Every hair on my body stood on end. My first reaction was that a thief had broken into the house. What about Grandma? Was she safe? Was she still alive?

If it was a bad person, they might still be inside the house!

I slowly backed out of the room, then ran to a nearby shopping mall and called the police.

While waiting for the police to arrive, I frantically called Grandma’s phone. No one answered.

At that very moment, Cheng Xia called me: “Dongxue, are you done eating? There’s another site…”

“Something’s happened.” I interrupted him. As I spoke, I felt my upper and lower teeth chattering against each other.

By the time Cheng Xia rushed over, the police had also arrived.

There was only surveillance at the main entrance of the residential complex. No suspicious persons were discovered, and there was no sign of Grandma leaving either.

“Wait a moment,” I said.

At seven o’clock, Zhou Ting and I had arrived at the complex entrance one after the other. We talked, and in the corner of the video footage, there was a figure. She appeared to be wearing a red wool cardigan.

It was Grandma. She had heard my entire conversation with Zhou Ting.

A tremendous sense of absurdity washed over me.

So it was possible that she had heard my conversation with Zhou Ting.

She thought that the reason I couldn’t marry Zhou Ting was entirely because I wanted to start a company. So if she took my money away, I wouldn’t be able to start the company.

Such absurd yet seamless logic.

Cheng Xia and I went to my dad’s house. Grandma had nowhere else to go.

As soon as my dad opened the door, he started cursing: “Look at you, you’re a grown woman and you don’t understand anything. Your grandmother’s health isn’t good, and you still jump up and down making her angry.”

“So my grandma is here, right? Tell her to come out.”

“Haven’t seen her! The old lady can be wherever she wants!” My stepmother finally revealed that familiar, sharp and mean face I knew so well. She put her hands on her hips and said, “In the middle of the night, what’s all this fuss about? We need to sleep!”

I said, “Move aside. I’m not talking to you!”

“Who do you think you’re talking to!” My younger brother came out from behind, swinging his fist at me: “If you dare talk to my mom like that again, believe it or not, I’ll beat you up!”

Cheng Xia blocked me from behind, and I had already started laughing coldly.

What a great family, their interests tightly bound together, even their expressions carried a gloating satisfaction.

But after the police came out, they quickly disappeared without a trace, only pushing Grandma out.

When people get old, they become stubborn easily. This kind of stubbornness is something you have no way to communicate about.

Because no matter how you present the facts or reason with her, she’s forever trapped in her own emotions, hysterical.

“Just lock me up! I’ll go to jail, I don’t want to live anymore, and you’re not allowed to start any company either!” At the police station, Grandma was still hoarsely shouting, while I was utterly exhausted, unable to say a single word.

“Are you sure you want to file a case?” The police officer said to me, “This isn’t a small amount. She really would have to go to jail.”

I dug my hands deep into my hair, and after a long while said, “Let me think about it.”

She knew my password. What scared me most now was that I didn’t know whether this money was still in her hands or had been transferred to my dad and them.

This money included Yu Shixuan’s five million, and also all my life savings, intended for capital verification.

If I couldn’t get it back, my life would be completely ruined.

And the most ridiculous thing was that she did it for my own good.

I said, “I won’t start a business anymore. Just give me back the money.”

Grandma glared at me: “No way! If you properly marry Zhou Ting, I’ll give it to you!”

“That’s not just my money, it’s also someone else’s money! What right do you have not to return it!”

“She deserves it! If it weren’t for her, would you have resigned?”

I kicked the wall, not daring to lose it here. I could only let out a roar like a trapped beast. I didn’t know what else I could do. I was really going crazy.

Grandma still craned her neck looking at me. Many years ago, when she fought with everyone to protect me, she had this same stance.

The police officer looked at me with sympathy.

I went outside to smoke. My hand kept shaking. I tried several times but couldn’t light it.

Cheng Xia was beside me. He helped me light the cigarette and said, “Don’t shake.”

He said, “Bank transfers have limits. Even if it was transferred to your dad, it would take time. First, report the bank card as lost.”

“Mm.”

“If the money is still there, then after dawn, just go get a new card. If it was transferred, I’ll go talk to your dad.” He said, “ATMs have surveillance. Your grandma isn’t afraid of going to jail, but he will be.”

“Okay.”

I reported the card lost immediately after calling the police. I had been too flustered earlier, but now I trembled as I called to check the balance.

