We have, a leech here, translated…
Since my husband started getting his first paycheck, he’d started setting aside an amount to give to my in-laws, and, every year around the New Year’s, he’d given them red envelopes too; but, my eldest brother-in-law, however, had, never given my mother-in-law a single dime, so, my mother-in-law often felt embarrassed, for how we took care of everything, because her eldest didn’t bring a dime home to them, and, it’s their, youngest son who’d taken care of them.
the “child” in this article is NOT this young, by the way…
Although, whether or not we’d set aside an amount to give to our parents is a personal choice, but my mother-in-law, was a tax write-off from my husband’s eldest brother’s family at tax season. Reason being, that the old apartment in my mother-in-law’s name, a few years ago, my eldest brother-in-law had put up the money for the remodeling, and after the rooms were set up, he’d rented it out to other people, and, allowed his tenants to itemize on their tax returns, and, in order to save up on the taxes, he’d asked us to allow him to get listed as the primary caregiver of my mother-in-law. And before this, we’d bought an insurance policy in my mother-in-law’s name, and now, we’re paying the fees, with my husband’s eldest brother turned into the beneficiary.
And, my eldest mother-in-law would always mention intentionally, that how she’d spent all her money on her kids from before, that life was not at all easy, but, if she didn’t pay for her children’s afterschool courses, they will, do badly, and, my mother-in-law, with her bleeding heart, after she’d received my monthly allowances to her, would immediately take out $5,000N.T.s, and said to my eldest brother-in-law’s son, “Study hard, grandma will pay for your tuition for cram school!”, and handed the money to my husband’s eldest brother’s son, and, I’m pretty certain, that each time she’d given the money to him, she’d done it when I was there, because she’d not wanted to keep this away from me!
Naturally, we have NO say, in how she spent the money we’d given to her, I’d not had anything to say, but, seeing how my husband’s eldest brother’s family, who’d cried about how poor they all are, dressed in name brands, and their son was wearing a pair of limited edition sneakers that cost a few thousand dollars, and every long holiday, would head out with his family on vacation, comparing to how we lived our lives so plainly, my sense of unfairness and that sense of feeling uneven surfaced.
what kind of values are you teaching your sons, huh??? Not my photograph.
Actually, my husband’s eldest brother’s family had about the same income as us, plus the rents, they’d made, more than we do. And, as children, giving some money to the parents to spend, as a way of repaying them for raising us, I’d not objected, and believed it to be natural too, but, in the reality, it’d made me feel, that it’s so unfair, in what’s happening, to my family, versus my eldest brother-in-law’s family.
So, this, would often BE the case, because the mothers hovered over their firstborn sons so, and, made all the rest of the younger children, pay for their livelihood, while giving the money that was, supposed for their spending needs, to their eldest sons or daughters, and this, is just, totally, UNFAIR, and yet, there’s, NOTHING we can do about that!!!
Life, the Obstacle Course 