CHAPTER 21: Hypocrisy

Xu Yanqiu fled in a fluster, her expression cold. She had originally wanted to say a few more things about Yi Xiaoya—like how she was her biological mother, blah blah blah—but when she saw her cousin’s cold face, she dropped it.

She didn’t want to embarrass herself any further.

As she left, she shoved the door open forcefully but didn’t bother to close it.

Mother Lin walked over and gently shut the door. It was their own house—no need to damage their own door.

“Don’t mind her. So what if she’s your biological mother? She didn’t raise you,” said Mother Lin. “Even if she took you to court, she wouldn’t win.”

“Auntie,” Yi Xiaoya glanced around, “how many times has she come looking for you? Has she made things difficult for you?”

“It’s nothing,” Mother Lin said with a smile. “At most, she just made your uncle lose his job. But your uncle didn’t want to work anyway—he’d love nothing more than to sit around and have money roll in. If your mom wants to give him money, he’ll take it. I already told him: it’s fine to take the money, but don’t do anything for her. Your dad’s not bad. He agreed to send money every month.”

“I didn’t know…” Yi Xiaoya had thought her dad only gave them an apartment.

“Sending money monthly is better. Saves us from mismanaging a lump sum and spending it all at once,” Mother Lin said. “With your uncle’s gambling habits, no matter how much he gets, he’d just lose it all. And you don’t have to feel like you owe us anything. Your dad’s given us so much more than we’ve given you.”

Mother Lin was self-aware—they couldn’t use the so-called ‘debt of raising you’ to guilt-trip Yi Xiaoya. That would only sever their familial ties.

“Your dad treats you very well. He just didn’t know about you before,” Mother Lin explained. “Even if he hadn’t allowed your mom to have you back then, it would’ve been understandable. They weren’t married, and he didn’t want her to use a child to force him to take responsibility. He gave her plenty of money, and she accepted it—so it was like a job. She should’ve kept her end of the deal, not tried to use the pregnancy to trap him.”

On this point, Mother Lin couldn’t really criticize Yi Yao. Some people might think he was a scumbag, but he paid what he owed. It was a fair exchange. Xu Yanqiu had known all of this from the beginning. She knew and still tried to climb up the ranks—so that was on her.

“With your mom’s personality… if she says any nonsense to you in the future, just ignore her,” Mother Lin said. “Your dad’s more than capable of supporting you. The only issue is that… you two didn’t meet earlier, that’s all.”

“Auntie, are you speaking up for my dad because you’re worried I’ll dislike him or make things hard for him?” Yi Xiaoya chuckled. “No way! My dad’s so rich—of course I want to get on his good side. Then I can lie flat and enjoy life. Why make things hard for myself?”

“Silly child.” Mother Lin patted her head.

“Auntie, you and uncle should come to my birthday party tomorrow,” Yi Xiaoya said. “I’ve had some clothes prepared for you…”

“Doesn’t matter what we wear—can’t fake elegance,” Mother Lin replied. “We’re just ordinary people. We’ll go have a bite of cake, that’s all. It’ll be nice to see what a rich family’s birthday party looks like, broaden our horizons.”

“Mm, and bring ge too,” Yi Xiaoya said. “This time, we’ll all get to eat cake—and more than just a little.”

When the Lin family was struggling financially, Mother Lin hadn’t bought birthday cakes for Lin Dahua. She did, however, get a small palm-sized one for Yi Xiaoya. Lin Dahua had been upset about it when he was little and wanted to snatch it away. As he got older, he’d say he was a boy and didn’t like sweet things anyway.

Back then, Lin Dahua had even suspected that his parents deliberately made him and his sister celebrate separately just to avoid buying him a cake.

Now that he knew the truth about Yi Xiaoya’s identity, Lin Dahua had to admit he admired his own mom. It was like she had invested in a long-term financial product for over a decade, and now she was finally reaping the rewards. Not everyone could hold out for that long.

He used to wonder what his parents were always arguing about. He had thought his dad favored boys over girls. Turns out, it was because Yi Xiaoya wasn’t related to his dad by blood, and his dad didn’t want to keep raising her forever.

“Alright, I’ll definitely bring him,” Mother Lin said with a smile. “Are you staying for dinner, or heading back?”

“I’ll head back to eat,” Yi Xiaoya said. Since this was a surprise visit, her aunt probably hadn’t prepared an extra portion for her.

Mother Lin always cooked just enough for the family. If someone showed up unexpectedly, she’d have to make more. She had always been frugal—even with Yi Yao sending them ten thousand yuan a month, she still spent carefully.

Mother Lin was thinking, if she saved a little each month, they’d have money ready when their son wanted to get married. That way, they wouldn’t need to borrow from anyone. Bride prices were high nowadays, and people expected a house and a car too. Luckily, the house the Yi family had given them was in a good school district—very valuable. A few years down the line, when her son started dating or proposing, that’d be a strong bargaining chip.

“Alright, then I won’t keep you,” Mother Lin said. “Now that you’re living with your dad, if you run into any trouble, just talk to him. He’s your father—he’ll help you. Don’t bottle everything up alone, got it?”

“Got it.” Yi Xiaoya waved goodbye to Mother Lin.

On Friday, Yi Xiaoya didn’t take the day off—she went to school as usual. The birthday party was in the evening, so she planned to attend class first and then go home to celebrate—perfect timing.

