Her prophecies brought endless wealth to our family. The moment she opened her mouth, the Powerball ticket my uncle casually bought would win thirty million dollars, and his real estate properties would double in value. My cousin, who usually had rock-bottom grades, suddenly received an acceptance letter from an Ivy League university, making my aunt brag everywhere. Our family's fast-food chain expanded to hundreds of locations within two years, and we all moved into the most luxurious estate in Seattle. During our Thanksgiving family dinner, everyone gathered together. Grandma sat at the head of the table, smiling as she asked us what we wanted for our New Year's gifts. My uncle wanted more overseas investments; my aunt and my parents desired fame and fortune. I was the only one who pointed to a dusty, ignored old greeting card on the corner of the table and said, "Grandma, I just want this." My relatives laughed at me, calling me an idiot, but I didn't care at all. Because I knew that for Grandma's prophecies to come true, there was a price—one paid with the lifespans of others. And all of this was Grandma's long-planned revenge. 01 "An elder in the house is like a treasure in the house." In our family, this wasn't just a proverb; it was an ironclad rule. "Mom, move into my place in a few days! I specifically custom-ordered a top-tier therapeutic mattress from Germany for you. I guarantee it'll be great for your spine!" my uncle Bruce said, his face covered in a wide smile. "Give it a rest. Mom just stayed at your place last month. It's my turn this month. What's a therapeutic mattress? I installed a whole-house climate control system for Mom!" my aunt Sarah retorted, not wanting to be outdone. "Oh, you two just want to show off your filial piety, right? Give me a chance as the son too! Mom, you have to dote on your youngest son!" my dad, Albert, joined the battle. Today was our bi-weekly family gathering. As usual, Uncle Bruce, Aunt Sarah, and my parents were arguing intensely over who got to host Grandma. Grandpa passed away early. Grandma raised her three kids all by herself on this land by sewing clothes for factories. Back then, the family was so poor they could barely afford food, and the three kids were crying to be fed. Grandma worked day and night, ruining her eyes in the process. Now, she was nearly completely blind. Even though she couldn't see, her authority as the matriarch remained. Grandma sat at the head of the table, leaning on a black ebony cane carved with runes. She tapped it lightly against the floor, and everyone instantly fell silent. "I have my own plans about whose house I'm going to this month." Her tone was flat, but no one dared to talk back. In American families, disobeying elders might be common, but in our family—which made its fortune relying on Grandma's "guidance"—she was an absolute god. At the dining table, everyone scrambled to suck up to her. My cousin Silas and my other cousin Clara kept calling out "Dearest Grandma" in sickeningly sweet voices. Grandma curled her lips, seemingly enjoying this family bliss. I was the only one who kept my head down, silently eating the mashed potatoes on my plate, refusing to join the commotion. My mom, Mary, secretly pinched my arm, signaling with her eyes for me to hand Grandma a napkin. "Oh, Albert, look at your Evelyn, always acting so heartless. Is your filial piety just an act?" My aunt Brenda was sharp-eyed and sneered at the top of her lungs. The eyes of the entire room converged on me, including the vicious glare from my dad. I was the outcast of the family. I always maintained a polite but distant courtesy toward Grandma. In the eyes of the elders, this was absolute "unfilial" behavior. Because of this, my parents took a lot of heat. Grandma rarely stayed at our house for more than a few days a year. My dad often cursed me as a "jinx" who blocked his path to wealth. "Evelyn, get your ass over here and apologize to Grandma!" My dad's face was grim, his voice echoing in the dining room. According to family rules, making Grandma unhappy meant you had to kneel and apologize. This time, my dad pressed down on my shoulders, and my knees slammed heavily against the hardwood floor, leaving a massive bruise. "Oh my, she's still a child. Albert, you're going too far." Grandma benevolently reached out and patted my head. Strangely enough, her fingertips were ice-cold, and the moment she touched me, my head and knees stopped hurting entirely. My parents hastily apologized profusely. "I heard Albert moved into a new house. I'll go stay there for a while and try out that therapeutic mattress," Grandma said softly. My parents were instantly ecstatic. Uncle Bruce and Aunt Sarah's families looked at each other, extremely bitter. Especially Aunt Brenda—she hadn't expected her attempt to sow discord would actually play right into our hands. 