Chapter 381: Milk
I stood at the door of my house, hesitating for a long time, unable to figure out what I should say first.
Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a WeChat message from Xiao Sun.
"Sis, you there?"
Seeing that, I felt a little relieved.
Right, I hadn't even let Xiao Sun know I was safe.
"I'm here."
I was about to put my phone back in my pocket, but I saw that he was "typing," so I held it and waited a moment longer.
"Sis, my eyelid keeps twitching. Can you send me your location? I'll come pick you up after the wedding tomorrow."
I found it a little amusing. Was Xiao Sun the superstitious type too?
"What are you worried about? I'm going home, not heading into battle."
"No, Sis." Xiao Sun replied quickly. "I keep seeing news about tour buses getting into accidents. I'm really not at ease. I've got nothing to do tomorrow anyway. I'll drive over and get you."
"No, it's too far."
"It's not far. Send it to me."
Seeing how persistent he was, I sent him my location. He replied with a "Got it," and then went silent.
I put my phone away and slowly let out a breath.
Yeah, I have my own life.
Coming home this time was to put a final end to everything related to this village.
The sooner I cut ties, the sooner it would be over.
I pushed open the door and found them happily preparing to eat dinner.
My mom, my dad, my younger brother, and a chubby girl I'd never seen before.
That must be... my future sister-in-law, right?
Out of these four people, when they saw me walk in, two rolled their eyes. My future sister-in-law didn't even lift her head; she just kept eating.
Only my old man stared blankly at me.
Really nice—exactly the kind of welcome I expected, this warm, happy family atmosphere.
"Lai Di's back?" The old man stood up and said to me without expression, "Eaten yet?"
"Dad, I've eaten." I nodded. "Cheng Cai's getting married—I had to come back, didn't I?"
"Since you're back, you can wash the dishes," that woman said. "You damn good-for-nothing—haven't done any work in this house for years? I gave birth to you just so you could live the good life?"
"I'm not washing them, Mom." I shook my head with a smile. "The money for all this food you're eating came from me. There's no reason for me to wash the dishes for you too. That's not fair."
A flash of viciousness flickered clearly in that woman's eyes. In a courtroom, you only see that expression when someone wants to ruin another person completely.
And I saw that look in my own birth mother's eyes.
"Ah... child..." the man waved at me. "Come sit down, have a bit to eat."
"I won't eat, Dad." As I spoke, I pulled a thick red envelope out of my bag and placed it in front of Cheng Cai. "Cheng Cai, congratulations on your wedding. Now that you're starting a family, you need to be responsible."
My brother picked at his teeth with his finger, wiped it on his pants, then opened the envelope right in front of me, never once meeting my eyes.
He roughly counted the money, rolled his eyes quickly, and tossed the envelope in front of my mom.
"Damn it, it's only fucking ten thousand yuan," Cheng Cai said.
"What?!" The woman exploded instantly. "Zhang Lai Di!!"
"Mom, my name is Zhang Chenze now," I said.
"Zhang Lai Di, have you no shame?!" She pointed at my nose and cursed fiercely. "Out of all the older sisters in this whole village, you're the only damn one who won't give her brother money for his wedding! You're thirty-five years old! You've worked for over ten years and nobody wants you—does that mean your brother has to be unwanted too?!"
"Mom, I'm thirty-three," I said again. "A ten-thousand-yuan red envelope is the most I can do. Since my brother is starting a family, that means he can afford to build one on his own. Starting this month, I'm not paying for any more household expenses. I came back this time specifically to make that clear."
"What?!"
She instantly grabbed an empty bowl from the table, looking like she was about to throw it in my face.
"Hey!" My old man immediately stopped her. "Enough! Enough! Lai Di's finally back! Don't hit her!"
The atmosphere was suffocating.
I sighed and turned around. "I was going to show my face at Cheng Cai's wedding, but it looks like there's no need for that. Since everything's been said, I'll be on my way now."
"Lai Di!" The old man called after me. "It's too late now! Stay for one night, okay?"
I looked outside and saw that it was indeed getting dark. That was a problem.
In the village, it wasn't like the city. By five in the evening, it was pitch black outside.
If I went out now, I couldn't get a ride, and my phone was almost out of battery.
I turned back and nodded. Even though I hated this place with every fiber of my being, these people were still my family.
They just made me sick—they wouldn't put me in danger.
"I'll stay for one night. I'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."
"Lai Di... won't you stay a few more days?" The old man asked again.
"No, I'm busy. I came to see you all and then I'm heading back."
With that, I walked into the inner room, where my old room used to be. It hadn't been cleaned in years and was piled high with clutter. I barely managed to find a bed covered in dust.
This environment wasn't terrible for me. After all, I'd slept on a couch for three years—there was no hardship I couldn't endure.
I climbed onto the bed, brushed away a spiderweb at the headboard, found a wall socket that had been sealed for ages, pulled a charger out of my bag, and plugged in my phone.
Lucky I was wearing casual clothes—I could just wash them when I got back dirty.
This time I was here to cut off this unbearable family bond, so I was willing to suffer a little. That was fair.
From now on, I would gradually get better and do my best to "test the waters of happiness."
I didn't turn on the light. I just sat in the dark room and stared out the dark window.
The village was quieter than the city. No cars honking at midnight, no drunk lunatics shouting in the streets.
I was just a bit hot. The June weather had filled the room with flying insects, but that didn't matter either—just some mosquitoes and moths. In Chengdu, I often had close encounters with them too.
As long as I could get through tonight, I could start my new life. This would be the long, dark night that belonged only to me.
"Lai Di... asleep?"
The old man's voice came from the doorway.
He stood outside the door holding a stainless steel cup.
I slowly furrowed my brow. "No. What is it?"
"Here, some milk for you to drink," he said in a low voice. "All these years, and I never reminded you to drink more milk."
He set the cup on the table, sighed, and walked out of the room.
I stared at the milk, still rippling in the cup, and felt nothing but a wave of nausea.
When I was nine years old, my old man heard that drinking milk could make a woman's breasts bigger so she could find a better match. From then on, he brought me a cup of milk every night.
He didn't care whether I'd eaten that day or whether I was happy. He didn't care if the milk had expired or was too cold to swallow. All he cared about was that I drank the milk.
For a long time after that, the mere sight of milk made me want to throw up. It wasn't until much later, when my insomnia got severe, that I started drinking milk again on my doctor's advice.