of Mom,” he said.

Sun Yincong thought a while then shook her head, “You are at marrying age, and you are just starting out your career.Leave your mother with this old woman. From now on, I will eat and live with her. She will be under my full charge. As long as I have something to eat, she will not be left hungry.” Thus it was decided and Sun Yincong asked her relatives to settle Ren Caimei in her own room, and the in-laws started living together.

The Chorus of Plates and Pots

Ren Caimei became a little timid and introverted after becoming ill,totally different from her previous self. She’d ask her mother-in-law to turn the light on as soon as the sun set just behind the mountain.When Sun Yincong picked up vegetables in the backyard, Ren Caimei, afraid of the dead silence in the house, started to sob, tears falling down her face.

In order to comfort her, Sun Yincong racked her brains to make a loud sound in the house.She began to speak loudly deliberately, walked in a stomping manner, and made pots and plates clink when she washed the dishes. She even tied stones to the chicken’s feet, so that when they walked around the yard they made extra noise.

Though there was plenty of housework to do, Sun Yincong was very tidy and kept everything in order. For 28 years, she repeated the same routine work for Ren Caimei: combing her hair,washing her face, bathing her body, and changing clothes.

Many years in a wheelchair had made Ren Caimei’s legs and feet swollen. One day, she saw elephants on television. She pointed to the elephant first, then at her own legs with a grateful look at her mother-in-law. Sun Yincong was bewildered for a few seconds and then chuckled.“Do you mean I seem to help an elephant wear shoes every day?”Ren Caimei nodded and laughed so hard that tears down her cheeks.

Every morning when she finished her housework, Sun Yincong would chat with Ren Caimei in the yard even though her only response was simply a few “whoo wholl” sounds. At lunchtime, Ren Caimei would pat her mother-in-law and start“ordering food.” Ren Caimei gestured a big circle with her hands to mean eating pancake,a long line for noodles, and two hands squeezing each other for dough ball soup.

When they ate, Sun Yincong fed Ren Caimei a spoonful first and then fed herself. Sometimes she even hummed some local folk songs to coax Mei to eat, treating her like a baby.

Old Twin Sisters

Burdened with unending labor day and night and with the passing of years, Sun Yincong was no longer as physically strong as she had been before. Inevitably,she suffered from toothaches,headaches, arm pains, colds,and other minor illnesses. Every time Sun Yuncong went out for injections, she would cook lunch for Ren Caimei in advance. But often when she returned at two or three in the afternoon, she’d find Ren Caimei still sitting in the yard. “Why don’t you eat on time?” Sun Yincong would demand.

每天上午，孙银聪忙完家务，都会陪着任彩梅在院子里坐一会儿，跟她说说话，即使得到的回答只是简单的“呜呜”声。到了午饭时分，任彩梅便会拍拍婆婆，开始“点菜”。任彩梅用手比画一个大圆圈，就是想吃烙饼；比画一道长线，就是想吃面条；两只手相互捏捏，就是想吃面疙瘩。

吃饭时，孙银聪拿过勺子，一边自己吃，一边喂她吃，时不时地哼一些哄孩子吃饭的山西民谣。

像一对老姐妹

孙银聪的年纪越来越大，再加上日夜操劳，她的身体也不似以前硬朗，牙疼头疼、胳膊酸痛、伤风感冒等小病小痛在所难免。每次孙银聪出门打针，都会提前给任彩梅做好午饭，但往往下午两三点回家时，发现任彩梅还是坐在院子里。“你为什么不按时吃饭？”孙银聪又气又急。任彩梅焦急地比画道：“我要等你一起吃。”

任彩梅已经70多岁了，但在孙银聪眼里，她就是个“老小孩”，而且年纪越大越喜欢撒娇，离了婆婆一会儿就哼哼唧唧，孙银聪也由着她耍赖。总有村里人打趣说：“一个弓着腰的太婆推着一个白头发的太婆，像一对老姐妹哩。”

虽然有孙银聪无微不至的照顾，但任彩梅的身体还是状况不断，前后突发过3次脑溢血，两年前的那次尤其严重。那是2015年冬天的一个深夜，孙银聪听到任彩梅的床上有响动，她起身看见儿媳半个身子倒在床边，脸色煞白，神志模糊。她立刻披衣穿鞋，求人把任彩梅送到医院。

“任彩梅年岁已高，情况很不好，你们要有心理准备。”听到主治医生的话，孙子孙女当下就红了眼睛。孙银聪坚定地摇着头：“不会的，我比她年纪还大，都坚持下来了。我没放弃过她，她也不会丢下我的。”终于，任彩梅的病情得到控制，身体渐渐恢复。从医院回到家的那个晚上，任彩梅百感交集，她拉着婆婆的手，艰难地说：“妈，又是你救了我。”

2017年8月19日，是孙银聪96周岁的生日，一大早，自发来祝寿的乡亲几乎踏破了孙家小屋的门槛。像往年一样，孙银聪的生日没有鲜花，也没有蛋糕，只有来客们在自家做好端来的饭菜。她这个老寿星给儿媳梳好头发，端茶递水招待大伙儿，忙得不亦乐乎。◆

（摘自《婚姻与家庭》2017年第11期）

Ren Caimei would anxiously gesture, “I wanted to wait for you so we could eat together.”

Ren Caimei is now more than 70 years old, but she is an “old child” in the eyes of Sun Yincong.She is more like a spoiled child as she gets older. She becomes unhappy when she is away from her mother-in-law for even a brief moment and Sun Yincong endures her being unreasonable.Villagers joke about them, saying,“They’re like a pair of old twin sisters, one bent, old woman pushing another white-haired one.”

Though being well taken care of, Ren Caimei’s physical condition hasn’t improved much. She’s suffered another three strokes, one of which was particularly dangerous two years ago. It had been a late winter night in 2015 when Sun Yincong heard sounds coming from Ren Caimei’s bed. She got up and saw her daughter-in-law half hanging off the bed, unconscious, and her face gone pale. Sun immediately put on her dress and asked for help to take Ren Caimei to the hospital.

In the hospital, the doctor said,“We are not optimistic about her health for she is very old. So all of you should be prepared for the worst.” Upon hearing this, the grandchildren’s eyes were filled with tears.

Only Sun Yincong shook her head and said firmly, “Believe me. I am much older than her and I am healthy enough here. I do not give up on her, so she will not leave me behind.” Finally, with treatment, Ren Caimei gradually recovered.

On the night she returned from the hospital, Ren Caimei took her mother-in-law’s hands emotionally and murmured,“Mom, you saved me again.”

August 19, 2017 marked Sun Yincong’s 96th birthday. Early in the morning, villagers crowded into her house to wish her a happy birthday. As usual, Sun Yincong’s birthday was celebrated without flowers or cakes, but instead with the home-cooked meals the villagers brought over. And the birthday girl was still busy combing the hair of her daughterin-law, serving tea for the guests,and entertaining her neighbors with a smile on her old face.◆(From Marriage and Family,November 2017. Translation:Zhang Lei)

孙银聪和任彩梅 Sun Yincong and Ren Caimei