Chapter 4

As my mom became more focused on my affairs, she became less attentive to Aunt Brenda and Grandma.

Actually, in my opinion, she was still attentive.

It was just that compared to before, my mom had shifted her focus to me.

Grandma treated my mom like a slave, and my mom just gritted her teeth and bore it.

But Grandma couldn’t stand that my mom still wanted to support me in going to school.

“Elara, what’s the point of a girl reading so many books? She’ll just get married off eventually anyway.”

Aunt Brenda, munching on sunflower seeds, chimed in from her bed.

“Exactly, Big Sister. It’s enough for Brad to go to school. Sending a girl is just a waste.”

“With that spare money, you might as well use it to honor Mom and Dad.”

My mom had been obedient her whole life.

But she could take being bullied herself; she couldn’t stand to see her daughter suffer.

She immediately straightened her back.

“Mom, Brenda, you just don’t understand.”

“I never had an education, you see. I want my Iris to read more, so she’ll suffer less in the future.”

“Besides, the country now requires children to go to school; it’s ‘compulsory education’!”

“And it’s free, it doesn’t cost money.”

Seeing that they couldn’t argue with my mom, the two of them scoffed disdainfully.

“Just because you’ve been to the county a few times, you’re a scholar now?”

“I don’t care what nonsense you’re spouting. You won’t get a single penny from this family for it.”

“And besides, Iris is living in this house, so she’ll definitely have to do her share of chores!”

Grandma’s words were so clear that even my mom, as naive as she was, understood.

They still wanted another free laborer.

My mom was on the verge of dropping the chores she was doing.

“No way!”

“Iris isn’t well; she can’t do chores.”

“Besides, she has to go to school, so these things won’t fall to her.”

Aunt Brenda patted Grandma’s shoulder, feigning comfort, her sarcastic tone perfectly executed.

“Oh, Mom, don’t talk about Big Sister like that.”

“Iris is Big Sister’s darling, you know. She’s going to get her birth certificate soon. Why would we have any say?”

“Big Sister got married, and she’s just different now. Her tongue is so sharp, talking about the country and the world. Iris is delicate, you see.”

Grandma, hearing this, threw her sunflower seeds away in a fit of rage.

“Elara, are you a donkey-brain?! Why would you get a birth certificate for a useless burden like her?!”

“Just find someone to give her away, and you could get a few hundred dollars!”

“You’re getting her a birth certificate, and it won’t cost money?!”

“It won’t cost money!”

My mom, enraged, slammed the clothes she was washing back into the basin.

“I’m telling you again, my daughter’s name is Iris, Iris Chen! And I *will* get her a birth certificate!”

“I don’t care if you agree or not. My daughter will not only get a birth certificate, but she’ll also go to college and make a fortune!”

The two of them were scared silent by my mom’s sudden burst of assertiveness.

My mom, seething with anger, went to the elementary school to pick me up.