On My Way - Chapter 66
Chapter 66 - Why Is Doing Anything So Hard for Me?
My entire body broke out in goosebumps. My first reaction was that a thief had broken in. Where was Grandma? Was she safe? Was she still alive?
If it was a criminal, they might still be in the house!
I slowly backed out of the room, ran to a nearby mall, and called the police.
While waiting for the police to arrive, I frantically called Grandma’s phone, but no one answered.
Right at that moment, Cheng Xia called me. “Dongxue, have you finished eating? There’s another location…”
“Something happened,” I interrupted him, my teeth chattering as I spoke.
By the time Cheng Xia rushed over, the police had arrived as well.
The only surveillance footage was at the main gate of the apartment complex, and it showed no suspicious people entering, nor did it show Grandma leaving.
“Wait a second,” I said.
At seven o’clock, Zhou Ting and I had arrived at the complex gate one after the other. We were talking, and in the corner of the video, a figure appeared. She seemed to be wearing a red knitted cardigan.
It was Grandma. She had heard the entire conversation between Zhou Ting and me.
A profound sense of absurdity washed over me.
So, it was possible that she had overheard us.
She must have felt that if I couldn’t marry Zhou Ting, it was all because I was trying to start a company. If she took my money, I wouldn’t be able to start the company.
What a ridiculous yet smooth logic.
Cheng Xia and I went to my father’s house; Grandma had nowhere else to go.
As soon as my father opened the door, he started cursing. “Look at you! You’re a grown woman now, and you don’t understand anything. Your grandmother isn’t healthy, and you’re still pushing her to the limit.”
“So, Grandma is here, right? Let her come out.”
“I don’t see her! The old lady can be wherever she wants.” My stepmother finally revealed that familiar, sour, and mean-spirited face of hers, putting her hands on her hips and snapping, “What kind of ruckus are you making in the middle of the night? We’re trying to sleep!”
I said, “Move aside. I have nothing to say to you!”
“Who do you think you’re talking to!” My younger brother emerged from behind her, waving his fist at me. “If you dare talk to my mom like that again, you want to see if I’ll beat you up?”
Cheng Xia stepped in front of me, but I had already started to sneer.
What a magnificent family. Their interests were tightly intertwined, and even their expressions carried a smug, gloating satisfaction.
It was only after the police stepped out that they vanished without a trace, having pushed Grandma out to face us.
When people get old, they become prone to stubbornness—a kind of stubbornness that you cannot reason with.
No matter how many facts you present or how much logic you use, she remains forever trapped in her own emotions, hysterical.
“Lock me up! I’ll go to jail! I don’t want to live anymore, and you aren’t allowed to start any company!” Even at the police station, Grandma screamed at the top of her lungs. I felt so drained that I couldn't utter a single word.
“Are you sure you want to press charges?” the police officer asked me. “This isn’t a small amount; she will have to go to prison.”
I buried my hands deep into my hair and, after a long while, said, “Let me think.”
She knew my password. The most terrifying part now was that I didn’t know if the money was still in her possession or if it had been transferred to my father and his family.
That money included Yu Shixuan’s five million yuan and all my own life savings, which were meant for capital verification.
If I couldn’t get it back, my life would be completely finished.
And the most laughable part of it all was that she was doing it for my own good.
I said, “I won’t start the company. Give the money back to me.”
Grandma glared at me. “No! If you marry Zhou Ting properly, I’ll give it to you!”
“That wasn’t just my money! There was someone else’s money in there too! What right do you have to keep it!”
“She deserves it! If it weren’t for her, would you have quit your job?”
I kicked the wall. I didn't dare lose my mind here, so I could only let out a roar like a trapped beast. I didn’t know what else I could do; I was truly going to go insane.
Grandma still stared at me with her neck stiff. Many years ago, when she would argue with everyone to protect me, she had that same stance.
The police officer looked at me with sympathy.
I went outside to smoke. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking, and it took several attempts to get the lighter to spark.
Cheng Xia was by my side. He helped me light the cigarette and said, “Don’t shake.”
He said, “Transfers have limits. Even if she transferred it to your father, it takes time. Report the bank card as lost first.”
“Okay.”
“If the money is still there, you can just go get a new card once it’s light out. If it’s been moved, I’ll go talk to your father.” He said, “ATMs have surveillance cameras. Your grandmother isn’t afraid of jail, but he definitely will be.”
“Okay.”
I had reported the card as lost the moment I called the police, but I had been too flustered just now. Now, I shakily made the call to check the balance.
