Which is more important for Chinese parents?? Moeny or Children??

Tweet

days before I received an email from an old friend with whom we lost in touch for a long time. While reading, I was really sad about the situation between he and his family. The story goes like this - He is the only boy in his family and you know, most families in China have only one child since 1980s because of the policy of "family planning" launched by the Government. They live in the countryside. People there are all conservative and somewhat over-saving. For saving money, they can stand everything include those you can't imagine. He went out for making his living in a northern city - far from home when he was only 16 years old. At first 4 years, his father went to that city twice while his mother only could see her dearest son in Spring Festival. Later, they had a telephone themself and he made a call home every one month. Now 5 years passed. He told me that his parents never made a call to him though he had told them his phone number the first time he bought the CP. "They always complaine soooo much about my few calls to home but why they not call me when they miss me?? Can you imagine that during this 5 years, they had never called me even for once no matter what happened at home? They blame me as a heartless child for the fewer calls but why they not ask themselves by not calling their only child when he is struggling alone outside, even just a 'how are you'? They are never out of that countryside so they don't know how hard it is to live on in this crule society. Yes I know they love me, they always miss me. So do I~ We are not rich you know, but I can't imagine that the reason they not call me is only for saving money~ Can you tell me how much does it cost to make a long-distance call?? 3 minutes is okay. I'm not a long-winded man you know ......" At last, he told me that he hadn't made any call to his parents in the past several months, and would not in the coming months. He said that he even would not like to come back for Spring Festival......"They just made me like a piddling person....while thinking about to make a call home, I just could not help thinking that I was nothing to them......." His words just reminded me that seemed I had never received any call from my parents since I was out not only for studay but for working. My little sister always sent me messages since she entered college. But my parents....NEVER~ Once I asked my mother at the phone why she never made a phonecall to me since she missed me so much. Guess what she replied?? "what a waste! We all know that you 'll call home every two weeks. Why should we waste our money??" What can I say?? We cannot say that our parents not love us. Yes, indeed they love us, in the way that we cannot accept or cannot understand. So called "Generation Gap"?? We cannot imagine what a hard life the last genereation experienced so, we cannot understand the way they treat money. Sometimes I even feel that in our parents' eyes, nothing is important than the Money, even their children. Yes, they love us. But they love money more~