Fortunately, none was missing.

Actually, thinking about it, I should have known. She wouldn’t transfer my money to my dad. She didn’t want to harm me.

I sat on the steps of the police station, put down the phone. The night was cool as water, the waning moon revealing desolation.

I said, “Tell me, why is it so hard whenever I want to do something?”

Cheng Xia sat down beside me and said, “It’s not your problem. Isn’t there a saying? People can’t earn money beyond their level of understanding. Our city is small and went through massive layoffs. At Grandma’s age, of course she seeks stability and thinks entrepreneurship is a pit of fire.”

I let out a deep sigh and said, “Forget it. I’m not doing it anymore.”

Cheng Xia gently held me. I didn’t struggle, just tilted my head back to keep the tears from falling.

“If you say she hates me, she raised me. If you say she loves me, why does she force me like this?”

Cheng Xia sighed and said, “You should first ask yourself, why do you always feel indebted?”

Yes, indebted. Ever since the year I finished middle school exams, when she hunched over under the lamp counting spare change, that sense of indebtedness has been like an imperceptible dark cloud, constantly hanging over my head.

So without thinking I went to vocational high school. So I indirectly supported my dad, my stepmother, my brother. So I felt it was worth giving up the job I had worked so hard for.

All because of too much indebtedness.

“To put it cruelly, many parents’ love for their children is a kind of investment. Weren’t we often asked when we were little?” He deliberately imitated a broadcaster’s tone: “Am I good to you? When you grow up and earn money, who will you spend it on?”

I smiled bitterly.

“As a return on her investment, you have to provide for her retirement, make her proud, satisfy her expectations and demands. If you can’t satisfy them, you’re an ungrateful wretch.” Cheng Xia said, “Many people’s own lives are a mess, and they force the next generation to be just as much of a mess.”

“But you didn’t come to this world to go through a process of owing debts and repaying them. You came so that you could live well, live beautifully, right?”

His voice was like the roaring of mountain streams, sharply rushing toward that awkward and sad child in my heart.

I buried my head in my knees and stayed silent for a long time. Cheng Xia just gently held me. His body carried a warm citrus scent.

I said dully, “How do you know so much?”

“I took psychology courses,” he said.

I stood up and walked back to the police station.

Grandma was still sitting there, her head tilted as she dozed. Her graying, disheveled hair made her look even more haggard.

I walked over and said to her, “Grandma, I’ve gotten the money back.”

Grandma jerked awake. She opened her mouth to speak, but I stopped her.

I said, “You’re sick, so all along, whether you’re right or wrong, you’re right. But this won’t work.”

She didn’t understand. She just said in exasperation, “Do you think I’m harming you? If you start some company, you really won’t be able to get married for the rest of your life!”

I continued, “Only one person can be in charge in our household, and it must be me. If that doesn’t work, it means we’re not suited to staying under one roof. I just called my dad. He’ll come pick you up shortly.”

Grandma finally froze. She looked at me with her mouth slightly open, as if she didn’t recognize me.

After a long while, she said, “You don’t want your grandma anymore?”

My tears flowed down without warning. I turned my head to wipe them away, then continued with a hardened heart, saying, “I’ll give my dad money. When you’ve thought it through, you can come back and live with me anytime. Just one condition—I won’t get married.”

After saying that, I turned and left.

I didn’t go home.

Because I suddenly realized I had no home.

This house with a courtyard was just rented, existed for Grandma’s rehabilitation. I didn’t have a place of my own.

After getting a replacement bank card, I directly bought a train ticket and went to the neighboring city of Fengshi.

It was almost New Year’s. The train was bustling with people. I wore sunglasses, hiding my silent tears.

During this time, Zhou Ting kept sending me WeChat messages, asking where I was, saying he wanted to talk with me.

Talk about what? If I had the mood to chat about these things now, I’d be the reincarnation of a romance saint.

Cheng Xia too. During the day he had classes and went to work. When he went to my house to find me, he discovered I was gone.

He seemed especially afraid I would do something foolish. My phone kept buzzing non-stop.

Annoyed, I simply replied: I went to Fengshi to look at sites. I’ll be very busy these two days. Please don’t disturb me.

Yes, I had no time for sentimental melancholy.

Or rather, in my most heartbroken moment, I had already made my decision.

I must make this company succeed.

It existed entirely because “I like it.” In the future, it would be my work, my intimate relationship, my child.