Chapter 87: Naturally Likable
After a long while, he let out a long sigh.
"I’m useless... I’ve made you and our daughter suffer. I’ve let you both down..."
In the past, words like these would have made Liu Yingzi’s heart ache for him.
Every time Cao Daqiang complained, Liu Yingzi would immediately drop what she was doing and comfort him in a soft, gentle voice.
But now, she heard the words but felt nothing inside.
Liu Yingzi merely shot him an indifferent glance before returning to her task.
Cao Daqiang sat on the old sofa in the living room, muttering about the troubles of his day.
With every sentence, he habitually glanced up at Liu Yingzi, expecting a response.
But after muttering several complaints, he got no reply.
He turned his head to see the living room was empty. Liu Yingzi had already disappeared into the kitchen, not even a glimpse of her back remained.
He was stunned for a moment, then his brow furrowed.
While they were no longer as close as they once were, they had managed to reach a rare consensus when it came to their daughter’s future.
Liu Yingzi had pulled strings with her side of the family, calling in countless favors to finally get Cao Jiajia into the prestigious elementary school everyone coveted.
The whole affair didn’t drag on for long. The paperwork was processed efficiently, and she even passed the entrance interview without much of a hitch.
But she was different from Shanshan.
Although Cao Jiajia entered the same school, her situation was completely different from her cousin Shanshan’s.
Shanshan was naturally likable, while Cao Jiajia was quiet and timid.
In the Cao family, Cao Jiajia had been spoiled since she was little.
But the moment she stepped onto campus, she became invisible.
She would sit quietly in the classroom. No one ever initiated a conversation with her, and no one ever invited her to play.
By contrast, Shanshan, who had transferred just a few days prior, had already become the center of attention in her class.
Cao Jiajia sat in her seat, listening to her classmates heatedly discussing yesterday’s cartoon.
She opened her mouth to speak but, not knowing what to say, ultimately just lowered her head.
Moreover, she didn’t live near the school.
The other students all walked or were picked up and dropped off by their parents on bikes.
Only she, with her overstuffed backpack, squeezed into a seat at the back of the bus, all alone.
She knew her classmates secretly called her "the out-of-towner."
Although no one said it to her face, she could tell from the glances they exchanged.
When Friday finally came, she breathed a long sigh of relief.
’Finally, I can hide for two days!’
As soon as the school bell rang on Friday, Cao Jiajia was the first to rush out of the classroom.
Clutching her backpack straps, she hurried toward the bus stop.
The moment she got home, she completely relaxed. Even dinner tasted more delicious than usual.
The two days of the weekend became her only time to catch her breath.
But in the blink of an eye, it was Sunday night.
She sat on the edge of her bed, staring blankly at her homework.
At the thought of returning to that place where no one paid her any mind, tears began to fall from her eyes.
"Mom... I don’t want to go to school anymore... I’m scared... Waaah..."
She finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and ran sobbing into the living room, throwing herself into her mother’s arms.
"What’s wrong? You were fine just a few days ago. How come you suddenly don’t want to go to school? Was someone bullying you?"
Liu Yingzi was startled. She immediately put down what she was doing, crouched down, and carefully examined her daughter’s face.
Her tone was urgent, thinking her child had been bullied at school.
But after questioning her for a long time, it turned out her daughter simply didn’t want to go to school.
"We’ve already finished all the paperwork, and now you just decide you’re not going? Do you think that school is a grocery store you can walk in and out of whenever you want?"
The more she spoke, the angrier she got, and she couldn’t help but compare her to Shanshan.
"Look at Shanshan! She just transferred a few days ago and she already has flocks of friends. Why are you so hopeless?"
"That’s right, Jiajia. You can’t let her beat you, you hear?"
Cao Daqiang also chimed in.
’Why is this kid so fragile?’
’Is going to school that hard?’
But as soon as Cao Jiajia heard the word "school," she panicked. The more her parents pushed her, the harder she cried.
"Why are you so spineless? Didn’t you say you hate that girl? If she can thrive at school, why can’t you?"
"Because... all their stuff is better than mine."
Cao Jiajia lowered her head, her fingers tightly clutching the hem of her clothes.
Cao Jiajia wiped her tears with her sleeve and pointed to the backpack her mother had just packed.
"The other kids in class have designer backpacks that are all shiny. Some have wheels, some light up, and they all cost hundreds. Their pencil cases are metal and play music when you open them. Their erasers are shaped like cartoon characters and smell amazing. But mine..."
"They said... a shabby bag like mine isn’t good enough to play with them. They also said if I can’t even afford proper school supplies, what am I even doing at school?"
Once these words came out, the husband and wife looked at each other, and neither said a word.
Cao Daqiang clicked his tongue.
"The kid’s... not wrong. Kids this age care about this stuff the most. Who doesn’t want to be respected by their classmates? Who doesn’t want to hold their head high at school? We really can’t let her be laughed at in class, getting pointed at every day for being poor and tacky."
"That may be true... but kids go to school to study, not to compare whose family is richer."
Liu Yingzi muttered under her breath.
A knot formed in her chest, but she couldn’t bring herself to argue with her husband, let alone her daughter.
But Cao Daqiang slapped his thigh.
"If we want to make our girl happy, we have to be willing to spend the money! Seeing her cry like this breaks my heart! How old is she? How can she suffer this kind of humiliation? After school tomorrow, Daddy will take you shopping! Whatever you want, we’ll buy it! The expensive ones, the ones with wheels, the ones that light up—we’ll get them all!"
At this, Cao Jiajia finally broke into a smile through her tears.
"Thank you, Mom and Dad."
Liu Yingzi stood to the side, staring at the father and daughter.
’How much would all this cost?’
She silently calculated in her head.
A designer backpack, at least three hundred.
A musical pencil case, at least a hundred and fifty.
Put it all together, and it would easily be five or six hundred.
There was hardly any money left at home.
After paying the utility bills last month, there were only two hundred left in their account.
Cao Daqiang’s salary kept getting cut, making even basic expenses tight.
She could only secretly go back to her parents’ house to cry and complain, telling them tearfully how hard life was.
Her parents felt sorry for their daughter and would occasionally slip her some money, two or three hundred at a time, but how could that last?
They weren’t a wealthy family either.
Sooner or later, her parents wouldn’t be able to support them anymore.
A child’s pride is important, but they still had to make a living.
The most important thing was to quickly get Cao Daqiang a promotion.
The young people at his workplace were all climbing the ladder faster than rabbits, but her husband was still stuck in a low-level position.
It wasn’t about keeping up with others; it was about survival.
Liu Yingzi wasn’t a woman without ambition, but right now, her only hope was her husband.
But Cao Daqiang didn’t think it was a big deal at all.
He saw himself as a diamond in the rough, just waiting to be discovered.
Back when he was discharged from the army, if it hadn’t been for bad luck, he would have become a deputy battalion commander long ago.
He wasn’t any less capable than others, and he had more experience than anyone. All he lacked was an opportunity.
As long as he got a chance, he would definitely be able to make a comeback.
The next day, hearing that they were going to buy new school supplies, Cao Jiajia completely lit up.
She got up early in the morning, pulled out her freshly washed school uniform, and carefully put it on.
She slung the old backpack over her shoulders and skipped happily to school.
’After school today, Dad’s going to take me to the stationery store!’