Chapter 124: Mama Didn’t Lie to Xiao Cishu

Shen Cishu glared at Su Li with pure anger.

Perhaps because she had been by Mother’s side from an early age, and through Mother’s teachings and example, she too hated people who wasted food.

Even on the day she had a conflict with Mother, she only intended to teach her a small lesson.

She didn’t know what had ultimately happened to the meal Mother had cooked with her own hands.

Su Li still sat calmly in her seat, unfazed by Shen Cishu’s scolding.

She continued eating the food in her bowl quietly.

Only after swallowing the last bite did Su Li look at the furious Shen Cishu with a calm expression.

No matter how salty the food was, she could still eat it with an unruffled face.

“You’re lying, deceiving me—you’re a big liar!”

“You don’t know how to cook at all!”

“What exactly is your purpose in getting close to me?”

Shen Cishu’s accusations bordered on hysteria.

The moment Su Li showed even a slight behavior inconsistent with her memory of Mother, she would erupt into a rage.

Slowly, as she came to her senses from Su Li’s false gentleness, she realized that Su Li was deceiving her at this very moment.

Her reason tried hard to pull her back from the edge of the abyss, to make her end this absurd game.

“Mother didn’t lie to little Cishu.”

“Everything was made according to little Cishu’s requests.”

“Whatever little Cishu likes to eat, Mother will naturally make for you.”

“Besides, wasn’t it little Cishu who asked Mother to put a bit more salt?”

“How could Mother possibly do something to make little Cishu angry?”

“If little Cishu doesn’t like it, Mother can make you another dish.”

“Since little Cishu doesn’t want to eat it, there’s no need to force yourself.”

Su Li’s tone remained gentle as she looked at Shen Cishu, a faint smile appearing on her cheeks.

But Shen Cishu seemed as if she hadn’t heard her words—or perhaps she had taken them all deeply to heart.

She seemed to slip into a manic state, glaring furiously at Su Li as she roared, “You know this very well, so why do you keep disappointing me over and over?”

“You say you won’t do anything to make me angry, but time and again you do it under the guise of ‘for my own good.’ You never considered my feelings.”

“Have you ever tried to see things from my perspective?”

“If you really cared about me, why did you make me take your surname, letting the others in the family look at me differently, and making my classmates think I’m a freak?”

“Do you know how they usually mock me? You don’t!”

“If you truly wanted the best for me, why did you have to pull me away from the Bai family?”

“I could have grown up carefree, living like a princess. But because of your reckless decisions, I can’t even have enough to eat!”

“Do you know the look Sister gave me? Do you know because of your choices, I’m always a step behind her?”

“Do you know how she condescendingly holds the things that belong to me, like a charity, wanting to see me grovel?”

“If only you had compromised once with the Bai family, we could live worry-free, without troubles. But for the sake of your pride, you dragged me down, making me suffer with you.”

“You keep saying you care about me, but you never truly consider my feelings.”

“And now, you say you don’t want to do things that make me angry, but you made such disgusting food.”

“You just want to get revenge on me for not listening to you, right?”

“Otherwise, how could you be so bad at cooking?”

“Don’t you know how much salt you put in?”

“Are you Mother or am I Mother? You deliberately listened to me, knowing it would taste terrible—you want to punish me!”

Su Li didn’t move her chopsticks, lowering her head and letting Shen Cishu’s accusations wash over her.

She considered what expression to show.

Looking at it now, Shen Cishu had slipped into a role-playing state, and naturally, Su Li had to play along.

After all, the person Shen Cishu was accusing wasn’t her—it was her mother.

And even if the person Shen Cishu blamed was Su Li, she wouldn’t care, as long as the payment was secured.

Right now, Shen Cishu was throwing a tantrum like a giant baby.

Su Li could guess why.

The salt-heavy dish was made at Shen Cishu’s own forceful insistence, which was why it was so salty.

Although Shen Cishu kept picking at the other dishes, Su Li tried to restrain herself a little.

She was unwilling to waste food.

If the dishes weren’t finished, she guessed she’d be the one left to deal with them.

Especially if Shen Cishu told her to take the leftover food and get lost.

“Mother never used to waste food before. You’re doing this now, making food so awful, just to punish me!”

Hearing Shen Cishu’s words, Su Li realized this business might not be as easy to complete as she had imagined.

Shen Cishu would likely demand that she eat all the food she had prepared to the very last bite.

Fortunately, Su Li thought she had a fairly good appetite.

Shen Cishu’s words echoed in her ears.

Now grown and about to become a university teacher, Shen Cishu had some education, and her accusations didn’t repeat themselves.

While scolding Su Li, Shen Cishu cried.

Eventually, she sat back down and forcefully stuffed food into her mouth, letting tears soak the meal.

“Why? Why haven’t you improved at all after all these years?”

“Have you ever reflected on yourself? How many more times do you want to hurt me?”

“Can’t you consider me even once?”

“Even once would be enough—I want to grow up like other kids, normally.”

“I want a happy family too.”

As she spoke, her eating slowed and finally stopped.

She sobbed quietly on her own.

Su Li also ate silently, not trying to pull Shen Cishu back from her small world.

She couldn’t wake someone who pretended to sleep—especially someone like Shen Cishu who slipped into certain roles from time to time.

She was an Emotional Therapist, not a psychiatrist.

Su Li suspected that Shen Cishu’s current condition was already a kind of mental illness.

But she wouldn’t look down on her—if she could pay for her services properly.

Crying, cursing, sobbing, and the sounds of swallowing food alternated around her.

Su Li thought Shen Cishu wouldn’t remember the taste of the food at all.

Which was just as well—she couldn’t remember the taste of the meal from her memories either.

“Mother, I’m sorry!”

“It’s my fault!”