" you don't know what you've got until it's gone."
Chapter one #01
"I don't know why I even raised her??? Why didn't I kill her as soon as she was born?!?" The masculine voice was echoing in her mind. Zheng Wei was standing on the balcony of her apartment, looking down blankly at the ground. Her eyes were filled with tears, blurring her vision. Her mind was not seeing the ground far below, but a different scene altogether.
"I don't know why I even raised her??? Why didn't I kill her as soon as she was born?!?"Middle-aged man was yelling at a teenage girl who was wearing a school uniform, his words cutting deep.
"I should've just gotten rid of you when you were born." he sneered. The girl's hair was a mess, her eyes red from crying, and her cheeks showed the marks of a hard slap. Her eyes seemed to hold a deep sadness, like life had already been too much for her.
"Don't say that, my daughter is my life. She is our daughter Shen !!!" The middle-aged woman standing next to the innocent girl came and stood in front her.
" She is not my daughter! I had told you that I wanted a son, not a daughter? And after the years of marriage, after all the waiting you gave birth to a girl. Yet, I still gave her everything, better education, a safe home, good clothes and the best food to eat. And this is how she repays me?? " With that, Zhang Shen flings the colorful papers in his hand at the woman's face.
"These are her love letters!!! Look, pick them up and read what's written!!!"
He gestured towards the papers scattered on the ground.
"I thought she would study, get a degree, and maybe even get a job, but she's useless, a complete failure!!! She can't even do household chores, let alone study. If she could do household work, she might have been able to work as a maid somewhere!!! But she completely disappointed me and whored around. "
Hearing his words Mrs Zhang tightly closed her eyes " This girl is absolutely useless! When she was younger, I told you to sell her off to some childless couple, that she would be of no use to us, but you didn't listen!!! Now look at her behavior...'"
Mrs. Zhang was listening quietly, and the innocent girl was standing behind her, clutching her sweater tightly. " Li Hua, I still say that, She's grown up now" he said, glancing at the girl. Mrs. Zhang opened her eyes and shot a fierce glance at her husband. "And she's become beautiful too, we should sell her off to some wealthy person…" Before he could complete his sentence, Mrs. Zhang slapped her husband's face with all her might.
Mrs. Zhang's eyes were red and the girl hid her face in her neck. Zhang Shen clenched his jaw, "You've got a lot of nerve laying your hands on me!"
He grabbed Mrs. Zhang's hand and slapped her so hard that she couldn't keep her balance and fell down. He pulled out his belt from his pants and started beating Mrs. Zhang, like a beast in front of a young girl, in front of his own daughter, Zhang Wei.
Mrs. Zhang's screams were echoing in her ears. Zhang Wei placed her hands on both her ears, but the sounds still didn't stop. Tears fell from her eyes, and the scene in front of her became completely clear. Below was only the ground and nothing else!!!!!
Zhang wei's father brutally beat her mother, leaving her unconscious. Zhang wei was now locked in her room by her father and she didn't know how her mother was now?. Zhang Wei's father has sold her to a wealthy stranger, who will take her away with him in the morning.
Zhang Wei closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and shook her head. 'You have to do this, Zhang Wei,' she said to herself. Then she went to her room, opened her closet, and pulled out a wooden box. Next, she ran to her study table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. She placed the box in front of her and quickly opened it. She took out a diary from the box, then pulled out a pen from the pen holder placed at the corner of the table and started writing in the diary quickly. The diary was almost full, and she had now filled the remaining blank pages. As she wrote, tears streamed down her face, revealing her inner turmoil.
After writing, she closed the diary and returned it to the wooden box, securing it with a small lock. She then put the box back in the closet and placed its small key under her bed's mattress.
She was rushing everything as if she was running out of time or she was afraid that the time she had left would run out at any moment.
