Grandma loved country life, but we still talked her into moving to the city

Our whole family used to live in the countryside. Later, when we reached the age to attend junior high, there was no junior high in the countryside at that time, so we had to go to the city for school. Gradually, we rented a place in the city and the whole family lived there. Only Grandma was left living alone in the countryside. At first, I would still go back on Sundays or during winter and summer vacations. Later, there were no children left in the small courtyard where we lived in the countryside, only a few elderly people who went up the slopes and into the fields every day, so I stopped going back.

We were not at ease leaving Grandma alone in the countryside, but she kept refusing to come to the city. She was extremely stubborn; once she set her mind on something, no one could talk her out of it. During this time, we kept trying to persuade her, but she still refused to come and live in the city. Whenever we urged her, she would always turn us down, saying: "Look at your Fifth Grandma. She was taken to the city, and after she died she was buried in a strange place. I don't want to be buried all alone somewhere else after I die. I still want to die here, in the place I know." After she said that, no matter what we said next, she would not listen.

Later, we gradually bought a place in the city, and then my mom tried to persuade my grandma to come and live with us in the city. My mom said, "We've bought a place in the city now. With you alone in the old home in the countryside, none of us can feel at ease. And outsiders will laugh at us younger ones too. You're getting older, and if anything happens, we won't even know. Come to the city and live with us, so we can take care of you. Before, the child would still come back to keep you company, but now she's on her own and doesn't come back either..." My mom said a lot to Grandma that day, and our neighbor grandma also tried to persuade her. In the end, she finally agreed.

I remember it was close to the Chinese New Year when my eldest uncle drove his car and went with us to bring Grandma down. When it was time to leave, Grandma was quite reluctant to go. All the elderly people in the courtyard came to see Grandma off, and they told her to go and enjoy her blessings. I could see envy in their eyes. Their children and grandchildren were all in the city too, and I thought that one day they would also be taken to the city. My grandma was afraid of cars. Although she had ridden in one before, she was older now and felt it was too dangerous. So that day, like a little child, she clung to my arm the whole way, and I could feel her fear. She had lived in the countryside all her life and had never seen many things.

And so Grandma finally came to the city to live with us. I think Grandma must have been "pushed" into coming by us. She loved country life, and the city was too unfamiliar to her. She would need to spend some time getting used to this place full of buildings, getting used to this place where everything costs money, getting used to this place where people live in the same building yet do not know each other, getting used to this place that is still brightly lit at night, and getting used to this place full of cars everywhere.