Chapter 12 — They Teach Me To Grow Up By Abandoning Me

"See, you've been trained? It's okay to suffer a little? Back then, your grandfather even threw me into—"

Then the ancestral speech began again:

“If you want to be better than others, you must endure suffering.”

I understand you so well. But this time— I don't intend to be like before, laughing and listening to him say everything. This time I want to ask you a question. Just one sentence.

“Dad, when you left me behind… did you ever hesitate for even a second?”

If he said yes— Then why did he leave in the end? If you say no— Then am I still your daughter? Thinking about that, my eyes sting again. I buried my face in my arms, trying to hold my breath. The buzzing sound of McDonald's air conditioner rang out. Someone walked in to order food. The cash register ticked. The whole world still operates normally. It's just me huddled in the corner, keeping company with a 6-yuan glass of coke. We'll figure it out tomorrow. When I opened my eyes, my neck was so stiff that I could barely turn. McDonald's hard plastic chairs are definitely not for the human spine. I tried to move a little, but every joint screamed in protest. Today is the last day. Tomorrow morning, go to the police station to get confirmation, then go straight to the train station to buy a ticket. Just try to get through today. In the morning I went to the park to sit as usual. The phone received a text message from Luc Vien:

"Sister, are you still alive? Do you need me to transfer some more money?"

"I'm still alive. No need, I'll be home tomorrow."

“That's so bad, how did you handle it?”

"It's a long story. Go back and tell it."

"Okay. Come back here and I'll buy you a meal."

“How old are you?”

"I pay. But the 300 yuan thing from last time still needs to be calculated clearly."

"Just kidding, just kidding. Let's go home and continue talking. Stay safe."

I hung up. At noon, I spent 9 yuan to eat a bowl of roadside noodles. The broth is very delicious. I drank three bowls in a row. At about three o'clock in the afternoon, something unexpected happened. I was sitting on a park bench, closing my eyes and resting. The phone suddenly rang. My mother called. Not texting. It's calling. For the first time in a few days, she proactively called me. I picked up the phone. My mother's voice was a bit unnatural.

“Can we talk now?”

"Convenient. What's going on?"

“It's like this… he and his father…”

She paused for a moment.

“Your dad… fell off the bike.”

My whole body stiffened and I immediately sat up straight from the stone bench.

"What do you mean? Is it serious?"

"It's not serious. It's just that when going downhill, I couldn't apply the brakes in time, so I crashed into the roadside ditch. My hands were scratched and my knees were swollen. I couldn't continue cycling."

I was silent for two seconds. All kinds of emotions rose up at the same time. Yes a little. There is also a little bit. Then there's the complicated feeling that can't be clearly explained.

"Where are you now, Dad? Have you gone to the hospital yet?"

"He's gone. He's at the nearby district hospital. X-rays have been taken, there's no bone damage, just skin injuries. But now it's hard for him to walk, let alone ride a bike."

“So what do you think now?”

"I contacted the car rental company and planned to rent a car to drive home. But..."

She hesitated again.

“But what?”

"Mom didn't bring her driver's license. I was in such a hurry that I forgot."

"Your father's driver's license is at home. Mom's is also at home. We can't rent a car."

“Then take the train home.”

"Your father's knee is swollen like a dumpling, it's still difficult to walk, did you tell him to sit on the train for more than ten hours?"

“So what can I do?”

There was a very long silence. Then my mother said something that I never thought I would hear from her mouth in my entire life:

“Daughter… can you come pick us up?”

I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked back at the screen. Confirm caller name: Do not call by mistake.

“What did you just say?”

"Come pick up your parents. You have a driver's license, right? You'll drive, then take us home."

My voice was strangely calm.

"Right now I'm more than 1,200 km from home, I don't have ID, I only have more than four hundred yuan in my pocket, I slept at McDonald's last night. Mom told me to go pick up my parents?"

The other end of the line was silent.

“…Is it that bad?”

There was finally a bit of panic in her voice.

“Didn't you say you were fine?”

"I said it's okay because I didn't want mom to worry. But the truth is— my parents brought all my documents and money with me, and these past few days I've been living off the money I earned standing on the street holding billboards."

“Mom, I asked you a question.”

“You ask.”

“When you left me behind… you two discussed it beforehand, right?”

There was a very long silence. Then she sighed.

"It's your father's idea. He said that since you were fired, you've been at home playing games every day, looking like a useless person. He said young people have to suffer a little to grow up. He wanted... to give you a 'chance for independent survival'."

“So this trip was to leave the child behind in the first place?”

“Not really… At first we thought you would find a way on your own…”

"What are you looking for? Mom took your ID with you!"

"That... was my negligence. When I put your wallet in my pocket, I didn't think..."

“Didn't you think you two would run away?”