novelraw Chapter 96: You Live a Lowly Life
Chapter 96: You Live a Lowly Life
"Do you have any idea how much money we spent and how many strings we pulled to get her into that school! Do you know how many bribes we had to pay just wining and dining the principal? We’re drowning in debt just from calling in favors! And now you want to transfer her? Just like that? All that money would go down the drain! I can’t believe you’d even suggest it!"
Liu Yingzi’s pent-up emotions instantly erupted.
"All you see is money! Money! Money! What else is there besides money in your eyes? Was that your money? It was my parents’! They scrimped and saved, pinching every penny! They’ve never bought a decent piece of clothing in their lives and couldn’t bear to spend money on doctors or medicine, all to pave a good path for their granddaughter! But you? All you know how to do is squander it!"
"It doesn’t matter whose money it was. It’s spent, isn’t it?"
Cao Daqiang said, his neck stiff with defiance.
Her words were a sudden wake-up call for Cao Daqiang.
He suddenly remembered he was worried about a job reassignment at work and was still counting on the Liu Family to help pull some strings.
If he really had a falling out with his wife now, not only would he lose her family’s support, he might even lose the connections he already had.
His heart sank. He didn’t dare to argue back and immediately reined in his temper.
"Yingzi, I know you’re doing this for Jiajia’s good, and I’m worried too. But we went through hell and high water to get her into this magnet school. So many people pull strings and throw money around and still can’t get in. If people find out Jiajia is transferring out, what do you think they’ll say behind our backs? She’s so young, can she handle all that gossip? What will happen to her in the future if she gets labeled at such a young age?"
Cao Daqiang slapped the table.
"Jiajia is my daughter, the apple of my eye. Of course my heart aches for her! But as parents, we can’t be so shortsighted. We can’t just shield her from every little setback. If you coddle her now because you can’t bear to see her suffer, how will she ever face the real storms of the world when she grows up?"
He took a deep breath, his tone softening a little, and gently pulled Liu Yingzi into his arms.
"If we really want her to be successful, to live a life where she doesn’t have to bow and scrape to anyone, then we can’t spoil her by letting her hide every time she gets upset or run away every time things get hard. A greenhouse flower, no matter how beautifully it blooms, can’t withstand a single storm. We’re being cruel to be kind."
Liu Yingzi lowered her head, her fingers twisting the hem of her shirt, but her gaze never left her daughter Cao Jiajia’s face.
After everything he’d said, she swallowed hard and finally nodded.
"You’re right. I was being too soft."
She slowly crouched down, meeting her daughter’s eyes.
"Jiajia, did you hear what your father said? You absolutely cannot lose to that little bastard, Ling Xueshan! She’s an outsider, a stray they picked up who has usurped the son’s place in the Ling family and is hogging all their resources. If you can’t even beat her now, then in the future, she’ll laugh at you, walk all over you, and grind you into the dirt! You hear me?"
Cao Jiajia’s head was full of the things her parents lectured her about day in and day out.
She already had a vain streak, and after years of her parents’ indoctrination, she had gradually come to treat their words as a creed for survival.
Now, that vanity within her was fiercely stoked.
She bit her lower lip so hard it turned pale.
To surpass Shanshan, to avoid disappointing her parents, and most of all, to stop hearing those grating comparisons.
She could only brace herself and continue to endure it.
The following days were a daily torment for her.
At school, she was cornered and taunted by a few members of Ling Xueshan’s posse.
She didn’t dare fight back; all she could do was lower her head and take it.
But when Shanshan walked through the hallways, people always made way for her.
Her expression was serene, her gaze cold and clear.
She often passed by where Cao Jiajia was being cornered without a single glance, not even breaking her stride.
She could brush it off the first couple of times.
But as it kept happening, her mental defenses were slowly worn away.
Finally, after being cornered one more time, she could no longer suppress that suffocating rage.
As the crowd pushed and shoved, Cao Jiajia suddenly thrust aside the person in front of her, rushed over, and grabbed Shanshan’s arm.
"Cao Xueshan! Stop right there!"
Shanshan stiffened, her brow furrowing as she finally stopped.
She didn’t immediately pull free or turn around, simply standing there cold and still.
"Are you deaf? I’m talking to you! Stop acting so high and mighty!"
Cao Jiajia was trembling with anger.
"What right do you have to act so superior? Aren’t you my sister? I call you and you ignore me. Are you even human?"
Shanshan finally turned her head slowly, her eyes ice-cold.
"Cao Jiajia, you’re the one who’s deaf, and you’ve got a screw loose, too. How many times do I have to tell you? My surname is Ling now, not Cao. I’m not your sister, and I have no reason to answer to you."
She took half a step back, neatly dodging Cao Jiajia’s instinctive attempt to grab her.
"My dad told me not to let anyone touch me, so I won’t. If you dare to lay a hand on me again, I’ll call the police."
"You! You’re so ungrateful!"
Cao Jiajia was so angry she nearly jumped, her voice shrill.
"You disowned your own father and changed your name to Ling! It’s all because the Ling family is rich and powerful, isn’t it? You want to be a proper Miss, to walk all over me, right?"
This was the kind of thing Cao Daqiang and Liu Yingzi harped on constantly.
She’d heard it her whole life, so much that she was sick of the sound of it.
Shanshan scoffed, a mocking smile touching her lips.
She stared at Cao Jiajia.
"So what? He didn’t want me, he abandoned me, didn’t see me once in eleven years. Am I supposed to be like you? Clinging to him every day, begging him on my knees to come back, waiting like a beggar for him to toss me a scrap of fatherly love? You can live your pathetic life, but don’t expect me to play along with your farce."
She had imagined Shanshan bursting into tears, begging for forgiveness, and kneeling to admit she was wrong.
But the reality was nothing like she’d expected.
"You’ve ruined my life! Everyone, everyone is bullying me! Are you happy now? Are you satisfied?"
"Who’s making them bully you? Did I lift a finger?"
Shanshan arched an eyebrow, her gaze coolly detached.
"You’re blaming me? Are you out of your mind?"
With that, she turned her head, her gaze sweeping over the circle of girls surrounding them.
"You," she said, her voice low but clear enough for everyone to hear. "Leave her alone from now on."
The girls, who had been snickering just moments before, froze.
Shanshan’s gaze returned to Cao Jiajia, her voice laced with impatience.
"There. Is that good enough for you?"
Cao Jiajia’s lips parted slightly.
In the dead silence, it was the other girls who broke first.
"Shanshan, don’t be mad, we... we were just sticking up for you!"
One of them hastily explained, her tone trying to curry favor.
"She used to bully you all the time! We just couldn’t stand by and do nothing!"
"Sticking up for me?"
Shanshan laughed coldly.
She slowly scanned the circle, her gaze icy.
"How does you bullying her now make you any different from her when she bullied me?"
The air seemed to freeze.
Finally, a timid girl lowered her head.
"We were wrong, Shanshan. We... we won’t do it again."
The icy look on Shanshan’s face finally thawed a little, and her voice softened.
"Admitting your mistakes and correcting them is what’s important."
She looked at her watch and urged, "Class is starting soon. Get back to your classroom!"
"Yeah, okay!"
"Got it, Shanshan!"
Everyone chimed in agreement and scattered.
Only Cao Jiajia remained, standing woodenly on the spot.