Chapter 1004: Which Part of Her Looks Like Her Real Mother?
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Of course, the most embarrassed person in the entire scenario was Xu Sheng. Being scolded by his mother in front of his friends made him wish for nothing more than the ground to swallow him whole.
His head remained bowed, his lips trembling as he bit down to keep from crying out. A suffocating wave of humiliation wrapped around him, making it impossible to breathe.
Huang Fei, however, felt entirely justified in disciplining her son. The idea that her actions might embarrass the boy didn’t even cross her mind.
Once she’d had her fill of scolding, she withdrew her hand and barked, “Go home, finish what you haven’t written, and copy the Three Character Classic twenty more times. Don’t even think about sleeping until it’s done.”
Xu Sheng didn’t dare protest. He barely managed a soft, “Okay,” before turning and bolting in the direction of home.
Only when he was far enough away did the tears, welling in his eyes, finally spill over, cascading down his cheeks like a broken string of pearls. Even then, his sobs were instinctively muted—years of habit ensuring no sound escaped.
As Xu Sheng disappeared, Huang Fei looked up and noticed Gu Zi standing nearby. Her expression shifted into a stiff, forced smile, one that didn’t reach her eyes. “I never got the chance to thank you for last time,” she said, her tone all too saccharine. “You took Xu Sheng to the hospital—really, I’m grateful. This kid’s just so difficult, so disobedient. As his mother, I can’t afford to let my guard down even for a second. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything?”
Su Li and Gao Ming exchanged a look, their gazes filled with disbelief. Did Huang Fei just call Xu Sheng disobedient and difficult? If he was disobedient, what did that make them—hooligans sent straight from chaos itself?
Gu Zi, for her part, had never liked Huang Fei. After the hospital incident, any shred of tolerance she might have had had long since evaporated. She didn’t even bother with pretenses now, letting her words slice straight through the facade. “No wonder Xu Sheng’s health is so poor. You treat him like a spinning top, forcing him to keep turning twenty-four hours a day. Do you honestly think you’re doing what’s best for his future?”
She crossed her arms, her gaze piercing. “What future can a child have without a healthy body? Instead of wasting time thanking me, why don’t you spend it truly caring for your son? Honestly, I feel like I understand Xu Sheng better than you do, and I’m just a stepmother.”
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Huang Fei’s carefully maintained composure cracked. Her face twisted into a grimace, and she sneered, “You said it yourself—you’re just a stepmother. How could you possibly care more about your son? You’re just putting on a show, trying to make people believe you’re some wonderful stepmother. You didn’t give birth to him; you can’t understand the worries of a real mother.”
She struck where it hurt most—Gu Zi’s status as a stepmother.
But Gu Zi, unfazed, merely chuckled. “If being a real mother means publicly shaming your child and trampling on their dignity, then there’s nothing worth bragging about in that title. Honestly, I deserve more praise than you do as a mom.”
She turned to Su Li and Gao Ming, motioning for them to follow. “Come on, let’s head inside and let this so-called ‘real mother’ reflect on what it means to actually care for her child.”
Without giving Huang Fei a chance to retort, Gu Zi led the two children inside and shut the gate behind them. She had intentionally been harsh—someone needed to give Huang Fei a reality check.
If nothing else, she hoped her words would make Huang Fei think twice before tearing into Xu Sheng in public again. As for what happened behind closed doors, well, there wasn’t much Gu Zi could do about that.
Outside, Huang Fei stood frozen, her face dark with anger. ‘What does she mean, I’m not like a real mother?’ she thought bitterly. ‘Am I really being too strict?’
But even as doubt crept in, she clung to her conviction. ‘Everything I do is for his own good!’
Still, a sliver of guilt wormed its way into her heart. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so harsh in front of those two other kids.
Instead of going straight home, she detoured to a small shop, picking up Xu Sheng’s favorite snacks—treats she usually forbade as “junk food.” Today, she decided, she’d make an exception.
When she returned home, Xu Sheng was hunched over his desk, so engrossed in his work that he didn’t notice her approach. She set the snacks down in front of him, startling him so much he nearly jumped.
But instead of lighting up at the sight of his favorite treats, he looked up at her with wide, fearful eyes. “Mom, I-I know I was wrong. I won’t do it again,” he stammered.
The fear in his voice and the way he flinched at her presence struck Huang Fei like a blow to the chest. For the first time, she truly saw how frightened her son was of her.
Forcing a smile, she reached out to ruffle his hair. “Xu Sheng, Mommy shouldn’t have scolded you like that in front of others. I was just worried about you. You’re not mad at Mommy, are you?”
Xu Sheng blinked, unsure if he could trust this softer side of her. But when he saw the faint smile on her face, his tightly wound nerves began to relax.
Gathering his courage, he said, “Mom, I know you want the best for me. I won’t fall behind in my studies. And… can I still play with Su Li and the others?”