CHAPTER 74

2025-08-08

My grandfather died suddenly in his prime. My father grew up alone and helpless, relying on his own strength. He valued wealth and accumulated wealth for his wife and children, establishing a will early on. Conversely, his descendants, raised in comfort and stability, are greedy for money.

My father kept a secret, which he shared with me at age 83, leaving me with a profound sense of his helplessness.

After the summer of 2011, a strange illness he had suffered for several years worsened: slow, persistent internal bleeding. He was deficient in iron and needed constant iron supplements. After several colonoscopies and gastroscopy scans, the source remained unknown. His weight loss and exhaustion worsened, prompting the family doctor to tell me to take him to the emergency room.

He ultimately required an immediate transfusion of three bags of plasma, and only after his hemoglobin levels returned to normal and several days of recuperation could he be discharged. He was followed up by a specialist and recovered after several years. The day he went to the emergency room, Dad, believing his end was near, confessed to me a terrible thing Grandma had done to him that he would never forgive.

When Dad was thirteen, Grandpa, brought on by alcoholism, died at thirty-eight, leaving behind Grandma, three daughters, and two sons. Dad, the third child and the eldest son, dropped out of school to support the family. Because of his youth, he had to do menial labor to support the family, initially carrying manure for sweet potatoes and contracting tuberculosis. At eighteen, he took refuge with his second uncle, a businessman in Hong Kong. At twenty-three, he returned to Haimen, Chaoyang, to marry. Separated from my mother, Dad returned to Hong Kong to make a living and apply for a reunion with Mom to join him there.

During this time, Grandma wrote to Dad, suggesting he adopt a son to carry on the family line. Dad was furious after reading the letter. He saw through Grandma's scheme: to prevent him from reuniting with my mother. She would rather leave her son and daughter-in-law as widows than keep Dad in Hong Kong as a cash cow and force Mom to stay in her hometown as a hostage and domestic worker. I was stunned by this, and suddenly felt deeply for my father's years of loneliness and the cruelty, injustice, and selfishness of my grandmother.

Although my father was a filial and righteous man, he was a stubborn, angry Teochew man who would not tolerate bullying. He replied by cutting off his financial resources, and my grandmother gave in. Five years after their marriage, Mom reunited with Dad in Hong Kong, living in Shek Tong Tsui, a Teochew community. After having two sons, they moved to North Point Public Housing Estate. Mom helped Dad recuperate, and he recovered from tuberculosis.

My father's family and friends all thought it was easy for him to make money in Hong Kong, and their interactions with him were always about money. My mother's family, because my grandfather, a Chinese medicine practitioner, was categorized for being a class enemy, lived in poverty. My mother often hoped that Dad would lend a hand, which further fueled the rift between them.

At a young age, Dad took on the responsibility of supporting the family. His only way to earn a living was through work, and the money he earned was his lifeline. Aside from Mom, no one cared about his life or well-being, leaving him feeling truly lonely and helpless.

On the other hand, my grandfather's sudden death left no security for his wife and children. Therefore, after becoming a father, dad always considered leaving a plan for their future and drafted a will. He also never asked for anything in return from his six sons. Unexpectedly, when he was old and frail and needed care, his sons, who had criticized their father's emphasis on money since childhood, became obsessed with his wealth. Looking back on the life work of two generations, the sons were not as good as their fathers.