Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Before bed that night.
My daughter crept into my room. “Daddy, I have something for you.”
“What is it?” I asked with a smile. My daughter took after her mother-gentle yet strong.
During that period when I was drowning in grief and despair, my mother-in-law hadn’t yet arrived from our hometown. My daughter, only ten years old at the time, would mix formula for her little brother with one hand while cooking noodles for me with the other.
When I heard the noise and walked into the kitchen to find her, she just smiled at me.
She said, “Are you hungry, Daddy? It’s almost ready.”
It’s fair to say that if my daughter hadn’t been there to hold me up, I might never have made it through those days.
With an air of mystery, my daughter placed a small sachet into my hand.
“This is a protection charm I got with Grandma. I bowed and kowtowed so many times for it. Keep it with you, Daddy, so you’ll stay safe.”
I pulled her into my arms and stroked her soft hair.
No matter how hard life became, I would persevere for the sake of my family.
The next morning, Tang Dong showed up again.
He looked like he hadn’t slept all night; the dark circles under his eyes were bruised and heavy. When he saw me, he was notably more polite than usual.
“Brother Long, we’re from the same hometown after all. I can’t bear to see you struggling like this.
“Tell you what-come drive for me. I’ll provide the truck, I’ll pay the standard commission, and I’ll give you an extra twenty percent cut on every load.”
He saw me just staring at him without saying a word, so he held up another finger. “Thirty percent!
“Is that enough? Go ahead and ask around in this industry. If you can find anyone else offering a deal like this, I’ll drop to my knees and kowtow to you right now.”
I stared fixedly at the duplicitous face of the small-time crook before me.
I couldn’t reconcile this man with the honest young lad who used to follow me around, calling me “Brother Long” whenever anything went wrong.
“Long Changdong!”
Seeing my continued silence, he felt he was losing face again. “Don’t you fucking dare play hard to get!
“Do you think you’re still in your twenties? Do you think the world stops turning without you?
“Why don’t you look in a mirror and see what a pathetic mess you’ve become? You even brought bad luck on your wife and got her killed! In another two years, when you’re begging to be my driver, I’ll-”
I didn’t say a word back. Instead, I went straight to the kitchen and grabbed a meat cleaver.
“Hey! Long Changdong!”
“Changdong-”
My mother-in-law saw me grab the blade and rushed out to pull me back.
Tang Dong’s face turned white with fear. Before I even reached the door, he turned tail and bolted.
“Long Changdong, you’re going to regret this!”
Seeing that he had fled, my mother-in-law quickly snatched the knife from my hand. “Changdong, what are you doing? The children are right here!”
“Mom, I was just scaring him. Otherwise, he’d just keep coming back.”
I comforted the old lady, then turned to see my daughter watching me anxiously through a crack in the bedroom door.
I forced a smile for her, suppressing the violent urge surging in my heart.