“If people hear about this, what will they think of us?”
Martha quickly stepped in to support her. “Exactly! You were the one who took the twenty cents, so you’re at fault. What’s wrong with them pointing it out? Wanda is just doing what’s best for the family and the business.”
I stood there, feeling the blood rush to my head. My hands were shaking slightly and I could hardly control them.
I asked slowly, word by word, “Let me ask you something. If you see twenty cents lying on the street, would you bend down to pick it up?”
The mother and daughter froze. They glanced at each other, their faces suddenly awkward.
Then Daniel spoke. “Dad, you’re being unreasonable now. Picking up money and being greedy are two different things. You can’t compare them.”
His words cut deep, like a cold knife straight into my heart.
I looked at him, the son I had loved and cared for all his life, now speaking to me in that tone, with that look in his eyes.
Martha raised her voice even more. “That’s right! Daniel is absolutely right! A small thing shows a person’s true nature. From twenty cents, you can already see someone’s greed. Today it’s twenty cents, tomorrow it’s two bucks, then twenty. That’s how it starts.”
“And you used to be a teacher.”
Wanda crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “Exactly. And Dad, to be honest, the meals have been really bad lately, haven’t they? I haven’t even eaten shrimp in days. Mom, right?”
Martha nodded eagerly. “Yes, right! My Wanda loves shrimp. She used to have them often, but now they’re completely gone. You get over one hundred and fifty dollars a day for groceries, so how can that all be gone so fast?”
Listening to their accusations, I felt so suffocated I could barely breathe.
The meal budget was only one hundred and fifty dollars a day for nearly a hundred workers. With today’s prices, that money could hardly fill everyone’s stomach.
I worried the workers wouldn’t have enough strength to do their jobs, so I often used my own money to buy extra meat.
Daniel once told me Wanda loved shrimp, so even when it was expensive, I still bought it every few days, always choosing the freshest ones.
But lately, the shrimp at the market hadn’t looked good, so I stopped buying them. I never imagined that a simple choice would turn into “evidence” that I was stealing their money.
I took a deep breath. My voice wasn’t loud, but it was firm and clear. “Whoever wants this job can have it. I’m done. I’m going back home tomorrow morning.”
Then I turned and walked out.
When I got back to the small storage room I used as a dorm, I began packing a few clothes into my old travel bag. Suddenly, my phone started buzzing nonstop.
The screen lit up. It was a message from the family group chat called “Happy Family.”
I opened it and saw the newest message from Daniel.
[Sigh, I really don’t know what to say.]
[My dad’s making a big deal out of nothing. He’s angry and wants to go home, refusing to help us anymore.]
[Wanda and her mom only told the truth because he kept the twenty-cent change when buying oyster sauce and lately the menu hasn’t been good either.]
[But he got offended and said we’re blaming him unfairly. He just quit like that.]
[How can he be so petty at his age? My business is struggling right now, but he doesn’t even try to understand our situation.]
That message was like a rock thrown into calm water, stirring up waves instantly. The first to reply was one of Daniel’s aunts, one of my sisters.
[Damien, seriously? Why are you getting upset over something like this?]
