Not long after I graduated and started working, my mother came to me with a bill.

"I've raised you for so many years. It's time to pay back now that you're grown up"

She transferred all my savings to her card despite my objections.

She said the money was interest and took my brother with her on a trip to relax.

As soon as they left, I quietly sold my mother's gold jewelry.

Then I took the earliest bus and went back to my hometown.

When they found it and rushed back to the hometown, they only saw my tombstone and my grandma's tombstone snuggled together.

They all went crazy.

——

I had just finished cleaning the blood in the sink when my mother called me outside.

"Lucky, come here quickly."

Lucky was like a dog's name.

It was not cheesy, but also unpleasant.

Mom said that my name was to bring blessings to the family.

But Grandma said that my name meant that I would receive blessings.

So even if I was ridiculed and bullied by my classmates, I didn't think about changing it.

I wiped my hands and walked out in a daze.

She held a thick stack of bills and asked me for money without even looking up.

"You have started working. It's about time you paid me back."

"I don't ask for much, just 1 million dollars. I won't even bother you if you marry someone rich in the future."

Mom raised her eyebrows and slammed the bill on the table.

"It's been two years since you graduated and you have been promoted now. I heard from your brother that you have 50,000 dollars in your bank account."

She reached out, signaling me to give money to her.

The desire in her eyes made me sick.

I immediately said, "I don't have any money. I have been diagnosed with acute leukemia and need treatment."

My mother frowned and immediately became angry, raising her hand to grab my hair.

"I ask you for money and you say you're sick? Leukemia? Even a fool can see through your intentions!"

She turned her head and called my brother.

My brother Vincent Brown was still holding his phone, and the sounds of fighting kept coming from it.

He looked at us impatiently, "I've told you not to mess with Mom. You deserve to be beaten."

In private, he always called me "Sis" and asked me to give him money.

In order to let him not annoy me, I spent money to get rid of the trouble. Unexpectedly, he saw the deduction message.

Now he didn't call me Sis anymore but blamed me for not giving money to Mom.

I endured the pain of having my hair pulled and shouted for him to stop.

Naturally, they wouldn't listen.

My brother skillfully took out my phone and forcibly pulled my fingerprint to unlock it.

That night was chaotic.

Mom couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from rising when she got the money.

She patted my face and said, "This is the interest. You have to repay the money within ten years. After ten years, you have to add 50,000 dollars. We have agreed on this, okay?"

How could I possibly give her a million dollars in ten years?

They were just trying to confine me at home and make me their cash machine!

I screamed harshly and my brother gave a 'tsk' and immediately pulled my mom's hand towards the door.

His face was full of flattery, asking Mom to take him on a trip.

"Okay, let's go on a trip together to relax."

"Vincent will go to college soon. Let's hurry up and have fun before school begins! Hurry up, thank your sis!"

Mom wrapped her arms around my brother and swept me before leaving with a smile.

And I lay on the sofa panting.

Relaxing?

Did someone this brazen need to relax?

I closed my eyes and traced back the hardships of my life.

I should have long ago lived for myself.

Vincent had long wanted to go on a trip.

After being admitted to his dream university, he had been clamoring to go.

He had all the tips and routes ready, but Mom had always refused.

Now that they got the money, they went to the airport the next day immediately.

But Mom was in such a hurry that she forgot to lock her most precious jewelry box as usual, which she treasured so much.

I slowly pushed open the bedroom door, put the gold necklace and gold bracelet into a cheap plastic bag while lowering my gaze, and then dragged my few belongings to the gold shop.

The gold weighed more than 120 grams, and the recycling price according to the market price was over 60,000 dollars.

The shopkeeper examined the gold and pursed his lips, "50,000 dollars. I can make the deal."

I smiled and tapped the table, "Now the gold price is 720. The gold recycling price will decrease appropriately, but not to such an extent."

"Give me 60,000. I want cash."

The shopkeeper paused.

60,000 was indeed not much.

Without much thought, he cheerfully handed over 60,000 dollars.

