Shi Sui

An ordinary, rural family in Zhaixia Village, Heping County, Guangdong Province. After my family abandoned farming the hillside fields, we only had half an acre of land left. Someone wanted to buy this field to build a house, but my mother refused. She still wants to farm. My father, a very quiet man, is a bricklayer. During the slack season, he earns a living by building houses for others. After my graduation from college, I did not want to get a job in the city like other people do; instead, I went back to my village to interview old people about the "Three Years of Famine" of 1959-1961. My parents were very worried about me not working and not getting married. One day, my father fell from the second floor of a house he was building. He injured his arm and waist badly. We had to borrow money to pay for his operation. After my father was discharged, he couldn't work like he had before. I felt too guilty to face my parents, so I decided to leave the village again. In order to pay the hospital debts, my parents sold their last field. To earn a living and support the family, my mother decided to look for a job. (Verleiher-Text)