She wiped away her tears and took deep breaths, then let out a loud scream, looking towards the door. But it remained closed. She screamed again, but the door didn't open. She screamed one after another, but the door still didn't budge. No one came; perhaps no one heard her screams or maybe no one cared why she was screaming. She thought that her father hadn't opened the door despite her repeated banging, maybe he would open it if she screamed instead, thinking, maybe that she is in pain .
Tears streamed down Zhang Wei's face, her lips trembling. After screaming, her throat was dry, and she gazed at the door with desperate longing. '' Daddy, come just once, just one last time. Oh God, help me. Just one last time!' She closed her eyes tight and screamed again, and this time, she heard footsteps, as if someone was approaching the room. The door flung open as she shouted again .
"What's wrong, why are you screaming?" She gazed at the door, and her father stood there, a hint of concern etched on his face. He approached her, grasping her arm, "What happened? Are you injured somewhere? Are you in pain somewhere? Why were you screaming" He asked, as tears welled up in her eyes. She knew he was worried about her because if she suffered even a minor scratch now, he wouldn't receive the full payment.
"I was so scared, Dad," she stammered, her lips trembling.
"You foolish girl, you caught my breath in a sudden fright," he said, his voice laced with irritation. "Enough now, go and sleep, don't get out of bed, and remember, don't get hurt anywhere." He warned her, raising his finger.
"Dad!!!" When he started to leave, he held her hand.
"What happened now??? " he asked in frustratingly .
"Dad, I know you don't love me and you've sold me . I'll leave this place in the morning!!!'' She held his hands firmly with both of hers.
"I have never asked you for anything in my entire life, but I'm asking you now. Fulfill my last wish, Dad!!!"
Anger flashed on his face. "Listen, if you ever dare to mention leaving this place again, I'll cut out your tongue!"
She shook her head in denial. "No, daddy, I'm not going anywhere. You've sold me out, and I know it. There's no way out for me now.'"
" So, what is your wish ?? " He asked raising his eyebrows, his hands were still in her hands.
"I just want to talk to my friend one last time and see my mother," she pleaded, and he freed his hands from her hands.
" So, you can tell her everything. No !! " He exclaimed " No way, not at all !!" Zhang Shen strongly refused.
"No!!! I won't tell her anything and even if I tell her everything, she can't do anything for me."
Zhang Shen shook his head in refusal. "No, absolutely not. That's enough, I won't listen to anything more."
Zhang Wei sat on the floor, holding his feet. "No, Dad, please sit with me, and I'll talk to her in front of you. I promise! I swear, I promise! Just this once, please. You've never fulfilled any of my wishes...fulfill this one wish for the first and last time, please. Okay! I won't call her, but will you at least deliver something of mine to her? Please, Dad!" She was pleading with him…
He gazed at her for a few moments, then nodded his head, "Alright." She looked at him uncertainly, then quickly got up and wiped away her tears, "Thank you, Dad!!"
" Bring that thing and give me your friend's address and number so I can deliver your thing to him."
"Okay, Dad, wait!" She dashed off and grabbed a page from a notebook on the study table, jotted down her friend's address and phone number from memory, and then rushed to the closet to retrieve the same wooden box. Next, she sat down, pulled out a tiny key from under the bed mattress, and swiftly walked up to her father and stood before him.
The father first gazed at the wooden box in her tiny hands, then at her face, which radiated with an unusual joy. Looking at him she smiled slightly, and unconsciously, a faint smile also appeared on his face. For the first time, he felt a strange sensation in his heart, something he had never experienced before. A faint voice in the corner of his heart whispered that what he is doing is wrong.
But Zhang Shen shook his head, "Give me , I'll deliver it to her." He wanted to ask what was inside, and she was prepared to answer, but he didn't ask. Zhang Shen took the box in one hand, in the second hand he took paper with the girl's address and phone number and key and put them in his pocket.
"Now, take care and don't hurt yourself." Zhang Wei understood that he was saying this because if she got hurt, he wouldn't get any money, but only he knew that he had said this to her from the heart, not just for the sake of money.
