谁在替你写信？《给阿嬷的情书》

It's called Letters to Grandma.

Have you heard of it?

It's okay if you haven't.

Today I'll tell you about it.

This is a grandma's story.

It's also a friend's story.

It's also a story about writing letters.

The grandma in the story is called Shurou.

She lives in southern China, in a place called Chaoshan.

Chaoshan is a region in Guangdong.

Her husband went to Thailand many years ago.

At that time, many people from southern China went to Thailand to find work.

They worked there, then sent the money they earned back to their families in China.

But some of them, they went, and never came back.

Shurou's husband was one of these.

Not long after he reached Thailand, he was gone.

He had passed away.

Nobody told Shurou.

She always thought he was still alive.

Why?

Because someone kept writing her letters.

Someone kept sending her money.

That person used her husband's name.

But in fact, that person was someone else.

It was a friend of her husband in Thailand.

A woman called Nanzhi.

Nanzhi was also of Chinese descent.

She grew up in Thailand from childhood.

She knew: Shurou's husband was already gone.

But she thought:

back in China, there's still grandma.

There's still grandma's child.

How will they manage?

So Nanzhi decided:

I'll do the writing.

I'll write in his name.

I'll send money in his name.

I won't tell the family in China.

And so, Nanzhi wrote for thirty years.

Thirty years, almost one letter every month.

Thirty years, almost some money every month.

Shurou used this money to send her child to school.

The child went to college.

The child got a job.

Things slowly got better at home.

Shurou didn't know:

the man she waited thirty years for had already gone.

She didn't know:

the person writing the letters was actually another woman.

She didn't know:

those words, that money, those "I love you, I miss you"s,

none were her husband's.

They were all Nanzhi's.

Later, grandma's grandson, called Xiaowei,

he had some things going on and needed money.

He went to Thailand, wanting to find his grandfather.

He'd heard grandpa was rich there.

But he didn't find grandpa.

He found Nanzhi.

Nanzhi told him:

your grandpa has been gone for thirty years.

I'm the one who wrote those letters to your grandma.

I'm the one who sent that money.

Xiaowei cried for a long time after hearing this.

He went back to China.

He told grandma.

When I was watching the movie, I really wanted to know:

how would grandma react after hearing all this?

Would she be angry?

Would she cry?

Would she feel those thirty years were wasted?

But in the movie,

grandma didn't do anything.

She just stood up and went to check the food.

She said: if the food gets cold, it won't taste good.

Just that one line.

I cried right then.

Because I suddenly understood:

it's not that she didn't know.

She just didn't care.

She didn't care whether the person writing the letters was her husband.

She said:

Nanzhi is my good friend.

Nanzhi is also my family.

These thirty years of mine,

weren't lived by one person.

They were lived by two people together.

By Shurou and Nanzhi, together.

This movie has no big events.

No fights, no competitions, no important figures.

Just writing letters, sending money, making food.

But it's these small things

that are real love.

Real friendship.

Real family.

So I want to tell you:

if you're looking for a movie to watch lately,

please watch Letters to Grandma.

While you watch, bring extra tissues.

You will definitely cry.

But after crying,

you'll feel:

between people,

it's not only blood relatives who are family.

Thirty years of friendship can also be family.

Even if you've never met in person.

Okay.

That's all for today.

Talk tomorrow.