When I was in the third year of junior high, I had completely lost my right to speak at home.

Once I stayed an hour late to help the new classmate who sat next to me with his homework.

By the time I got home, they had all finished eating.

The greasy dishes were piled up in the sink, waiting for me to wash.

The pot was empty, and so were the plates.

I asked my mom where my food was.

My mom was peeling oranges for my cousin, without even looking up, she casually said, "I thought you had eaten outside today, didn't know you hadn't eaten, forgot to save you food."

She didn't give me a penny, but naturally assumed I had eaten outside.

My cousin found the oranges sour and spat out the half-chewed pieces.

My mom immediately reached out to take them, showing no reluctance or disgust on her face.

She said, "Sour, don't eat it, let Yuan Yuan have it, Auntie Er will buy you sweet ones tomorrow."

Seeing this scene, I even briefly entertained the thought that they were the real mother and daughter.

But soon, I dismissed this thought.

According to my parents' practice of blaming their own child while protecting others, I was indeed their biological child.

After that, my family no longer waited for me to come home from school to eat.

My mom would leave me a bowl of food, warming it on the radiator.

It didn't matter if the food got cold, it was my fault for coming back late.

In the summer without heating, sometimes the food would go bad.

Even if it went bad, it didn't matter, if I didn't want to eat, I could go hungry.

During the high school entrance exam, I was promoted to the school's key class.

My outstanding performance did not change my parents' views.

They still kept mentioning those words comparing me to Zhang Jiacheng.

They even offered praise to Zhang Jiacheng, saying, "Cheng Cheng has great potential, he's smart and learns quickly. He may not want to study now, but he's saving up for the future!"

"Don't be fooled by Yuan Yuan's good grades now, who knows, one day she might not be able to keep it up. I can see it, she's not even as good as Cheng Cheng in every aspect."

When Zhang Jiacheng got caught fighting at school, my parents cried and begged on his behalf in the principal's office, instead of his own parents.

When my deskmate He Xiaoman saw their hurried figures passing in the corridor, she nudged my elbow and whispered, "Are those your parents?"

I nodded gently.

She suddenly grabbed my hand and whispered in a voice only we could hear, "Let's run away together, Yuan Yuan."

My heart felt like it was suddenly struck by something.

I watched my parents' figures gradually receding, they had come to the school, but never once thought to look at me.

They seemed to never see my excellent side, always doing their best to belittle me.

Day after day, I completely lost the idea of fighting for my parents' approval with my grades.

Since they thought I was worthless, I might as well just be a waste.

I deliberately lowered my grades.

Every test paper I filled out completely, but each answer skillfully avoided the correct one.

I controlled my scores precisely, dropping from third in the grade when I entered school to the bottom.

But my parents were very angry.

My mom collapsed in tears, "Why did you only score this little! Look at your initial grades, and now look at you, have you gone crazy, Zhang Yuan Yuan!"

"Your dad and I have relied on you for a lifetime, and you're still so useless. Do you want to drive me and your dad to death before you stop?"

Her face twisted in anguish, tears in her eyes and anger on her face, all seamlessly blended, without any sense of discord.

I smiled.

I remembered He Xiaoman's words - "Let's run away together, Yuan Yuan."

Why run away?

I took my mom's hand, wiping away the tears on her face bit by bit.

I comforted her, "You just think I can't compare to my sister in any way, right? This time I finally met your expectations, why are you still angry?"

"You and dad keep saying I'm worthless, so now that I've truly become worthless, isn't that better?"