Chapter 379: Bamboo Basket

She raised her voice again. "You silly kid, what are you saying? When are you going to expand that shop of yours? Do you have to wait until Cheng Cai gets married to do it?"

"Mom, let's be reasonable," I said. "I decided to expand first, and he decided to get married later."

"What did you just say?!"

I furrowed my brow and held the phone farther away, trying to give my ears some peace.

I knew exactly what she was going to say next.

She and Lao Han Er had raised me with so much hardship, changing my diapers and feeding me through thick and thin.

Originally, raising just me would have been easy, but they had to work so hard for two people, and I had no idea how tired they must have been all these years.

In her description, I never would have gotten into Xi'nan Zhengfa Daxue or found such a good job if it weren't for her careful care.

But I clearly remembered that when I graduated from junior high, I cried and begged to go to high school.

She didn't agree.

She wanted me to go out and work to earn money for my younger brother, who was always at the bottom of his class.

I also overheard her discussing with Lao Han Er about marrying me off when I was seventeen for a bride price of ten thousand yuan, so they could send Cheng Cai to school in the city.

If it weren't for the teacher who came to the village to teach and paid my school fees, letting me go to high school, I probably would be back in the mountain village by now, thirty-three years old with kids in their teens, and my main job would be taking care of a pig and five chickens every day.

The teacher told me that if I wanted to change my life, I had to go out into the wider world.

She was the guiding light of my life.

"You silly kid, do you know how much shame you've brought me?!" she continued shouting. "You're thirty-five years old! Thirty-five, do you understand? You can still earn money for many years!"

"Mom, I'm thirty-three," I said.

"Over thirty and not married! You've left me and your Lao Han Er with no face!" She took a deep breath. "Is there anyone in the village over thirty who's not married? They all say you're sick, you know?"

"So I don't want to stay in the village anymore, Mom," I said with a bitter smile. "I want to live a different life."

"You might not want to, but your brother does!" She steered the conversation back to the main topic. "You give twenty thousand yuan so your brother can buy a house in the county town, and then you won't have to pay for anything else, okay?"

"I can't do that," I reiterated my point. "Cheng Cai is already thirty-two and hasn't even held a job. Why should he get married? Does he have the ability to plan for his own future?"

"Because of you!" she said. "Aren't you a big boss in Chengdu?"

"Mom, I'm not a boss; I'm a lawyer."

"So you're the one who sues people, right? They have to be afraid of you, don't they?" She kept pushing her ideas on me. "You ask them for money; if they don't give it, you sue them, okay?"

How ridiculous.

"Mom, that's not only illegal but also unfair," I said. "When is Cheng Cai getting married?"

"Next week, on June 6th," she grumbled. "There's only a week left, so hurry up!"

"Fine, I'll definitely give a red envelope then."

"Red envelope?! You little... "

I didn't let her finish and hung up the phone.

No matter how many years I've been fighting, whenever I get a call from home, I always end up feeling completely broken.

My family has never considered me even a little bit.

In their eyes, I only have two roles.

Either go back and get married for a bride price, then become a baby-making machine and never contact them again. Or stay in Chengdu making money, send it home, and become a money-making machine that never stops.

I took a pack of Kuan Kuan from my backpack and bit down on a cigarette expressionlessly.

I'm really tired right now.

Dealing with my family is even more exhausting than fighting a lawsuit.

I had just lit the cigarette when the safety exit door was pushed open. I instinctively hid the cigarette behind me, since many people are malicious toward women who smoke, and I wanted to avoid that trouble.

"Zhang Jie?" Xiao Sun poked his head out and looked at me curiously.

Seeing it was him, I put the cigarette back in my mouth. "You scared me. What's up?"

"I saw you on the phone for a long time and was worried something was wrong. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Xiao Sun smoothly took the cigarette pack from my hand and pulled one out. "Zhang Jie, I haven't seen you smoke in a while. What's going on?"

"Nothing," I shook my head. "Family stuff."

After saying that, I paused and looked at his hand lighting the cigarette, then asked, "Didn't you quit smoking?"

"Zhang Jie, I told you before: if you quit, I quit; if you smoke, I smoke." He took a puff and slowly closed his eyes. "If we're taking care of our health, we do it together; if we're ruining it, we do that together too."

I sighed, half-laughing and half-crying. "What kind of talk is that? Is it fair to tie your health to mine?"

"It's fair," Xiao Sun nodded. "Zhang Jie, no matter what, I just want to do it with you."

Xiao Sun had said similar things before, and it always made me feel uneasy, so my response was always to say nothing.

Seeing I didn't speak, Xiao Sun continued, but his tone was a bit awkward this time. "Zhang Jie, I have an extra ticket for Ren Xianqi's concert tomorrow since I don't have any work. I heard you really like him—want to go together?"

I tapped my ash into my portable ashtray, looked up, and asked, "Xiao Sun, you just happen to have no work tomorrow, you just happen to have bought Ren Xianqi's tickets, you just happen to have bought two, and he just happens to be my favorite singer—what are you trying to do?"

"I... " Xiao Sun hesitated, his ears turning red. After a long pause, he said, "Zhang Jie, we've known each other for many years. I don't want to stay just in a boss-subordinate relationship. I want to get to know you better."

Young guys these days are really bold. Even though I've been through so much in court, his words still made my heart race.

"But Zhang Jie... you've always kept yourself closed off, and I've never been able to get into your heart." Xiao Sun said nervously, "Life is still long; do you want to walk it together?"

I looked into Xiao Sun's clear eyes and quietly lowered my head, stubbing out the cigarette in my ashtray.

For some reason, hearing those words made me feel unusually down.

I was like a basket full of holes, with no right to hold anyone's tender affection.

"Xiao Sun, you're... twenty-six."

"Yes, Zhang Jie, I'll be twenty-seven after my birthday."

"I'm seven years older than you," I said expressionlessly. "You're young and promising; you can find a better partner. You'll have a better life. If you tie yourself to me, one day you'll discover I'm full of flaws, and all of this is just a facade."

The air grew quieter, with only the muffled music from the distant wedding playing.

"I... I don't care if you're full of flaws or completely broken; I'm willing to use everything I have to mend you." Xiao Sun's gaze gradually became firm. "Zhang Jie, I like you—regardless of age, background, or past. I like the strong, hardworking, serious, and persistent you. Every word I've said, I've thought about for a long time. Now, I'm just waiting for your answer."