On the day she returned to Shanghai, Liao Tao and He Niaoxiao saw her off together. When Liao Tao was in the parking lot, Zhuang Jie told He Niao Niao, “Don’t make mom angry. If you get angry, no one will care about you.”
He Niao put her shoes aside and turned her head without saying anything.
“I’ll take you to Disneyland when I’m free.” Zhuang Jie added.
He Niao pulled at her sleeves to hold back the tears, turned around and ran back to the car.
Liao Tao didn’t come over either. She waved to her from a distance and told her to enter the station.
She kept thinking about things on the high-speed train back. She couldn’t worry about Zhuang Yan, couldn’t worry about He Niao Niao, and couldn’t worry about Liao Tao either. She also thought of her deceased father. She was the same age as He Niao Niao when her father passed away, and during the funeral, her grandmother criticized and abused her mother throughout the whole process, but her mother held her belly and didn’t shed a single tear.
Liao Tao chatted with her all night last night, saying that He Zhanghua was worthy of his two siblings, and that he had never treated them badly either emotionally or in life. Moreover, he reached out to the mother and daughter when they were in the most difficult time. He was a caring and righteous person. So, no matter what, she would keep this family going and get better and better.
Half a month after returning to Shanghai, Zhuang Jie finally decided to resign. She planned to go back to help Liao Tao. The night she handed in her resignation, she chatted with Wang Xixia. She talked about how she couldn’t sleep all night, how worried about her family, how when Liao Tao gave birth to Zhuang Yan, her grandma secretly took Zhuang Yan away, and Liao Tao rushed to her grandma’s house like crazy, trying her best He snatched Zhuang Yan back. Liao Tao was afraid of dragging down her natal family, so she rented a place for herself in a shantytown. At that time, she did not dare to say that her stump was inflamed because she knew that her family had no money.
When the family was almost completely broke, He Zhanghua came over and took her to the orthopedic department to see a doctor and get a new socket. After He Zhanghua took care of the mother and daughter for several months, one day he asked Liao Tao if she wanted to live with him. He took them back to Nanping Town and re-arranged the children’s school. Liao Tao agreed without a second thought, and the next day he held Zhuang Yan and led her back to Nanping Town.
Zhuang Jie said that He Zhanghua couldn’t express emotions well, but he would write four characters on her sister and brother’s birthday, “Eternal Peace” He would buy them the latest fashionable clothes, bicycles to ride to school, and books read by people in the city. Like all remarried families, there was an unspeakable distance between her and He Zhanghua.
Wang Xixia listened to what she said bit by bit and said that she had expected this result and knew she would go back. There are thousands of Zhuang Jies in Shanghai, and there is no shortage of her in the city. But her mother only has one Zhuang Jie, so she should go back and help her.
Zhuang Jie looked at the Oriental Pearl Tower outside her window, and for the first time she felt that it was nothing more than a TV tower.
Zhuang Jie began to hand over her company position and officially resigned on November 15th. Colleagues in the department were reluctant to part with her and invited her to dinner one after another. Zhuang Jie would sometimes share her experience after taking a few sips. There was no point in just running away. She had to be good at using her brain and her heart. If she felt that she couldn’t take it anymore, she would give up decisively and spend her energy on another business. This society lacks everyone except smart people. Never play tricks in front of the dean or department head. They are absolutely capable of reaching this position. How much do you weigh? Playing tricks in front of them will only make you look ridiculous. Get faster updates on novelping(.)com.
A colleague asked her, “How can I win at this?”
Zhuang Jie said: “Sincerity. The most touching thing in this world and the easiest thing to detect is sincerity. The second is the sense of trust that is often mentioned in department training. First of all, you must be a person that customers can trust. Only under this condition can you trust others and have the opportunity for them to buy your product.”
Everyone booed and asked her to teach more. Zhuang Jie said that some things have to be figured out by oneself, and it depends on the performance on the spot, which can only be understood but not expressed in words. As she spoke, she took out a thick notebook from her bag, which she had studied bit by bit when she was an intern.
