The King of the Family

By Huang Xidi

My great-uncle was paralyzed after he suffered a sudden stroke. He developed signs of dementia as well, so my greataunt had to run the family operations.

Yet, I still found that the keys to the safe and the box of the account books were hanging on my greatuncle’s belt loop. Whenever something occurred, my greataunt would tell us, “Let me ask my old man first.”

She would sit at his bedside and ask for his opinion. “What do you think?” She asked, holding his hand, and her voice was gentle and soft as usual.

With a dull look in his eyes, my great-uncle would mumble a few words that nobody could understand. However, it seemed that my great-aunt was the only language expert in the house. While taking a clean white towel to wipe away the saliva at the corner of his mouth, she said approvingly, “Sure, you’re the king of the family. I’ll do as you said.”

Before opening the safe or the box of the account books, my great-aunt would also ask for her husband’s permission. “Dear, you said that the account books needed to be double-checked. May I use the keys?”

There would be a few grunts before she cautiously took the keys from him and attached them back as soon as the job was done.

Out of curiosity, I asked my great-aunt: “Does my great-uncle still have consciousness? Do you really understand his mumbling?”

My great-aunt led us to the living room outside where she shook her head and started to speak in a low voice: “He has been a self-reliant person all his life, and I can’t allow him to sense that he is useless now. Even if he suffers from dementia, I still believe he is conscious in his mind. Only by making him feel that the family and I still need him will he have the strength to endure the illness.”

Afterwards, she came back to sit at his bedside, and comforted him softly, “My old man can still manage everything from the bed, right?”

(FromSanmenxiaDaily, June 3, 2020. Translation: Zhu Yaguang)

叔公突然脑中风，瘫痪了，人也变得痴呆了，掌家的责任落到了叔婆肩上。

可我们发现，叔婆家保险柜和账本箱的钥匙仍旧别在叔公的腰间，每次处理事情前，叔婆都要对大家说：“我去问问老头这事怎么处理。”然后便坐到叔公床前握着他的手征询他的意见，仍如当年那样声音平缓地问他：“你说怎么办呢？”

叔公目光呆滞，嘴里说着别人都听不懂的哼哼呀呀。叔婆却似乎听懂了，边用干净的白毛巾拭去他嘴角的口水，边表示理解地说：“好的，你是一家之主，就照你说的办。”

如果是要开启保险柜或账本箱，她依旧要征得他的同意：“老头，你说要核算一下账本，那你把钥匙给我一下，好吗？”等他哼哼呀呀两声后，她才小心翼翼地从他腰间取下钥匙，用完后又马上放回。

我们都很好奇，问叔婆：“难道叔公神志还清醒吗？您能听懂他的哼哼呀呀？”

叔婆把我们领到远离卧室的客厅后摇了摇头，小声说：“老头一辈子争强好胜，我不能让他觉得自己是个废人，尽管他痴呆了，但我相信他的潜意识里是明白的，只有让他感觉到我和这个家都还需要他，他才有可能战胜病魔好起来。”说完便又坐回叔公的床边，柔声细语对他说：“我的老头躺床上还能运筹帷幄呢，对吧？”

（摘自《三门峡日报》2020年6月3日）