A variety of dishes were served on the table, and Yu Jianing ate the porridge in small bites.

Bai Puti glanced at her, then at the various oily delicacies on the table, and had only one thought in her mind...

Screw you, don't eat! (Flips table!)

"What's wrong?" Xiao Ning noticed her displeasure and quietly squeezed her hand. "Want to try some porridge?"

"Xiao Ning, let's go home. What do you want to eat? I'll cook it for you!"

Song Xitong's eyes were a little red, especially when she saw Shang Jia Ning's increasingly pale face.

We've been together for over a year, when have I ever treated her like this?

"Children, why aren't you eating? Eat up, it'll get cold and won't taste good."

Anma held up her chopsticks to serve food to Xiaohe, while the other children barely touched their food.

"Um?"

Xiao Ning made a soft nasal sound, gestured with her spoon, indicating that everyone should eat first and talk about it later.

"Little Ning..."

Wanhe clenched her fist under the table, a bitter feeling spreading through her heart...

Seeing her like this, Chenxing finally picked up her chopsticks, but only ate a few bites.

About half an hour later, only one person finished their enjoyable lunch.

"Everyone... wait a moment... let me make some arrangements for my mom... then I'll come find you all..."

Seeing that Aunt An had finished eating, the little artist couldn't stay a moment longer and pulled her away from the restaurant.

"Hey kid, why are you in such a hurry? There's still so much food left, we can pack it up..."

"Wait a minute! Wasn't this meal supposed to be on Xiao Shen's treat? Why are you paying?"

Can you be quiet for a moment?

An Wanhe looked at her with red eyes, her rapidly heaving chest indicating how unsettled she was.

The former blinked, clearly not understanding, and pointed his finger, saying "you" several times.

"Miss, your total bill is [amount] yuan. Here is the receipt, please take it."

The receptionist spoke politely, but An's mother, already infuriated, became even angrier: "This bill..."

"Walk!"

The young artist called out, grabbed his mother's arm with his left hand and pulled his suitcase with his right, and quickly walked outside.

Tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her face uncontrollably.

That former mother…

It seems to remain forever in my memory...

Seemingly realizing that her daughter was truly angry, An's mother calmed down considerably and obediently followed her.

However, I kept thinking to myself that my daughter had been led astray.

XX Hotel —

"Hello, please book me a room."

An Wanhe wiped away her tears and said in a very calm tone.

"Xiao He..."

"Your room has been booked. Turn left and call room 3014 on the 3rd floor."

"Thank you..." The young artist ignored his mother, took the room card, and led her into the elevator.

Once in the room, Aunt An finally couldn't help but ask, "Xiao He, why don't we go home? This night is so expensive..."

"Hahaha…"

An Wanhe grabbed her hair and smiled sarcastically:

"Mom...you really have a bad memory..."

"Didn't you sell the house before you left?"

Silence... An eerie silence fell over the room. An's mother opened her mouth, "I'm sorry... Xiao He, Mom needed money at the time..."

"I'm getting married for the second time... I won't give a dowry... My partner doesn't agree..."

“Hmm…” An Wanhe waved her hand. She would never forget the scene when, a week after her mother left, the new landlord abandoned her and her belongings on the street:

"You don't need to say any of this, it's all in the past. What exactly do you want to come back for?"

"Mom has figured it out. Men are all the same. I want to take care of you..."

"Take care of me?"

The young artist stared at her intently: "Do you know how I've survived all these years?"

“You sold the house, and I was homeless. At that time, I couldn’t even afford the 600 yuan for boarding school fees!”

"Do you know where I live? I live in the toilet! Every day after the lights are turned off, I move a small stool inside and sit there to sleep."

"I smell the sewer odor every day. If I take a shower in the dorm room that took me in, I have to wear a raincoat, otherwise my clothes will be completely wet the next morning."

"My part-time job plus scholarship money is only enough for me to eat two steamed buns a day! A one-yuan plastic mineral water bottle will last me a whole semester!"

"Sometimes the water room has hot water, and the bottle gets dented from the heat, but I still have to use it!"

"So... you're saying you're coming back to take care of me now? Do you think I need it?"

An's mother's lips trembled, and she couldn't utter a single word.

Looking at her, the young artist laughed even more sarcastically: "Didn't you dislike me because I'm an orange? The day you left, I got drunk and waited to be picked up by someone in order to change my sexual orientation."

"One of the thugs who picked me up got Aldosis. I was so close to becoming a woman. When the police found me, they said I was practically naked, like I was about to become a woman..."

"So... now you're saying you're coming back to take care of me, do I really need to?"

“Xiao He…it’s Mom’s fault…” Mom cried, slapping herself repeatedly.

“Enough…” An Wanhe closed her eyes and took a deep breath: “What’s the point of saying all this now? I’ve come this far alone all these years…”

"Don't worry, I won't abandon you. You're still my mother, after all..."

The young artist placed the bank card on the table: "I'll deposit money into this every month from now on, just please don't show up in front of me and my friends again..."

"Xiao He..."

"Mom... I beg you..."

The last sentence was spoken by An Wanhe through tears. Her mother's words of compensation caught in her throat, and she silently nodded and said, "Okay..."

"Xiaohe... Mom misses you, can I call you?"

As An Wanhe was about to leave, her mother, unwilling to give up, asked one more question.

Instead of answering directly, the other person asked, "Mom, do you know why you can still make calls after all these years using that phone card?"

After saying that, she left the room without looking back.

Even when I was extremely poor and couldn't afford to eat...

I pay the phone bill for that SIM card every month…

Just waiting for a phone call...

But this phone call was only made for the first time yesterday...

.

Back at the restaurant entrance, An Wanhe washed her face and tidied her clothes before going inside.

"Everyone, I apologize for what happened earlier..."

Before she could say anything, Chenxing, who was waiting at the door, pounced on her and hugged her like a hungry tiger.

"All done! Xiao Ning ordered another table full of food. Come and eat!"

"You..." The young artist struggled to peek out from the crowd, the soft, faint fragrance making her brain freeze.

"Alright, come and eat. Xiao Ning is eager to see the little nest I made for her."

Song Xitong patted her head, and no one mentioned what had just happened.

It was as if nothing had happened; it was their first time eating here...

"Thanks…"

An Wanhe, who had just stopped crying, was starting to lose control again. Yu Jianing pinched her cheek and was the first to return to her seat.

She had finished her motion sickness medication, and her complexion was no longer as excessively pale as it had been at the beginning.

"If you don't sit down and eat, I'm going to eat all the good food."

"Ah! No way!"