Papa and Mama

She went about the household chores as usual, old-age making her effort seem laborious, her back hunched and her face contorted with exertion, large beads of sweat running down her face, which was pocked with deep lines. 

He kept her in a fixed gaze, following her every move, his lower lip quivering, and so was his left cheek. Once striated with muscle, his arms were now stick-like. 

Midway through sweeping, she sighed and stopped, holding onto the broomstick, as if it were the only thing that could prop her up. The sight of this made him crease his brow. In a voice close to a whisper, he said, 'Lan, rest now. You've done too much.' 

All at once, the hunched body stiffened, and the face that turned in the old man's direction was full of bitterness and fury. In a sharp voice, she snapped, "Nonsense, if I had not done all this, who would have cleaned the house? You!?"