Chapter 15: Don't Want to Work Overtime (7)
Wang Juan, a very common name.
Wang Juan also felt that she was just a very ordinary woman.
She lived in an inconspicuous corner of the city, had a very ordinary job, and married a very ordinary man, having a very ordinary marriage. The two of them were unremarkable, with little in common, occasionally bickering over a soy sauce bottle not being put away or a toilet seat not being lifted. But she felt there was nothing to complain about; wasn't everyone's marriage like this?
It wasn't until she became pregnant that she began to feel a glimmer of brightness in her life.
The child was born, a daughter, who was very cute.
She named her daughter “Yi Yu.” She remembered that when she was a young girl with literary dreams, she had copied a line of poetry: “The sea is vast for fish to leap, the sky wide for birds to fly.” She hoped her daughter could replace her ordinary self, soaring freely in the vast sea and sky, living an extraordinary life.
She thought this would be the start of her extraordinary journey.
So she worked very hard and diligently to take care of Yi Yu, but no matter what she did, Yi Yu would get sick every now and then. She would take time off in the morning to take her child to the hospital, rush back to work in the afternoon, feed her daughter dinner and medicine at night, and would even be kept awake by her daughter's crying and fussing from sickness in the middle of the night. But she still found it sweet.
Because this was her hope!
Later, the factory where she worked changed its name, its Manager, and also let her go due to restructuring and reorganization.
Thirty-five-year-old Wang Juan was out of a job.
She originally wanted to find another job, but her parents, her husband, and her husband's parents all advised her not to, suggesting she just stay home and take care of the child. The child was only seven, had just started elementary school, and was frail and constantly sick, so it was a time when she needed care. Besides, her husband's salary was enough to support the family.
Someone in the family always had to make a sacrifice.
It's okay, even though her life was already like this, Yi Yu still had an infinite future.
Wang Juan thought, this way she could fully concentrate on taking good care of Yi Yu and keep a close eye on her to prevent her from going astray.
One wrong step in life leads to many wrong steps, just like she herself had made too many mistakes.
In elementary school, she had to keep a close eye on her studies and not develop bad habits of playing around.
In middle school, she still had to study hard; getting into a good university was the most important thing, and she couldn't let bad friends get close to her, especially boys; early romance was absolutely forbidden.
Finally, she got into university, but her scores weren't ideal, so she continued to urge her to study for postgraduate entrance exams.
Getting into a prestigious university for postgraduate studies, not bad, it was time to start looking for a job.
Once she had a job, it was fortunate that she had connections to get into such a good big company, otherwise, no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't have gotten in. How many children of relatives and friends couldn't find work now?
Next, she could start thinking about finding a partner. The last one was really not good; his parents were uneducated, worked odd jobs, and had no pension after retirement. Marrying him would be a burden, so it was good she helped them break up.
Little by little, she thought she was finally approaching the life she envisioned.
But now, why did it seem to be getting more and more out of control?
On this day, Wang Juan woke up at 6:30 AM as usual and prepared breakfast.
She accidentally made an extra portion, forgetting that her daughter had worked overtime last night.
At 7:00 AM, Wang Juan and her husband finished breakfast in silence, then her husband left for work.
Next was her alone time, which was also her happiest time in these years.
Fortunately, her husband would retire in a few years, otherwise, she didn't know how she would face him all day at home.
She hummed a little tune as she threw all the clothes into the washing machine, then began to clean the house and wipe the stove.
After finishing these tasks, she took down the dried clothes, folded them, and hung them up. Just then, the clothes were done washing, so she hung them all up to dry.
After these tasks were done, she could take a short break, sit down, make a cup of tea, and after a little rest, she could go out to buy groceries.
“Xiaoyu should be at work now. She hasn't been in a good state recently, I'll send her a message to encourage her.”
“Xiaoyu, work hard today!”
She also sent her the short video she watched yesterday to help her learn and understand that she still had many shortcomings and that enduring hardship was what she should do. How hard was it to find a job now? How could she complain about this and that every day?
After thinking for a moment, Wang Juan swiped a few times and clicked on a software hidden in a folder.
Upon opening, it was a map, with a small green dot flashing on it. The dot had the small characters “Yi Yu” written on it, followed by “Guosheng Building.”
Fortunately, she was obediently at work.
Wang Juan let out a sigh of relief.
She should listen to her; how hard it was to find a job now.
Although Xiaoyu often complained about being tired, that was just young people unable to endure hardship.
See, if you just persevere, won't you get through it?
It was almost time to go out and buy groceries.
Wang Juan picked the most flamboyant one from a large bag of reusable shopping bags.
She was in a good mood today, so she would use this one.
Stepping out of the house, she felt the weather was nice today.
She walked around the market, bought a sea bass, a block of tofu, intending to stew fish soup for Xiaoyu to replenish her Qi, and also bought spare ribs and water spinach.
These should be enough for dinner, Wang Juan calculated.
As she walked out of the market, she happened to run into Auntie Zhang from the same neighborhood.
“Xiaoyu's mother, why are you so well-dressed today?” Auntie Zhang laughed exaggeratedly.
Wang Juan quickly said, “Nonsense, Sister Zhang looks good today.”
“Your hair clip, it's pretty! Young girls nowadays seem to like these.” Auntie Zhang pointed to Wang Juan's head.
Wang Juan smiled and nodded, touching the hair clip on her head.
She had secretly used Xiaoyu's translucent alligator clip that was left in the bathroom. Clipping her hair up like this made her dry and frizzy hair less noticeable.
