After the funeral, only our family stayed to have a meal.

At the dining table, someone gossiped and asked me a question.

“Shao Yu, have you found a boyfriend? At this age, you should settle down. If not, let your mom help you out?”

“She has one.”

My mom casually dropped a sentence.

“Oh? Where’s your boyfriend from? How old is he? What does he do?”

“His name is Zhu Sheng, he's a local, and his family runs a factory.”

This scene seemed familiar.

In my previous life, my mom also arbitrarily announced my life partner for me. At that time, I was fat and had a face full of acne, my inferiority complex made it hard for me to lift my head.

Mom said that it was already good enough for someone to want a person like me.

I also understood that no one would like someone like me because even I didn't like myself.

So under mom's strong push, I married Zhu Sheng, whom I had only met a few times.

He was also not satisfied with me, but he didn't want to waste the bride price he had given.

After the marriage, he treated me as a "commodity" he bought. Whenever he was dissatisfied, he would beat and scold me. After a year of marriage, my belly showed no signs of movement, and he vented his anger on me even more.

He constantly cursed at me, calling me a useless woman and a hen that couldn't lay eggs. Even my in-laws wantonly humiliated me.

Until one day, I received a call from Zhu Sheng's workplace, asking me to pick up his medical report. That was when I found out that he always knew he had low sperm survival rates and it was difficult for him to have offspring.

He always knew it was his problem, but with a guilty conscience, he pushed the blame on me, watching me fall into a pit of painful self-blame.

I called my mom to tell her about this, and she coldly responded over the phone.

“Yes, I always knew. But he gave the highest bride price.”

“Then why didn't you tell me?”

“The doctor only said his sperm survival rate is low, it's not a hundred percent issue. If I told you, you would have psychological pressure, wouldn't that affect your pregnancy further?”

I felt a chill all over, my trembling hands almost dropped the phone.

“How could you let him put all the blame on me…”

“What else could I do? As a woman, not having children carries some responsibility. You should understand your own husband better instead of coming to ask me. I just gave birth to you, I can't be responsible for your entire life. Think clearly about it yourself, stop bothering me every day.”

How funny, really too funny.

I wiped away the tears from laughing and looked down at my bare feet, not knowing when I lost my shoes.

I took one step at a time towards the rooftop. Initially, I just wanted to catch some wind, but later…

Looking down at this brightly lit world, I couldn't find a single reason to stay.

Shao Yu, Shao Yu.

You lived such a failed life.

No one likes you.

I hate you too.

“Xiao Yu! Xiao Yu!”

Someone called out to me, and a waving hand pulled my thoughts back from the past.

The face felt icy.

I wiped away my tears.

I actually cried for myself while recalling the past.

“I don't have a boyfriend.”

I spoke faintly.

“Zhu Sheng is someone my mom likes. She should have another daughter for him to marry, or if not, she's still young enough to marry him herself.”

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Mom angrily smashed her bowl on the table. “Where did all those years of education go?!”

“Mom,” I looked up at her. “Do you hate me?”

Everyone focused their attention on mom.

She was stunned.

“What… what nonsense are you saying?”

“You knew Zhu Sheng was not a good person but accepted his money in private. Isn't that the same as selling me to him?”

Mom glanced around at the relatives, avoided dad's gaze, stood up, and glared at me.

“Shao Yu, don't think just because you have read more books, you can talk to your elders this way. I think you've read so much that you've gone crazy, not knowing what you should and shouldn't say!”

“Yes, Xiao Yu, how could your mom harm you?”

“Right, anyone introduced to you must be reliable. Why would you think of your mother like that?”

“How could there be a mother in this world who harms her own child?”

The relatives tried to smooth things over, speaking up for my mom.

I coldly scanned the group of people standing and preaching, then reached into my bag on the sofa and pulled out a file, walking to the relatives.

“Here is the information of the ‘good son-in-law’ my mother acknowledged.”

I took out a piece of paper.

“This is his medical report.”

“This is his background check.”

“This is his credit report.”

They passed around the documents, becoming more shocked the more they read, whispering among themselves.

The documents finally reached dad's hands. He glanced at them and then threw them in front of mom.

“You introduced this kind of person to your daughter?”

Mom, flustered, picked up the sheets, looked at them briefly, and then put them down.

“I was just introducing, how would I know he was that kind of person?”

My gaze never left her as I firmly stated.

“You knew.”

The place was abuzz, eyes focusing on mom once more.

“I'm not as clever as you think. No one is perfect, everyone has flaws...”

She continued to defend herself.

I picked up my phone and sent a few photos and a video to the family group chat.

After a series of "ding——" notification sounds, they looked down at their phones, opened the photos, and played the video.

Dad also picked up his phone and saw the photos.

The photos showed Zhu Sheng and mom eating in a restaurant. The clothes in the photos were different, indicating they had eaten together more than once.

The video was from the restaurant's surveillance camera, positioned directly over their table, capturing everything on the table clearly, even recording their conversation.

“Auntie, here’s the deposit first. Once your daughter agrees, you can help out…”

Mom saw the thick envelope and smiled from ear to ear.

“Don't worry, my daughter listens to me the most. Even if she doesn't agree, I have ways to make her marry you. Just wait to take your bride home.”

“Thank you, auntie. But you know, she must not find out about this.”

“Of course, you two just live your lives well; everything else will come later.”

The video was cut off.

My mom rushed over, grabbed dad's phone, and pointed at me, shouting.

“You ungrateful wretch! I knew you were untrustworthy! Are you trying to embarrass me in front of everyone on purpose today?”

I shrugged.

“I didn’t want to bring this up here initially. You were the one who started it.”

Mom's fringe was messy, her agitated gestures making her look almost frenzied.

“I deliberately wanted you to marry him. So what! Raising you this long, is it wrong to ask for more money? Doesn’t everyone raise daughters expecting to recoup their investment?”

Other relatives shook their heads.

“Shao Yu, you’ve been comfortably living in my house for so long now. Your life is already good enough. Even if you suffer a bit for the rest of your life, so what? Do you think I’ve suffered less than you? Didn’t I live well despite it?”

So, in mom’s heart, I was always an outsider, just a guest staying in her house.

“Why do you get to live a good life from birth, while I was kicked around by my parents when I was born, finally living with a clueless grandfather? So what if classmates at school called you names? At least they didn’t hit you! What I faced was real bullying!”

Mom's emotions were out of control, and she became increasingly agitated as she spoke.

“I gave birth to you, so why are you the focus? People look at you first when they enter the door; conversations always revolve around you. Why?! I’m the one who went through the pain of giving birth to you!”

“They all said you were beautiful as a child, so I made you gain weight and grow acne. Let’s see if you’re still beautiful! Are you beautiful! Everything I worked hard for, why should you have it all from birth? It’s not fair!”

Dad stood up.

“You’re crazy! How can you be jealous of your own daughter!”

Mom looked up at dad with a pitiful smile.

“Oh, and you too.” She pointed at him. “You like her so much? Then I’ll slander her, defame her, and see if you can still smile at a daughter full of blemishes. Sadly, the truth showed that you only say you accept her, but deep down, you despise an imperfect child. What right do you have to judge me?”

“You’ve gone mad!”

Others rushed to hold mom back, but she kept cursing. She cursed her tragic childhood, her loveless marriage, and her hate-filled life.

She hated everyone.

Including herself.