Chapter 10 : Twilight Years晚

Finally, my children grew up, married, and had children.

好不容易我终于盼到了我自己的孩子们都成家了，生娃了。

Naturally, there were many hardships and pain along the way, but I never imagined that our suffering would last a lifetime, all the way until death.

中间自然是受到了很多苦，很多痛，只是我没有想到我们会这样痛苦一生，直到死。

I married a simple and honest man from the same village, who shared the same poor background and lacked support. We started from nothing, had children, and endured countless miseries.

我嫁给了同村一个老老实实的男人，同样的家境贫寒，同样的无依无靠，我们白手起家，生儿育女，同时也受尽凄凉。

I hoped that my children would succeed and pursue a career in academics or the imperial examination, but none enjoyed studying. My eldest son married, while my second son, afraid of hardships and challenges, missed the age for marriage and remained a bachelor. My eldest daughter-in-law was selfish and refused to contribute to the household expenses while I took care of their child, always trying to take advantage of us.

我也希望自己的孩子能够成才，我也希望自己的孩子能够考上秀才走上科举之路，我也希望....可是我的孩子们没有一个喜欢学习，大儿子到了婚嫁的年龄娶了妻子，二儿子是个怕苦畏难的，心比天高又没有多少能力的小伙子，上不着天，下不着地，拖着拖着就错过了婚配年龄成了光棍，而大儿媳妇是个自私自利的人，我帮她照顾孩子，半分生活费都不肯出，想方设法地从我们两老儿身上榨取油水。

Although there are many of loving parents, I have never seen a youngster who is grateful.

痴心父母古来多，孝顺儿孙谁见了？

On the other hand, my youngest daughter was intelligent and beautiful, so she met a constable who worked at the local government office.

我的小女儿倒是生得聪明美丽，因此她遇到了一个在衙门工作的捕头。

We were all village girls, so how could a family like ours be considered suitable for such a match?

我们都是乡野村姑，人家怎么能看得上咋们这样的家庭呢？

With the families being so different in social standing, I feared my daughter would suffer hardships in her married life.

门不当户不对，我很怕自己的女儿会吃苦。

So I advised my daughter to find someone with a more suitable background, but she told me she didn''t want to spend her entire life in this impoverished rural area. She wanted a better life, to see a bigger worl