Chapter 398: Might as Well Die Poor

She gently touched the stinging spot on her head. The moment her fingers met her hair, she felt a sticky mess. Her cousin-uncle must have torn off a piece of her scalp.

She’d be lucky not to scare someone to death delivering food like this.

She had no choice but to find a pharmacy on the side of the road and ask for help cleaning the wound.

The pharmacist took one look at her scalp. "Did you get in a fight? They were vicious! A simple cleaning won’t cut it. This is a scalp injury; it could get infected. I’ll have to shave the hair around it, apply some medicine, and bandage it up."

Amina heard she’d need to shave her hair, get medicine, and have it bandaged. "Will I need to take any medication?"

"You will. With your job, you must sweat a lot, right? The chance of the wound getting infected from sweat is high, so you’ll need to take some basic anti-inflammatories."

"So... how much would that cost?"

The moment she asked, the pharmacist was speechless and rolled her eyes.

"Let me calculate it."

She grabbed a few types of medicine, scanned their barcodes, and typed a few things on the keyboard.

"It’s not too expensive. The total comes to 216."

216.

’I’ve only made a little over 70 so far today. Forget it.’

When she was a little girl working in the fields, she’d accidentally scraped herself on rocks and gotten deep cuts on her legs and arms. She never did anything about them, and they always healed just fine.

’This is nothing compared to those. It should be fine.’

After hearing the price, Amina, her face red with embarrassment, mumbled an apology to the pharmacist and hurried out of the store.

The pharmacist plopped down in her chair, fuming, and cursed at her.

"Broke ass! Why don’t you just drop dead from poverty! Can’t even bear to get treated. Unbelievable!"

Fortunately, she had a clean towel under her scooter seat. Amina bought a bottle of mineral water for one yuan, wet the towel, wiped her face and neck clean, and got back to work.

As she rushed from one delivery to the next, she got a call.

She thought it was a customer calling, but to her surprise, it was her eldest brother.

’How did he get my number? Could her cousin-uncle have told him? But how would her cousin-uncle know her number? Could it be that he knows someone who looked up my number and address in the employee system?’

Amina broke out in goosebumps the moment she heard her eldest brother say her name.

"What do you want?"

Her brother heard the coldness in her voice, and his tone became even colder.

"What do you think I want? Yesterday, you paid Linden’s bill and just left! You didn’t even leave us money for the trip home. How were we supposed to get back? We thought you’d come back today with money for us, but we’ve been waiting all this time... You’ve really got some nerve now, Amina."

Amina was beyond annoyed.

’What did I do in a past life to deserve knowing so many detestable people in this one?’

’But if I don’t give them money to go back, my two older brothers will just cause me endless trouble here.’

"Fine. I’ll transfer the money to Linden right now. He can cash it out for you. I only have two thousand left. A thousand for my grandma and me, and a thousand for the two of you. I don’t have any more to give."

Her brother sneered. "Bullshit! You said you only had two thousand yesterday, and you transferred some to Linden. Now you’re saying you still have two thousand today? Do you take us for fools? You definitely have more than that!"

Amina suppressed her anger. "Then how much do you want?"

"Cut the crap," her brother said. "Let’s talk in person. You come find us."

"I’m at work right now. You two aren’t working, all you know is how to ask me for money. If I don’t work, are we all supposed to just starve?"

"Who says we’re not working?" her brother retorted. "That’s what I’m calling to discuss. Linden’s dad said that if we don’t go back, he can find us work at the construction site. It’s just that it’s pretty dangerous, so he needs a family member’s consent."

’No matter how dangerous it is, people are always lining up for those jobs. With no education, where else could those two work if not on a construction site?’

Amina had no objection. "I have no problem with it. That’s great. You should go do it."

"Just because you say you have no problem with it doesn’t mean it’s settled," her brother snapped. "Linden’s dad is afraid of being held responsible. He wants to treat you to dinner tonight to talk about it in person. Don’t be ungrateful when he’s making an effort. He’s already started cooking, so get over here."

With that, her brother hung up, leaving her with the distinct feeling that she was being forced to go.

Amina didn’t want to go, and she didn’t believe him, so she sent a message to Linden. To her surprise, it was true.

Linden explained, "My family’s restaurant has been next to this construction site for over two years, so we know the contractor well. There are a few big projects here that will take several years to complete. We can get your brothers jobs, but my dad... well, you know how it is. He’s getting older, he’s set in his ways, and he’s afraid of being responsible. If you give him your word in person, it’ll put his mind at ease."

Amina understood. Back in her hometown, it was always like this: if you asked someone for a favor, you were expected to return one of equal value. Linden’s father was putting on a bit of a show, making her come to him.

For her brothers’ sake, she had no choice but to clock out early, buy a few gifts, and head to Linden’s home. As expected, Linden’s father was delighted to see the gifts.

They chatted for a while, and it was settled: her two brothers now had jobs and wouldn’t have to go back home.

"Two hundred a day, with food and lodging covered at the site. You should be able to save fifty thousand a month. If you three siblings pool your money together, you could buy the eldest a house in town and find him a wife in just two years. A couple of years after that, the second eldest can get married too. Won’t your lives get better in no time?"

Her two brothers looked as if they had just seen a beacon of hope, their faces filled with confidence for the future.

Amina looked at their foolish expressions and couldn’t be bothered to crush their spirits. ’It’s better to have something to hope for than nothing at all,’ she thought.

After a polite dinner, Amina said she had to hurry back, explaining that her grandmother was home alone and would worry if it got too late. With that, she set off on her way home.

Finally alone and quiet, riding her scooter through the night, Amina was overwhelmed by a vast emptiness and a deep ache in her heart.

It was a little better when she was busy, but now... now she missed Zeke Walton so much it was hard to breathe, so much her whole body ached, so much she wanted to cry.

Before she knew it, she had ridden her scooter back to their apartment building.

Staring up at the dark, empty window, Amina knew she shouldn’t go up, but she just couldn’t resist.

’Even if I can’t see Zeke Walton, it would be enough just to lie down on the bed we used to share, to smell his scent again.’

She always carried the key with her, so Amina easily unlocked the door.

She closed the door behind her and rushed into the bedroom. As she expected, it was empty. Zeke Walton hadn’t come back.

She lay down on the bed they had shared, pulling Zeke Walton’s pillow close to smell it again and again as tears streamed down her face like pearls from a broken string.

’Zeke, I miss you so much. I miss you, I miss you so, so much.’

In that moment, a thought even crossed her mind. ’Even if Zeke Walton’s family disapproves, I don’t care anymore. I don’t have to marry him. As long as I can be by his side... I’d be happy to follow him for the rest of my life, even without any official title...’

Amina was lost in her sorrow when suddenly, she heard a sound at the door.

She thought she was hallucinating, but she lifted her head and strained her ears. There was definitely a noise coming from the living room.

’Zeke? Could Zeke be back?’

Excited, she tossed the pillow aside and bolted out of the room.

But when she saw who was in the living room, her heart turned to ice.

Her eldest and second eldest brothers had followed her here.