It was the first day back home for summer break, and the house felt strangely empty. Then my mom’s texts flooded into the family group chat. “Your dad and I are taking Blake on a trip. You’re home alone. I’ll give you five bucks a day for living expenses.” “If it’s an emergency, I can add five more, but you need to submit a request three days in advance.” “Getting a summer job is humiliating. Our family doesn’t allow it.” They wouldn’t give me money, and they wouldn’t let me earn it either. I texted back, “You guys are spending tens of thousands on a trip, can’t you just give me a little more allowance?” The next second, my mom lowered it from five dollars to three. “You’re so stubborn. You won’t starve to death with a little less.” I scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping me. If three bucks is their standard, then the million dollars I brought back this time has absolutely nothing to do with them! I’m a college student, and every summer I lug a mountain of luggage back home. This summer, I texted my mom three days in advance to let her know when I’d arrive. She read it but didn’t reply, and I didn’t think much of it until I walked through the front door and found the whole house deserted. The “Miller Family Chat” group hadn’t had any activity for over a week. I tapped my phone, sending the first message. “Where are you guys? I’m home.” Half a minute later, my mom’s replies started pouring in. “So you’re back, why bother texting? Your dad and I took your brother on a trip. There’s still leftover rice from two days ago in the pot. Heat it up and eat it. And don’t forget to scrub the pot clean for me.” “I left your allowance in the living room. Be careful with it.” “If it’s an emergency, I can temporarily transfer you five bucks, but you need to submit a request three days in advance. I’ll only approve it if the reason is reasonable.” At first, I didn’t realize the importance of that last sentence. Not until I followed my mom’s instructions and found a stack of cash on the coffee table in the living room. All crisp dollar bills. One… two… Exactly thirty bills. I almost admired my mom for specially going to the bank to get this stack of five-dollar bills. I quietly asked in the group chat, “150 dollars, for how many days of living expenses?” My mom instantly replied, “Days? That’s for the whole month, of course.” My head was spinning with questions. “That little? Do you want me to get a summer job to support myself?” But my mom kept on lecturing. “No summer jobs! It’s so humiliating, people will think we’re abusing you.” “Five dollars a day isn’t enough? When I was your age, I was already working to support a whole family. Not like you, always begging for money from your parents and being so greedy.” “Do you know how hard your dad and I work out there?” “When you’re not home, we’re practically living on ramen and tap water. Not like you, so extravagant, complaining about five bucks a day.” I stared at my phone, fuming. Because I’d just seen my brother’s latest Ins post: a photo dump of their trip to a fancy resort town. They were staying in a grand hotel, dining at restaurants where meals cost hundreds of dollars per person. Even the sunglasses my brother casually bought while shopping had a price tag of $1399 on the receipt. … I sent a text, cutting off her lecture. “You guys are willing to spend tens of thousands on a trip, but you only give me five bucks a day? Can’t you increase my allowance a little?” My mom didn’t text back. She called directly and started yelling the moment I answered, “You little brat, you dare complain? You should be grateful you even got anything! It’s perfectly fine if I don’t give you a dime. You’re twenty-two, still shamelessly begging for money and full of complaints!” She rattled on and on, not giving me a chance to speak. Until she finished with, “From now on, your allowance is three bucks a day. You’re so stubborn, you won’t starve to death anyway. When I get back, I expect to see you’ve saved sixty dollars, or I’ll beat you black and blue.” … She hung up without letting me say a single word. I stood there, seething. I turned around and saw the family photo on the table: my dad, my brother, and my mom, all hugging sweetly. I picked up my phone and dialed. “Please help me deposit a million dollars into an investment account. I don’t need it right now.” I had originally brought a sum of money back to give them a surprise. But they… They don’t deserve it.
