Three Bags of Rice's Story, I Cried Upon Finishing (This Text is Priceless)

Day after day, year after year, as one after another award certificates covered the two dilapidated walls, the son grew taller and stronger like a spring bamboo shoot.

Looking at his son who was taller than himself, the mother's wrinkles around her eyes were full of smiles.

When the trees in the mountains turned golden in autumn, the son was admitted to the county's key middle school. However, the mother suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis, which prevented her from working in the fields, and sometimes she couldn't even afford a meal.

At that middle school, each student was required to donate 30 kilograms of rice per month to the school cafeteria. The son knew that his mother couldn't do it, so he said, 'Mother, I want to drop out of school to help you.'

The mother patted her son's head, lovingly saying, 'You have such a heart, I'm so happy, but studying is indispensable. Don't worry, I give birth to you, and I'll find a way to support you. You go to school first, and I'll send the rice later.'

The son stubbornly refused, and the mother said, 'Go, go,' but the son still refused, and the mother raised her sturdy hand and slapped him on the face. This was the first time the 16-year-old son was beaten at school…

The son finally went to school, and as he walked away, the mother silently contemplated.

Not long after, the main cafeteria of the county middle school welcomed the latecomer, the mother. She limped into the door, gasped for breath, and unloaded a bag of rice from her shoulders.

The scale recorder, Mr. Xiong, opened the bag, picked up a handful of rice, and frowned, 'You parents, always like to take a little advantage.'

Look, here is early rice, medium rice and late rice, and fine rice, it's like you're treating our cafeteria as a waste bin.

This mother blushed with shame and apologized. Mr. Xiong didn't say anything, and took the rice.

The mother took out a small cloth bag and said, 'Master Xiong, this is 5 yuan, this is my son's monthly living expenses, please transfer it to him.'

Mr. Xiong took it and shook it, the coins jingled, he joked, 'So, you're selling tea eggs on the street?' The mother's face flushed again, and she mumbled a thank you, and limped away.

A month before the beginning of the month, this mother carried a bag of rice into the cafeteria. Mr. Xiong checked the rice as usual, and was furious, 'I said, how can you stubborn parents be so unreasonable? Why is the rice still mixed?' You, how did you bring it back?

The mother somewhat nervously pleaded, 'Master Xiong, my rice is like this, what should I do?' Mr. Xiong couldn't help but laugh and asked, 'Your family can grow so many kinds of rice in a mu of land? It's really funny.'

The mother was silenced by his ridicule, and Mr. Xiong didn't say anything more.

In the early third month, this mother came again, and Mr. Xiong was furious when he checked the rice, almost losing his mind, he scolded,

I said, how can you stubborn parents be so unreasonable? Why is the rice still mixed? You, how did you bring it back?

The mother, having anticipated this, knelt down in front of Mr. Xiong, with tears streaming down her face, 'Master Xiong, I told you truthfully, my son wants to drop out of school to help me, I beat him at school…'

She explained again that she had concealed this from her neighbors, fearing that her son would be humiliated by the beating.

Every day at dawn, she would carry an empty rice bag and use a stick to quietly go to the village more than ten miles away to beg for food, and wouldn't return until it was dark.

She gathered the rice and delivered it to the school at the beginning of the month… The mother talked endlessly, and Mr. Xiong had already shed tears.

He helped her up and said, 'A good mother, I'll immediately tell the principal to donate money to your family.'

The mother waved her hands anxiously and said, 'No, no, if my son knows that I'm begging for food to support him, he'll be humiliated. It will affect his studies, it's not good. Master Xiong's kindness, I thank you, please keep it secret, remember!'

The mother left, limping away.

The principal eventually learned of this, but didn't make a fuss, and reduced the son's tuition and living expenses for three years under the guise of a poor student.

Three years later, the son was admitted to Tsinghua University with a score of 627.

On the day of the graduation ceremony, the county middle school held a grand celebration with music and drums, and the principal specially invited the son of the mother to stand on the rostrum for the first time, and curiously wondered: 'Why only invite me to stand on the rostrum?'

More surprisingly, three bags of rice were stacked on the rostrum. We don't know what the son was thinking at that moment, we believe that this tremor is no less than a tidal wave.

Then, Mr. Xiong came to the stage and told the story of the mother begging for food to support her son, and the audience was silent.

The principal pointed to the three bags of rice and passionately said, 'This is the rice that this mother earned with her money, this is the food that can't be bought with money. Next, please invite this great mother to the stage.'

The son curiously looked back, and saw Mr. Xiong supporting the mother to step onto the stage step by step. We don't know what the son was thinking at that moment, we believe that this tremor is no less than a tidal wave.

So, the most heartwarming scene in the world appeared, mother and son looked at each other, the mother's eyes were warm and gentle, a strand of gray hair was casually draped across her forehead, the son rushed forward to embrace her, crying hysterically, 'Mother, my mother!'

Three bags of rice represented a sky as big as heaven, as heavy as a mountain, mother's love. Perhaps not all parents are like this mother, struggling to build their children's sky.

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