YU JIAO put the souvenir Luo Yan bought to her at her desk inside her dormitory room. It was a box of colored pencil with a cute carved panda on each one. She stacked it with her other art supplies. She wished she could also give some souvenir to her friend. But what kind of souvenir could she give when she didn’t even go anywhere during the week-long National holiday.


    But maybe she could still buy something for him as a thank you. She had more than enough money to buy something decent. Not only for Luo Yan, but also for Luo Ren.


    Remembering the man, she took out the box where the handkerchief was. She opened her closet and carefully put it there. She started to wonder just what she should buy that would not be embarrassing to give to Luo Ren. Something that he could use would probably be good.


    Knowing that the other was already working, a few ideas popped up in her mind.


    As she was taking off her uniform, her phone suddenly rang. She put her uniform jacket on the bed before picking up her phone on her desk. She saw that it was from her mother. Somehow, she already had an idea on why her mother suddenly called.


    For the first time, she suddenly didn’t want to answer. But if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be surprised if her mother appeared in her dorm tomorrow just so she could have a serious talk with her.


    She sighed before answering the call.


    "Mom," she greeted first.


    "Jiao Jiao, Xiao Jian came home crying today," he mother said with a bit of anxiety in her voice. "She said you push her? Is that true? It’s okay, Jiao Jiao, you can tell Mom the truth. Mom won’t be mad. If you really push her, then I will apologize in your stead. Xiao Jian is a good girl, I’m sure she will understand."


    Yu Jiao bit her lower lip when she heard that. If it was as usual, she would probably remain silent and just acquiesce to whatever her mother was saying. In almost two years since her mother married into the Mo family, she never made anyints. No matter what kind of harassment Mo Jian threw at her, she just epted it in silence. Because she didn’t want her mother to be at odds with her new family just because of her.


    But because of that, her rtionship with her mother slowly drifted to the point that she would rather believe Mo Jian’s innocent act than her. It was hurtful, true. At times, she just felt numbed by it. She even thought sometimes that maybe it would have been better if they remained poor. At least the two of them faced everything together.


    But she knew that it was unfilial of her to think so. After all, now, her mother didn’t need to work herself to death just to put food on the table. She could now wear beautiful clothes, eat good food, and have others do the humblest of work for her. She could finally have that easy and carefree life. As her daughter, how could she ruin that?


    However, right now, Yu Jiao couldn’t bring herself to just remain silent and agreed to everything her mother just said. Not after all the effort Luo Yan exerted just to defend her.


    "Mom, I did not push her just because I felt like it. I assure you, Mo Jian deserved it," she started. "I won’t borate more into what happened. Mom should also not ask Mo Jian about it because that girl would definitely just lie with that usual innocent act of hers. But I hope Mom won’t think that I’m just saying this to badmouth Mo Jian. I hope that Mom still know me enough to know that I would never do that.


    "But just in case Mom believed Mo Jian more than me, then I just wish you will not confront me about it. Let’s just end that whole discussion here. And if Mo Jianins to her father, Mom could just side with her to avoid any conflict. Don’t worry, Mom, I won’t be mad even if you do."


    That was probably the first time that Yu Jiao managed to talk to her mother on the subject of her new family in such a calm way. She didn’t stutter and just calmly stated what she wanted to convey. She felt proud of herself for some reason.


    There was a long silence over the phone. Then she heard her mother calling her name in a cracked voice, as if she suddenly had trouble breathing.


    Yu Jiao sighed helplessly. She didn’t want to make her mother feel guilty. She simply wanted to fight a bit for herself. She could probably tell her mother all the derogatory things Mo Jian had said about her, but Yu Jiao wouldn’t. She wouldn’t hurt her mother like that. But she hoped that this conversation would help her see more clearly.


    Her mother had always been soft-hearted. She didn’t like to join any arguments or even make one. She would simply suffer at the Mo household if she chose to protect her child over her new stepchildren. If she didn’t see how genuine Mr. Mo’s feelings was for her mother, she’d probably long tried to pull her away from that family.


    But because she saw that there was indeed love between the two, she had never thought of getting in between them. And she still didn’t wish that now.


    "Mom, I’m alright. Don’t fight Mr. Mo over this. It would just make Mo Jian much happier. Mom wouldn’t want that, right?"


    "Oh, Jiao Jiao."


    There was an outburst of crying over the line and Yu Jiao could onlyfort her mother as best as she could. Although it’s not her goal, she probably ended up just guilt-tripping her mother.


    She couldn’t help but sigh once again. If only she was more eloquent with her words. Maybe she could deliver her words to her more properly.


    But that call and her initiative to talk started a night-long conversation - something that was definitely long warranted - between mother and daughter.


    On the other side of the city, in Tianhua Groups’ main headquarters, Luo Ren was looking down at the information he had in his hands that his assistant gathered over the afternoon.