Perhaps I had made my refusal too obvious. My usually composed father actually frowned, as if unable to understand how I could turn down such a tempting offer from him.
For most people, money really is an all-powerful sacred object. And if it isn’t? Then maybe the money just isn’t enough, or the benefits aren’t worth it yet.
“I’m not going to Huacheng, and I’m not going to Yucheng. I don’t want to go anywhere…”
I’d planned to carefully weigh my words before refusing, so I deliberately slowed my speech, wanting the four blood relatives present to truly hear what I felt inside.
But my father, sensing the crisis in advance, cut me off before I could finish.
“Wait, Zhi Nian. Can I offer you even better terms?”
There was a rare hint of urgency in my father’s voice, his tightly knit brows making his face look a bit fierce, no longer the gentle and refined man from before.
Now that’s more like it… This is my father’s true nature. The moment things stray from what he expects, he immediately turns aggressive.
He took a pale gold bank card from his coat pocket and strode forward, clearly about to hand it to me.
“Stop! Don’t come near me!”
I backed away in disgust, afraid my resolve might waver.
“Please, don’t flatter yourself, Mr. Lin. My surname is Shen. I was raised by Shen Yuan herself—I’m her daughter, and you and I are connected by nothing but blood. Where I choose to study, where I work and live in the future, these are all my own decisions. Even my mother can’t necessarily interfere, let alone a scum of a father who hasn’t shown his face in over a decade, hmm?”
That little coastal county is not only home to Gu Fan and the manager who kindly offered me part-time work, but also to the mother who’s cared for me quietly all these years…
I don’t want to let down the youth my mother spent on me. Even though the motherly love I’ve felt all these years is scant, it’s still more than I’ve ever gotten from a father who barely spared me a thought.
“Tsk…”
My father’s outstretched hand froze midair. We were close enough that I could see the momentary displeasure flicker across his face, though his years of social experience quickly concealed it again.
“It’s alright… It’s only natural you’d hate me, but I’m not giving up that easily.”
Had I not just seen my father’s anxious attempt to thrust the card into my hands, maybe I’d really think he was trying to make amends. Even so, I would never choose to accept him.
Compared to a dazzling future, I simply crave the ‘love’ Gu Fan gives me and wish to repay my mother for raising me all these years.
While I pondered, my father casually set the VIP gold card on the edge of a nearby flowerbed.
“This card was issued before I came. The password is your birthday. Every month over the years, I’ve deposited your living expenses in accordance with your mother’s initial request. This is the money you two should’ve received. Please just take it.”
“……”
My lips parted, the words of refusal almost out, but upon hearing it was the living expenses my father had promised my mother before the divorce, I swallowed them back.
I turned to look at my mother. At some point, she had stopped gazing up at the sky with her eyes closed and was now staring straight at me, her eyes void of any emotion.
Catching my gaze, she spoke in a flat voice: “This was always our living expenses. I just never bothered to ask him for it. Take it or leave it, up to you. I’ll be waiting for you outside—don’t dawdle.”
She quickly averted her gaze and strode toward the courtyard gate.
Grandma, who had sat silent on the swing, now shakily stood and followed her daughter out of the elegantly decorated country villa.
As my mother and grandma exited the courtyard, shutting the gate behind them, my grandfather, reclining in his old armchair, suddenly barked out:
“Shen Zhi Nian, are you going to listen to your grandpa or not? Your father arranged such a bright future for you—if you don’t want it, fine, but you won’t even transfer to a prestigious city school! Do you know how many kids in this village would kill to have your father as their dad? They’d give anything to go to a better school and bring honor to their family.”
“Oh? What’s that got to do with me?”
I wasn’t the only one letting loose now. My grandfather, who always shrank from my mother, was one, but now that neither my grandmother nor my mother was present, I didn’t have to hold back either.
Maybe in my grandfather’s mind, I was still the weak little catgirl from childhood, easy to bully. He must think that as long as he scolded me, that soft kitten would start “plip plip” crying and timidly agree to whatever he said.
I remembered when my parents first divorced. My mother and I had to stay in a shed in a corner of the house, as the two guest rooms were occupied by my grandfather’s youngest son’s family. Should I call him my uncle?
But compared to the uncle who often cared for Gu Fan and even offered him a one-bedroom apartment, my own uncle was exceptionally nasty.
Addicted to gambling, he always managed to squander any savings he had, then beat his wife and son, only to get a beating himself from Grandpa, who doted on his grandson.
Once Grandpa left, he’d turn his anger on Grandma and my mother. Still, he was afraid of my mother’s fighting skills, so he only vented his frustration with words, never daring to actually hit us.
Memories flickered through my mind, and Grandpa’s fury soon mingled with his shouting, staining those already grimy fragments of memory a bloody red.
“What’s it got to do with you? Hah! Your mother is my own flesh and blood! You ought to take care of me in my old age too! If you don’t want the money, fine, but you must go to that school!”
For some reason, seeing my grandfather’s blustering rage again after all these years didn’t scare me like it had when I was little. Instead, I found the old man with his white hair rather laughable.
“Why must I go? Did Mr. Lin promise your son and grandson some benefit? Or is it that your grandson’s family wants to tag along, enjoying life in Huacheng’s schools or companies?”
My sarcasm, meant just to needle my grandfather, made his face suddenly darken—could I have guessed right?
My aggressive grandfather paused, the fire in him dying down considerably.
He sat up, then slouched back into his old chair, silent.
“Women really are impossible to keep once they grow up. Even their mouths turn poisonous. If I’d known, I never would’ve had your mother, that rebellious daughter, or you, you troublesome reincarnated cat.”
Perhaps because he realized he was in the wrong, his voice grew much quieter, like a shady villain muttering curses under his breath.
I had no intention of picking up the gold card left on the flowerbed. After silencing my grandfather, I simply shot back with a single retort, then stood there fuming, breathing heavily.
He’s the same age as Grandma but so much weaker. Maybe it’s because he’s always getting angry? But all he’s good for is bullying those at home.
Mocking him silently in my head, I said nothing more, ignoring the look on my father’s face as he struggled for words. I turned and strode straight for the courtyard gate, not bothering to watch the two men’s so-called ‘touching’ performance.
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