He Chuan, the class monitor in Yi Xiaoya’s class, came from a school filled with wealthy students. Though he didn’t flaunt his wealth, his personal capabilities had earned him the position.

He was the son of the friend mentioned by Xu Yanqiu’s husband. That’s right—just as Xu Yanqiu had suspected, he was Mr. Tang’s illegitimate child.

Back when Mr. Tang’s legal wife was still alive, He Chuan had already been born. His biological mother had hoped to marry into the family, but Mr. Tang was afraid of upsetting his wife’s powerful maternal family, so he kept He Chuan hidden and married Xu Yanqiu instead.

Xu Yanqiu got pregnant later, and at the time, she was just a small-time actress—easier to control. Even Mr. Tang’s late wife’s family thought Xu Yanqiu was a suitable replacement. If he had married someone else, they might have objected.

For the sake of cooperation between the two families, Mr. Tang had kept He Chuan hidden. As his company gradually expanded and his illegitimate son grew up, he began thinking about passing the company on to his son instead of his daughter.

He Chuan knew full well that he wasn’t Mr. Tang’s only illegitimate child. Mr. Tang had others. He had to seize this opportunity. Over the years, he studied hard, built connections with the heirs of wealthy families, and even took on the troublesome role of class monitor—all for the sake of networking and earning Mr. Tang’s recognition.

“Classmate Yi.” He Chuan walked over to Yi Xiaoya’s desk holding a gift box. “It’s your birthday today. This is a gift from the whole class.”

He hadn’t prepared a personal gift for Yi Xiaoya. He felt it would be inappropriate to do so—it would make him, the class monitor, seem like he was trying to curry favor with her, which would only lower his value in her eyes. What he needed to do now was go through the motions. When other classmates had birthdays, He Chuan had also used class funds to buy them gifts.

This way, his gesture didn’t come off as too conspicuous.

“It was bought using class funds. We’ve done the same for everyone’s birthday,” He Chuan added.

“Then I’ll accept it,” Yi Xiaoya replied without looking at him. She figured she’d contributed to the class fund too—if everyone else got something, she should as well. No reason to waste her money.

She had wondered before why their class fees were so expensive. Now she saw—it was all these unnecessary customs and social expectations. In her opinion, birthdays were just birthdays; there was no need to buy gifts. The prices of these presents were never the same, and whoever got the cheaper one might feel slighted.

Back at her old school, Yi Xiaoya had paid maybe a few dozen yuan in class dues per semester. Here, it was hundreds, even thousands.

“But I’m still not letting any of you attend my birthday party, and there’s no need to send a representative either,” Yi Xiaoya said firmly, wanting to make things clear. She didn’t want people to say she took the gift but didn’t invite anyone to the party.

“No need to invite us.” He Chuan smiled, though inwardly he thought Yi Xiaoya was way too guarded.

He Chuan was handsome, and many girls at school liked him. He always acted gentle and refined, but he never reciprocated any of the girls’ attention. He was still young and had no need to date in high school. He had standards to uphold.

“You can go now,” Yi Xiaoya said. Having the class monitor standing in front of her made her feel pressured.

He was tall, and his presence alone felt imposing.

“…” He Chuan hadn’t expected her to dismiss him so bluntly without even sparing him a glance. This wasn’t what he had anticipated, but he couldn’t just stand there in front of her and break character.

He’d been carefully maintaining this image for years—he couldn’t afford to ruin it now in front of Yi Xiaoya. Being too eager would only make him seem tasteless.

So He Chuan left, without the slightest hesitation.

When Yi Xiaoya opened the gift box, she found a giant panda plush toy inside. It was the same viral panda plush she’d seen online a few days ago that cost over a thousand yuan. The fur was soft and velvety to the touch, and the panda even had a name: “Mie.”

Yi Xiaoya knew that pandas bleated when they were happy and barked when startled.

So cute!

Seeing how much Yi Xiaoya liked the panda plush, He Chuan felt satisfied—he’d chosen the right gift!

Yi Xiaoya thought to herself that the class fees hadn’t gone to waste. Still, those special admission students probably didn’t have to pay this much in class dues, right?

“Do they have to pay class dues too? The special admission students?” she asked Wang Yin Fan, who sat nearby.

“They don’t,” Wang Yin Fan replied. “That’s a rule the class monitor made. They just take part in the activities, no need to pay.”

Those special students were future candidates for Qingbei University. They were all going to be top talents. Some of them were just temporarily struggling financially. Once they graduated and started working, they’d earn way more than anyone else.

“That’s good.” Yi Xiaoya hugged the panda plush tightly. That meant she didn’t have to feel guilty about spending money meant for the special admissions students.

As for how much was spent on each gift—that was up to the class committee. It had nothing to do with her.

“Most birthday gifts are just a few hundred,” Wang Yin Fan said. “I mean, our monthly allowance is tens of thousands, right? Spending a few hundred on a gift… It’s fine. Everyone knows these birthday gifts are just symbolic anyway. Since none of us earn our own money yet, there’s no need to buy anything too extravagant.”

Wang Yin Fan thought their class monitor was fake as hell—so good at putting on an act.

After school, Yi Xiaoya still didn’t invite He Chuan to her birthday party, so he headed to the Tang family residence first. From now on, he was going to live there.