Chapter 12 Can’t Compare Them on Equal Terms

• “You guys think too much. I just can’t stand seeing He Mingxu’s infidelity,” Ma Zhijie replied placidly.
• Fang Haobo and Zhang Haichang looked at each other in unison and laughed. Ah well, we’ll just consider it a tacit understanding.
• ...
• Home should be the warmest place, but to Liang Yimo, her home was truly cold.
• When Mrs. Liang saw Liang Yimo returning from Coastal City with a suitcase after such a long journey, not only did she not show any concern for her, but she even mocked her. “Ha! You wanted to go and make a living in the city with that useless diploma of yours, no? You’ve truly overestimated yourself!”
• “Mom, I haven’t graduated, so I don’t have a diploma yet. That’s why it’s difficult to find a job,” Liang Yimo countered.
• Mrs. Liang’s expression remained contemptuous. “I think you should stop studying in your sophomore year. After all, even if you continue studying, it’s just a waste of money. So what if you get a diploma? It’s merely a junior college diploma, so which company in a metropolitan area would take an interest in you?”
• Every single word out of Mrs. Liang’s mouth cut to the quick, wounding Liang Yimo greatly. She didn’t want to argue with Mrs. Liang, so she turned a deaf ear to her and went upstairs while carrying her suitcase. She just knew that she shouldn’t have come back.
• “Stop being such a show-off when you’re not even half as good as Mengmeng! Also, don’t dream that your father and I will continue paying your tuition fees for your sophomore year!” Behind her, Mrs. Liang continued nagging, pouring cold water on her.
• Who was Mengmeng? She was Liang Yimo’s cousin, and she was also a rich lady. She was so loved by Mrs. Liang that Liang Yimo even wondered if Tong Mengmeng was her mother’s biological daughter, while she was a child that Mrs. Liang had merely picked up somewhere.
• Liang Yimo closed her room door heavily and sobbed in anguish. Even when it was dinner, she wasn't in the mood to go out and eat.
• Meanwhile, Mrs. Liang’s complaints to Mr. Liang could still be heard outside the door. “That brat, Yimo, is truly useless! Look at how good Mengmeng is. She attends a top-notch graduate school abroad and cinches a major award every semester! How grand and respectable! That brat, Yimo, is not even half as good as Mengmeng!”
• “Yimo cinches a major award every semester in college as well, so honey, please don’t make a fuss. After all, Mengmeng is Yimo’s biological cousin, and your sister married someone better, so their family is doing much better than we are, financially speaking. Thus, how could you compare them on equal terms?” Mr. Liang was a tad peeved.
• Mrs. Liang, however, argued, “Why can’t I compare them on equal terms? Yimo’s award is from a third-tier college, so how could it compare with Mengmeng’s award from a first-tier university? Tell me, the two of them were born on the same day, month, year, and time in the same delivery room, so why are they so different?” But it makes sense that they’re so different since that brat, Yimo, isn’t…
• “Honey, Yimo is actually not…”
• Mr. Liang’s unfinished sentence interrupted Mrs. Liang’s inner thoughts, and she jolted. Could it be that he knows about that matter regarding Yimo?
• Mr. Liang then changed the subject and lamented bitterly, “It’s not that Yimo’s grades are bad, but it’s because she spent time that could’ve been used for studying to go to the hospital to take care of me and to work part-time to earn money so as to afford my medical expenses. And she failed the college entrance examination because of that.”
• Mrs. Liang suddenly felt that it was all a false alarm, and she replied disapprovingly, “As your daughter, it’s her responsibility to take care of you! Otherwise, the 18 years I’ve spent raising her would have been in vain!”
• Look at how apathetic her mother’s attitude was toward her. Throughout the days Liang Yimo stayed at home, she was mocked by her mother every day. No matter how diligent she was at home in doing the laundry, cooking, and looking after the family’s drugstore, her mother forever had endless complaints and grumbles about her.
• …
• During dinner that day, Mrs. Liang mentioned Su Manxue out of the blue. “Yimo, Su Manxue is your college classmate, no?” While she was stuffing food into her mouth with a pair of chopsticks in her hand, she smacked her lips and said, “I heard that Su Manxue has gotten herself an extremely wealthy boyfriend in Coastal City. Every month, her boyfriend gives her hundreds of thousands in pocket money! Now, not only had she bought a three-story house facing the road in our small town for her grandparents, but she had also built a massive four-story villa in our village that is rumored to have a garden and orchard at the front and a pond and vegetable garden at the back!” Mrs. Liang was so envious as she spoke that her eyes were blazing.
• Liang Yimo paused in her eating, but suddenly recalling something, she quickly pretended as though nothing was the matter and continued eating. She knew that Su Manxue had a fiancé all of a sudden and was about to get married soon, but she never would’ve thought that her fiancé was so rich that he could afford to give her hundreds of thousands in pocket money every month. Nonetheless, Su Manxue had always been a huge spender, so she definitely wouldn’t have any problem burning through hundreds of thousands in pocket money every month.
• “Well, Yimo, you don’t lose to Su Manxue when it comes to looks, so why is your taste so much worse than hers? What's good about He Mingxu? So what if he’s the only person in our village who gained admittance to Coastal University and is a graduate student? His family is dirt poor, and the money to put him through university was raised by the villagers. Compared to Su Manxue’s boyfriend, he’s not even worth mentioning. I really don’t know what you see in him that you’re even planning to marry him after graduating and help to take care of his aged parents at home and also his sickly elderly grandparents.” Mrs. Liang started nagging again.
• With the mention of He Mingxu, all of a sudden, Liang Yimo slammed her chopsticks and bowl on the table in a fit of rage, giving both Mr. and Mrs. Liang a fright. “I’ve broken up with him, so there! Are you happy now?” she bellowed aggrievedly, tears welling in her eyes.
• Mrs. Liang’s temper instantly flared, and she reproached her fiercely in a fit of anger. “You brat! Why are you bellowing? How rude of you! What’s it got to do with me that the two of you had broken up? And what right have you got to raise your voice before me?”
• “Honey, just let it go, okay?” Mr. Liang sighed and dissuaded her tersely.
• Actually, compared to He Mingxu’s family, Liang Yimo’s family was no better. Her mother was merely running a drugstore of a little over a dozen square meters on the first floor of the house, while her father’s mobility was impaired, so he could only stay at home and help out by sitting at the drugstore’s checkout to collect payment, hand out change, and the like. Also, due to her father’s leg impairment, their family owed some debts to their relatives and friends. As for her brother… While he was working out there, he still asked the family for money every month.
• When the subject came to this, Mrs. Liang softened her tone, and her voice turned slightly milder. After glancing over at Liang Yimo, she then said, “Aren’t you best friends and acquaintances with Su Manxue? Go talk to her and have her help you out by giving you some money to finish your studies.”
• “Mom, what are you talking about?” Liang Yimo was instantly vexed.