02 As soon as we got home, my mom hired a housekeeping company to completely renovate the master bedroom. It was the room with the best view in the estate. Facing south, with excellent natural light. The carpet alone cost three times as much as the ones in the other bedrooms. Even though Grandma rarely visited, my dad insisted on using the best eco-friendly materials. "Order a few more boxes of premium caviar and supplements!" My dad kept making phone calls. In no time, the living room was piled high with expensive ingredients. Everything was ready, just waiting for the old lady to arrive. To prevent her from being intercepted by Uncle Bruce halfway, my parents split up. My mom stayed to decorate, and my dad drove personally to pick her up. "Evelyn, put a smile on your face! Sweeten up your words!" "Look at Silas. He succeeded in his startup this year and became a young prominent talent in the city. Look at Clara, she got an early admission to Stanford." "Those are all gifts from your Grandma! Returns for their sweet talk!" In contrast, from childhood to adulthood, I only ever asked Grandma for ordinary, small envelopes of cash. I asked for nothing regarding grades, future prospects, or wealth. "You blockhead, you can't hold onto your fortune!" my dad scoffed at me. I was the fool of the family, Grandma's least favored granddaughter. But I still remembered. When I was little, Grandma secretly slipped me a lollipop behind everyone's back, giving me a loving smile. She said, "Evelyn, Grandma will give you the best of everything." Later on, Grandma was no longer willing to smile much. There were too many children and grandchildren demanding her affection; she wasn't missing mine. I also actively distanced myself from her. Because I discovered her secret. 03 Five years ago, Grandma wasn't the family's treasure. She was a burden that the three households avoided like the plague. Back then, my parents ran a struggling small diner, working until midnight every day. Uncle Bruce was just an ordinary blue-collar worker. Aunt Sarah had just squeezed every last penny of Grandma's retirement fund to buy a house. No one was financially comfortable, and no one wanted to care for a blind, elderly mother. Even though this mother had once given everything she had to put them through school. The three families frequently got into physical fights in the old apartment over alimony. "I have a ton of things going on at home, who has the energy to take care of a blind woman? You scammed Mom's money to buy a house, why don't you take her?" "I'm the daughter, you guys are the sons! Bruce, you serve your mother-in-law so well, isn't it just for her inheritance after she dies? Now that Mom has nothing, you change your tune?" "We're starving ourselves, there's no share for her!" "Spit, why won't this old hag just die already!" Grandma's eyes were bad, but her ears were incredibly sharp. She heard every curse her children threw at her loud and clear. She often hid alone in the dim kitchen, wiping away tears, but she would still pull a crumpled piece of candy from her pocket for me. Among the grandchildren, I was the only one close to her. Silas and Clara complained that she smelled weird, covering their noses whenever they walked by. Grandma was like a stray dog, taking turns boarding at the different houses, and getting kicked out like a ball the moment her time was up. It was a blessing she couldn't see—she couldn't see the expressions on her children's faces, wishing she would just disappear. Later, they conspired and came up with a plan. They deliberately starved her, giving her one meal a day, sometimes none at all. Aunt Brenda and my mom verbally abused her even worse, while my dad and Uncle Bruce pretended to be deaf. I was often beaten by my mom with a coat hanger until I was bruised all over, just for sneaking sandwiches to Grandma. A year later, their plan succeeded. Grandma volunteered to move back to an old abandoned cabin in the remote mountains of Kentucky. A frail, nearly blind old woman returning to an abandoned cabin was essentially a death sentence. They parked the car at the foot of the mountain. They didn't even prepare a clean blanket for her, just dumped her there and ran. Uncle Bruce said, "Within three months, we'll be able to come back and collect her corpse. Then we'll finally be free." Three months later, Uncle Bruce received a phone call from the old hometown. It was Grandma. She was still alive. "Bruce, go buy a lottery ticket with these numbers." Her voice was loud and powerful, sounding even healthier than before. Uncle Bruce bought it, as if possessed by a ghost. As a result, he won thirty million dollars. Over the next few months, my dad and Aunt Sarah also received phone calls. All the investment advice came true perfectly. Promotions, sudden wealth, overnight success—all dependent on a single sentence from Grandma. That day, the driveway of the long-silent mountain cabin was packed with luxury cars. Those "filial" children knelt on the ground, crying and wailing, begging Grandma to come to the city to enjoy a good life. It caused quite a stir locally, with everyone praising Bruce's family for producing three incredibly filial children. Looking at Grandma, whose face was flushed and covered in smiles, I only felt she was a stranger. Right then, a voice seemed to echo in my ear: "Do not ask Grandma for anything, otherwise, it will cost you your life." "There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Every wish they ask for will be deducted from their lifespans." Right in front of me, Uncle Bruce was still greedily asking for the next wave of stock market trends. Clara threw herself into Grandma's arms, acting cute and asking for a full-ride scholarship. 