"Wow, today's dinner is so delicious. Thank you mom for your hard work."
“Yes, I have worked so hard. It was I who cooked it, not your God."
Under the aggressive look of her mother, Cai Ye silently prayed and gave thanks for meals as usual. Her mother said loudly to her brother, “Xing, eat up all the drumsticks. Your sister will be full to have God for food.”
For three years, at every dinner, as long as Cai Ye had dinner at home, such a play would be performed at the dinner table.
Cai Ye has a sister and a brother. Her mother preferred boys to girls. Her mother wanted her to drop out of school and go out to work early. However, Cai's father was firmly against it. He was a sales manager who often traveled on business. He said to his wife, "People would laugh at me if my daughter went out to work without studying at a young age. Can’t I afford to raise them or pay for fees for them to study? Unless they don't have the ability to study by themselves, I'll even support them to study abroad for a doctor’s degree.”
Cai Qin, Cai's sister, studied well all the way and even skipped the grade. She took the college entrance examination with Cai
and went to a key national university in the capital. Before graduation, she was admitted to study for a master's degree. As for a doctor’s degree, she went to study across the Pacific Ocean.
Cai also wanted to be concentrated on studying like her sister, but she couldn’t since the clothes were not washed and the floor was not cleaned. Although scolded by her mother, she did all the chores.
In the college entrance examination, she went to a college and her major was transferred to tourism.
After graduation, her father said, “Ye, please come back. Your sister is unreliable. As long as she doesn't marry a foreign devil, I'll be thankful. “
Cai returned to work in the only travel company in her hometown town. What came back with her was the faith she got in the year of graduation.
In the year of graduation, during her internship, she took a tour with a senior female schoolmate. The tourists wore a group uniform with a small cross printed on the left chest, a row of rotating staff and notes printed on the back, and the sentence "the most beautiful blessing of this life" printed below. The dress was beautifully designed.
When they got on the bus, they began to sing songs one after another. Cai had seen one on TV, which seemed to be a Christian song and a world-famous piece.
The most impressive thing was that when they ate, they prayed seriously for every meal. An old woman saw Cai watching them pray. She told her why she prayed before eating.
Cai realized that there was such faith in life. She went to church to buy a Bible, attended a sermon and was baptized.
After returning to her hometown, she bowed her head to give thanks before meals for the first time. Her mother made a conclusion that she must be crazy after stimulation and she needed to see a doctor. After hearing about Cai's belief, she went out to inquire what Christianity was. Others said that it was a religion for the old, where a group of retired elderly people were. Her mother was extremely responsible and secretly followed Cai to the gathering place.
When Cai opened her eyes after praying for dinner that day, the bowl in front of her disappeared. Her mother said, "God has eaten up your meal." Cai smiled bitterly.
“How could you thank God while I have worked hard to raise you and cook meals for you?"
There was such a fiasco during dinner again in the following few days. The little brother said, “It was my sister who cooked the meals, wasn’t it?" As soon as his mother heard it, she was as fierce as a female tiger, "Shut up, don't you want to eat?" The younger brother made a smiling face, "I’ll eat. My sister is too bad. Mom is the best."
There were snacks in Cai’s room and it was also fine for her to eat after her mother went to bed, but she felt uncomfortable.
Although her mother behaved like this, Cai would bring gifts to her mother after taking a tour. When she came home, she also tried her best to do housework. She even took part of her monthly salary to her mother to make ends meet. Cai believed that although her mother was not the best mother, she had risked her death to give birth to her. Therefore, her mother must get the most beautiful blessing in her life.
Cai also asked for help from her father, because she believed that as long as her father who did business in Europe and America spoke a word, her mother would not oppose her believing in Jesus or toss her around at the dinner table. But unexpectedly, her father said that faith was her own business, and she must convince her mother by herself. What was more, her father said that he also needed her action.
When Cai opened her eyes again, she found that the drumsticks were still on the plate. Her little brother blinked at her. Her mother gave her a cold look and said fiercely, "Why don’t you eat? Shall I feed you?"
Her tears flowed out.
She went over and put her arms around her mother. "Mom, I love you."
"Hypocritical!" her mother replied.
- Translated by Tracy Ye
