On New Year’s Day, I wrapped up an envelope of money and went to my mom’s house.

She had ultimately divorced that man and found work as a scrubber at a bathhouse, working from five in the evening until nine the next morning, with no breaks even on holidays.

When I arrived, she had just gotten off work and was sitting by the window, struggling to dye her own hair.

I said, “Mom, let me help you.”

Bit by bit, I applied the pungent hair dye to her hair. The white hair was so glaring it could no longer be hidden. She also muttered, “These days’ hair dye is all inferior products, can’t cover anything.”

I said, “Then why do you insist on dyeing it? You could just leave it as is!”

“That would be so unseemly!” She said, “Don’t you know your mom? I can’t live a compromised life!”

She squinted her eyes, seemingly finding what I was doing very comfortable, and began to doze off with her head drooping.

She had grown old. That woman who had been incredibly cool in her youth had become what people saw as pitiful—living in a rental, still working at her age, with no husband and children who weren’t close to her.

I asked, “Mom, all these years, have you regretted it?”

I thought she had fallen asleep, but she answered with her eyes closed, drowsily, “No regrets.”

She said, “They all told me, at such an old age, just live out your life with Zhao Laoshan. If you divorce, you’ll definitely regret it. But look at my peaceful little life now. I don’t regret it one bit.”

She said, “In this lifetime, I just live for my own satisfaction.”

I smiled, taking the showerhead to wash her hair. Actually, that wasn’t what I was asking about, but I already knew the answer anyway.

As the hot water poured over her hair, she suddenly said, “The only thing I’m sorry about is you. For you, I should have made do with your dad, but I’m not the kind of woman who lives for her child. I wasn’t willing to accept it. Seeing those women, I wasn’t willing…”

Back then she had set up a clothing stall. Some service staff from the Jinbo Grand Hotel would come buy clothes.

They were so elegant, wearing beautiful uniforms and stockings, with professionally trained eight-tooth smiles. My mom dreamed of becoming a server there.

She met a man who claimed to be a minor leader at the Jinbo Grand Hotel. He said he could help get her in.

I remember that man—shifty-eyed. He later opened a Shaxian snack shop. I even ate there once.

My dad beat her, went all out. She moved out with a bruised and swollen face, brazenly living with that man. Perhaps he wasn’t capable enough, or perhaps he was just a fraud all along.

In any case, the result of her abandoning her husband and child was that she didn’t get into that hotel. Later she broke up with that man and continued running her stall.

“Back then your dad was a security guard at the factory, your grandma collected scrap, the whole family squeezed into that old house with huge cockroaches on the floor… A hard life is fine, but I couldn’t stand not seeing any light…” she said with a sigh.

I didn’t speak, continuing to help rinse her hair.

She continued, “All my life I just wanted to get into Jinbo. I heard even the toilets there were gold… Don’t laugh, but the place where I scrub now is actually a bit like it was back then.”

“I know.” I smiled and said, “So now if I let you enter the Jinbo Grand Hotel, would you go?”

She glanced at me sideways and said, “What nonsense are you talking? It’s long gone.”

“I’m not talking nonsense.”

I helped wrap up her hair and brought her to the window, where you could see the old Jinbo Grand Hotel. It later became a privately-run restaurant and went bankrupt, then became a photo studio and went bankrupt again…

“I’ve rented it.” I said, “Your daughter is now the boss there.”

After much comparison, I ultimately decided to give up on opening a company in Fengcheng.

The reason was simple—high costs, and the construction company market was saturated.

The world is just that cruel. Places with good environments actually don’t lack anything, yet massive amounts of human and material resources still rush there.

While in places that truly lack resources, there are fewer and fewer people.

Of course, I wasn’t harboring any lofty goals. I just felt that if I could build up a company in my hometown with the most professional standards, then even with just one project, I could swallow a chunk of meat.

Rather than competing with a hundred people for ten projects.

Choosing the Jinbo Grand Hotel was actually quite an unexpected thing. Cheng Xia’s mother had once been a manager there. The person who killed her had also been a server at the Jinbo Grand Hotel back then.

To find out the truth of what happened back then, Cheng Xia had investigated for a long time, and in the process also figured out the complex debt situation of the Jinbo Grand Hotel. This property involved the rights of many parties. An ordinary person who couldn’t sort it out clearly would fall into a pit.

But we figured it out.

“With the shift of the city center, this area is quite desolate, so it’s hard to run a restaurant or anything like that, but if you’re opening a company, it’s actually suitable.” Cheng Xia said as much: “Convenient transportation, spacious place, and the rent isn’t high either.”

Originally I had gone to look and was still hesitating, but on the train back from Fengcheng, I miraculously received a call from the current owner of the Jinbo Grand Hotel. He said the previous driving school’s contract had expired, and if I could sign for five years, he could rent it to me at an extremely low price.

Its gold toilet had already been smashed out, the beautiful revolving door was gone too, the whole place was gray and dusty, but it didn’t matter. I was confident I could renovate it beautifully.

