Share to: Comments welcome, I would like to comment. There are three elderly people in the family, and Mr. Nie now spends money to hire a nanny who takes care of buying groceries, cooking, and washing clothes during the day. Grandma Fei has a good personality, and all the young maids in the house love chatting with her.
□ Intern: Chen Yunwen, Correspondent: Tao Guangbo, Zhang Xia, Reporter: Yang Saijun
When we arrived at Mr. Nie's home in the Guangdian neighborhood on Lujiang Road in the afternoon, 90-year-old Grandma Fei had just taken a short nap. At this time, Mrs. Zhang, Mr. Nie's wife, had already placed the fruit on the table and took out an orange to peel it, handing each segment to Grandma Fei’s hand. Seeing this scene, the reporter found it hard to believe that they were not related by blood. In fact, Grandma Fei was originally just a nanny in Mr. Nie's family, but the relationship between the nanny and the employer was as close as a real family.
"I'm here because I don't want to be a burden to their family, sorry about that," Grandma Fei told the reporter. Relatives from her hometown always come over to find help from Mr. Nie's family whenever they have any issues. Whether it's for medical treatment, job hunting, or other matters, even when the elder came to visit Beijing on New Year's Eve and got lost, the Nie family always helped take care of everything big and small. When Grandma Fei's son was still alive, Mr. Nie sometimes went to Anqing to visit and provided some financial support. As early as 1982, Mr. Nie transferred Grandma Fei's household registration to his own household book, making her part of his family. Everything the host family did deeply moved Grandma Fei.
■ Fifty years of harmonious coexistence ■ The nanny's household registration also moved over
A ninety-year-old nanny becomes one with the family
"Grandma is very kind. We used to live in the Provincial Party Committee compound, and all the children in the building liked to play with her. When Grandma first came, my eldest son was in elementary school, and now my youngest grandson is studying for his master's degree." Mr. Nie told the reporter that for more than fifty years, the family's way of addressing Grandma Fei has changed many times, from Auntie Fei, Old Fei, Elder Sister Fei to the current common title of Grandma by everyone in the family. The family has completely regarded Grandma Fei as their own family member. "No matter which child comes back, the first thing they do upon returning home is to go to Grandma's room to find her, and they often buy nutritional supplements and other good things for the elderly. All our family members respect Grandma greatly, and her long life is our happiness."
Grandma Fei has always suffered from heart disease, and not long ago, her heart condition flared up again. Mr. Nie and his wife were extremely worried, quickly taking her to the hospital, buying medicine, and Mr. Nie didn’t sleep all night, watching over Grandma carefully, fearing anything might happen during the night.
Since coming to work as a nanny for the Nie family in 1960, more than fifty years have passed. During this period, the Nie family moved from the Provincial Party Committee compound to the Guangdian neighborhood, but Grandma Fei never left this family. Ninety-year-old Grandma Fei is a pitiful old woman. She is from the Shan Nan Township of Fei Xi County. From a young age, she was sold to another family as a child bride, suffering much pain and torment. Later, she had a son with her husband, but her status at home never improved, and she endured beatings and scolding without ever having a single good day. It wasn't until after the national liberation that Grandma Fei escaped and started working as a nanny in Hefei.
Nanny: Caring attentively for fifty years
"I am just an old bone now, I can't do anything anymore, I really don't want to be a burden to them," Grandma Fei told the reporter. In her seventies, she could no longer do heavy work like washing clothes and cooking. Family members wouldn’t let her do these tasks, and she began to think about leaving. Her son lived in Anqing, and the family conditions were poor. A few years ago, her son passed away, and her daughter-in-law had no job. Grandma Fei's idea of leaving was strongly opposed by the Nie family. To make Grandma Fei feel comfortable staying at home, the entire Nie family treated her even better and promised to take care of her until the end of her days.
Employer: Trust and intimacy move people
"At that time, our country's population was small, and the state encouraged having more children, so there was a regulation that if you had one child, you could hire a nanny," Mr. Nie told the reporter. He and his wife had three children, one daughter, and two sons. Back then, both Mr. Nie and his wife were busy with work, and the responsibility of taking care of the children fell on Grandma Fei. "All three children were raised by her, and the kids were closer to Grandma than to us," Mr. Nie said. Grandma Fei was particularly kind-hearted and took meticulous care of the children. Due to Grandma Fei's careful care, Mr. Nie and his wife saved a lot of energy and focused on their work.