When she opened the lunchbox, the stir-fried pork with green peppers and rice were only lukewarm to the touch. There wasn't even a wisp of steaming white vapor, as though it had been scooped from the leftovers at the restaurant.
There were many eateries near the office building, but few that offered good quality at low prices. Lungmen had no food delivery industry, so ordering a meal required calling ahead to make a reservation.
Wang Ju chewed twice and felt that something was off. She spat out the meat. There were chunks of lymphatic tissue on the slices, disgusting to look at.
She frowned deeply and cursed the unscrupulous restaurant owners countless times in her heart. But you got what you paid for. With these filling, large-portion fast meals, there was no way she could get lean meat. Even if it tasted terrible, she still had to wash it down with water.
In order to buy an apartment in Upper City, Wang Ju had worked very hard to save money. She only drank from the company water dispenser, charged her devices at the office, and even used the bathroom there. Only when she was truly too busy did she order this kind of cheap fast food.
Yet no matter how hard she tried, she could not cross that invisible gulf. Even now, she had not saved enough for the down payment.
Watching her coworkers dress elegantly every day and occasionally buy expensive bags, Wang Ju often wondered why they could live so easily.
Her close friends all advised her to marry an honest man. But the men in Upper City were shrewd and particular about matching social standing. Once they learned that she lived in the Slums and had a lame father, there was never any follow-up.
Occasionally, some men remained interested even after learning about her family circumstances. But most of them only sought fleeting pleasure and wanted a short-term relationship. It was precisely because they only wanted to fool around that they did not care about the woman's family background.
"What the hell?!"
An angry roar interrupted Wang Ju's thoughts:
"It's work hours. How can you still have the appetite to eat? Have you finished the draft needed for the project deadline? How can you eat with such peace of mind? Do you have any ambition at all? Someone as lazy as you still wants to come to work? Just quit already. If you won't do this job, plenty of people will!"
The manager spoke as though he had swallowed firecrackers, his words incredibly unpleasant. There was no need to guess—he had definitely just been scolded by his superiors and was venting his negative emotions on the employees.
Wang Ju apologized repeatedly. Like an ostrich with its head buried, she stared fixedly at the tips of her shoes.
"I'm sorry, Manager. I'm really sorry. I didn't eat lunch, and I was just too hungry."
"What does whether you ate have to do with me? Don't eat at your desk. You're affecting everyone else's work!"
"Yes, I won't do it again, Manager."
With a humble attitude, Wang Ju packed up her lunchbox and headed for the break room.
At the same time, her phone suddenly rang. After she answered, Shi Lei's voice came through.
"Ms. Wang Ju, we're employees of Penguin Logistics. There's a package that requires your signature, but we arrived at your residential complex and didn't find you. Are you at work?"
"Yes, I'm still working overtime."
"Could you provide your company address? We're planning to get off work after finishing this delivery."
"Alright. Can I ask what's being delivered?"
"Sausages."
Wang Ju had not eaten sausages in two or three years. Just thinking of that flavor made her mouth water.
I really miss it—the taste of home.
"Eleventh floor, Building C, right across from the complex. I still have some break time, so hurry over."
"Alright! Penguin Logistics, we deliver!"
After hanging up, Wang Ju felt somewhat lost. Staring at the lunchbox in her hand, she suddenly found it unappetizing.
The day after tomorrow would be December, and after January came the New Year. As expected, she probably would not be going back this year. Like every other year, she would stay in her rented apartment and watch television.
It was not that Wang Ju did not want to go back. She simply had no face to return.
Back when she received her first paycheck, she had felt capable and bought her father a military-green fleece coat. She heard that he showed it off to everyone he met, saying his precious daughter had bought it for him. But after that, she never bought him anything again.
Her memories were like an onion being silently peeled open, making her eyes damp before she realized it.
Considering that this was the break room and coworkers from many departments were present, Wang Ju sighed and quickly pulled herself out of her emotions. She took out a tissue, wiped the corners of her eyes, and opened her makeup case to touch up her face.
A few minutes later, her phone rang again.
Wang Ju arrived in front of the elevator on the eleventh floor and saw the two Penguin Logistics employees who had made deliveries that afternoon.
Shi Lei handed her a crumpled plastic bag filled with bundles of sausages. The woman handed her a beautifully framed painting that looked quite high-end.