After getting the money, I booked a ticket back to see Grandma.

I was a left-behind child, raised by my grandma and brought back to my parents when I was ten years old.

After my father died, my mother cut off contact with Grandma.

But I would go back to be with Grandma whenever there was a holiday.

Later, she passed away, and all holidays lost their meaning to me.

On the train, I looked at the picture with my grandmother on my phone.

It had been more than six years.

I didn't let her enjoy her life when I was studying, and later when she died, I didn't even have money to bury her.

I begged my mother to go back and take care of my grandmother's affairs, but she slapped me.

"All you think about all day long is the money in my pocket! Stop dreaming! I won't spend money on outsiders!"

"She's my grandma, not outsiders!" I cried and begged, but my mother rolled her eyes.

"No, I'm already unlucky enough with you. If I had known you were a girl, I would have aborted you. If it weren't for your father stopping me..."

She spat and walked away, leaving me sitting on the floor, feeling numb.

The self-comfort of the past had become a joke.

I knew that my mom didn't love me, but I didn't know that she wasn't even willing to give birth to me.

Since then, I made up my mind to move out immediately after graduation, which again provoked her.

She even went to my workplace to cause trouble.

"There is no such good thing in this world! How can you run away after making money? Women are indeed a waste of money!"

She shouted with her hands on her hips.

But wasn't she also a woman?

Didn't she also leave her grandparents and follow her father to the city, never to return?

I swallowed my words and looked at her in a daze.

In the end, I still compromised with her.

In order to get rid of my family and have a better future, I couldn't lose my job that earned over 10,000 dollars a month.

I thought about enduring a little longer. After I saved enough money, I would resign and leave.

But if I always fantasized about a better future, I would ignore the hardships of the present.

Accidents always came unexpectedly.

I couldn't hold back my tears and they fell on the screen uncontrollably. I quickly turned my head to look at the layers of mountains outside the window.

I could go back soon.

As soon as I entered the village, I scared the old man at the entrance.

He was like an elder to me.

When he was in his teens, he was taken care of by my grandma and he remembered her kindness. So he was extremely good to me and my father.

I smiled comfortingly at him, but my nose wouldn't stop bleeding.

I leaned weakly against the tree and waved to him.

The uncle was so scared that he immediately ran away.

When he came back, he was holding another old man.

"Hurry up, Lindsay's granddaughter is in trouble!"

Upon hearing this, the doctor shouted and rushed over.

I didn't react before the doctor took my pulse.

His brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and I helplessly smiled and shook my head at the worried old man.

"I'm doomed. I have acute leukemia..."

"Uncle, I come back this time to build a grave next to Grandma."

The doctor sighed, patted my hand, and gave me several doses of medicine before leaving.

And the uncle kept shedding tears.

As long as it was related to Grandma, he saw it as more important than himself.

He rubbed his tearful eyes with a painful expression.

In just a few years, Grandma and Dad died.

And I was about to die too.

"Uncle, I am content. I've lived a muddled life after Grandma left. Now I can finally go and see her."

"Please bury me next to Grandma. Whenever you have time, come and visit us."

"I am finally liberated."

I said without emotions, as if I was discussing what to eat for dinner.

When I was first diagnosed, I even felt that I had finally made it to the end.

Uncle opened his mouth, fidgeted, and rubbed his hands, "Lucky, are you unhappy in the city? You can't have such thoughts. If you can be cured, you should live well..."

I was stunned, lowered my gaze, and nodded.

"I'm sorry, Uncle."

I forgot.

Uncle cherished his own life very much.

He didn't even think of giving up his life when he was starving to death.

He struggled and begged for some food.

Although he lived a difficult life later, he never thought of giving up on himself.

He even adopted a little girl and raised her wholeheartedly.

He said that the purpose of living was to overcome difficulties, even if life was tough, we must endure.

I suddenly felt ashamed of myself.

But I was really tired.

In the evening, I went to the cottage where my grandmother used to live.

