12 Mom

He’d have to be named Pei Dazhu at least for it to sound like he’s your younger brother!

It’d been too long since she’d heard her given name. Pei Ying didn’t react. After a moment, she finally said, “Oh, Mom. Is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing really. I just saw you on TV last night. You’re already so famous?”

Pei Ying’s brows twitched. “No, not really. I just did a walk-on.”

“Don’t lie to Mom. I know that the drama is very famous. All the neighbors are watching it. Our Xiujuan is showing such promise.”

Pei Ying chuckled without responding. Her mom spoke about a few trivial things and then seemed to stumble on her next words. “What was that… Your (younger) brother called last night again and said he’s out of money. We just helped pay his tuition fees for the semester, so we don’t have any money left. Do you think you could give him some money for living expenses?”

“Oh, is that so. I got it. I’ll send it later.”

“Ah! That’s good. Then I won’t bother you anymore.”

“Mm…” Pei Ying’s expression dimmed briefly and then she heard the other end hang up.

Ren Shanshan, who had been eating, put down her chopsticks. She looked at Pei Ying, face full of indignance. “What did your mom call for? Did she ask you for money again?”

Pei Ying put away her phone and then glanced at her. “Don’t make it sound so bad. She’s not some stranger. She’s my mom.”

“You can treat her like your mom, but she has to treat you like her daughter too!” Ren Shanshan was entirely angry. “Don’t tell me you don’t know. She’s asking for money for your brother! She gave birth to both of you, but how can she be so biased?! Even with your names, Pei Xiujuan and Pei Xiuran. Do they seem like the same set of parents picked them?! He’d have to be named Pei Dazhu at least for it to sound like he’s your younger brother!” (Note: Sorry, I don’t really get why the names are supposed to ‘feel’ different– Maybe Xiuran is a more learned-sounding name than Xiujuan? Or it makes him sound older? In any case, I don’t think Dazhu is a good name at all)

Pei Ying, “…”

Who exactly was she ridiculing here?

Seeing that Pei Ying didn’t say anything, Ren Shanshan continued to express her own anger. “You’re the only one foolish enough to send money every time. It’s not like your money falls from the sky! You came to the big city all on your own to work hard, but have they ever worried about you? They only think of you when they need money! If it were me, I’d have cut off our relations long ago. And they still want money. Pah!”

Pei Ying waited until she finished venting all her anger. Then she said slowly, “Do you know how many baby girls get abandoned in the country each year? What about how many baby girls that never had the chance to even see this world? It’s true that my parents didn’t want a daughter, but they didn’t abandon me or bury me somewhere either. I’m actually pretty thankful to them.”

Ren Shanshan, “…”

This Pei Ying really was something.

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Pei Ying continued, “Although they’re prejudiced, they never mistreated me. They provided food, clothes, and schooling for me. I should at least repay them for that much, shouldn’t I?”

Ren Shanshan curled her lips. “Sure, they provided for your schooling. When you got into a tier-3 school, didn’t they say it was too expensive and tell you to go to a technical school instead?” (Note: As far as I’m aware, tier 1-3 schools are regular four year programs, compared to more specialized and probably shorter technical school programs; tier-1 are the top schools and tier-3 are less lauded schools)

Pei Ying bit her lip. Her performance in school was pretty average. When she started her final year of high school, her mother had told her that if she could get into a tier-2 college, they would let her go there to study. If she only got into a tier-3 college, they they could only send her to a technical college. With Pei Ying’s grades at the time, it would have been really hard for her to get into a tier-2 school. It just so happened that an aviation school that was looking for students from their grade. There was even a tuition waiver policy. So she happily went to try out, but then her English…

Her English was especially bad and she wouldn’t have been able to make it as a flight attendant, so she could only user her time to focus on the college entrance exam. She studied hard every day, and her desk light would be on all night. There was an obvious improvement in her school results, but in the end, she still only got into a tier-3 school.

“My parents were just ordinary workers. Sending me to a tier-3 college really would have been a burden for them. I can understand that much,” I said.

Ren Shanshan scoffed. “Your brother also only made it into a tier-3 school. Why did they let him enroll?”

“That’s why they live frugally to save money to pay for his tuition.”

“Mm, and what’s left of the tuition, they leave to his older sister to take care of. Don’t count on your abacus too loudly (quit the wishful thinking).” Ren Shanshan laughed. “Pei Xiujuan, get your wits together. Right now, you’re only helping with your brother’s tuition. After he graduates and gets married, buys a house and a car, you’re going to have to take care of all that!”

Pei Ying watched how angry she was getting, and then she laughed. “You think I don’t understand that kind of thing? I’ll help with whatever I can, but I don’t even have a house or a car for myself. Who’s got time to worry about those things for him?”

“Oh, well, when your parents come crying to you and making a scene, we’ll see what you do then.”

Pei Ying thought for a moment and then said, “Like I told you before. Everyone has their own bottom line. There are some things that I won’t yield to. If my brother’s a man, he can earn his own money to buy a house and car. If he really can’t make anything of himself, then let’s just say that I’ve been feeding a dog these few years.”

Hearing her say this, Ren Shanshan turned and laughed. She understood Pei Ying’s personality. Ordinarily, she was quite mild and gentle, but she was more stubborn than anyone else. Otherwise, with her qualifications, she wouldn’t have remained an 18th-tier actress for so many years.

