Shen Cishu’s fingers tapped open the chat history with “Mother” again and again.
Then closed it again and again.
She wanted to tell “Mother” that she was hungry.
She believed that once “Mother” saw her message, she would definitely reply.
How could there be a heartless mother in this world who would let her own child go hungry?
In the end, Shen Cishu tossed her phone onto the sofa and sank into its cushions.
She was still very angry.
Why was “Mother” being so heartless?
As if she was determined to punish her.
She had already made up her mind—if Mother didn’t reply to her message, she would ignore Mother for the rest of her life.
So what if she couldn’t eat Mother’s meticulously prepared meals?
She could still order delivery and take care of herself.
It wasn’t like she couldn’t survive without Mother.
Not only could she survive, she could live just fine.
Sooner or later, Mother would realize her mistake!
But no sooner had Shen Cishu picked up her phone than she tossed it back onto the sofa.
She wasn’t “Mother.” She was Su Li.
Mother would never be so vulgar.
Always talking about crude money.
She was Su Li.
Bai Huizi’s lackey.
She wanted to watch her make a fool of herself.
To extort money from her.
‘That’s what she is.’
Shen Cishu’s eyes revealed disgust as she thought this.
Just over ten thousand yuan.
And she put on such a face.
Shen Cishu found it nauseating.
She stared at the transfer record on her phone screen, her knuckles digging into the leather sofa until they turned pale and sunken.
Su Li’s voice reminding her to pay for the service still echoed in her ears, like the beep of a scanner at the vegetable market.
Wasn’t she supposed to be playing the role of her mother?
Couldn’t she at least keep up the act until she was out of sight?
It wasn’t like she wasn’t going to pay her.
In the end, she was just Bai Huizi’s dog.
Shen Cishu realized with a wave of nausea that she was nothing more than a “breathing ATM machine” for Bai Huizi’s lackey to extract money from.
She felt like throwing up.
She couldn’t imagine what Su Li, who played the gentle mother role in front of her, looked like in front of Bai Huizi.
Just thinking about the two of them laughing and gossiping about her made Shen Cishu feel a strong sense of discomfort.
“She’s not my mother.”
“She’s Bai Huizi’s dog.”
“She’s not my mother.”
“She’s Bai Huizi’s dog.”
Anger flooded her heart. She wanted to destroy something.
Shen Cishu stared at the sandalwood comb her mother had left on the vanity.
Her fingers suddenly clenched around the teeth of the comb.
The sharp crack of the comb’s teeth breaking brought to her mind the sound of the pearl necklace snapping as Bai Huizi’s fingers traced Su Li’s collarbone.
The angrier she got, the more furious she became. She grabbed a bottle of perfume and hurled it at the mirror.
The flying shards of glass reflected countless images of Su Li.
Su Li, with Bai Huizi’s curls tangled around her.
Su Li, tilting her head back to receive a kiss amidst red wine stains.
Su Li, using her mother’s gentle tone to say to that bitch, “As long as Sister likes it.”
Bitch.
Two bitches.
Both of them were bitches.
Disgusting.
Revolting.
That bitch Bai Huizi knew she had a close relationship with her mother, so she used that against her.
She sent Su Li to take advantage of her weakness.
Just to watch her make a fool of herself.
That big bitch!
When a shard of porcelain cut into her palm, her mind flashed to Bai Huizi stamping her lipstick-stained cup rim onto Su Li’s tiger’s mouth.
“Ugh!”
A violent wave of nausea hit her. Shen Cishu braced herself against the cabinet, but she couldn’t vomit anything.
She looked around the room in frustration, as if she could see Bai Huizi and Su Li playing in her home.
She wanted to destroy everything in front of her.
Drops of blood fell onto the torn transfer record, staining the five-digit sum a dark menstrual red.
She pulled her mother’s qipao out of the wardrobe and twisted it into a knot.
The sound of silk tearing mixed with the chattering of her teeth.
“How dare she use Mother’s techniques… to give her a massage?”
“How dare she?”
“Two bitches.”
Tears streamed down Shen Cishu’s cheeks. She collapsed weakly to the floor.
Her gaze turned toward the door.
Every time she cried before, Mother would appear and comfort her.
But not this time.
Mother didn’t come out to comfort her.
Shen Cishu curled up, staring at the mess on the floor, inexplicably feeling wronged.
Why? Why did Bai Huizi always get ahead of her?
Just because Bai Huizi was born a little earlier than her?
That was too despicable.
Just because she was born first, she got all the advantages.
She took away everything that should have been hers.
Tears soaked her clothes.
Her eyes fell on her phone not far away.
A flicker of hope rose in her heart.
But then she thought of Bai Huizi and “Mother” together, and she felt nauseated again, wanting to throw the phone aside.
Shen Cishu looked at her reflection in the broken mirror on the floor. Her eyes were already red from crying.
She looked as pathetic as a stray dog.
Exactly like before.
Every time in the past when she competed with Bai Huizi.
She was always the one who lost in the end.
She had to win.
She couldn’t keep retreating.
She had to take “Mother” back from Bai Huizi.
With that thought, Shen Cishu crawled forward, picked up the phone she had thrown away, and typed.
Mother, I miss you
After a moment’s hesitation, she sent the message.
Then she waited quietly for her “Mother’s” reply.
Even though she was unwilling to admit defeat.
Shen Cishu believed that since she had taken the initiative to apologize to Mother.
Mother would definitely recognize her sincerity.
Mother had been waiting for her apology for a long time, hadn’t she?
After seeing her message, “Mother” was probably secretly laughing to herself.
One minute passed.
Two minutes passed.
Three minutes passed.
Shen Cishu grew increasingly impatient.
Why?
Why wasn’t “Mother” replying to her message?
Ten minutes passed.
Shen Cishu became agitated and restless again.
The anticipation she had felt was gone, replaced by frustration that “Mother” hadn’t replied.
She threw her phone onto the ground in anger.
Then stomped on it hard.
“Bitch!”
“You’re not my mother!”
“Mother would never ignore my messages.”
“Fake! It’s all fake!”
“You big bitch pretending to be my mother!”