Now, Mr. Wu Dejun and Mrs. Yang Ai Yun are 67 and 66 years old respectively, but every day they feed their son first before they eat themselves. When it comes to their son's future, the faces of Mr. Wu Dejun and Mrs. Yang Ai Yun, filled with wrinkles, show helplessness.
Their son is 42 years old, an age when he should be taking care of his parents; the parents are nearing seventy, an age when they should be enjoying their retirement. However, such a scene is almost a luxury for the Wu Dejun family in Hu Zhuang Village, Li Tianlou Township, Shan County.
Mr. Wu Dejun's son, Wu Fuming, cannot take care of himself at all. Despite being nearly seventy, Mr. Wu Dejun and Mrs. Yang Ai Yun carefully take care of him without any slack or rest. This child, who was once predicted not to live past 18, has grown up under the care of his parents for 42 years.
"In order to treat our son, we have spent a lot of money, and couldn't do the work on our land. Sometimes we went hungry to treat him, but we never gave up," Mrs. Yang Ai Yun recalled the old days. Mr. Wu Dejun sat on the bed facing away from the reporter, head down, silent.
"When he was born, we felt he was different from other children. His arms and legs were soft, and it was hard to dress him," Mrs. Yang Ai Yun recalled, "When he was about six or seven months old, he didn't learn to sit like other children, and at that time, we didn't know what was wrong with him."
"Even if we were starving, we still had to treat him"
The low earthen house, dim rooms, drafty windows... On the noon of the 12th, snowflakes were falling, and the cold wind was blowing tightly. The reporter came to Mr. Wu Dejun's home in Hu Zhuang Village, Li Tianlou Township, Shan County, where the whole family was gathered around the table eating.
"When he was a child, some doctors said he wouldn't live past 18, but now he is 42!" Mrs. Yang Ai Yun choked up, her eyes moistened, "Although he can't talk, he understands everything in his heart. We want him to live happily this way."
"Now he is completely unable to take care of himself, and he can't walk at all. For 42 years, he has been fed three meals a day." Mrs. Yang Ai Yun said helplessly.
No matter how hard it was, for more than 40 years, Mr. and Mrs. Yang Ai Yun never scolded or hit Wu Fuming. They would only go to sleep after their son fell asleep.
"For 42 years, he has been fed three meals a day"
On one side of the table, Wu Dejun's son, Wu Fuming, was sitting on a specially made stool, his hands hanging loosely. Seeing the reporter, his head kept swaying towards the pot, and he kept saying something like "ah ah".
"He wants you to feed him," Wu Fuming's mother, Mrs. Yang Ai Yun, said to the reporter.
"As long as we are alive for one more day, we will take care of him for one more day"
Ten years ago, Wu Fuming took a pack of rat poison from the window sill of his house. Because his hands were weak, the rat poison scattered on the ground, and Wu Fuming licked the paper wrapped around the rat poison, but nothing serious happened. Since then, Mrs. Yang Ai Yun no longer dared to buy rat poison, and even pesticides were placed in high places.
This unwavering affection composes a song of life continuation.
It is often said that raising children is for old-age security, but the current Wu Fuming has never given a drink of water to his parents. Many people have asked them, "You have raised him for more than 40 years. Not only has he not suffered, but he hasn't even called you 'Mom' or 'Dad'. Don't you feel it's not worth it?" Mrs. Yang Ai Yun said, "As long as we are still alive, we will take care of him for one more day."
The elderly couple always believed that their son would get better, seeking medical treatment everywhere and looking for folk remedies, "but in the end, there was no result."
"Now we are just worried that if we are gone, what will happen to him, who will take care of him?" The couple, Mr. and Mrs. Yang Ai Yun, are very concerned about their son's future, "Now we just hope that we can live one more day than our son, so that after sending off our son, we can leave peacefully."