The garden that used to keep white peacocks had become the driving school’s practice yard. Now it could park my cement trucks.

We would sign the contract after the New Year.

I said, “Mom, I’m starting a company. I’ll give you living expenses plus salary every month, five thousand yuan. You come help me oversee the renovation, and later help me with logistics, okay?”

My mom was stunned for a moment and said, “Then can you get me a uniform too?”

I said, “Sure.”

So she smiled so wide her gums showed. She said, “Great! My daughter is really something!”

Her face was full of pride.

After delivering money to her, I went to my dad’s house again.

After so many conflicts, I was too lazy to pretend to be affectionate. I silently watched TV for a while, then stood up and said, “Well Dad, I’m leaving.”

My dad said, “The dumplings are already cooked. Eat a couple.”

“Okay.”

My younger brother apparently had a girlfriend and went to her family’s house for lunch. He wouldn’t be back until evening.

Me, my stepmother, and my dad—this miraculous family of three sat there eating in silence.

My stepmother coughed and made conversation: “After your company opens, have your brother come help you!”

I said, “No.”

So the dinner table fell into another awkward silence. I ate two dumplings, put the red envelope under my bowl, and said, “You guys take your time eating. I’m heading back.”

I had walked halfway when my dad chased after me. He said, “The snow is too heavy. Let me see you off.”

He rambled on about how my brother didn’t understand things, how my stepmother gave him attitude, how in the future he’d still have to rely on me.

Ever since I first earned over ten thousand in salary, every time he was alone with me, he would nag like this. But the next time, in front of my stepmother and brother, he would stand together with them, united against a common enemy—me.

“If they really don’t take care of you in the future, just go to a nursing home. I’ll pay for it.” I said, “But that’s all.”

His expression changed, but he didn’t speak.

I said, “Dad, do you know why I give you guys red envelopes every year? Because every time I went to your house to ask for money as a kid, I would fantasize that when I made money in the future, I’d throw it in your faces, tell you that you looked down on people…”

I would often think about it and laugh with satisfaction. Using such fantasies to cover up present embarrassment was my winning weapon as a child.

“But I later discovered that I just wanted you to know that you were wrong. You abandoned me, chose her and her son. Your judgment was poor. Sooner or later you’d regret it.”

My dad smiled bitterly. He said, “I wouldn’t call it abandoning you. I gave you the money I should have, and there’s your grandma…”

“But now I know that no matter how successful I become, you’re still a family.” I smiled, “You’re my dad, but you’re not my family. You’re just my grandma’s son.”

There are seven billion people in this world, which means there should be seven billion kinds of relationships.

Who says parents and children must be family? They could also be investors and entrepreneurs.

Those who invest money get money back, those who invest feelings get feelings back.

Once you understand this, you don’t have to secretly harbor little hopes anymore, only to have them broken again and again.

A chain wrapped around me finally broke.

When I got home, Grandma had already made the New Year’s Eve dinner. She asked, “Did you eat at your dad’s house?”

“Ate two.” I said while taking off my coat, “I said I wanted to come home to eat.”

Grandma had stir-fried four or five dishes, set out pickled garlic, eating together with baijiu, the TV chattering away.

Just like before I made money, for so many years, it was just the two of us for New Year’s Eve dinner.

She didn’t apologize to me, nor did she bring up marriage or starting a business again.

It’s just that after I came back from Fengcheng, I saw she was already home.

I knew she might never be able to understand why I didn’t want to get married.

But she must have already understood that only one person could be in charge in this household, and that was me.

Grandma said, “Will you need cooks at your construction sites here in the future?”

I said, “Definitely will.”

Grandma said, “Then I’ll go cook for you guys!”

I said, “Too many people, you can’t handle it. Just set up a mantou stand at the construction site gate.”

Grandma: “Deal!”

This year’s gala hadn’t started yet. The TV was showing last year’s gala. I watched sporadically while replying to New Year greeting messages.

Ha Rina: Jie-jie, happy New Year! Our family bought two more little horses. One is waiting for you to come. I’ll teach you to ride.

I replied: Feed it fatter.

Yu Shixuan didn’t say anything, just directly sent a photo of herself in a swimsuit on the beach.

I replied: You Photoshopped the legs too much!

Got blocked instantly.

Bao Long sent a string of copied and pasted New Year blessings, then said: Boss, when do I start work?

His leg still affected his work at S Construction. Combined with his explosive temper, he was gradually marginalized. Hearing I was starting a business, he wanted to come over.

I replied: “Come look around after the New Year. Bring your daughter and treat it like tourism.”

He said: “The kid’s in her second year of high school. Coursework is heavy. She won’t come.”

I said: “How’s her studying? Where does she want to test into?”

He said: “However she does is fine. I’ll just work on myself, try to make her a rich second generation.”

I laughed.

Li Gong, Ba Te, Mr. Wang, Sister Shen…

My phone kept ringing non-stop. I’d laugh for a while, send red envelopes for a while, busy and happy.

At this moment, I received Zhou Ting’s WeChat message.

He said: “Are you there?”

He said: “Can we meet?”