It was small and dark.

After my grandmother passed away, Uncle would come and clean it for her as usual, like she was still there.

He kept a little black dog at the door, looking at me with round eyes.

It wasn't afraid of me and licked my palm obediently.

It was warm, like it was comforting me.

I suddenly wanted to cry.

Since my grandmother passed away, I hadn't felt this kind of warmth for a long time.

I quickly turned my face away and wiped away the tears before my uncle noticed.

When I entered the house, I immediately handed him the 60,000 dollars I had exchanged.

"Uncle, help me buy a piece of land next to my grandmother, and the rest will be yours. Thanks for taking care of my grandmother all these years."

He wanted to retract his hand as if it was burned, but I insisted.

"Uncle, I'm about to die. Please help me one last time."

"No, Lucky. I will definitely help you, but there is too much money..."

I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, shaking my head, "I know you kindly adopted an orphan. So you can use the money left for the child's education."

Uncle scratched his head shyly and finally accepted the money.

"When Coco comes back from vacation, I will bring her to see you."

After he left, only me and the little black dog were left in the small house.

I looked at the flickering yellow light, as if I had returned to my childhood.

Back then, as long as Grandma was still around, I was not a child that no one wanted.

She would raise her hand and touch my head, patting my head with a smile, and calling me Lucky.

She said I was a lucky star, and with me, she felt that life was colorful.

But my parents took me away.

My luck came to an end.

The little black dog walked over and silently sat by my feet, accompanying me.

I looked at it for a while and gave it a very common name.

With the dog Lucy, my life was no longer lonely.

I lived in my grandmother's cottage for some days.

One day, I had a nosebleed all night and didn't even have the strength to raise my hand.

I had a fever.

Lying in bed, I wondered if my grandmother was like this before she died.

I felt uncomfortable all over, but my thoughts were floating in the air, thinking about the person I cared about the most.

Suddenly, my hand hanging by the bed was licked by a soft and wet tongue.

Until then I came to my senses and saw my little dog looking at me on the ground.

"Lucy."

I stroked the dog's head, and it leaned against my palm for a while.

Suddenly, the door was pulled open, and Uncle came in with his adopted daughter.

He was going to bring her to see me some time ago, but I kept delaying because of the fever.

"Coco, call Sis."

I smiled at the shy girl, who was like Uncle.

Suddenly, she knelt down and kowtowed to me three times.

I was a bit surprised before my uncle explained, "From now on, Coco is your goddaughter. As long as we are alive, we will not let you be left alone in the mountains. Back then, I almost died. It was your grandmother who saved me with a bowl of rice. It was also because of the kindness passed down from that time that Coco could be adopted by me and go to school."

"Lucky, don't cry. We will remember you. We will visit you during festivals."

I hadn't thought about what would happen next, but Uncle did.

He even made a lifelong promise.

My nose felt sour, and I let the tears fall, swallowing the sob.

Coco came forward and hugged me tightly, comforting me in a childish voice, "Don't cry."

I passed out again.

When I regained consciousness again, it was like being touched on the head.

"Lucky, Grandma is here!"

I immediately looked up when I heard the familiar voice. I saw her with red eyes and a pout on her lips, looking very aggrieved.

"With Grandma here, Lucky will never be wronged again."

She wrapped her arms around me tightly, patting my back repeatedly.

My nose felt sour as I looked up at the dim light.

"Grandma, am I already dead?"

My body felt extremely light, as if everything had been pulled away.

I looked down at my unconscious body on the bed.

Uncle and Coco were crying uncontrollably.

Suddenly, the door was pulled open.

Mom's iconic loud voice suddenly burst in.

"I knew you were back! Get out! Where did you hide my gold?"

She had only finished speaking when she realized that the atmosphere in the house was strange.

I was lying there without any color on my face, and just a light touch would let her know that I was dead.

Mom was scared to pale, leaning weakly against the wall.

"What kind of tricks are you playing again? Do you think you can escape responsibility by pretending to be dead?"