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Sitting on the bus, Shang Jin looked at the remaining thousand in his wallet and ironically lifted the corners of his mouth.
This woman really didn’t surprise him one bit. Every time he met her, she always selected some high-end club and her words, actions and bearing strove hard to imitate an upper class lady. She clearly hadn’t experienced that kind of life, and her pretentious performance passed as just a parody.
Some people were always pursuing something that was not their own. Driven by desire, people who were originally good could become ugly, not to mention selfish people like Liang Jingmin.
Ever since Shang Jin could remember, his parents had already divorced, so Shang Jin had no idea about the inside story of their divorce.
However, Shang Jin’s father, Shang Qingping, almost forgot that he had this son and threw himself into his career. And his nominal mother, with no news in the five years after the divorce, suddenly returned carrying precious gifts to visit him. Then, Shang Jin had some understanding.
Shang Qingping would argue the moment Liang Jingmin showed up.
However, because Liang Jingmin had achieved the life she’d wanted, she came before Shang Qingping to show how correct her original choice was.
Shang Jin, as the link between them, was just there to let them “compete” once or twice every year.
No one ever asked Shang Jin whether being frequently left alone at home would be lonely and nobody would ask Shang Jin whether he liked those expensive toys that were sent.
Sad?
A little at first. Later, he discovered that the sadness was because of his desires and expectations for some things. If he didn’t expect anything at all, it seemed that there was nothing to be sad about.
Shang Jin could serenely watch their war of words every time they came together, and when they forgot the dinner time, he could take the money and go out to buy food.
Some things that had never been received, even if they were lost, there’s nothing to pity.
Even if now the situation had a major 180-degree change.
Liang Jingmin’s remarried husband, because of bankruptcy, could only watch over a small storefront to past the days now. And the company operated by Shang Qingping was booming. The former loser stood on top of the pyramid, and those whom he could only look up to once were now low in the dust.
Shang Qingping remarried when Shang Jin was sixteen. His marriage partner was Qin Fei, who was ten years older than Shang Jin and fifteen years younger than Shang Qingping. The new life unfolded, and Shang Qingping was even more uninterested in Liang Jingmin, finally also ignoring her invitations.
Want to see her son?
Go see him yourself!
The target Liang Jingmin was looking for unwittingly became Shang Jin. It especially intensified after Shang Qingping got married.
Playing the ‘for his own good’ banner, she opened her mouth and closed her mouth, and it was money, money, money.
At first, Shang Jin was unbearably annoyed. He thought that if he gave Liang Jingmin money, it would calm down. Later, he found out how wrong he was. This type of person wouldn’t be satisfied. She wouldn’t stop being envious of your exotic delicacies because you gave her a steamed bun. What she was seeking may not be money, but the sense of imbalance caused by the gap between the two families.
Learning from experience, Shang Jin was disinclined to be someone with more money than sense. When he went to the appointment again, he deliberately said that he had no money. As a result, before the dishes were served, Liang Jingmin called the waiter and said that they didn’t want any of the dishes. Anyways, they hadn’t eaten them yet. It made the embarrassed waiter eyes turned red.
Shang Jin couldn’t stand it and eventually paid the bill.
Afterwards, Shang Jin looked on like a spectator. Watching Liang Jingmin’s play each time, he considered the cost for the meal and whatnot as the viewing fee.
It’s just that even watching too many good movies, one would be fed up, not to mention that this play wasn’t only ugly and vexing, but it was also staged once every few months.
Shang Jin brought it up twice to Shang Qingping in hopes that he would make Liang Jingmin completely stop.
“She’s also a pitiful person. Shang Jin, no matter what, she’s your mother after all.”
The person in the superior position wasn’t stingy with his insignificant sympathy. With his gentle and virtuous wife by his side and his lovely daughter wrapped around his knees, he could forgive the ex-wife who’d he’d gone tit-for-tat with in his early years.
But this one sentence made Shang Jin unable to get rid of Liang Jingmin.
What Shang Qingping said was right: Liang Jingmin was his mother after all.
A child with good conditions and a mother with a “difficult” life: whose side the public opinion would stand on, there was no need to think to know.
Shang Jin didn’t care about rumors, but he was afraid of trouble. He didn’t care about the kind or malicious words that were passed on behind his back. The most annoying thing was that some nosy people would walk before him and force him to listen to some accusations that were originally unnecessary.
There were so many nosy people in this world.
They were everywhere.
Ding-dong
Shang Jin looked at WeChat.
Ye Zhou: Didn’t you say that you’d be back in an hour?
Look, there’s a nosy person.
However, obviously he loathed other people investigating his life‒especially those using this kind of language with a secretly binding nature‒but why did his heart have a painful twinge when he received this message?
Just like the last time when Ye Zhou helped to wash the apple for him.
Shang Jin adjusted his emotions and walked before the familiar dorm door, pushing the door open. Ye Zhou was still alone in the dormitory.
“You’re back.” Ye Zhou looked at him and lowered his head to read the book. Of course, he was still closely watching Shang Jin in his peripheral vision.
Shang Jin took off his coat and threw it directly on the bed. When he walked near his desk, he was stunned.
The desk that was still messy before he’d left was clear and organized. The bank card that he had been looking for was quietly lying on the dictionary. On the neat table, a few strawberry candies that he often ate were laid out.
From childhood to now, no one had ever actively helped him do anything, so he didn’t know how to respond when someone did something for him.
Shang Jin picked up a candy and unconsciously rubbed it with his fingers.
Ye Zhou had perked up his ears to listen to Shang Jin’s movements as early as when he’d picked up the candy. When Ye Zhou was about to open his mouth to sound out whether Shang Jin’s mood was a bit better or not, Shang Jin spoke.
“I didn’t ask you to do this for me.”
Good intentions treated as donkey’s liver and lungs??
“Is this how humans should speak!” Ye Zhou anger soared and he rose up. As the anger rose, his body stood up uncontrollably. As a result, the sting in his right foot made him immediately sit down.
Shang Jin turned and glanced at Ye Zhou’s right ankle. “I meant, even if you helped do this for me, I couldn’t pay you back.”
After determining that Shang Jin really wasn’t trying to pick a fault, Ye Zhou calmed down. He asked a question in reply, “When you sent me this swivel chair, did you want me to repay you?”
“No, I just wanted to do it.”
“When you took me to the classroom, did you want me to repay you?”
“No.”
Ye Zhou stared at him coldly and pretended to be angry: “So! Who wants you to pay back. At this time, it’s fine for you say ‘thank you’.”
“Thank you.”
Ye Zhou proudly lifted his chin and said, “You’re welcome.”
“But…” Shang Jin opened up the candy, frowned and doubtfully said, “When I helped you, you also didn’t say ‘thank you’ to me.”
Ye Zhou was ashamed into anger: “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
Shang Jin, mouth containing sugar, vaguely said, “You’re welcome, you’re welcome, you’re welcome.”