North Family Letters

The earthquake warning was completely lifted, the shop's lights came on again, and life returned to normal. But this peace was shattered just a few days later by a sudden phone call.

That evening, the iron pots in the kitchen were still steaming, and the dishes in the front hall had just been cleared away when Qiuju's phone suddenly rang urgently. The caller ID showed it was a distant relative from her hometown. The relative spoke hesitantly, finally explaining that her father had fallen ill and been hospitalized, and his condition was not good.

The moment the news broke, the lively atmosphere in the store instantly turned cold.

Song Chunyan dropped the rag in her hand with a "thud" to the ground, her face instantly darkening. Qiu Ju leaned against the wall, unable to recover for a long time. Xia He stood to the side, her originally gentle gaze turning cold, and Lao Si turned his head away.

Only the fifth and sixth brothers turned pale instantly, and their eyes reddened immediately.

Over the years, others only knew that the six sisters had become estranged from their father, but few knew the real reason—

My mother passed away suddenly, and my father hurriedly found a new partner right after the funeral. At that time, my eldest sister Chunyan, Qiuju, Xiahe, and the fourth sister were all growing up. I could not bear to see my mother's body barely cold before my father found someone else to accompany him.

Within a few years, her four older sisters got married one after another and moved away from the home that no longer held their mother's presence. Their contact with their father also became increasingly distant. They made fewer phone calls and went home even less often. It wasn't that they were heartless; it was that every time they faced their father and his new partner, they couldn't help but think of their deceased mother, and their hearts felt like they had a block of ice that couldn't be melted.

Only the fifth and sixth children were young at the time, had nowhere to go, and were not capable of venturing out on their own, so they lived with their father and later their stepmother.

They are the only ones among the sisters who are still by their father's side.

Over the years, I have silently watched my father grow older day by day and his life not be very smooth.

"Sister..." The fifth brother's voice trembled as he grabbed Qiuju's arm, "Dad hasn't had it easy these past years either..."

The sixth son nodded in agreement, tears streaming down his face: "Dad has always cared about you all, but he was too proud to admit it."

But these words only elicited a silent sigh from the older sisters.

The hatred is real, the resentment is real.

She resented that he remarried too quickly and forgot the good things about her mother;

They resented him for giving his attention to others when they needed their father's love the most.

"It's not that we don't feel heartache," Chunyan's voice was deep and hoarse, "but who knows how we got through those days after Mom passed away?"

Qiuju also spoke softly: "Over the years, we've each started our own families and supported ourselves. We've long since gotten used to not relying on anyone else."

Xia He sighed, "I still have to go, he is still my father after all. But fifth and sixth sons, only you two understand his life these past years. We... really can't get close to each other anymore."

The fourth brother didn't say anything, but his eyes reddened.

They are daughters and have the duty to be filial, but the estrangement between them and their father, and the sense of indebtedness they feel towards their mother, cannot be easily erased by an illness.

The next morning, the six sisters packed their things, closed their shop, and rushed to the hospital together.

Throughout the journey, the four older sisters remained silent, their hearts filled with long-standing grievances.

Only the fifth and sixth sons were restless, their hearts filled with worry about their father's illness.

Once a family, it was torn in two by the mother's departure and the father's remarriage.

Half of them were sisters who had left, carrying resentment.

Half of them are younger sisters who were forced to stay with their father.

It was only when the father fell ill this time that these two halves of the family were forcibly pulled back onto the same path.

A hospital bed separated by half a lifetime

The ward was on the third floor of the inpatient department. The corridor was filled with the smell of disinfectant and a faint medicine, mixed with the cool sunlight coming in from the window, making it hard to breathe.

When the six sisters pushed open the door, the person on the hospital bed had his eyes half-open, his face was sallow, his cheekbones were high and prominent, his hair was so white it was glaring, and even his breathing was somewhat labored.

That was their father.

His once straight back had collapsed, his strong brows and eyes had sagged; he was no longer the man who could support the entire family and whose words carried weight. The fifth and sixth sons hurried to the bedside, gently took their father's withered hand, and said in choked voices, "Dad, we're here."

The father's eyes moved, and his gaze swept laboriously over everyone before finally settling on his four daughters whom he hadn't seen in a long time. His lips moved, but he couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time; only murky tears slowly slid down from the corners of his eyes.

Standing behind, Song Chunyan gripped the hem of her clothes tightly with her fingertips, her knuckles turning white. Qiu Ju turned her face away, looking at the bare branches outside the window. The ice that had been frozen in her heart for many years seemed to have been burned open by this scene, causing a dull ache.

Xia He sighed softly, while the fourth brother hung his head and remained silent.

The stepmother stood up, looking exhausted with bloodshot eyes, clearly having kept watch for several nights. She looked at the sisters, her tone hesitant and tinged with helplessness: "You've come... These past few days, he's been calling your names at night, tossing and turning, but he just can't bring himself to call you."

No one responded.

The air was awkwardly quiet, broken only by the rhythmic beeping of the monitor, each tick a pounding on one's heart.

"A few years ago, he would always wander around the old street area," his stepmother lowered her voice, "and if he saw your shop open, he would stand at a distance and watch for a while, never daring to come closer. He said he was afraid you would bother him, afraid you wouldn't want to see him."

The fifth child wiped away his tears and added softly, "Dad remembers your birthdays every year, but he never dares to call. He only lets my sixth sister and me secretly ask how you are doing."

Qiuju felt a tightness in her chest.

Over the years, she had only cared about her own life and her longing for her mother, shutting herself out of everything about her father. She thought her father had long forgotten them, that he had a new partner and a new life, and would never think of his former children again.

She never imagined that he would stand at a distance, silently watching her little shop and her life, not daring to get any closer.

"Back then... it was my fault."

The father on the hospital bed suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse and dry, each word seeming to be squeezed out of his throat, "Your mother left so suddenly, I panicked, I lost my mind... I didn't consider your feelings, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry to your mother..."

Before he could finish speaking, he began to cough violently, his body trembling uncontrollably.

The fifth and sixth brothers quickly reached out to pat him on the back, while the older sisters stood there, their eyes all red.

All those years of resentment, hatred, and deliberate estrangement suddenly lost their sharp edges at this moment.

They resented his heartlessness and hated his hasty remarriage, but in the end, he was just a man who had lost his wife and was desperate; a father who was growing old and full of guilt, but who was too proud to apologize.

Mother is gone, family is broken up, but blood ties can never be severed.

Song Chunyan stepped forward, picked up the water glass from the bedside, poured half a glass of warm water, and handed it to her stepmother. Her voice was still hoarse, but less cold: "You've had a hard time these past few days."

With just one simple sentence, he loosened his grip and gave this long-standing stalemate a way out.

Qiuju looked at her frail father on the hospital bed, then at her sisters with their varied expressions, and took a deep breath.

I used to think that I couldn't get over this hurdle, that I couldn't get rid of this thorn. But when faced with life and death, all those resentments and hatreds seemed to lighten up.

The light in front of the hospital bed wasn't bright, but it illuminated the six sisters together.

After half a lifetime of estrangement and resentment, after countless days and nights of longing and indebtedness, in this small hospital room, there was finally a sign of melting away.

Some debts must eventually be repaid.

Some feelings, you just have to face them eventually.

And this home, which has been torn in two, may slowly begin to come together from this moment on.