除夕夜，一家人圍坐在一起，正準備要吃年夜飯。突然間，媽媽舉起手中的筷子，怒氣沖沖地朝師父面前的空碗猛敲。一邊敲還一邊對師父咆哮說：『沒拿錢回來，還好意思坐下來吃飯，真不要臉。』
媽媽生氣是因為大哥、二哥都有拿錢回家，只有小兒子都沒有拿錢給她，竟當著全家人(包括大嫂)的面，發飆斥責他。原本應該溫馨和樂的團圓飯，被性格強悍的媽媽這一敲，大家都不知道該怎麼下箸了。反而是師父上人被媽媽這番尖銳的指責之後，一句話也沒有說，很鎮定地吃完年夜飯。
吃完要離開坐位前，師父以一種問心無愧的口氣跟家人說：『錢對您們來說可能很重要，但是對現在的我而言，根本一點意義也沒有。』說完，就起身離開了。
事後大家才知道事情的真相。原來師父出社會工作以後所賺的錢，全都拿回家給爸爸了。因為媽媽在家中的角色是很強勢的，爸爸身上如果沒有錢可以給媽媽，日子會很難過。只是沒想到爸爸在餐桌上，居然不敢跳出來替小兒子說一句公道話。這頓年夜飯，看在大嫂的眼裡，有說不完的心酸。
A Sad Dinner on the Lunar New Year’s Eve
On
the Lunar New Year’s Eve, the whole family gathered around the table and was
ready for the dinner. Suddenly, Master Hong Sheng’s mother took her chopsticks, beat the
bowl which was in front of Master violently in a rage and roared at
him, “How
dare you sit here without bringing any
money back? Shame on you!” Master’s mother was angry
because both Master’s two elder brothers did bring money
back to her except him. Therefore she rebuked him severely in front of the
whole family, including his sister-in-law. The reunion
dinner should have been sweet and happy. Yet due to Master’s mother’s sudden
action, everyone didn’t know how to go on with their dinner. Instead, Master
was the one who stayed calm and still finished his meal without talking back to
his mother.
After
the meal, Master told his family with a clear conscience, “Maybe money is very
important to you. But for me, it is pretty meaningless.” And then he got up and
left the dinner table.
Afterwards,
Master’s family realized the fact that all the money Master earned
had been given to his father. Because Master’s mother is a tough wife, if his father had no money to give her, he would have hard time
being with her. However,
what Master didn’t expect was that his father dared not to stand out and speak
for him.
Having seen all those
happened during the New Year’s Eve dinner, Master’s sister-in-law felt
extremely sad.
