一封侨批写了三十年：《给阿嬷的情书》

一部用潮汕话拍的电影，

A film shot entirely in the Teochew dialect

全国票房超过了四个亿。

has earned over four hundred million yuan nationwide.

这部电影，叫《给阿嬷的情书》。

The film is called Letters to Grandma.

没有大明星。

No big stars.

没有很多广告。

No big advertising campaign.

没有大的钱投在上面。

No big money behind it.

但是它出来不到三个星期，

But within three weeks of its release,

进了2026年的票房前八。

it cracked the top eight of the 2026 box office.

为什么？

Why?

今天我想跟你说说这个电影，

Today I want to tell you about this film,

也想跟你说说电影后面的一个东西，

and also tell you about the thing behind the film,

叫做"侨批"。

called "qiao pi."

先说故事。

First, the story.

电影的奶奶叫淑柔。

The grandma in the film is called Shurou.

她住在中国南方，广东的潮汕。

She lives in southern China, in Chaoshan, Guangdong.

她的丈夫几十年前就去了泰国工作。

Her husband went to Thailand for work decades ago.

那个年代，

In that era,

潮汕很多男人都下南洋。

many Teochew men went down to Nanyang.

"下南洋"，

"Going down to Nanyang"

就是从中国南方坐船去东南亚找工作。

means taking a boat from southern China to Southeast Asia to find work.

泰国，是其中一个最多人去的地方。

Thailand was one of the most common destinations.

他们去那里做最苦的工作，

They went there to do the hardest labor,

然后把赚到的钱，寄回中国的家。

then sent the money they earned back to their families in China.

那时候，没有电话，没有微信。

At that time, there were no telephones, no WeChat.

他们怎么寄钱？

How did they send money?

怎么写信？

How did they write letters?

就是用一种叫"侨批"的东西。

They used something called "qiao pi."

"侨"，是华侨的侨，

"Qiao" is the qiao in 'huaqiao' (overseas Chinese),

就是住在国外的中国人。

meaning Chinese people living abroad.

"批"，在潮汕话里就是"信"。

"Pi," in Teochew, means "letter."

所以"侨批"，就是华侨从国外寄回家的信。

So "qiao pi" is the letter an overseas Chinese sends home from abroad.

但它不只是一封信。

But it isn't just a letter.

它还带着钱。

It also carries money.

信和钱，一起寄回来。

The letter and money, sent home together.

这是潮汕地方一种很特别的文化。

This is a very special culture of the Chaoshan region.

一百多年里，

For over a hundred years,

一封一封的侨批，

each qiao pi

是潮汕家里的妻子，

was the most important connection

和在南洋的丈夫之间，

between the wives in Chaoshan

最重要的联系。

and the husbands in Nanyang.

但是有的男人，

But some of these men,

去了不久，就不在了。

not long after arriving, were gone.

是死在那边了。

They had died over there.

和他一起去的潮汕同乡，

The Teochew compatriots who'd traveled with them

不想告诉中国家里的妻子和孩子。

didn't want to tell the wives and children back in China.

他们决定：

They decided:

我们替他写。

we'll write in his place.

他们用他的名字。

They used his name.

他们写：

They wrote:

我有钱了。

I have money now.

我给你寄钱。

I'll send you money.

我爱你。

I love you.

我想你。

I miss you.

有时候，他们替他写了五年。

Sometimes, they wrote in his place for five years.

有时候，他们替他写了三十年。

Sometimes, for thirty years.

《给阿嬷的情书》的故事，

The story of Letters to Grandma

就是从这样一封假的侨批开始的。

begins from one of these fake qiao pi.

电影里有三个主要的人。

There are three main characters in the film.

第一个，是奶奶淑柔。

The first is grandma Shurou.

她在中国的家里，等了很多年。

She waited for many years in her home in China.

她以为她的丈夫还在泰国。

She thought her husband was still in Thailand.

她以为他每个月给她寄信。

She thought he was sending letters every month.

她以为他每个月给她寄钱。

She thought he was sending money every month.

她不知道：

She didn't know:

他三十年前就走了。

he had been gone for thirty years.

第二个，是她的丈夫，木生。

The second is her husband, Musheng.

他下了南洋，

He went down to Nanyang,

就没有回来。

and never came back.

第三个，是南枝。

The third is Nanzhi.

南枝是华人。

Nanzhi was of Chinese descent.

她从小就在泰国长大。

She grew up in Thailand from childhood.

她和木生是好朋友。

She and Musheng were good friends.

木生不在以后，

After Musheng was gone,

南枝就决定：

Nanzhi decided:

她要替木生写。

she would write in Musheng's place.

她要替木生寄钱。

She would send money in Musheng's place.

她不告诉中国的家里。

She wouldn't tell the family in China.

她写了三十年。

She wrote for thirty years.

南枝在泰国，

Nanzhi, in Thailand,

她不结婚。

never married.

她不要孩子。

She didn't have children.

她做一些小买卖，

She ran small businesses,

她把赚的钱，

and the money she earned,

差不多一半，

about half of it,

都寄给了在中国的淑柔。

she sent to Shurou in China.

她从来没有见过淑柔。

She had never met Shurou.

