“You live in the company dorm and have a free cafeteria. Why keep so much? Two hundred a month is plenty…”
I pinched pennies. I wore shoes until they split, never daring to buy new ones.
When colleagues invited me shopping, I smiled and said, “Next time,” then went back to overtime.
When roommates split the bill for dinner, I made excuses—“I already have plans”—then wandered around a free park for two hours before returning.
At last, Daniel graduated from college, and I was preparing for my wedding.
I thought escaping my family would bring relief.
But David was a classic chauvinist. In his eyes, there was only work—nothing else mattered.
The crying children, endless chores, pressure from the job… like countless ropes tightening around me.
Time blurred, Emily entered college, Jason went to high school.
But as graduation neared, Emily failed course after course. Watching her sink deeper into mobile games filled me with panic and anger.
She, however, argued self-righteously:
“Everyone in my class lives off their parents. No school, no job, just the family paying for everything. If you can’t give me what I want, why did you even have me?”