Zhuang Jie was drunk when she got home. Her cell phone rang several times before she answered the call. Liao Tao said that He ran away from home and left a letter saying that she was going to Shanghai to find her sister. She had left out early in the morning and was busy all day, when she returned home that night she realized that she was not there.
Zhuang Jie comforted her not to worry, saying that because of her age she probably couldn’t buy a ticket on her own, and even if she did, the conductor wouldn’t let her ride. Liao Tao said that she bought tickets online using He Zhanghua’s mobile phone before his death, which contained ticket purchase records. The piggy bank in her bedroom was also smashed, and the ID card issued for her last year was also missing.
Zhuang Jie was not worried, this was obviously carefully planned. With her brains, she might not be able to even make it to Shanghai. Liao Tao said she would go to the police first and check the high-speed rail surveillance. If she could really go to Shanghai based on her ability, she would not have given birth to her in vain. As soon as she hung up the phone, she received a message that she had missed a call. Zhuang Jie called them back knowingly. The person was a staff member from Shanghai Station. A young girl said she had been separated from her family. Please come and pick her up.
When Zhuang Jie picked He Niao Niao up, she looked at her with admiration and asked her if she had eaten. She was carrying her bag and shaking her head, saying that the food on the high-speed rail was expensive and she didn’t seem to have any appetite.
Zhuang Jie took her to dinner first. When she was full, she asked her why she left home. He Niao wrapped his fingers around the corner of his clothes and said, “I’m scared to be alone at home.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“I’m at home by myself all day, and mother doesn’t come back until eight or nine in the evening. I always feel like there’s a ghost in the house.” He Niao said with tears in her eyes, “Grandma He Yuan always said that dad would come back to see me, saying that he didn’t trust me, so I.. I was scared when I heard it. I was afraid that my father would come back and take me away.”
Zhuang Jie couldn’t laugh or cry. While resting, she told her why people die and where they go after they die. Then she described what heaven is like. He Niao said wistfully: “Then let’s go too.”
Zhuang Jie scolded her for being childish, saying that there is a school in heaven, and if you go there at the wrong time, you must receive education. He Niao Niao was stunned when she heard it. School is the most painful existence in the world. Then she started to complain about Liao Tao, saying that Liao Tao was very irritable and she could not take matters into her own hands. She would always bring up all of her past mistakes because of one mistake she may have made, and she liked to rub it in her face.
“It’s not about talking about things all at once, it’s about discussing things as they occur.” Zhuang Jie corrected her. New chapters come out on g.com first.
“No matter what, it doesn’t matter.” He Niao continued: “When I grow up, I will be the gentlest mother in the world. It doesn’t matter even if my child scores zero on the test or is a fool. I will not scold her, let alone beat her.” As she spoke, she mentioned her essay again, saying that one of her essays was given a zero mark. When she said this, she became very angry.
“Why zero points?”
“Because the teacher asked me to write “my dream”, I wrote that my dream is being a demolition captain. In the future, I will point at these schools and say: demolition, demolition, demolition, all are illegally built!”
Zhuang Jie raised her head and laughed.
After He Niao fell asleep, she went out and called Liao Tao, saying that she had resigned and would go back to help her for a year and then return to Shanghai when she was stable.
Liao Tao said ok, just help her for half a year, and no more.
Zhuang Jie said that the luggage had been sealed and sent back one already, and asked her not to open it casually, as some of the items were fragile. Then they chatted for a few more minutes.
Liao Tao thought He Niao Niao was too playful and naive, and didn’t understand anything. At her age, Zhuang Jie could already do her share of housework. Zhuang Jie persuaded her, saying that children should be innocent by nature, and precocious maturity is not a quality worthy of praise.
Liao Tao didn’t answer.
Zhuang Jie also realized that this was inappropriate, but did not dwell on it.