04 Grandma was settled into our house. Before leaving, Uncle Bruce quietly reminded Grandma not to forget Silas's "marriage prospects." Silas was currently pursuing the only daughter of a real estate tycoon, Isabella. If they could secure this marriage, Uncle Bruce's business would truly take off. However, Isabella had always ignored Silas. "Mom, you're his biological grandmother, you have to help him." Ever since the whole family achieved financial freedom, Grandma's "golden words" were hard to come by. Sometimes my dad and the others tried everything but couldn't even get a single prophecy. They asked for too much, and Grandma seemed overwhelmed. "I'll think about it..." Seeing Grandma wouldn't relent, Uncle Bruce gave a signal, and Silas immediately fell to his knees in front of her with a thud. "Grandma! I'll die without her!" "Bruce's family sure has a lot of tricks up their sleeves, no wonder they're the richest," my mom muttered disdainfully from the side. Over the past few years, as long as Uncle Bruce's family asked, Grandma would eventually agree. This caused dissatisfaction from my mom and Aunt Sarah. Because they remembered very clearly that five years ago, Uncle Bruce was the cruelest one to Grandma. He had even suggested locking Grandma outside during a blizzard. "Are you sure?" Faced with her grandson's pleas, Grandma finally relented. Silas nodded firmly. "Three days from now, that girl will get lost hiking in the North Mountain forest. You go and be the one to save her." Silas pulled out his phone, and sure enough, Isabella had just posted an update three hours ago about going on a hike. "Grandma, you really are my guardian angel!" The family immediately returned to a harmonious, joyful scene. I was the only one who saw it. The illusionary number floating above Silas's head decreased by another 10. Remaining: 40. He was 28 years old this year. And the balances of the other family members: Uncle Bruce: 55 (he is 53 this year). My dad, Albert: 65 (he is 48 this year). Aunt Sarah: 70 (she is 45 this year). Cousin Clara: 65 (she is 22 this year). Only blood relatives sharing Grandma's bloodline could make wishes and exchange their lifespans. "You're graduating soon, hurry up and beg your Grandma to find you a high-paying job!" my mom reminded me once again. I looked at Grandma, surrounded by smiling faces. Her lips carried a bizarre curve, her cloudy eyes narrowed into slits. Intimate, yet it sent shivers down my spine. 05 In the blink of an eye, it was Grandma's 75th birthday. Previous years had been family dinners, but this year the scale was massive. Uncle Bruce, flaunting his wealth, booked the ballroom at the most luxurious Hilton hotel in the city. He invited all the business elites, claiming it was to pray for the birthday girl. Inside the hotel, Aunt Sarah pulled my dad into a corner to whisper. "It's Bruce stealing the spotlight again. Why does he always get to be the boss? Back when Mom was useless, he was the first one to say he wouldn't take care of her!" "Hmph, Mom's old shirt had a dozen holes patched up. I was the one who spent fifty bucks to buy her a cheap shirt from a street stall!" That shirt was the only thing Aunt Sarah had ever bought for Grandma in her entire life. Yet it became the "evidence" she frequently used to claim credit over the past few years. "As long as the old lady is happy, everything is fine. Make sure to toast her a few more times later, maybe if Mom's happy today, she'll give us another sweet deal!" my dad advised Aunt Sarah, and the two quickly put on smiling faces and surrounded Grandma. The number above Aunt Sarah's head flickered. I knew she was going to get what she wanted today. Over the years, relying on the "filial piety of one shirt," she went from a regular clerk to a branch executive. Right now, Silas was pulling Isabella over to introduce her to Grandma. "Grandma, look how beautiful your granddaughter-in-law is." That day, Isabella did indeed get lost. Silas descended from the heavens, carried her on his back for a three-hour hike out of the mountains, and finally won her heart. Today's birthday banquet was actually hosted by Uncle Bruce to entertain his future in-law, the real estate tycoon. Grandma was just an excuse. 06 To "accumulate good karma" for Grandma, Uncle Bruce prepared a massive amount of free food to distribute to the homeless on the streets. Distributing the food had to be done by Grandma's direct descendants. And this terrible chore naturally fell on me. "Evelyn is the dumbest, and Grandma doesn't like you either. You're the most suitable to go show your filial piety to Grandma," "Idiots should do more work. Your sister can only help you this much," Silas and Clara sneered at me from the door. I didn't care. I didn't want to watch their hypocritical acting anyway. The distribution boxes contained expensive organic pastries. The packaging had Grandma's birthdate printed on it, with "Longevity and Centenarian" written on top. How ironic. They used to wish she would die early, and now they were praying to the heavens for her immortality. In this neighborhood where the homeless gathered, I handed them out one by one with a bodyguard. Handing out the last box, I met a strange old man. He wore tattered monk robes, a sandalwood rosary around his neck, and emitted a faint, cold incense scent. "Child, who is the person on this box?" He suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes, startling me. "My grandmother. Today is her 75th birthday, and our family is accumulating good karma for her." The old man took the box, sniffed