Playing Poker With My Parents

By Mr. Nanyou

My mom is the “Queen of Gamblers.”

She can use all sorts of unexpected tricks, like switching, stealing, and palming cards, to clean us out at the game.

Although we lose a lot of money every time, we’re happy.

When I began working after graduation, I had less and less time to play poker with my parents. I was either busy at work, attending parties, or accompanying my girlfriend somewhere.

Recently, I have been on leave to look after my dad at hospital.

One day, I suddenly thought of this matter, so I went downstairs to buy a pack of poker cards. I played with my mom and dad on the hospital bed.

A nurse walked into our room to give IV fluids to my dad. “What happened? Why are you so happy?” she asked.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“No, we’re not,” my dad said.

“My mom just beat us by cheating again,” I said.

Unlike my mom, my dad isn’t fun at all. He likes to make arrangements instead of following orders. Since he was hospitalized a month ago, my whole family hasn’t truly smiled.

His health has worsened considerably, and he can only take liquid food. So I tried to make carrot and corn juice for him, and vegetable and bone soup as well.

After a great deal of work, I brought the food to the hospital.When he finished the carrot and corn juice, and was ready to try the soup, he found out that I didn’t bring a spoon. “You’re such a fool not to bring a spoon for the soup!” he said, poker-faced.

He even called me a “fool.”

In fact, my dad was much grumpier before, and his voice was so loud that the whole village could hear him. But now he is sick, he can’t manage to speak as loud as he used to. Therefore, I wasn’t mad at him for calling me a “fool,” as it meant that he was in good spirit today.

At around 3:00 am, my dad still couldn’t fall asleep, so I fetched hot water for him to soak his feet.

Suddenly, a dreamy expression crawled over his face, and he said, “Sooner or later we’ll all face death. It’s just a matter of time.”

I toweled his feet dry, and sat up watching him. There was no sparks in his eyes, and he was less irritable than earlier that day.

“But I’ll try my best anyway,” I replied calmly.

Life is like a train ride. Once you get on board, there is no return trip. Perhaps the only thing we can do is to keep company with our parents, and enjoy the view along the way as much as possible.

我妈是“赌王”。

她能换牌、偷牌、浑水摸鱼，总之，用一切我们想不到的小聪明，赢光我们的压岁钱。

虽然我们每次都会输很多，可是，我们依旧快乐。

毕业后参加工作，能陪家人玩扑克牌的时间越来越少，不是忙工作，就是忙着聚会、恋爱。

最近一直休假，在医院陪着爸妈。

某天突然想起这件事，下楼买了一副扑克牌，和爸妈三个人在病床上玩。

护士姑娘进来，给我爸打点滴，一脸惊讶，问：“哇，你们要不要这么开心？”

我哭笑不得。

“不开心。”

“我妈刚刚又耍诈，赢了我们。”

相比我妈的搞笑，我爸刚好反过来。他很喜欢安排事情，不愿意别人安排他的生活。一个多月前，他生病住院，我们很少开心笑过。

他的身体状况差，只能吃流质食物，我第一次给他榨胡萝卜玉米汁，炖骨头蔬菜汤。

捯饬半天，送到医院。他把胡萝卜玉米汁全喝完了，准备倒蔬菜汤给他的时候，他看我没有带汤勺，面无表情地说：“蠢货，带汤也不知道带汤勺。”

他居然说我是“蠢货”。

我爸脾气从前更大，一嗓门能让全村子人都听到；现在生病了，再也没有办法声如洪钟。他能坐起来骂我“蠢货”，我也不会不开心，这代表他今天很精神，有力气了。

凌晨三点多，我爸睡不着，我给他打热水，让他泡脚。

他神情恍惚一下，说：“人总有死的一天，只是有的人快，有的人慢。”

我帮他擦干脚，坐起来看着他。他的眼里不再有光，脾气也没有白天暴躁。

我淡淡地回他：“反正我要尽最大的努力。”

人生就像一列永不回头的火车，你只能往前，没法回头。或许我们唯一可以做的，就是在这段路程中，坐在火车上陪着爸妈，尽可能看更多的风景。