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Wei Yuxian is pregnant.
She sits on a metal chair in the hospital, holding a B-ultrasound report in her hand, her mind echoing the words the doctor just said: “Congratulations, young lady, you’re pregnant, and it’s twins. Congratulations…”
But Wei Yuxian couldn’t feel any joy. In fact, as she watches the hustle and bustle of the hospital, she feels incredibly lost.
She doesn’t know which way to go from here, for herself and the two children.
It all started more than a month ago.
–
More than a month ago, Wei Yuxian dragged her luggage onto the green train bound for The Capital City.
She came to The Capital City to attend university, having been admitted to the Finance program at The Capital City’s University of Finance and Economics.
But after she arrived in The Capital City, she discovered that the hard-earned money she had saved up through working had vanished!
At first, she was extremely panicked. With the cheap, secondhand phone she had bought for a couple of hundred yuan, she browsed several websites, only to find out that the eight thousand yuan in her bank account was indeed gone!
She was on the verge of tears, but finally, after five minutes, she found out where her money had gone.
It had been transferred to her mother’s bank account.
She had no idea when her mother had stealthily transferred her money, nor did she know how her mother had obtained her password.
The moment she learned of this, Wei Yuxian forgot everything else. She squatted by the roadside and dialed her mother’s number, the first words out of her mouth being, “Mom, why did you transfer my money? That was the money I was going to use for university!”
That eight thousand yuan not only included the money she had painstakingly saved from her work but also money she had borrowed from others. It had been a struggle to gather that eight thousand yuan, and now her mother had just gone and transferred it away!
Wei Yuxian now wished she could rush back and have a fierce confrontation with her mother, demanding that she return the money!
Why? What right did she have to transfer her money?!
On the other end of the phone, Wei’s mother cursed at her for a few moments before saying, “I told you not to go to university, but you insisted! What’s the use of this useless university? It’s just a waste of money! You’d be better off going to work earlier, at least you could earn a few more bucks!”
Tears welled up in Wei Yuxian’s eyes, and she gritted her teeth, saying fiercely, “That’s my money! I’m using my own money to go to school!”
“Rubbish! What do you mean, your money? Your money is my money! I haven’t even mentioned the fact that you’ve secretly hoarded so much money without reporting it! Luckily, I’m smart. I knew you, a wasteful brat, must have some ulterior motive. You want to use the money to go to school? Forget it! Now that there’s no money left, let’s see how you go to school. A girl like you who won’t go work, what’s the point of reading so many books? In the end, you’ll just marry off and earn money for others!”
“Let me tell you, Wei Yuxian, don’t even think about going to school. I won’t let you go to school!”
“Just so, your eight thousand yuan can be used to pay for your brothers’ tuition. I was wondering where to find the money, and here you are, offering it up.”
Wei’s mother sounded so pleased on the other end of the line, her laughter piercing into Wei Yuxian’s ears through the receiver, incredibly grating!
It’s happening again!
It’s always like this!
Every time, it’s like this! She’s so willing to spend money on her two sons, but when it comes to her, she’s unwilling to spend a single cent, even withholding the money Wei earned from her job!
Why? Why on earth?!
Is she not her child? Just because she’s a girl, does that mean she’s doomed to not be able to go to school?!
Wei Yuxian’s tears flowed more and more, quickly covering her entire face. She trembled all over, gripping her phone tightly, trying hard to restrain herself from crying out loud.
Such insults had never been scarce since she could remember. Her mother always said she was a loss-making commodity, that she was useless, the only purpose of her existence was to marry off and bring money for her brothers to marry wives!
She had always believed that knowledge could change fate, so she never gave up on the path of education. Even if her parents didn’t provide money, she would work herself to afford schooling!
Finally, she thought she had made it through, that she could escape from the small village, go out into the big world, escape from home, and live a better life. But her mother shattered her hopes!
Eight thousand yuan…
Eight thousand yuan!
Without money, how could she continue her studies? Even staying alive would become a problem!
She sniffled. In this unfamiliar big city, she didn’t know anyone, and there was no one she could turn to for help.
In a hoarse voice, she asked, “What do I do now…” Her voice trembled uncontrollably.
Hearing her daughter’s miserable voice, instead of pitying her, Wei’s mother felt a sense of satisfaction. She said, “You’re so capable, aren’t you? You said you were determined to go to The Capital City no matter what? Then stay in The Capital City and work. I heard the wages there are high.”
“After you receive your salary, remember to send money back every month. I need to provide living expenses for your brothers. You can keep a few hundred yuan for yourself to spend, got it?”
Her tone was far from pleasant, and the last sentence was delivered as a command.
It was as if Wei Yuxian owed her something by nature!
Wei Yuxian couldn’t believe her mother could be so heartless to say such things! Her heart felt like it was being pricked by thousands of needles!
“You might as well let me die!” Wei Yuxian choked out these words, tremblingly lowered the phone, and pressed the hang-up button.
She crouched by the roadside, hugging her knees, burying her head between her legs, and quietly cried.
Passersby, seeing her like this, looked at her with sympathy, but none of them did anything and silently walked away.
Wei Yuxian cried bitterly for a while, her eyes and nose turning red, her whole body numb. She wiped away her tears, tremblingly stood up, dragging her luggage, and aimlessly walked along the street.
Seeing her like this, passersby cast curious glances at her, making Wei Yuxian feel even more embarrassed.
Where should she go next? Should she go to school? No, even if she went to school, she had no money.
Should she go work? Where would she work? What kind of job would she get? Would she spend the rest of her life working in The Capital City?
Anyway, she never wanted to return to that small village again!
She didn’t want to end up like those girls in the village, getting married off in their teens or twenties, never having a chance to make something of themselves!
Moreover, if she were to return, her mother would definitely not let her off the hook. She didn’t want her mother to use her money to provide for her brothers anymore!
This money clearly belonged to her, so why should it end up in the hands of her brothers? Isn’t their living expenses already enough?
Being born into such a family was Wei Yuxian’s misfortune, but she had never given up. She had always dreamed of breaking free from the small village and venturing into the wider world!
And education was her only way out!
But now, even this sole opportunity seemed to be slipping away…