Chapter 30: One's family of origin cannot truly empathize...
"Boring." Yu Kui glanced at him. "Do you want to buy anything else? I'm going home."
"This is it." Xie Xingzhi went to the front to pay, as if he had come in just to pick out a pendant for her.
Yu Kui raised her hand and touched the soft, smiling face of the sunflower, and her mood seemed to brighten up as well.
After New Year's Day, schools gradually began to hold exams and give students holidays.
Before the senior year holiday, the school held a special parent meeting to remind parents of the importance of the next semester, urging them to take the college entrance examination next year seriously and encourage their children.
Wearing a white down jacket, Yu's mother walked into the school gate with a cheerful smile. She immediately spotted her daughter waiting for her and happily went over to take her hand. "Come on, Mom will take you to the parent-teacher conference."
She takes good care of herself and has no worries in her life. She looks much younger than her peers. When Yu Kui and she walk hand in hand, they look like sisters.
Yu's mother sat down in her daughter's seat and asked Yu Kui in a low voice about the interesting things that happened at school. There was no sense of pressure in their relationship.
Sun Shuya looked at them with envy, thinking to herself that Yu Kui's mother was so kind, always so gentle no matter what Yu Kui said.
After the parents came in one after another, Yu Kui realized that the chair next to Tao Jiang was empty.
Her parents were not present.
Halfway through the parent-teacher meeting, the classroom door was suddenly pushed open from the outside, and a woman with heavy makeup and wearing a fuchsia coat walked in, saying in a somewhat coquettish voice, "I'm sorry, teacher, there was a bit of traffic on the way."
The parent-teacher meeting was abruptly interrupted, but the homeroom teacher wasn't angry. Instead, she kindly asked, "Which student are you the parent of?"
“I am Tao Jiang’s mother,” the woman said, stroking her wavy hair and looking casually at her daughter by the window. She said with a coquettish smile, “Teacher, please let me in first. I’ve come all this way.”
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the homeroom teacher didn't say anything, only saying, "Mrs. Tao Jiang, please sit down first."
"Alright, alright." Tao's mother walked to her daughter's side and put her arm around Tao Jiang in a seemingly affectionate manner, appearing to be a mother and daughter with deep affection.
Tao Jiang lowered her eyes and said softly, "Didn't I tell you not to come?"
“Your homeroom teacher has already called me,” Tao’s mother straightened her coat, took out a makeup mirror to check her hair, and after finding it wasn’t messy, she said, “Besides, you’re such a good student, isn’t it good that I’m here to attend your parent-teacher conference? Your father would definitely be happy to know.”
Tao Jiang lowered her eyelashes and didn't speak, but her fingers slowly clenched.
"Oh, right, I also brought your younger brother," Tao's mother said with a smile. "He keeps asking to see you. Try to comfort him after school."
"I know." A hint of impatience flashed in Tao Jiang's eyes; she was very resistant to her appearance.
The homeroom teacher gave a routine speech, praising several students who were doing well in their studies, including Yu Kui. The parents looked at Yu's mother with envy, saying, "How did you teach your child? She's so smart!"
Yu's mother smiled modestly, but she was overjoyed. "It's all thanks to her own hard work. Her father and I just need to support her from behind."
Her words made the parents even more envious.
Afterwards, parents kept raising their hands to ask the homeroom teacher about their child's performance at school.
"Teacher, is my daughter Sun Shuya paying attention in class?"
How can we improve Fang Ning's grades?
Teacher, teacher…
Listening to the parents' concerns, the homeroom teacher answered them one by one: "Sun Shuya has been doing quite well recently, but she needs to be more careful with exams and do more practice questions to accumulate knowledge; Fang Ning's problem is that she is weak in certain subjects and needs to make up for her weaknesses in Chinese and history, but there are no other major problems..."
The homeroom teacher did not criticize any student, but only asked the parents to support and be tolerant of them so that they could get good grades next year.
"Teacher, our Tao Jiang is doing pretty well in her studies, right?" A slightly boastful voice came from the window. "If other students need help, they can ask her for assistance."
The homeroom teacher was taken aback. Tao Jiangzhong had average grades and needed help from other students in the class. How could she be considered a good student?
“Tao Jiang’s mother,” the homeroom teacher glanced at the girl with her head down, “Tao Jiang’s Chinese grades are not bad, but she still needs to improve in other areas.”
“That’s impossible,” Tao’s mother frowned. “I saw her grades last time. She was excellent in every subject. Her father even praised her.”
The homeroom teacher's expression changed slightly, and her gaze towards Tao Jiang became somewhat complicated. However, in front of all the students and parents, she did not expose her, but instead said, "As long as Tao Jiang continues to work hard, her grades will definitely get better and better."
“I knew it,” Tao’s mother said, oblivious to her daughter’s implied meaning, and looked at her daughter with delight. “How could Tao Jiang’s grades be bad?”
Tao Jiang didn't speak, but her lips were taut and pale. The suspicious looks from her classmates made her wish she could disappear into a crack in the ground.
The homeroom teacher quickly skipped over Tao's mother's question and continued talking to the other parents, but in her heart she was thinking about having a good talk with Tao Jiang.
