Su Jinru called Xia Chenggang with the broken phone. She really wanted to ask him why he did this.
They had been married for nearly thirty years, and she had been completely devoted to him, never hiding anything from him. She questioned herself, realizing she had never wronged him in any way, and asked herself what had driven him to do such a ruthless act.
Isn’t it nice for a family to live happily in harmony?
Su Jinru really couldn't figure it out and wanted an answer.
However, Xia Chenggang’s phone could not be reached and was always turned off.
Su Jinru seemed to be competing with herself, or venting the sadness and anger in her heart. The mechanical female voice reminded her many times that the user she was calling was turned off, but she still called tirelessly.
Not only her, but the whole family took turns calling Xia Chenggang, but without exception, no one could get through.
The police are also looking for him, but there's no news yet. With no information on Xia Chenggang's ticket purchase, he might have fled to a remote area on an illegal taxi, or perhaps he never left the dry forest and is hiding in some remote corner.
The old lady woke up and ignored everyone who spoke to her. Her face, which used to be energetic, now looked like a plant that had lost water and was almost withered. Her eyes, which always seemed bright, became cloudy and she stared blankly at the ceiling.
I feel completely drained of energy.
Su Jinru sat on a chair beside the bed, her hands wrapped around the old lady's wrinkled hand, her forehead resting on it, sobbing, "Mom, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I trusted Xia Chenggang. Hit me, scold me, but don't hurt yourself."
The old lady moved her fingers and pulled them out of her hand. Su Jinru didn't dodge, waiting for her slap to fall. But she waited for a long time. The old lady put her hand on her head and patted her head twice. Her dry mouth moved, and her voice was hoarse and almost inaudible: "My eyes are swollen from crying."
Su Jinru raised her hand, her palm covering the back of her hand: "Mom..."
The old lady could no longer speak. She felt as if something had been taken away from her body. It might be her soul. There was only a body lying there.
*
The next day, Xia Yue urged Xia Xi to buy a ticket back to Nancheng so that she could take care of the family.
It was a mess, Xia Xi had no mind to study and decided to stay and accompany them.
She called her counselor to ask for three days off, citing family matters as an excuse.
After completing the discharge procedures for her grandmother and returning home, Xia Xi never dared to express her guesses. After settling her grandmother down, she felt that she could not delay any longer.
The families of the injured workers haven't received fair compensation and are causing trouble. The police can handle it once or twice, but they can't be here every time. Several people in the family can't bear the pain, so she and her eldest sister are the only ones holding on.
But she felt that she could not hold on any longer.
Xia Xi went to Su Jinru's bedroom. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, with her back hunched and shoulders drooping, looking distraught.
Hearing the footsteps approaching from afar, Su Jinru slowly raised her head. In just one day, she seemed to have aged by ten years. Her eyes were bloodshot, the area around her eyes was red and swollen, and the skin on her face was like dry bark.
"Xixi, listen to your sister and go back to school." Su Jinru didn't want to cry anymore. Crying wouldn't solve anything. She pressed the base of her palms against her eyelids and forced herself to cheer up and persuade her, "You're still in school. What if you miss out on your studies? You can't just stay at home all the time."
"I've asked my counselor for leave," Xia Xi said. "It's the second semester of my senior year now, and the workload isn't that heavy. Taking a few days off won't be a problem. I'll go back when things at home stabilize."
Su Jinru didn't know when the situation would stabilize, and she couldn't persuade her, so she sighed.
Xia Xi sat down beside her. The mattress sank slightly. She supported her hands on it, her fingers tightened, and the sheets were wrinkled. She pondered for a long time and couldn't bring herself to ask.
Su Jinru saw that she had something to say, so she moved her mouth and said in a hoarse voice, "Just say whatever you want to say."
What else could she not bear? Her husband ran away, the restaurant was gone, and her mother fell ill. Every single one of these things weighed heavily on her mind.
Xia Xi licked his lower lip and remained silent.
Su Jinru knew all three of her daughters' personalities. Xia Xi was opinionated, optimistic, resolute, and rarely hesitated. She always spoke her mind, often being teased by Xia Yue about her "talking ahead and thinking behind." Su Jinru had initially believed the situation couldn't get any worse, but Xia Xi's reaction shattered her feigned indifference, leaving her heart in suspense.
"You say." Su Jinru held her breath.
Xia Xi fluttered her eyelashes and spoke with difficulty: "I don't know how much savings our family has and who has them. I'd better check. I'm worried about Dad..." She didn't even want to call that person "Dad" anymore. "I'm worried that he took it away."
Only after she reminded her did Su Jinru remember the money.
Yes, Xia Chenggang had managed to get the restaurant, so why would he not want money...
Su Jinru felt as if her brain was being pricked by needles, and the pain made her break out in a cold sweat.
She staggered to the cabinet, knelt on the ground, took out the key from the secret drawer, inserted it into the safe embedded in the wall, unlocked the main lock, entered the password, unlocked the secondary lock, and the safe door popped open. As far as she could see, all the gold jewelry and several stacks of cash she had kept were gone.
Su Jinru's outstretched hand was shaking constantly. There was a ginger-colored nylon cloth bag inside, where she had packed all the important things. She picked up the cloth bag and knew it was empty just by the feel without having to open it.
But she still unzipped it, pinched the bottom of the cloth bag, turned it upside down, and shook it hard, but nothing fell out.
No more, all gone.
Seeing this, Xia Xi closed his eyes with no other expression on his face, and there was no need to ask any more questions.
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