Li Xia sat on the bus, looking at the neat high-rise buildings and hurried pedestrians outside the window, and her heart was full of mixed feelings. She is 53 years old this year, has been away from work for two years, and receives a pension of 2,500 yuan a month. Her husband, Liu Dong, is 3 years older than her and works as a welder in a stainless steel factory with a salary of only 5,800 yuan
Nowadays, mortgages, living expenses, and daily expenses will make their income and expenditure**, and the two of them are stretched thin. "Ding Dong - Quang Ninh Road has arrived!Li Xia staggered to her feet and got off the bus with a large bag. She is going to work as a cleaning aunt in the community, which is the first part-time job she found after retirement. Working from 9 to 5, plus various allowances, you can earn a total of 2,100 yuan a month. After that, she had to work harder and help carry vegetables in the market, all with two thin arms. "My wife works overtime in the factory, and I have to work three jobs, and we don't have a break 365 days a year. Li Xia said to herself. Together, she and her wife can earn a total of 7,000 yuan a month. 
This money is important to pay off the huge debt owed by my son as soon as possible due to the purchase of a house. Li Xia and her wife Liu Dong have a son named Xiao Ming, who is their only child. Xiao Ming has excellent grades since he was a child, and he has maintained the first grade in junior and senior high school, and is the star student of the school. Sure enough, after Xiao Ming's college entrance examination, he filled in the computer science major of Shanghai University that he had been dreaming of for a long time, and went straight to the graduate class of the university after graduating from the bachelor's degree. Seeing that his son is getting bigger and bigger, his parents are also beginning to worry about his marital house. Li Xia and Liu Dong began to calculate their savings, but the savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars were dwarfed in the expensive city of Shanghai. 
We have been frugal for decades, and it is only 500,000 yuan, and we can't even afford a toilet in Shanghai!Li Xia said to her wife. However, the woman's family urged her to buy a house, and her son also asked for funding. In desperation, Li Xia and his wife launched the "Money Saving Plan", in addition to all their savings, they also borrowed five or six hundred thousand yuan from relatives and friends, which was enough for the down payment of the house. "We worked hard all our lives and gave it all to our son. I think he will be filial and filial to our old couple in the future, right?Li Xia is still worried about the huge debt. She and her wife are fifty or sixty years old, and they wanted to live a clean life after retirement, but now they have to worry about repaying their debts, which is really embarrassing. Li Xia calculated that the debt of 500,000 yuan was astronomical for her and her wife. She took a simple notebook and calculated the repayment period one by one: the income of the two of them is about 100,000 yuan a year, and even the amount of food and drink is cut, and the tightening of the belt can make up to 10,000 yuan. If you want to pay off as soon as possible, the only way is to work again and make money. In this way, Li Xia began a rushing retirement life. At six o'clock in the morning, when everyone was asleep, she had already gotten up and packed herself up and hurried to the vegetable market to help. After an hour and a half of work, she earned a meagre 40 yuan in wages. After a short break at noon, she went to the community to clean up in the afternoon, and she could not breathe until it was dark. 
I'm so dizzy that I can't walk on my feet, so I still have the strength to go to a restaurant and wash the dishes. Li Xia rubbed her sore waist. But she had to go, because there were two thousand dollars a month. Husband Liu Dong also worked overtime to make money, and the husband and wife ran around day and night like spinning tops. Looking at the thick calluses growing in the palm of her hand because of labor, Li Xia's eyes were filled with tears. How she hopes that her son will live a prosperous life and be able to share the burden of his parents. But the reality is far from satisfactory, and she and her wife can only grit their teeth and persevere. After his son Xiao Ming got married, he and his wife lived a poor life in Shanghai. The house they bought was only two bedrooms and one living room, and their monthly food and transportation expenses accounted for most of their income. 
Li Xia often asked about her son's life, and also expressed her desire to go to Shanghai to take care of them, but every time she asked about it, Xiao Ming was perfunctory and seemed reluctant. Li Xia knew in her heart that her son's life was very difficult, so how could she have the energy to take care of her old parents. You must know that the combined monthly income of Xiao Ming and his wife is only 30,000 or 40,000 yuan, which is too stretched in Shanghai. Mortgages and expenses are eating into their income, and they have no time to take care of anything else. "We're old, and we can't rely on our son. Li Xia said sullenly to her wife. She began to think about waiting for the mortgage to be paid off, and maybe she could go back to her hometown. 
However, the medical conditions in my hometown are poor, and it is difficult to get better if I am sick**. Thinking of this, Li Xia dispelled her thoughts again, and her pension problem made her very worried. Li Xia began to consider that buying a house in her hometown might be a better choice than Shanghai. First, the housing price in the county is only one-tenth of that of Shanghai, and their own savings are enough to pay off the house. Public facilities such as education and medical care are also improving year by year to basically meet the needs of the elderly. In addition, the county is close to the place where the child grows up, and the familiar environment and neighbors are also more conducive to a comfortable mood. If the son is tired from work, the old couple can also be self-sufficient. 
Finally, when the mortgage is paid off, they can also choose to rent out their house in Shanghai. Rental income can polish life and add a little fun to old age. Li Xia found that many elderly people have the problem of living without the care of their children. This is partly due to the fact that the younger generation is tired of working and has no time to take care of their livelihoods or care for the elderly. More elderly people are independent and do not want to burden their children, so they choose to solve problems on their own. For example, Li Xia's old neighbor, Uncle Zhao, has five children who are all working in other places and rarely goes home to see him. Uncle Zhao was lying on the bench in the park to blow the wind, and Li Xia often went over to chat with him. 
She found out that Uncle Zhao suffered from diabetes and arthritis, but she never reported her condition to her children, for fear that they would worry. Li Xia's college classmate Aunt Liu is in a similar situation. She lives alone in an old house, and her children want her to move to the city to live together, but Aunt Liu refuses, for fear that she will become a burden. Li Xia often called ** to ask Aunt Liu about her current situation, and did her best to take care of her old friend. Seeing the lack of care for the lives of so many elderly people around her, Li Xia couldn't help but think of her future. She silently wrote in her notebook: adjust your mentality, support each other with your wife, and seek help from the community in a timely manner. 
These years of experience have made Li Xia deeply aware that although it is gratifying for her children to become talents, she should not pin all her hopes and energy on them. Because of the complex environment and social situation, no matter how lucky your children are, they may fail. As a parent, in addition to providing initial support, you must also learn to be self-reliant. For example, plan the retirement location as early as possible, set aside savings for living expenses, and cultivate an independent and optimistic attitude. If your children succeed in their careers, they will share the blessings, and they can also be self-sufficient if they encounter unforeseen circumstances. Looking ahead, Li Xia plans to work together with her wife to pay off her debts as soon as possible. After that, I looked for the most suitable place to live, maybe back to my hometown, maybe to stay in Shanghai. 
The key is to find a place with good medical facilities and a relatively low cost of living to live in. Wait until the mortgage is paid off, and then consider renting out the house to increase some income. "My wife and I are no longer young, and we no longer have big aspirations. I just want to spend my old age healthy and satisfied. Li Xia wrote in her diary. She put down her pen and exhaled deeply. After the storm, it is still necessary to continue the trek.