Old immigrants and their American children born in 1980s.

I have an uncle in his sixties, who is not tall, wears glasses and is gentle. In 1970s, he followed his relatives to the west coast of the United States. Like the poor students of that year, he worked in a restaurant and studied in his spare time. Just in time for the establishment of Silicon Valley. My uncle studied CS and became the first Chinese in Silicon Valley to join the IT industry. Different from the inspirational wisdom tiger story that everyone imagined, he is still an ordinary technical manager after more than 30 years. Young people in the same group already have doctors, and the worst is graduate students. Now my uncle just wants to retire quietly and spend his old age safely.

His eldest daughter is doing research at the University of Pennsylvania. The youngest son also graduated from top 10 university not long ago.

Boyfriend's parents are from Taiwan Province province and immigrated to Vancouver in 1970s. The story of their struggle is like the performance of Beijingers in new york. When they got off the plane, the beautiful bubble burst and no one recognized their college degree. In order to support his family, Pai Daxing's father works in a supermarket and sells cars. Later, Vancouver ushered in the second wave of immigrants from Taiwan Province Province, and Paidaxing's parents seized the business opportunity and gradually made their family's life rich. Generally speaking, the two happily raised three children in Canada.

There are two doctors and a teacher in this family.

In fact, in California, where Asians are concentrated, I don't have time to understand how these people left their homes to work abroad when they were young. I don't care what kind of parents these uncles and aunts who took root here are and what kind of children they face after returning home.

They are like the silhouette of my life: the couple chatting with friends in the morning tea shop on weekends, the uncle in front of me in the supermarket in China ... There is an old immigrant story in the movie, but it never appears in my world.

But since I got to know a large circle of post-80s CBC/ABC by sending a big star, the life of the older generation of immigrants is fragmented and coherent, which is presented to me through their children.

I think the unique tradition and stubbornness of the post-50 s and the strong cultural differences of the post-80 s ABC will make the already sensitive relationship more fragile. In fact, these so-called american born chinese have a deep connection with the living habits of China people, and parents can give their children more than just language.

Compared with those overseas students who are labeled as spoiled rich children, I am surprised that big doctor, who earns nearly one million dollars a year, should care about the price of Chili sauce at home. I am surprised that Jessica will still consider the fare first when traveling with her parents.

I didn't want to pack after eating hot pot that day. Hot pot soup is greasy and doesn't taste good overnight. But ella stared at me and said, don't waste it! Eat it all! To know that her Chinese is poor, these nine words should be the longest Chinese sentence she has ever said. In this way, I watched Patrick happily pack leftovers and soup and take them home. And she packed the free fruit bowl that she hadn't finished eating.

Moreover, these three doctors who don't know each other all have a Chinese surname.

They laugh at each other, they are cheapskates, and money can't buy class. But next time, everyone will be so meticulous.

Although they are over 30 years old and have been away from their families for many years, there is still an almost stubborn simplicity in them. And this is by no means stingy in the secular sense.

For this kind of simplicity that grows in my bones, I was shocked by them after 90. ? Before going abroad, I lived with my grandmother. When I was a child, I always heard her emphasize: don't spend money that you shouldn't spend. I often ask myself if it is necessary to buy this thing. Strangely, no matter who I lived with and visited several countries, the truth my grandmother taught me when I was a child was the most ingrained.

However, the parents born after 60 s and 70 s are never as simple as my grandmother. On the contrary, sometimes I feel that my parents are too wasteful. This leads to a subtle difference in the concept of ABC life between the post-90 s and post-80 s, and you can't judge another by one category.

Canada just changed from racial restriction to point-based immigration in the 1960s. Compared with now, Americans who immigrated to North China in the 1970s suffered more discrimination. The situation they face makes them accustomed to patience and acceptance. For children to have a stable home and for the future, I have worked hard in my own industry for most of my life before I gain a foothold. Often this process of going through all kinds of hardships and gritting their teeth has consumed all their energy.

When Patrick was three years old, his father came home one day, collapsed on the sofa and said, I'm so tired, so I died. Patrick said, you can't die. You haven't hugged my little son yet!

Fortunately, a lifetime of hard work has brought about the free development of children. Although as time goes on, children will speak less and less Chinese. The family began to speak Chinglish, Konglish. The role of parents gradually fades out in children's lives, until one day, it seems that even the conversation at the dinner table can't be joined.

But it doesn't seem to matter. Language is the lowest form of communication in life. When a familiar person frowns and raises his hand, you will know what he is going to do. The influence of the older generation will not stop because of the loss of language. Those traditions that go deep into the bone marrow appear when they are scrambling to pay for each other, when they are inadvertently excited when they see discounts, and when their lives become simple unconsciously.

All the ABC/CBC born in 1980s I know have made achievements in their own work. Some people will think that this must be a factor in the education of tiger mothers. In fact, most post-70 s immigrants have not become the capital of tiger mothers. Most of them are busy making a living, and many children are brought up by brothers and sisters at home. Parents have swallowed the hardships in life, and only ask their children not to make mistakes with their strong support, to be good people and not to be looked down upon.

Almost all choose to realize their ideals and find their place in society through their own efforts. Similarly, with the efforts of two generations, China people's desire to be looked down upon has finally come true.

In this way, the appearance of the first generation was portrayed by their next generation: hard work, hardship, frugality and humility.

The older generation kept the habit of simple living before going abroad, and spent most of their lives making money, always preparing for a poor life. Children remember going to McDonald's when they were young. Dad only wanted to order food for their children and said with a smile that he was not hungry. Remember to eat all the fruits after meals. I remember that when there was no money to buy a big house, everyone would lie in a bed and tell stories and sleep at night.

Children born in the 1980s have been away from home for many years. Occasionally, when they hear Teresa Teng's music, they will suddenly think that it is a tape of their childhood home. When you go out to eat, you can consider eating enough and don't waste food. Or mom will be angry. Even if everyone is rich. Some things handed down from the bones will never change.