After the parent-teacher meeting, Tao Jiang's mother took out a mirror to touch up her lipstick. "Hurry up and pack your schoolbag, your younger brother is getting impatient."
“You go first,” Tao Jiang said, remaining seated. “I’ll pack up and then go over.”
"Then hurry up." Tao's mother stood up and walked out of the classroom with the stride of a model.
"Tao Jiang, why does your mother say you have good grades?" Huang Li, who sits in front of you, turned around and asked in a low voice, "I remember you ranked in the thirties in the class last time. Could it be that I remembered wrong?"
Tao Jiang glanced at the girl, her eyes filled with a coldness that seemed to want to kill. The girl was startled and quickly turned around, exclaiming, "You're crazy!"
"Serves you right!" Sun Shuya sneered upon seeing this. "He even lied to his own mother. He deserved to be exposed."
Yu Kui listened to the surrounding discussions about Tao Jiang, her heart filled with complex emotions. She hadn't expected Tao Jiang to deceive her family with her grades, and she didn't understand what benefit this would bring her.
Even if you can fool your parents, what about your teachers and classmates? What about the college entrance exam?
Yu Kui didn't understand Tao Jiang's actions, but she didn't laugh at her like the others did.
Yu Kui packed her schoolbag and went outside to find her mother. The two planned to go to the school gate to eat hot pot.
"You've really made your mother proud," said Yu's mother, holding her daughter's arm with a constant smile. "You're such a precious little darling."
Yu Kui blushed slightly, but she was also very happy. "Mom, I will continue to work hard."
"Okay, okay, okay." Yu's mother was completely compliant with her wishes. "Mom believes in you."
Tao Jiang walked to the school gate, where her mother and the nanny were coaxing the child together, their voices very gentle.
She opened the car door expressionlessly, looking at the three-year-old child in her arms, her coldness almost overflowing.
"You're here?" Tao's mother looked up at her, not noticing the hatred in her daughter's eyes. "Come and see your brother. He's very clingy now, always asking to play with you."
"Sister..." The three-year-old child saw Tao Jiang and smiled happily, reaching out to ask her to hug him.
Tao Jiang put down her schoolbag and said coldly, "I'm very tired today and don't want to play with him."
"You silly girl," Tao's mother said, pulling her hair in annoyance, "if it weren't for your brother, do you think your father would treat us so well? You'd better not make your father angry."
Tao Jiang said sarcastically, "He's not here, what are you pretending for?"
"You brat!" Tao's mother was so angry that her face turned red, and she raised her hand to slap her. "You don't even listen to your mother anymore, do you!"
Tao Jiang covered her cheek, looking at her coldly, "It's your business if you want to please him, it has nothing to do with me!"
After saying that, he grabbed his schoolbag and got off the bus, leaving Tao's mother and younger brother on the bus.
"You!" Tao's mother, at her wits' end, threatened, "Your father arranges everything for you—your food, your schooling—if you're so capable, then rely on yourself!"
Tao Jiang ignored him and turned to go into the hot pot restaurant across the street.
After dinner, as Yu Kui and her mother were walking out, they saw Tao Jiang in a corner. The handprint on her face hadn't faded yet, and she looked rather pitiful.
Yu Kui paused for a moment, but ultimately said nothing and left with her mother.
Yu Kui's feelings toward Tao Jiang were very complex.
She once said that her personality was influenced by her family of origin. At the time, Yu Kui wanted to ask her what had happened, but in the end she held back.
Seeing Tao Jiang again today, Yu Kui believes what she said, but she cannot accept the hurt Tao Jiang caused her.
She understands her life, but she doesn't approve of her behavior.
Perhaps, it's truly impossible for people to truly empathize.
Even though Tao Jiang is so vulnerable and pitiful right now, she can't bring herself to go over and comfort her.
During holidays, Yu Kui often went to the library and occasionally made plans with Sun Shuya, but most of the time she spent with Xie Xingzhi.
That day, she ran into Tao Jiang at the library. Tao Jiang arrived a little late and sat alone by the window. The lighting was good, but it wasn't the best place to study.
She wrote the test paper with a slightly anxious expression, but soon threw the pen aside and took out her phone to play.
"What are you looking at?" Xie Xingzhi waved his hand in front of Yu Kui.
Yu Kui blinked. "It's nothing."
She continued writing her test paper, as if her earlier lapse in concentration was just an illusion.
Xie Xingzhi followed her gaze and saw Tao Jiang, his eyes suddenly becoming deep and unfathomable.
During lunch, Tao Jiang packed her schoolbag and prepared to leave. She stopped beside Yu Kui and lowered her voice, saying, "I know you're laughing at me in your heart, but I haven't really lost to you."
Yu Kui didn't understand why she said that. She had never compared herself to Tao Jiang, and there was nothing between them about winning or losing.
"Don't look at me like that," Tao Jiang stared down at her, rarely showing hostility, and said, "I'm just bad at studying, it doesn't mean I'm bad at other things."
Yu Kui: "..."
She felt that Tao Jiang was a bit obsessive. "I'm not mocking you. You don't need to think so much."
"Is that so?" Tao Jiang said, "But your presence makes me feel like I have a fishbone stuck in my throat."
Whether it was Qin You's childhood sweetheart or a good student in the class, she found them all an eyesore.
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