I stood hesitating at the doorway of my home for a long time, unable to figure out what my first words should be.

Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out and saw a WeChat message from Xiao Sun.

“Sis, you there?”

Seeing this message, I felt a bit more at ease.

Right, I still hadn’t reported to Xiao Sun that I’d arrived safely.

“I’m here.”

I was about to put my phone back in my pocket when I saw “typing…” so I held onto the phone and waited a bit longer.

“Sis, my eyelid’s been twitching. Can you send me your location? I’ll come pick you up tomorrow after the wedding.”

I found this somewhat amusing. Was Xiao Sun a superstitious person too?

“What are you worried about? I’m going home, not to a battlefield.”

“No, sis.” Xiao Sun’s reply came quickly. “I’ve been seeing news about bus accidents lately, I’m really worried. I happen to be free tomorrow, I’ll drive there to pick you up.”

“No, it’s too far.”

“It’s not far. Send it to me.”

Seeing how persistent he was, I sent him my location. After Xiao Sun replied “Got it,” there was no more response.

I put away my phone and slowly let out a breath.

Right, I have my own life.

This time I came home to completely draw a final line with this village.

Settle things early, end it early.

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 should be… my future sister-in-law, right?

When these four people saw me enter, two of them rolled their eyes at me, while my sister-in-law-to-be didn’t even lift her head, just kept eating.

Only my old man just stared at me blankly.

How wonderful, this expected welcoming ceremony, this harmonious family atmosphere.

“Laidi’s back?” The old man stood up and said to me expressionlessly, “Have you eaten?”

“Dad, I’ve eaten.” I nodded. “Chengcai is getting married, of course I had to come back.”

“Perfect timing for you to wash the dishes then.” That woman said. “It’s been so many years since you’ve done any work at home, hasn’t it? Did I give birth to you just so you could enjoy life?”

“I won’t wash them, Mom.” I smiled and shook my head. “The money you’re using to eat all this food came from me. I have no need to help you wash dishes on top of that. It’s not fair.”

A flash of viciousness clearly passed through that woman’s eyes—the kind of expression only seen in court when someone wants to completely destroy their opponent’s reputation.

Yet I was seeing this look in my own biological mother’s eyes.

“Ay… dear child…” The man beckoned to me. “Come sit, eat something with us.”

“I won’t eat, Dad.” I said while pulling out a thick red envelope from my bag and placing it in front of Chengcai. “Chengcai, congratulations on your wedding. Take responsibility once you’ve started your own family.”

My brother picked at his teeth with his hand, wiped it on his pants, then opened the red envelope right in front of me, never once looking at me.

He roughly counted the money, quickly rolled his eyes, then tossed the envelope in front of my mom.

“Damn it, just ten thousand yuan,” Chengcai said.

“What?!” That woman instantly flew into a rage. “Zhang Laidi!!”

“Mom, my name is Zhang Chenze now.” I said.

“Zhang Laidi, have you no shame?!” She pointed at my nose and cursed viciously. “Of all the older sisters in the entire village, you’re the only damn one who won’t give money for your brother’s wedding! You’re already thirty-five years old! You’ve been working for over ten years, and if no one wants you, fine, but how could no one want your brother?!”

“Mom, I’m thirty-three.” I corrected again. “A ten thousand yuan red envelope is me doing my utmost duty. Since my brother is starting his own family, it means he has the ability to establish a household. Starting this month, I won’t be sending living expenses anymore either. This trip was specifically to make this clear to all of you.”

“What?!”

She instantly grabbed an empty bowl from the table—it looked like she was about to throw it at my face.

“Hey!” My old man immediately stopped her. “Forget it! Forget it! Laidi finally came back! Don’t hit people!”

The atmosphere became oppressively tense.

I sighed and turned around. “I originally wanted to make an appearance at Chengcai’s wedding, but now it seems there’s no need. Since everything’s been said clearly, I’ll leave now.”

“Laidi!” The old man called out to me. “It’s too late now! Stay the night, won’t you?”

I looked at the sky outside—it was indeed difficult.

The village was different from the city. Just past five o’clock in the evening, it was already pitch black outside.

If I left now, not only couldn’t I get a ride, my phone was almost dead too.

I turned back and nodded. Although I thoroughly detested this place, these people were my blood relatives after all.

They only made me feel disgusted; they wouldn’t put me in danger.

“I’ll stay one night, then leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Laidi… won’t you stay home a couple more days?” The old man asked again.

“Mm, I’m quite busy. I came to see you all and then I’ll go back.”

After saying this, I walked into the inner room. That’s where my former bedroom was. Now it hadn’t been cleaned in many years and was piled full of miscellaneous items, with barely enough space to find a dust-covered bed.

This environment wasn’t too harsh for me—after all, I’d even slept on a sofa for three years. There was no hardship I couldn’t endure.

I climbed onto the bed, swept aside the cobwebs at the headboard, and found a long-sealed wall socket. Then I took out my charger from my bag and plugged in my phone.

Good thing I wore casual clothes—if they got dirty, I could just wash them when I got back.

This time I came to sever these unbearable family ties, so I would endure some hardship. This was fair.

From now on, I would gradually get better, trying my best to “test out happiness.”

I didn’t turn on the light, just sat in the dark room looking at the dark scenery outside the window.

The village was quieter compared to the city. There were no cars passing through at midnight honking their horns, no drunk madmen shouting in the streets.

I was just a bit hot. The June weather had brought many flying insects into the room, but that didn’t matter—just some mosquitoes and moths. I often lived in close quarters with them in Chengdu too.

As long as I could get through tonight, I could start my new life. This would be a long night belonging solely to me.

“Laidi… are you asleep?”

The old man’s voice sounded at the door.

He stood outside the door holding a stainless steel cup.

I slowly frowned. “No, what is it?”

“Milk for you to drink.” He said quietly. “All these years, I never reminded you to drink more milk.”

He placed the cup on the table surface, sighed, then walked out of the room.

I looked at that cup of still-swaying milk and felt a wave of nausea.

When I was nine years old, the old man heard that drinking milk could make a woman’s chest bigger, that she could find a better family. From then on, he brought me a cup of milk every night.

He didn’t care whether I’d eaten that day, whether I was happy, whether the milk was expired, whether it was too cold to swallow. He only cared about whether I had drunk the milk.

This made me want to vomit at the sight of milk for a very long time. It wasn’t until later, when my insomnia became severe, that I gradually started drinking milk again on the doctor’s advice.