Sunset

Author: Fang Fang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Fang Fang doesn’t seem to be writing; she’s clearly carving her characters into our hearts with a knife. Her characters and their stories occupy our memory without, and after endless revisions and layers of additions, they still shine vividly. Grandmother Ding Tai was once a young lady from a wealthy merchant family. She was smart and beautiful. But within a short time, her mother ran off with all her belongings, and her father died without a proper burial. She had no choice but to drop out of high school and go to her aunt’s house to earn money to pay off debts. Then, she quickly found a husband. But before her second son was even born, her husband had an accident. At that time, Ding Tai was only 24 years old. But to take care of her child wholeheartedly, she remained a widow. To raise her child to adulthood, Ding Tai did everything, even picking up garbage on the street. Now, both her sons have started their own families, and they have grandchildren and great-grandchildren, making it a four-generation household. Ding Tai naturally and without complaint raised one child after another, took on all the household chores, and even found joy in it. But gradually, Ding Tai realized that she had slowly become a burden. The family, from her sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and granddaughters, had all come to believe that without Ding Tai, they could live a better life. And this thought turned into mutual competition and one after another of joint conspiracies. Finally, one day, unable to bear it any longer, Ding Tai drank "DDVP." Everyone celebrated in silence, feeling incredibly relieved. Unbeknownst to them, the decisive Ding Tai, at this moment, seemed to be deliberately dragging things out. The hospital became a daily waiting ground, and the family had no choice but to slowly sink from their carefree mindset of life without Ding Tai. From the impending medical bills to future custody issues, the Ding brothers thought more and more about the consequences. In the end, they acted as both director and actor, pushing the situation to a climax. Ding Tai, who didn’t even close her eyes in death, was pushed to the crematorium. The crematorium lost power. The next day, as the family was grandly arranging the funeral, Ding Tai finally managed to cry out. The carefully constructed story fell apart. When Ding Tai, who was still relieved to be alive, learned the truth, she left without hesitation. At her grandson Cheng Cheng and granddaughter Xiu Xiu’s, the exposure of the conspiracy gave them an awakening to humanity and family. But for her second son Ding Rulong, it was as if everything had just begun, and more conspiracies were slowly unfolding.