她不认识淑柔的孩子。

She didn't know Shurou's child.

她不认识淑柔的孙子。

She didn't know Shurou's grandchild.

她什么都没有得到。

She got nothing in return.

但是她坚持了三十年。

But she kept it up for thirty years.

现在电影里，奶奶老了。

Now in the film, grandma is old.

南枝也老了。

Nanzhi is old too.

木生早就不在了。

Musheng has been gone for a long time.

奶奶的孙子，晓伟，

Grandma's grandson, Xiaowei,

他自己在外面有一些问题，

has some problems of his own,

他到了泰国，

and he goes to Thailand

想找他的爷爷拿钱。

to find his grandfather and ask for money.

他听说，爷爷在泰国是个很有钱的人。

He'd heard his grandpa was a wealthy man in Thailand.

但是他找到的，

But what he finds

不是他的爷爷。

is not his grandfather.

是南枝。

It's Nanzhi.

南枝看见晓伟，

The moment Nanzhi sees Xiaowei,

就知道他是淑柔的孙子。

she knows he is Shurou's grandson.

她终于告诉了晓伟三十年来的真相。

She finally tells him the thirty-year truth.

她说：

She says:

你的爷爷已经不在了三十年。

your grandpa has been gone for thirty years.

是我替他写的信。

I'm the one who wrote those letters in his place.

是我替他寄的钱。

I'm the one who sent that money in his place.

晓伟听完，

Xiaowei, after hearing this,

哭了很久很久。

cried for a long, long time.

他回到了中国，

He went back to China,

他告诉了奶奶。

and he told grandma.

最让我感动的，

What moved me most

是奶奶后来做的事。

was what grandma did next.

奶奶没有哭。

Grandma didn't cry.

奶奶没有生气。

Grandma wasn't angry.

奶奶站起来，

Grandma stood up,

去看了一下她做的菜。

and went to check the food she'd been cooking.

她说：

She said:

菜冷了，就不好吃了。

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

就这一句话。

Just that one line.

我看到这里，

When I got to this scene,

也哭了很久。

I cried for a long time too.

因为我突然懂了：

Because I suddenly understood:

奶奶其实早就知道。

grandma actually knew long ago.

或者，至少她已经接受了。

Or, at the very least, she had accepted it.

她不在乎那个写信的人，是不是她的丈夫。

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

她在乎的是：

What she cared about was:

有人，在那三十年里，

that someone, in those thirty years,

没有让她一个人。

hadn't let her be alone.

她说：

She said:

南枝是我的好朋友。

Nanzhi is my good friend.

南枝也是我的家人。

Nanzhi is also my family.

她说：

She said:

我这三十年，

my thirty years

不是一个人过的。

weren't lived by one person.

是两个女人，一起过的。

They were lived by two women, together.

这就是电影的力量。

This is the power of the film.

它不大声地说什么大的事。

It doesn't loudly proclaim any great event.

它只是慢慢地告诉你：

It just slowly tells you:

真正的爱，

real love

不一定是夫妻。

doesn't have to be marriage.

真正的爱，

Real love

不一定要见过面。

doesn't have to have ever met face to face.

真正的家人，

Real family

不一定是有血关系的人。

isn't always blood.

真正的家人，

Real family

是三十年里，没有让你一个人的人。

is the person who, in those thirty years, didn't let you be alone.

电影外面，

Outside the film,

导演蓝鸿春说：

director Lan Hongchun said:

他为了拍这个电影，

to make this film,

去看了三百个家庭，

he visited three hundred families,

看了十二万封真的侨批。

and read one hundred and twenty thousand real qiao pi.

他用了二十多年，准备这个故事。

He spent over twenty years preparing this story.

他说：

He said:

潮汕的每一个村子，

every village in Chaoshan

都有一个像淑柔一样的女人。

has a woman like Shurou.

她们的丈夫去了南洋，

Their husbands went to Nanyang,

没有回来。

and never came back.

她们等了很多年。

They waited for many years.

她们最后才知道：

They only learned at the end:

等的，其实是别的人。

the one they were waiting for was actually someone else.

所以这个电影，

So this film

不只是一个电影。

is more than just a film.

它是一段历史。

It is a piece of history.

它是潮汕的历史。

It is the history of Chaoshan.

它是中国南方下南洋的历史。

It is the history of southern China going down to Nanyang.

它是一些女人，

It is the story of women

被那个年代留在中国，

left behind in China by that era,

然后用一封一封的信，

who then, one letter at a time,

过了很多年的故事。

lived through many years.

最后，我想问你一个问题：

Finally, I want to ask you a question:

你的家里，

in your family,

有没有一个这样的人？

is there a person like this?

她可能不是你的奶奶。

She might not be your grandma.

她可能不是你的妈妈。

She might not be your mom.

她可能是别人。

She might be someone else.

但是她在那很长的时间里，

But in those long years,

没有让你一个人。

she didn't let you be alone.

如果有，

If there is,

请你今天，

please today,

给她打一个电话。

give her a call.

告诉她：

Tell her:

我记得。

I remember.

谢谢你听到这里。

Thank you for listening this far.

我们下个故事见。

See you in the next story.