Major towns in the UK, particularly the South Wales Valley and the North of England, have experienced analgesia from the decline of the industrial and mining industry since the 80s, and the effects of this analgesia have not gone away to this day. Mining towns such as Grigwech have found a big buyer like Lin Yilong, and they can "resettle" residents who still hold on to larger towns with better opportunities, such as Cardiff. However, not all buyers have the money to spare to detoxify the remaining pits and mines, and even in the big cities, there is not a large enough employment market to accommodate the townspeople. Many large township-level settlements, such as Ness and Port Talport, two of the major metallurgical enterprises in West Glamorgan, have also been mired in a long period of time due to rising production costs, and the centre of Swansea, which is home to governance, has been in a long-term economic downturn that has not been restored.

The West Gramorgan County Council's efforts, such as the construction of new town residential buildings on the site of former sugar mills and distilleries – protected housing similar to low-rent housing or "public housing" – have failed to boost the commercial standing of the city centre. On the contrary, the revitalization of the central area of the town is also financed by commercial property tax and value-added tax, which has led to high rents and commercial property taxes in the city center, and the continuous closure of shops, which has made the area even more depressed. The combination of low-income pressures and a desolate city centre makes it easy to see why the town centres of South Wales have become centres for low-income groups, rather than for the nouveau riche like Mayfair and Regent's Gardens in London, or Spinny Field or North Islington in Manchester.

So, when Mother Lin returned to Wales in May and June without any discounted shopping breaks, she found that all but the food shops and cafes were open, and the other stores had been turned into "charity shops" selling old things, and the somewhat gloomy weather made people feel uncomfortable from the inside out.

"It's boring here. Lin Yilong accompanied Lin's mother as she walked through the centre of Ness, where every "charity shop" was open but there were not many customers, and the depression was in stark contrast to the crowds of Bicester shopping centre and Oxford Street, so Lin's mother complained to her son.

"What?" Lin Yilong asked with concern.

"It turned out that I was in China, and there were some classmates and friends who could call each other, but when I got here, I couldn't do anything. Lin Mu said.

"Why don't you call?" Lin Yilong asked, Lin's mother's mobile phone card is specially used to make international calls, and it is no more than 1 pence per minute throughout the day, and Lin Yilong is very puzzled by his mother's complaints.

"There's still a time difference!" Lin Mu said, "Your father and I have to get up at 7 o'clock in the morning to prepare, and we have to go to the mall to buy things at 9 o'clock, and it is already after one o'clock in the afternoon when we are free, at that time, it is already 9 o'clock in the evening in China, who is there to answer your phone!"

"Mom, you really can't be idle, well, retiring at 58 is indeed a bit early, if compared to these locals. Lin Yilong commented, "It's nothing, maybe it's interesting to go to Europe or other places." ”

"No, the language barrier, my level of English can only cope with the store cashier and the taxi driver, if something happens, I always feel unsafe. Lin's mother did not accept her son's suggestion, "The bus fares here are too expensive, and the buses are collected too early, so some people are not used to it." ”

Incidentally, buses in the UK also have free rides for senior citizens, but the age requirement is 60 years old or older – which means that Lam's mother can't, and only Lam's father can't – and with some means, Lam's father can enjoy this treatment in both London and South Wales.

"I think my mother's classmates and friends are very envious of you. Lin Yilong said, "Just like a few years ago, you envied them." ”

Mother Lin and father Lin are both the first college students after the resumption of the college entrance examination, and most of the members of their circle of friends are mixed well, and many people have become nouveau riche in the tide of reform, or they have entered the agency and made steady progress. In contrast, although Lin's father and Lin's mother are not poor, they cannot be compared with those people. Every time the party made Lin's mother "stimulated", and after returning home, she complained about her husband and son, so as to relieve the resentment in her heart a little. This also gave her the idea of retiring early to work abroad and put it into practice. Even if the foreign environment is unfamiliar and the load is relatively heavy, Lin Mu can at least have some common topics with her friends and classmates in terms of traveling abroad and seeing and hearing abroad, rather than an echo worm that only makes an "oh" sound in the audience. Even so, Lin's mother was still "exposed" by various luxury parties and high-end tourism before she retired, which strengthened her idea of living in the UK with Lin Yilong after retirement.

As a result, Mother Lin, who really lived the life of a "Westerner", felt that her life was not so good. This feeling, after the class reunion that briefly returned to China during the Spring Festival, from "being exposed" to "exposing others", Mother Lin did not have the satisfaction she imagined before.

"It's not good, and I'm not living to care about other people's praise or criticism. Mother Lin blamed Lin Yilong with duplicity. Having said that, Mother Lin can't tell where there are deficiencies in her current life, the language classes she attended every day in the first few months enriched her life, and then she was busy helping people to buy, so that the physiological and psychological transition period to adapt to in the early stage of retirement was postponed to May and June in the off-season of purchasing agents.

"I can't help my mother, and I have to adapt to it myself. Lin Yilong said, "That's just right, take advantage of the off-season to get a driver's license." ”

"Didn't you say you could help me convert my driver's license?" Lin Mu asked, "Why do I have to take the test?"

"That's right, anyway, the old lady has nothing to do for the time being, and she hasn't driven for a long time, so let's re-study the driving feel. Lin Yilong suddenly felt a spring of thought, and said all the arrangements that came to mind, "If you don't think it's okay, then go to a language school and learn some advanced spoken English and the like, or try to memorize words; ”

"Lake District, sounds good. Mother Lin's eyes lit up at Lin Yilong's last proposal, "People say how beautiful the lake area is, seeing is believing, and your father and I also want to go and see it." ”