it hard, and furrowed his brows. He looked at me, his eyes full of confusion: "No, no. A person with this fate is destined for a life full of disasters and extreme misfortune from their children. Where would this kind of blessing come from?" "Hey! Old man, what nonsense are you spouting!" The bodyguard grew furious and tried to snatch the box back. I stopped him. "Old sir, what else did you see?" I asked in a low voice. "You said she's 75 this year? Judging from her birthdate, she only lived to be 70. Five years ago, she should have been in the ground." The old man's words made me feel like I was plunging into an ice cave under the spring sun. Five years ago. That was the day Grandma was dumped back in the hometown to fend for herself. According to the old man, she had already died back then. Thinking back, after Grandma returned from the hometown, not only had her personality changed, but her body was overly healthy. Even my mom said the hometown's environment was nourishing; after Grandma stayed in the cabin for three months, her complexion had improved a lot. 07 Returning to the hotel, the banquet had just begun. Under the massive crystal chandelier was an 18-tier cake. Grandma, her face glowing, was helped by the MC to distribute the cake to her descendants. "Cake and blessings! Thank you, Birthday Girl, for loving the younger generation!" The MC was arranged by Uncle Bruce; every word was meant to induce Grandma to speak. The descendants knelt on the floor, their eyes shining, anticipating the prophecies that could change their destinies. This time, Grandma was very generous. She wished Uncle Bruce immense wealth, Aunt Sarah steady promotions, and our family booming business. She wished Silas a century of happy marriage, and Clara a boundless future. Until it came to me. Grandma's smile vanished. She slowly placed the piece of cake in her hand into mine, narrowed her eyes, and smiled at me lovingly. In that moment, I saw a sliver of clarity in her eyes. "This piece of cake is the best. "Grandma wishes Evelyn... a long, long life." The guests whispered among themselves. "Looks like the old lady really dislikes this youngest granddaughter." "Everyone else gets fame and fortune, and she just gets an empty wish for a long life." Uncle Bruce and Aunt Sarah looked on with schadenfreude, my parents felt utterly humiliated. I looked at the smile in Grandma's eyes, and that familiar feeling surged in my heart. The candy she gave me when I was little tasted exactly like this. Watching the numbers above my family members' heads plummet like broken timers. I suddenly understood. The old man said those pastries were cursed with resentment, and anyone who demanded things from her would be cursed. But I was clean, completely untainted. Grandma hadn't changed; she was still the elder who treated me best. She distanced herself from me, giving me no wealth or prophecies, in order to... protect me. Tears welling in my eyes, I bowed deeply to her. "Thank you, Grandma." A long life was your deepest, most profound love for me. 08 After staying at the estate for half a month, Grandma suddenly mentioned wanting to go back to the old cabin in Kentucky. My parents and Uncle Bruce had just made another windfall after the birthday banquet, so how could they dare disobey? They agreed immediately. They even hired a professional engineering team to go up the mountain overnight to renovate the cabin, lay down carpets, and install heating. The house was fixed, but a problem arose. Who would accompany Grandma back? "The bidding for those plots of land is happening soon, I can't get away," Uncle Bruce was the first to refuse. "You can't get away? You're just afraid you can't get away from your mistress outside!" Aunt Brenda pointed at his nose and cursed. Aunt Sarah also made excuses: "I just got promoted, I have a ton of work. Sigh, I'll let you guys take this chance to show your filial piety, don't fight me for it next time!" Everyone knew she had actually rewarded herself with a trip to Europe. My mom heard the underlying meaning and sneered, "You all talk a big game normally, but when it's time to actually put in the effort, you run faster than anyone. Are we supposed to just be the suckers?" Approaching the holidays, our chain restaurants were booming. My parents were counting money until their hands went numb every day; they didn't want to go either. "I'll go." I stood up. Three words ended this ugly argument. 09 On the way back to the hometown, several trucks were fully loaded with gifts Uncle Bruce was sending to the entire village. The mountain roads were rugged. Suddenly, a maid in the van covered her nose and mouth. "Oh my god, what is that smell? It stinks!" Everyone hurriedly put on masks. Grandma rested with her eyes closed, paying no mind. I sat next to her, and I smelled it clearly. That rotting, putrid stench was radiating from Grandma. With every cough, the smell grew stronger. It was like the smell of rotting meat pouring endlessly from her lungs. In a daze, the old man's words popped into my mind. "A walking corpse for five years, the internal organs have long rotted away, reeking of decay. "It must rely on evil spirits to sustain its life." Looking at the calm Grandma and the people gagging non-stop. I seemed to have guessed the true purpose of this return trip to the hometown.
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