"Your father usually likes painting daisies at home. This time, he chose one for us to deliver."
Wang Ju had initially reached for the sausages, but her hand froze in midair when she saw the painting. She took the painting first, then accepted the sausages and hid them beneath the frame so her coworkers would not see them.
She had not used to be vain. It was only after she began working that she realized she was indeed vain.
Beautiful clothes, exquisite cosmetics, expensive bags—they were like a thorn in her heart. If she did not use money to pull it out, it would remain there, stabbing deeper and deeper.
"Thank you both. I'll head in now."
"Ms. Wang, please wait." Shi Lei stopped her. "Your father asked us to pass along a message. He wants to know when you'll be coming home for the New Year."
Wang Ju's expression became somewhat unnatural. As she spoke, her eyes glanced toward the office area to avoid meeting his gaze, and she answered vaguely:
"I have projects to follow up on. I probably won't have time to go back during the New Year. Thank you for bringing these over. Goodbye."
As she turned to leave, she suddenly heard a sentence behind her:
"Your dad is about to die."
Wang Ju tugged at the corner of her mouth and turned back in surprise, almost unable to believe her ears.
"Sorry, wh-what did you just say?!"
"I said your dad is about to die."
In only a few seconds, Wang Ju's expression changed from surprise to shock, then disbelief, and finally fury.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Is that any way to curse someone's parents? I'm filing a complaint against you!"
To make the news sound more believable, Shi Lei sounded impatient and even a little disdainful.
"You're pretty funny. Don't you know how long it's been since you went home to see him? If I didn't feel sorry for the old man, I couldn't be bothered wasting words on an unfilial daughter like you. He paints nothing but daisies at home every day. Don't you understand what that means? Daisies—Ju. Your name has Ju in it. Seriously, what rotten luck he had to end up with a daughter like you."
Wang Ju's momentum immediately weakened. Her head buzzed, and her mind went blank.
Her father had a lame leg and stayed home all year. It had indeed been a long time since she last went back.
"No. If something had happened to my dad, he would definitely tell me. You're lying, right? I'll call him right now and confirm it."
"Oh, please. Your dad's voice is so hoarse that he can barely speak. What's the point of calling? Every day he lives is one less day he has left. Even seeing his unfilial daughter is difficult for him. It's only a little over half an hour away, yet you act like it would kill you. If you really cared about him, wouldn't you go back and see him yourself?"
With that, Shi Lei entered the elevator with Croissant without looking back, ignoring her shouts entirely.
Wang Ju pulled out her phone to send a text message, but her father was not very literate. Did she really have to go back now?
Staring at the daisy painting beside her, Wang Ju's eyes reddened as countless thoughts filled her mind. She remembered how, when she was little, her father often put delicious food into her bowl. Whenever she told him to eat too, he would say that he had already eaten earlier.
If her father truly had become bedridden, perhaps he had chosen to hide it because he was afraid of making her worry.
In an instant, a powerful sense of guilt surged through her heart.
"Xiao Ju, what's wrong? Did the manager's words hit too hard just now? Hey, don't mind that idiot."
Seeing her red, tearful eyes, her coworker hurriedly comforted her and asked what had happened.
Wang Ju opened her mouth, but the words seemed to catch in her throat. Choking back sobs, she packed her things without explaining anything. She slung her bag over her shoulder, held the painting, left the company, and hailed a taxi to the Slums.
It was clearly only a thirty- or forty-minute journey, yet it now felt exceptionally long. Looking at the beautifully framed daisy painting in her hands, Wang Ju truly regretted everything. She regretted neglecting her father, only sharing good news and never bad news, lying for the sake of vanity, and most of all, not returning sooner.
She had always believed that her father was a man who could hold up the sky, someone who could solve anything on his own. Only now did Wang Ju finally realize that he was also vulnerable. He had merely chosen to endure it alone.
Only when people lost something did they understand how to cherish it.
She truly regretted all the excuses and evasions she had used over the years whenever her father called, refusing to go home. It was a father's love, too ashamed to express itself in words, like fallen leaves after autumn. You could not hear it, but it had always been there.
She could only blame herself for being too young to understand the meaning behind those words. All she wanted was to plunge headlong into the great dye vat of society and prove herself to her father through her actions.
But what was the point of proving anything?
If she worked hard, saved enough money, and bought a home, her father would be very happy. But he would be happy because his child's future would be secure, not because he coveted the home itself.