“Indeed, having a good daughter just makes you look good!” Auntie Zhang looked envious, “Good at studying, good at work!”
“If only my daughter were half as good as your Xiaoyu, she's useless except for having a good husband.”
Wang Juan heard this, clenched her back teeth, and forced out a smile: “Yes, marrying well is also good.”
After Auntie Zhang left, Wang Juan still rolled her eyes at her back.
At this moment, a large strand of hair came loose and fell in front of her face.
It seemed the clip was a bit loose; she gathered her hair with both hands.
Wang Juan didn't notice that a black Little Tentacle was helping her carry the heavy reusable shopping bag.
...
The time spent at home passed like a flowing account, quickly reviewed and gone.
Prepare the dishes, tidy up the house, and finally watch a soap opera, waiting for her husband and child to come home.
But now, Wang Juan fell asleep on the sofa even before finishing the soap opera.
It was always like this, causing her to miss an episode and have to go back to watch it the next day.
It was the sound of keys opening the door that startled her awake from her sleep.
She woke up, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said to Xiaoyu's father, who walked into the house with a long face: “You're back.”
“Hmm.”
“Dinner will be ready soon. I'll ask Xiaoyu when she's coming home first.”
“Hmm.”
Then the study door slammed shut.
Wang Juan didn't mind; she just recalled the dream she had just had. She couldn't remember the details, but it was too sad.
But Xiaoyu wasn't coming home for dinner. Wang Juan saw the little green dot on her phone go to a place called Mango Restaurant.
She wondered what kind of food it served. It wouldn't just be fruits and desserts, would it?
Without Xiaoyu, Wang Juan and her husband's dinner table was very quiet.
With Xiaoyu, the two of them might have stood on the same front, imparting some life lessons to Xiaoyu.
But now, they just ate silently.
Then Wang Juan washed the dishes, and her husband went out for a walk.
Wang Juan poured the large pot of fish soup she had specially saved into the rice cooker and pressed “keep warm.”
Then she sent a message to Xiaoyu.
“I left you soup tonight, it's in the rice cooker.”
Thinking that Xiaoyu always looked unhappy, Wang Juan edited another message.
“Learn more from your Manager on how to socialize, remember to smile more. Your face has been too grim lately; no one wants to deal with someone who doesn't smile.”
Xiaoyu replied: “Okay.”
It was a bit cold, but she probably took it to heart.
Putting down her phone, she felt the whole house was too quiet, then took out her phone and started playing Yu Huili's songs.
Normally, Xiaoyu would always complain that Yu Huili's music style was too old, insisting that she listen to those cheerful, noisy songs.
Thinking of this, Wang Juan smiled.
Some of the darkness in the house seemed to disperse.
When did it start to get so dark? Wang Juan frowned in recollection.
Did they not turn on the lights when they ate dinner?
Yu Huili's voice in the dark living room stirred the swirling tentacles, gently falling into Wang Juan's heart, smoothing out her unease and irritation...
No, the tentacles bristled.
Wang Juan suddenly sensed something.
The anxiety in her heart could not be soothed even by Yu Huili's singing.
She took out her phone and saw the little green dot leaving “Mango Restaurant.”
No, where was it going? This time wasn't right; socializing shouldn't end so early.
“Xiaoyu, where are you going?!”
The little green dot didn't respond, rapidly leaving Mango Restaurant.
It wasn't heading home.
Nor was it heading back to work.
Wang Juan felt a premonition and thought, no.
She couldn't let her go.
“Where are you going?”
“Did you offend your Manager?”
“Are you running away from home?”
“Are you not going to work tomorrow?”
Then, a message flashed on the screen: “The other party's network condition is poor, connection disconnected.”
The little green dot stopped halfway.
...
When Liu Sheng finally saw Wang Juan arrive, “Yi Yu's” face held a complex expression.
Slightly plump, plain-looking, with a messy bun held by an alligator clip, wearing a floral short-sleeved pajama top and capri pants, and translucent crystal slippers on her feet.
Beside her, tentacles encircled her, blooming like a giant black lotus, and like the legendary nine-tailed fox, except there wasn't just one tail, but countless.
The Little Tentacles on the ground, and the tentacles hanging from the sky, all bowed in submission.
Liu Sheng silently placed a small white flower in front of each of the two tombstones.
“Mom, you probably haven't been here to sweep the graves in a long time, have you?”
“Dad probably won't come either.”
“No one sends us flowers anymore.”
The huge eyes within the swirling dark clouds showed pain, and drops of black-red liquid dripped from the eyeballs.
“Because you deliberately forgot.”
“Leaving me in your world.”
Liu Sheng's words, one by one, pierced Wang Juan's heart.
Piercing until blood flowed freely.
The things Wang Juan had deliberately forgotten resurfaced.
...
At that time, looking at the little green dot deviating from its path, she anxiously called Xiaoyu's Manager.
“Yi Yu? She asked for leave. She said if I didn't give her leave, she would die. Your daughter is really something,” the Manager said with a sneer, then hung up the phone.
And then?
She couldn't quite remember.
The beach, deserted rocks, only a mobile phone.
And, the bloated, foul-smelling corpse washed up on the beach, not resembling Xiaoyu at all.
The police unlocked the phone, found Xiaoyu's diary, read the chat records, and also knew that Xiaoyu had committed suicide.
This was also the first time Wang Juan had seen these diaries.
Hope there's no overtime in the new year