Her mother said that since she couldn't get high scores anyway, why waste money on a third-rate university? It would be better to go abroad to broaden her horizons.
Another relative asked what score she got.
Beijiang said she was a "Gaokao shielding student".
They burst into laughter, saying "shielding" meant getting caught cheating and having no score. Then they continued persuading Beijiang: "It's not for nothing. If you go, your mother will buy you an insurance policy with a million coverage!"
Beijiang asked: "Who's the beneficiary?"
Her mother said: "Of course it's family. Come, sign here."
I watched the live stream viewers and followers skyrocketing.
The comments exploded:
[Is this for real? Not scripted?]
[Netizens' mammary glands matter too]
[Is this a mother? How can they be blind? The daughter is much prettier than her sister!] with a screenshot of the dressing table.
[Unbelievable! I know this girl from college - she always claimed to be an only child white-rich-beauty. This?]
[Disgusting. The younger daughter is here to suffer their karma]
[A top Gaokao student becoming a companion student for some foreign diploma mill? This must be her stepmother!]
[Sending rockets! Girl stay strong! Don't fall for the PUA!]
23
The food was served.
Around the full-length mirror in the living room, everyone sat in a circle.
Beijiang looked at the dishes in silence.
I immediately called her. She glanced at her phone and hung up, then picked up her chopsticks.
I kept calling. She kept hanging up.
She started eating.
The table was full of shrimp dishes: fried shrimp balls, shrimp vermicelli, boiled shrimp, dry pot shrimp, braised shrimp, corn shrimp.
Beijiang was allergic to shrimp.
Had been since childhood.
Her mother intentionally prepared all these.
Because Zeng Caiyun liked shrimp. Because she didn't want Zeng Caiyun to think she favored Beijiang.
She knew it was intentional.
Yet she kept eating, bite after bite, until her mother fell silent, until the relatives stared strangely, until even Zeng Caiyun put down her chopsticks.
Red spots began appearing on her face, spreading across her cheeks.
Her mother opened her mouth but said nothing, just frowned silently.
In that moment, all her hidden hopes about her mother - "My mother loves me", "If Mom knew..." - died.
Beijiang kept eating, her eyes calm yet extinguished.
Until I kicked the door open.
She turned slowly.
Zeng Caiyun stood up shocked: "You? How did you get here?"
I walked over and pulled Beijiang up.
"Not worth it," I said.
She looked up, breathing heavily, already struggling to speak. Headache and nausea overwhelmed her.
As I carried her, her mother blocked me:
"Stop! Who are you? Explain yourself!"
Relatives started closing in.
Her mother said: "Caiyun said Beijiang went to my room after coming back. How do I know she didn't steal anything? I need to search her!"
Allergies wait for no one. The ambulance was coming.
When a relative tried to grab Beijiang, I kicked his stomach: "What gives you the right to touch her?"
Chaos ensued.
When medics arrived, I was covered in soup, eye swollen.
The house was wrecked. Relatives had bloody noses and mouths full of shrimp.
I took off my stained shirt to hold Beijiang properly.
"Hurry! Don't just stare, help!"
24
At the hospital,
Her mother called police, claiming I was a stranger committing home invasion.
The officer looked at my soup-stained self: "What did you steal?"
"A table of shrimp," I said. "Fed it all to them. Is that a crime?"
Her mother trembled: "He came shirtless to kidnap my daughter!"
I angrily wrapped Beijiang's jacket around myself:
"Your daughter? The one you spent less money on than your hemorrhoid surgery? Who went hungry for two years in middle school? Who you burned and abandoned to bullying? Buying insurance with the beneficiary as your elder daughter? Planning to kill her abroad for the money?"
"I sent you evidence of her suffering! Did you care? Now I'm 'stealing' her? Yes I am! So what?!"
Her mother screamed: "You don't understand! Do you know what Caiyun suffered? While Beijiang drank milk, Caiyun ate dog shit! While Beijiang played piano, Caiyun collected bottles! She suffered since infancy! She just wants fairness!"
"Bullshit!" I retorted. "Your bad choices made Caiyun miserable! What does that have to do with Beijiang or her father? How dare Zeng Caiyun use the Bei surname!"
Police exchanged looks.
A patient's un muted phone blared the live stream - I'd forgotten it was still running.
Silence fell.