“Your little brother… He’s worrying.” She picked up her chopsticks and started eating again. “And your mom too. You got a little famous and then she started looking for you. Her nose is better than a police dog’s.”

Pei Ying, “…”

She knew that Ren Shanshan didn’t like her family, so she didn’t continue to argue with her. Pei Ying picked up her own chopsticks and started to eat silently.

Although she’d always been optimistic, no one liked for their parents to be biased towards their children. She always knew that her parents liked her brother more than her. At first, she thought it was because she wasn’t well behaved enough, but when she grew up, she realized that it was because she was a girl.

After she realized this, Pei Ying came to terms with it. After all, she wasn’t going to undergo a sex change operation just to make her parents like her.

She’d thought that after so many years, she wouldn’t be like her younger self anymore, constantly wishing that her parents would like her just as much as they did her brother.  But when she answered the phone earlier, for just a brief moment, she realized that she’d actually been a bit hopeful.

What was she expecting though? For them to ask if she was doing well? Or that they’d remember her birthday was in a few days?

Every year when her birthday came, she was hopeful and awaited her parents birthday wishes. And every year, they let her down. Looks like this year was going to be no different from all the ones before it.

Suddenly the phone she’d just put away started ringing. Ren Shanshan looked for the source of the ringing and then rolled her eyes. “She can’t be calling again because you still haven’t transferred any money, right?”

Pei Ying put down her chopsticks and glanced at Ren Shanshan. Then she paused. “It’s Song Nanchuan.”

“Oh?” Ren Shanshan seemed to wake up in an instant. “Hurry up and answer it!”

Pei Ying, “…”

She walked over to the window with her phone. With her back to Ren Shanshan, she finally answered it. “Hello, CEO Song.”

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“Hello,” Song Nanchuan’s voice sounded, almost like it was traveling with the streams of light shining through the window. “Sorry, I was in a meeting with clients earlier, so I just saw your message.”

Pei Ying recalled the text she’d sent him while in the taxi and rushed to say, “It’s okay. Of course you’d take care of work first.”

Song Nanchuan laughed. “If you need to find me in the future, just call me. If you message me on Weixin, I might not see it right away.”

“Ah… But calling you over something like this would be making too much of an issue over a small thing.” Pei Ying felt a bit unsure if he was being genuine.

On the other end of the call, Song Nanchuan’s lips curved up. He said, “How is your taking me out for a meal a small thing?”

Pei Ying’s face immediately turned red. She was extremely thankful that they were on the phone now and Song Nanchuan couldn’t see how embarrassed she was.

“What kind of work did you get?” Song Nanchuan asked.

Pei Ying did her best to keep her voice steady as she responded, “A high-heel advertisement and a fashion shoot.”

“Mm.” Song Nanchuan nodded slightly. “I heard that the ratings for LSRR hit a new high last night and the audience is extremely pleased with your performance.”

He knew… Pei Ying was a bit happy and her lips turned up into a smile. “When I woke up and saw that my Weibo page gained nearly 100k fans, I was nearly scared silly.”

Song Nanchuan chuckled. “I told you that your future would keep getting better. I’m very good at reading people.”

Pei Ying couldn’t help laughing. “Then, thanks.” She paused for a moment and then gathered her courage to ask, “CEO Song, when are you free? I’ll treat you to a meal.”

Song Nanchuan replied, “I can adjust my schedule to yours.”

Pei Ying raised her brow. He was obviously a busier person than her. She thought for a moment and then asked, “Then are you free the day after tomorrow?”

“April 1st?”

“Mm.”

Song Nanchuan was silent for a moment before he said, “Isn’t that day your birthday? I should be the one treating you.”

Pei Ying was taken aback. He knew when her birthday was? Then she quickly realized that her birthday could be found with a quick search online– Mm, even though she was just an 18th-tier small-time celebrity, that kind of info about her was still on the web.

A bit shyly, she responded, “Of course I should treat on my birthday.”

Song Nanchuan laughed. “I’ll treat on your birthday. You can treat later. This way, we’ll get two meals out of it.”

…Suddenly Pei Ying couldn’t help feeling that she’d been tricked.

Feeling her face grow hot again, she quickly said, “Okay, thank you…”

“CEO Song.” Xiao Zhang walked into Song Nanchuan’s office and cleared his throat. Song Nanchuan nodded at him and told Pei Ying, “Then it’s decided. I have another meeting to go to. We’ll talk later.”

“Okay, I won’t bother you anymore.” She hung up and turned to see Ren Shanshan’s eyes on her.

Her expression was very coquettish.

“What did you two talk about on the phone that your face is so red?” Ren Shanshan walked over, even reaching out a hand to touch Pei Ying’s cheek. “CEO Song’s in the mood for that, in the middle of the day?”

Pei Ying, “……”

She really wanted to throw her phone at Ren Shanshan’s head, but the phone was expensive and if it broke, her heart would ache. She curled her lips and walked past Ren Shanshan to the table to continue eating. Ren Shanshan followed and her eyes swept over Pei Ying. “But your CEO Song’s pretty fast. Just five minutes to finish.”

“Ren Shanshan!” That was the last straw. Pei Ying threw her chopsticks down on the table.

“Alright, I won’t say anymore.” Ren Shanshan quickly shut her mouth. She started peeling her crayfish as she let out a sigh in her mind.

Ah, she hoped that CEO Song really liked Pei Ying, the poor girl.