Unknown to my parents, I’d already had two years of work experience, and my game studio had been running for almost a year. While other college students were enjoying their university life, I’d been washing dishes and tutoring since freshman year. That’s because my parents, in an era where the average living expense was fifteen hundred dollars, only gave me five hundred a month. I still remember what my mom said when she gave me my first allowance in freshman year: “You’re grown up now, you need to learn to be filial to your family. You can’t spend all this money at once; you have to buy gifts for your family on holidays.” Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays… Eventually, even for Halloween or Easter, she’d demand I buy things for home. If a gift was under two hundred dollars, I’d get chewed out something fierce. So I had no choice but to work part-time. That’s how I met Lucas Scott, an upperclassman from my department. Lucas was two years my senior but had already inherited his family’s major corporation, becoming a famous young CEO in City A. Initially, I worked as his assistant at his company. Later, a project I tried developing myself caught the eye of the higher-ups. After winning a few hundred thousand dollars in prize money, I quit directly to start my own business. When my studio created its first game, Lucas and I also made our relationship official. I had originally planned to tell my parents about my company today and bring Lucas home tomorrow. But now— Forget it. I’d rather go back to the studio and work more. Lucas and I had been out enjoying ourselves quite a bit this past month. On the same day I went back home from City A to get my stuff, my parents also returned. The moment my mom walked in, she started yelling, “Harper, get out here and help me unpack!” I slowly walked to the living room and saw they were loaded with shopping bags. “Bought so much? Did your tour group rip you off with all this?” My dad immediately rolled his eyes. “You don’t know squat! This is thousand-year-old ginseng! Even the richest CEO’s wife can’t get this quality. It was only 6,888 dollars. How is that being ripped off?” Besides the ginseng root, I also saw lingzhi mushrooms, silk blankets, frozen seafood, and more. “Right, right, I’m just ignorant. You guys know best.” “You little brat, what’s with that attitude?” My mom glared at me, then walked up to me and held out her hand. “Where’s the rest of your allowance? The sixty dollars?” I shrugged. “Spent it all.” “How can you be so wasteful with money? What expenses could you possibly have at home? You didn’t save a single cent of the hundred and fifty!” My mom kept criticizing, but I just silently pulled out a water bill receipt and put it in front of her. Exactly one hundred and fifty. I thought she’d stop there, but I didn’t expect her to retort, “Who told you to be so nosy?” Me: ? “Is paying the water bill your job? Since you love paying so much, from now on, the electricity and water bills will be deducted from your allowance.” “Also, you’re graduating next year. It’s time to prepare for marriage.” I told her with a straight face, “I’m definitely working after I graduate. I’m not in a hurry to get married.” Who knew she’d just shove a photo at me? “This is a guy your Aunt Carol introduced. His name is Chester Blackwood. His family is very well-off. You’ll meet him in a few days.” Looking at the photo of the greasy, heavy-set guy with a puffy face, I clenched my fists. “This guy’s at least forty, isn’t he? Are you insane to set me up with him?” My mom glared at me, then slapped me hard. “He’s only thirty-one!” “You little brat, watch your tone! I raised you all these years, not for you to defy me!”
I emphasized it many times, “I have a boyfriend. Don’t set me up on blind dates.” But the next morning, as soon as I woke up, I saw a living room full of people. Chester, the guy from the photo, was wearing a wrinkled white shirt, grinning foolishly in my direction. “Is this my wife? She’s so pretty!” I practically shrieked, “Mom!” “What are you screaming for?” My mom walked up beside me. “What good-for-nothing boyfriend did you find in college? Chester’s family owns a factory, two houses, and he’s their only child. Won’t all their assets be yours?” Before I could say anything, my brother eagerly called out, “Brother-in-law! I just saw a new skin in my game, can you buy it for me?” “Of course, no problem!” A whole noisy crowd swarmed me, touching my waist and even my butt. They had absolutely no respect, constantly talking about me having babies and how many sons I’d deliver. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I rushed back into my room and slammed the door shut, ignoring the chatter outside, and buried my head in my phone, texting Lucas. “I’m going back to City A. Can you help me tidy up my place?” Once I heard the people outside gradually disperse, I came out of my room again. I still stressed to my mom, “I haven’t even graduated college yet. Don’t even think about selling me off for some ‘marriage payment.’ I won’t ever obey you.” “You little brat, why are you so arrogant? If it weren’t for your dad and me, would you even be in this world? You ungrateful wretch!” My brother was casually playing his game nearby and blurted out, “Sis, just go with it. This brother-in-law is so generous, he just bought me two thousand dollars worth of skins.” “Exactly, what’s so bad about getting married early?” “Harper, you wasted so much money going to college. We’re setting you up for life, and you’re so ungrateful.” I nodded, trying to calm my anger. “Fine, there’s no talking to you.” I turned and pulled my suitcase. “I have something I need to go back to school for. We can talk about this later.” But before I could take two steps, my dad grabbed my suitcase. “You’re not going anywhere! I already promised Chester you’d go out with him. If you run off now, how am I supposed to explain?” I turned to my dad. “You mean you want me to go out alone with Chester?” I sighed. “What if he abuses me?” My mom immediately chimed in, “That would be wonderful!” She looked smug. “If you can get pregnant with Chester’s baby early, you can become a rich lady sooner, and our family’s living conditions will improve too.”
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