People said home was life's harbor. Even if you went out to sea and caught no fish, you still had to go home and take a look.
"Drip..."
Tears fell onto the picture frame and wound downward. Wang Ju reached out and gently stroked the daisies, finding them somewhat cold.
The driver did not know what was wrong with his female passenger. After receiving no response despite trying to comfort her a few times, he hurriedly sped up, hoping to reach their destination sooner. He did not notice the orange pickup truck persistently following not far behind them.
The thirty-minute journey passed like fleeting scenes through a window.
It made Wang Ju relive every beautiful memory she had shared with her father, and her emotions collapsed even further.
"We're here."
Hearing the driver's words, Wang Ju abruptly raised her head. She grabbed a handful of money from her wallet and stuffed it to him.
"Keep the change."
With that, Wang Ju got out of the car holding the painting. Staring at the home where she had lived for nearly twenty years, her expression was complicated.
When had the tangerine tree by the entrance grown so tall? It seemed that after her father injured his leg, he had never pruned its branches again.
She pulled out her keys from her shoulder bag and tremblingly inserted one into the lock. Throwing open the door, she ran inside with the painting in her arms.
"Dad, where are you?!"
Wang Ju passed through the narrow corridor and small living room, then found her father painting in the storage room. He had turned it into a studio, and the room was piled with paintings, every single one of them depicting daisies.
"Dad!"
The Old Man was somewhat stunned. He turned toward her voice, and upon seeing his daughter, whom he missed day and night, the wrinkles on his face bunched together as he broke into a broad smile.
Before the Old Man could speak, Wang Ju set down the framed painting and suddenly rushed over to hug him tightly. Her tears burst forth like a breached dam as she cried and apologized.
"Dad, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry..."
The sound of her sobs broke the Old Man's heart. He had no idea what his daughter had encountered. Had a vicious superior bullied her? Or had some scumbag dumped her?
The Old Man caught sight of the daisy painting placed at the studio entrance, and his heart trembled. It was one of the paintings he had given Penguin Logistics employees to offset the delivery fee. Yet now it had been framed and was in Xiao Ju's hands. That could only mean her sudden return home was related to those two.
Having guessed the truth, the Old Man helplessly forced a bitter smile. He had been strong-willed since childhood. After his wife died, he never remarried and raised his daughter alone. Since his leg became lame, he had received help from many people, so he deeply disliked owing others favors. Although this method was a bit... well, at least his daughter had come home.
"Oh, my good daughter, stop crying. There are sausages in the refrigerator. I'll make you something delicious tonight."
The moment Wang Ju heard that, she stopped crying. She raised her head in surprise and looked at the concerned Old Man before her.
"Dad, you can talk?"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Wang Ju's expression turned strange. Realizing she had been tricked, she clenched her delicate fists and cursed viciously.
"I knew that Penguin Logistics employee was up to no good! He actually dared to lie to me and say you were dying. I think he's the one who's going to die, (Lungmen profanity)! That bastard, I'm going to file a complaint against him!!!"
The Old Man was a reasonable man, and he already owed them a favor. If Wang Ju successfully filed a complaint, he would owe them even more.
Seeing his daughter cursing while dialing Penguin Logistics, he hesitated for a moment before stopping her.
"Xiao Ju, don't complain. They're kind people. Maybe they just exaggerated a little."
"Exaggerating isn't okay either! They made me leave work and rush all the way here. This isn't over between us!"
"Xiao Ju, don't complain. I... I really am about to die."
Upon hearing that, Wang Ju froze completely. She stared at her father in confusion, unable to believe it.
"Dad, don't lie to me."
The Old Man now had only two choices. Either he admitted he had lied, allowing the two Penguin Logistics employees to be punished and perhaps even lose their jobs. Or he said they had not lied and maintained this well-intentioned lie. That way, Xiao Ju might come home a little more often.
He recalled the days when he put vegetables and meat into his daughter's bowl while hiding in the kitchen to eat plain white rice by himself.
Even if he had to choose again, he would not regret it. He believed every sacrifice had been worth it.
"Silly child, why would I lie to you?"
The reheated sausages gave off billowing steam.
Their mouthwatering fragrance drifted toward the daisies on the windowsill and the many unframed paintings.
The moment the wind rose, the daisies became warm.
Before you continue