Chapter 2: Beginner’s Luck (1)

“”Your parents were killed by her jinx! Do you want to see me killed by her too!” My mother roared hysterically, “Okay, it doesn’t matter if I die, but what about Xiao Dao! Do you want the old Le family line to end?”

“That old Taoist priest said that only by keeping her away from home, far away from us, can the family live in peace! We agreed to send her to my grandmother’s house, but you insisted on bringing her back! Last time after she came back for vacation, Xiao Dao had a high fever for three days for no reason! The older she gets, the harder her birth chart becomes, and our whole family will be jinxed to death by her!”

“Do you know that she can’t marry an ordinary person! She’s…”

“Shut up!” My father interrupted her with a sharp shout.

Xiao Dao, who was diligently licking his lollipop, was suddenly frightened and cried. I frantically covered his mouth, intending to flee the battlefield.

Dragging Xiao Dao, I hadn’t even reached the courtyard gate when my arm was suddenly yanked. I lost my balance and stumbled, falling heavily on my butt.

Xiao Dao, who was in my arms, had already been pulled away by my mother, who suddenly appeared behind me.

Her hair was disheveled, her eyes were red and swollen, and she looked at me like a venomous snake.

“Mom…” I tried to stand up, but guilt, fear, and pain kept me from moving.

And her cold “Don’t call me Mom” was like drawing a clear line of demarcation in front of me, completely isolating me and fixing me in place.

On the other side of the river were Mom, Dad, and my younger brother. On this side of the river, there was only me.

So she really didn’t love me. The harshness and indifference she had shown me since I was a child were not my imagination.

Why? I’m her daughter.

My father came out and checked the wounds on my body with concern. Apart from my butt, my knees and wrists had scrapes of varying sizes, depths, and depths.

He picked me up and asked softly, “Does it hurt? Dad will take you to the clinic to put on medicine.”

As always, kind and gentle.

I shook my head and said a lie: “It doesn’t hurt.

“I’ve been a mischievous monkey since I was a child. I earned the nickname “McHammer” with my own fists. I always had small, honorable injuries on my body.

Except for the time I was chased and cried by the big goose in the east of the village when I was three years old, I had never cried because of injuries from fighting.

The time I broke my leg falling from a tree at the age of five, I just howled a couple of times.

This time the injury really wasn’t anything, but why did my heart and wound hurt so much?

The pain was so intense that I was carried out of the courtyard gate by my father. I wrapped my arms around his neck and finally couldn’t help but wail: “Dad, why doesn’t Mom love me? I’m also her child! I’m not a jinx. Grandpa and Grandma weren’t killed by me… Don’t you want me anymore? I don’t want to go to school in the county. I don’t want to be separated from you…”

This was the most heartbreaking cry I had ever cried. I didn’t even hear my father’s comforting words.

I thought it would lead to a family reunion, but that night I was sent overnight to my great-grandmother’s house, fifty kilometers away.

Before leaving, my father knelt on the ground with an apologetic look, touched my head, and said with red eyes, “Xiao Mai, everyone has their own fate, including Dad. We all have to accept it.”

“Dad did something that hurt Mom before. Dad has to atone for it. Will you give Dad a chance to atone?”

I didn’t understand why the chance for him to atone had to be given by me. I didn’t understand what my fate was either.

Was I destined to be abandoned?Well, living with a hunched, almost helpless old woman should also count as abandonment.

I chased after my father for a long distance when he left, but no matter how far I ran, my feet couldn’t keep up with a car.

It wasn’t until the black car was completely swallowed by the distant night that I returned to my great-grandmother’s courtyard, covered in dust.

I rarely came here because I was afraid.

I was not only afraid of the musty smell and the creaking old house, but also of my great-grandmother, who always had a mysterious smile on her face.

The courtyard was a two-section type. After climbing a few bluestone steps, the main gate led to a spirit screen. On the right was a room facing the street, which she used as a medicinal herb shop, running it half-dead.

Passing through the spirit screen and the moon gate was the main courtyard—the east and west wing rooms and the main hall, with a jujube tree in the courtyard.

I was looking at the green fruits growing on the tree, planning how to climb it, when my great-grandmother, dressed in black cloth, stood under the corridor of the main hall, her face half-hidden in the darkness.

Tap tap tap—she tapped her pipe a few times on the railing.”

She still threw you to me. I knew it, I knew it…” The old woman coughed hoarsely a few times, her voice full of gurgling phlegm.

Although I was very afraid of her, I still moved over and asked, “Great-Grandma, are you talking about my mom or my dad?

“Great-Grandma was hunched over, her pale hair gathered into a small bun, her face was crisscrossed with ravines, her mouth was pursed into a line, and her eyes were mostly covered by her loose eyelids, but the look that was revealed was always sharp and glittering.

“Hmph, a couple is inseparable. They’re both the same.” She pointed at the east wing with her pipe, “I’ve cleaned it up for you. From now on, you’ll be responsible for cooking at home. You can’t eat and live here for free.

“She moved back to her room as she spoke, “Don’t be surprised if you hear any noises at night. If you’re scared, don’t run to my room. I’m an old woman and I have a right to privacy. What’s more, I’ll lock the door.

“She didn’t act like a kind elder at all.

Looking at the dimly lit east wing, thinking that I would be living here for more than a month in the future, I sighed and resigned myself to fate, walking inside.

How did I know at that time that in the years to come, besides school, this place would be my temporary home for more than ten years.

When I was sixteen years old, something happened between me and my great-grandmother. After our relationship eased, I was willing to call this place home.

Apart from not being able to return to the house with my mom, dad, and younger brother, they didn’t treat me badly financially. From elementary school to high school, I always attended private schools in the county.

It was just that in my senior year of high school, my father’s steel factory suddenly went bankrupt and he owed a lot of debt.

The relatively comfortable life I had at school plummeted, and I almost dropped out.

My father choked on the phone and kept saying sorry to me, but my great-grandmother scolded him, saying that she would cover my tuition for university.

Then, she took out a plastic bag full of change from the camphor chest under the bed. She counted while I shed tears on the side.

This was all her money for her coffin. How could I take it?

“What’s the use of these things for an old woman like me? When I kick the bucket, I’ll be cremated, put in an urn, and that’s it. If you really feel sorry for this old woman, then finish your university degree, get a diploma, and come back to inherit my traditional Chinese medicine shop.” She smiled sideways.

Under the dim tungsten light, my great-grandmother’s smile was like the warm sun in March, warming my heart.

I smiled through my tears: “With your broken shop, no one comes to see a doctor for ten and a half months. Are we going to starve? Don’t worry, Le Xiao Mai will definitely make a lot of money to support you and take care of you until you die!”

She rolled her eyes at me, but couldn’t help but raise the corners of her mouth, taking a few puffs of her pipe.

Her skinny hands folded the Mao Zedong bills that had been rubbed pale one by one and tied them with rubber bands.

I pinched the 30,000 yuan, applied for a student loan, and chose a civil engineering major with low tuition fees. My father only gave me 800 yuan a month for living expenses.

By my senior year, the 800 yuan had become sporadic and inconsistent, but fortunately, I was doing some part-time jobs so I wouldn’t starve to death.

With university about to graduate, finding a job became my top priority.

So, I submitted my resume to various recruitment websites. As long as it included food and accommodation, regardless of whether the major was relevant, I submitted it. I didn’t even let go of cleaning jobs.

After saying so much, I finally get to the point – how I found this job and met this strange employer with long ears and a tail.Three words – beginner’s luck.