He was gazing at her innocent face, unconsciously feeling a strange sadness creeping over him.
He shrugged off the thoughts and turned to leave, but as he reached the door, he felt a warm grip on his back . She wrapped her arms around him from behind in a tight hug.
"Dad!!" Her trembling voice echoed in his ears. Her voice was incredibly sweet, and the way she said the word was adorable. He was struck by the realization, unaware of why he was noticing it now, for the first time.
"Dad, I know you don't like me. You wanted a son, but I was born instead. Yet, you still gave me your name. You never loved me, but I have always loved you. I have always tried to be a good daughter to you, but I couldn't. " Tears were streaming down her eyes, and he could feel her shirt getting wet with her tears.
"You must be thinking, why do I love you so much when I should hate you? But Dad, believe me, I have tried so hard to hate you, but I couldn't. If circumstances weren't like this, I'm sure you would have been the best father in the world."Zhang Wei came in front of him and looked into his eyes.
He was listening to every word she said, his heart clutched tight
"Just like every daughter considers her father her superhero, I also consider you my superhero. And superheroes always take care of everyone, so will you take care of my mother and my friend after I'm gone??" She began to look at him with longing eyes. She knew that her father was stone-hearted and stone doesn't melt, it breaks. But deep down in her heart, there was a glimmer of hope that maybe the impossible could become possible.
"You don't love me, I know that. But you love Mama, you wanted a son, not a daughter. You could have remarried for a son, but you never did. And now, when you hit Mama for the first time because of me, I'm scared, Dad, that the love you have for Mama in your heart might disappear because of me." Zhang Wei extended her hand towards him.
"Promise me, Dad, that after I'm gone, you won't hurt Mama, you won't lay a hand on her. My friend is just like me, she's all alone in her home, no one loves her except her little sister. Promise me, Dad, that you'll be a superhero for my mother and my friend, even if you couldn't be one for me. "
She knew that her father had never done anything for her, so why would he do it for her mother and friend? But there was a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, things would be different this time.
Zhang Shen gazed at her face in silence, noticing how much she resembled her mother. The same piercing eyes, small nose, heart-shaped lips, and delicate features. He was taking in every detail, as if seeing her for the first time, and perhaps the last. His eyes lingered on her palm that was extended toward him, then returned to her face, before he finally turned and walked away, his footsteps echoing in the silence.
Zhang Wei looked at her empty hand and smiled bitterly. " It was just a little promise, dad " She said in a low but disappointed voice. Zhang Shen's ears caught her words but he didn't turn to see her or answer.
"Stop! Don't go! Look at her one more time! Turn back!" The voices echoing from within him grew louder. He was hastening his steps, moving further away, but with each step, regret was closing in on him. Yet, he repeatedly denied it, telling himself, "I've done nothing wrong! I have no regrets." But the voices persisted, refusing to be silenced. Finally, he exited the room, locking the door behind him.
As he locked the door, the voices that kept rising in his heart ceased, and a strange emptiness crept inside him, haunting him from within.
Zhang Shen turned and see his wife stumbling out of the bedroom, her steps faltering. She suddenly collapsed, and he rushed to catch her, holding her tight. She had hardly summoned the courage to come out, but now she fainted again.
Zhang Shen's one hand clutched a box, while the other hand held his wife securely. He placed the box aside, lifted her gently, and laid her on the bed. He laid her down, stepped outside, picked up the box, and felt tears welling up in his eyes.
"Why is he crying? He shouldn't be crying!!! He hasn't done anything wrong!!!"
He wiped his tears away and picked up the box, moving towards the door. He glanced first at the bedroom where his wife lay, then at the room where his daughter was. He couldn't understand why he felt like He was about to lose everything... but he had nothing to lose, so what was he supposed to lose?
He shook his head and took a deep breath and left the house. He had to give Zhang Wei's box to her friend.