Chapter 285: 278: Unbearable Dignity

As the high school examination got nearer, Sang Zhilan’s anxiety grew, with Wei Jiani’s academic performance still stagnating. The prospect of her going to a good university simply seemed impossible.

So no matter what, she had to get Wei Jiani into Tang Yuxin’s small tutoring group.

According to the students in the tutoring group, everyone who enters shows a significant improvement in their scores. Without consulting anyone, she directly took Wei Jiani there, believing that no matter what, Tang Yuxin would not turn them away.

However, just as they arrived and were about to go inside, a woman carrying a child emerged from a door.

“What are you here for?” The woman squinted her eyes, unsure of Sang Zhilan’s intentions, especially given there was a student with her. Could it be that she was seeking the tutoring group too?

“I’m here to see Tang Yuxin?” Sang Zhilan replied arrogantly, jutting her chest out. As Tang Yuxin’s mother, surely she had every right to visit her daughter?

“Looking for Yuxin… and you are?” The woman asked with more suspicion.

“I am…” Before Sang Zhilan could finish speaking, she was interrupted.

“Oh her, she’s just Yuxin’s biological mom,” a mocking laugh emerged from the house. Ren Li dusted off her clothes as she came toward them, extending a hand to her son.

“Come here, Chengcheng, let mommy hold you.”

Little Chengcheng certainly knew his mother. He stretched out his chubby arms for her to pick him up. His round little body, soft and adorable, and chubby cheeks, were irresistibly loveable to everyone.

“Sister Xu, don’t you think our Chengcheng is looking more and more like Yuxin?” She asked this intentionally.

“Yes,” Mother Xu nodded, “the more I look, the more alike they seem.”

“Of course, Chengcheng and Yuxin are real siblings, Yuxin is the one who adores Chengcheng most. Chengcheng loves his sister too, he insisted on coming here because he hasn’t seen her for a few days.”

Little Chengcheng squinted his eyes, and Mother Xu pinched his chubby cheek. He turned his face away to bury it in his mother’s shoulder, was he being shy or just avoiding her touch?

And also, Mother Xu glanced at Sang Zhilan, that’s when it hit her, this was Tang Yuxin’s mother.

“How could there be such thick-skinned people in this world? Not only did they abandon their daughter, but they also made a six-year-old child do housework and serve as a nanny, even beating her black and blue. They never took any responsibility as a parent, yet have the nerve to ask for tutoring now. If I were her, I would have killed myself from the shame, how can she face the world?”

“There’s nothing we can do, you can’t compete with their thick skin.”

Ren Li heaved her son, “This little devil is getting heavier, I can barely carry him.”

Mother Xu walked over, blocking Sang Zhilan and her daughter’s way.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, please take your child home. We’re not accepting any more students in our home. Please don’t disrupt our children.”

Sang Zhilan’s face was burning with humiliation after the verbal battering. She didn’t know whether to stay or go.

Right at this moment, the door opened, and Tang Yuxin came out.

Just as Sang Zhilan saw Tang Yuxin and was about to speak, Tang Yuxin walked past her as if she was invisible, heading straight to Ren Li.

“Chengcheng, come to your sister.”

Hearing his sister’s voice, Chengcheng immediately turned around, smiling with his few tiny teeth exposed—making him even more adorable.

Tang Yuxin picked up her brother, realizing he was a bit heavier, probably due to growing up.

However, he was indeed too heavy for her to lift.

“Let me carry him, he’s gaining weight rapidly. I sometimes can’t carry him either since you’re not used to it,” Ren Li took her son back into her arms, again pinching his chubby cheeks, which felt delightfully soft like tofu.

When she pinched him once more, she just couldn’t stop. Poor little Chengcheng, his chubby face was his mother’s favorite victim.

Tang Yuxin gently rubbed her brother’s little arm.

“He’s recently been overfed. Try feeding him a bit less.”

“I see. That’s probably why he hasn’t been feeding well these past few days.”

“I’ll prepare some sugar water for him. A few days of drinking that should resolve the issue.”

Yes, Ren Li trusted Tang Yuxin’s words more than anyone else’s. Would her Chengcheng have grown so lively and cute without Tang Yuxin’s care? He is almost never sick, always healthy.

Ren Li signaled towards Sang Zhilan, “Look, your biological mother’s here. She wants you to tutor your sister.”

“It has nothing to do with me,” at this moment, Tang Yuxin couldn’t afford to give any ounce of affection to Sang Zhilan. In her last life, she had already given them her life, in this one, they could forget it.

For Sang Zhilan to be treated with disdain, repulsion, and cruelty by her own daughter, it was impossible for her to not be hurt. With humiliation likely outweighing her sorrow, if she truly harbored any mother-daughter feelings for Tang Yuxin,

Truth be told, even she herself might not believe it.

So, everyone knew very well what was going on in their hearts.

As for tutoring the child of the person who had snatched her husband and home in her previous life, potentially contributing to her soaring success, Tang Yuxin wasn’t a pushover.

Wei Jiani clenched her teeth and wanted to leave right away.

“Jiani…” Seeing her daughter walking away, Sang Zhilan hurriedly followed suit.

“Mom, I don’t want her to tutor me,” Wei Jiani scoffed, “I don’t believe that I won’t be able to get into university without her.”

Yes, she had her pride too, it’s just a shame that her current academic capabilities couldn’t support this pride.

The pressure of her final year of high school was overwhelming, and Wei Jiani was studying hard. Despite late-night studying and early rising, her performance hadn’t improved. Instead, due to her irregular schedule and lack of sleep, she had started losing her hair and frequently experienced headaches.

So as for whether her grades had improved, her results from several mock examinations proved otherwise. In fact, not only hadn’t she improved, she had instead regressed.

Academic progress tended to be gradual, not something that could be achieved through a few days and nights of rushed cramming. Everything she had studied so far was in preparation for the looming examination—the culmination of twelve years of studying.

And for this day, Wei Jiani had put in only a few days, nights, and rest days’ worth of effort, while Tang Yuxin and her peers had been preparing since early middle school. They hadn’t had a single summer or winter break off, nor weekends or Sundays.

All of their efforts and preparations were for this one day, the day of the high school examination.