Thankfully, nothing was missing.
In truth, I knew it. She wouldn’t have transferred my money to my father; she wasn’t trying to harm me.
I sat on the police station steps and hung up the phone. The night was as cold as water, and the waning moon felt desolate.
I said, “Tell me, why is it that every time I want to do something, it’s so difficult?”
Cheng Xia sat down next to me and said, “It’s not your fault. Isn’t there a saying? People cannot earn money beyond their own cognition. Our city is small, and we’ve been through the wave of mass layoffs; of course, at her age, Grandma seeks stability and views entrepreneurship as a pit of fire.”
I let out a deep sigh. “Forget it. I’m not doing it.”
Cheng Xia gently held me in his arms. I didn’t struggle; I only looked up to keep the tears from falling.
“Say she hates me, yet she raised me. Say she loves me, then why is she forcing me like this?”
Cheng Xia sighed. “You should first ask yourself, why do you always feel a sense of indebtedness?”
Yes, indebtedness. Ever since that year when I finished my junior high school entrance exams, watching her hunched under the light counting loose change, that sense of owing her had been like a dark cloud hovering over me, never leaving.
That was why I had gone to vocational school without a second thought. That was why I had indirectly supported my father, my stepmother, and my brother. That was why I felt it was worth it to give up the job I had fought so hard for.
It was all because of too much guilt.
“To be brutal, for many parents, their love for their children is a form of investment. Weren’t you always asked when you were a kid?” He mimicked a broadcast voice: “‘Am I good to you? Who are you going to spend your money on when you grow up?’”
I gave a bitter smile.
“As a return on her investment, you have to support her in her old age, make her proud, and satisfy her expectations and demands. If you can’t, you’re an ungrateful wretch,” Cheng Xia said. “Many people whose own lives are a mess force the next generation to be a mess just like them.”
“But you didn't come into this world to go through a process of paying off debts. You came here so that you could live well, live beautifully, right?”
His voice was like the roar of a mountain stream, sharply impacting that awkward, sorrowful little child hiding inside my heart.
I buried my head in my knees and stayed silent for a long time. Cheng Xia just held me gently, and he smelled of warm citrus.
I mumbled, “How do you know so much?”
“I took some psychology courses,” he said.
I stood up and walked back into the station.
Grandma was still sitting there, her head tilted as she dozed off. With her gray, messy hair, she looked even more haggard.
I walked over and said to her, “Grandma, I’ve gotten the money back.”
Grandma jumped as she woke up. She opened her mouth to speak, but I stopped her.
I said, “You’re sick, so for a long time, everything you did seemed right to you. But this can’t go on.”
She didn’t understand; she only said in a fit of rage, “Do you think I’m trying to harm you? If you start that company again, you really will never be able to get married!”
I continued, “There can only be one person in this family who makes the final decision, and that has to be me. If that doesn't work for you, it means we aren't meant to live in the same house. I called my father just now; he’ll be here soon to pick you up.”
Grandma was finally stunned. She looked at me with her mouth slightly open, as if she didn't recognize me.
After a while, she said, “You don't want your grandma anymore?”
My tears fell without warning. I turned my head to wipe them away, then continued with a hardened heart: “I’ll give my father money. Think about it—you can move back in with me whenever you want, but there’s one condition: I will never get married.”
Finished, I turned and walked away.
—
I didn’t go home.
Because I suddenly realized that I didn’t have a home.
This house with the yard was merely rented for Grandma’s rehabilitation; I didn’t have a single place that belonged to me.
After getting a replacement bank card, I bought a train ticket directly to the neighboring city of Feng.
With the New Year approaching, the train was packed with people. I wore dark sunglasses to hide my silent tears.
During the trip, Zhou Ting kept sending me WeChat messages, asking where I was and wanting to talk.
Talk about what? If I had the mood to talk about this right now, then I would be the reincarnation of a romantic saint.
Cheng Xia was the same. He had classes during the day, so he went to work and only realized I was gone when he went to my house to look for me.
He seemed terrified that I would do something foolish, and my phone kept buzzing incessantly.
Annoyed, I replied directly: I went to Feng City to scout locations; I will be very busy for the next two days, please do not disturb me.
Yes, I had no time to be sentimental.
Or rather, in my most sorrowful moment, I had already made up my mind.
I had to successfully establish this company.
It existed entirely because "I like it." From now on, it would be my creation, my intimate relationship, my child.