Chapter 6 One year later (19 years old)
The last thing Dad made me promise him before he passed away was to study hard and be happy. Had he meant if I studied hard, I would be happy, or as two separate things? Study hard, but also be happy? Whatever his stance had been, he wasn’t here to tell me now. Mum’s stance, however…
“Aiya. You should stick it out for a few more years,” she told me for the hundredth time.
After locking the front door of our shop, I flipped the sign so that the “Sorry, We’re Closed” message was visible from the outside. Then I pulled the blinds shut. “What if I really don’t want to, Mum?” Like, really, really didn’t want to?
Mum collected all the empty trays from the transparent display cabinets, leaving me to get all the leftover buns from every other cabinet. Sh
