Chapter 5

Work kept me busy. I could usually visit my parents only once a week.

One evening, I came home to find someone crouching beside my door.

It was Mom.

She hurried over when she saw me. “Yingying, did you just finish work?”

I nodded. “Is something wrong?”

She gave an awkward smile. “No, nothing. I was afraid you’d be tired of restaurant food, so I cooked a few dishes for you.”

I glanced at the containers in her hand. “Thank you, Mom.”

Her smile widened.

“But I’m dieting right now and following a strict meal plan. I can’t eat any of this.”

I unlocked the door as I spoke and went inside. Mom followed and stood uneasily in the entryway.

“That’s all right. I’ll take it home and let Xiao Ran eat it.”

Then she added carefully, “She’s gained a little more weight lately.”

I murmured an acknowledgment but said nothing else.

I could tell she was trying to please me.

I was the family’s only source of money now. They expected me to provide their comfortable life.

Mom began fussing over me.

“Have you been busy? Are you filming anything new?”

“Not lately,” I said. “I have an audition tomorrow. If I get the part, I should join the production near the end of the year.”

Mom beamed. “Yingying, you’re so talented! Much better than Ranran ever was.”

I stood at my vanity, removing my makeup. Then I frowned. “Tsk.”

Mom reacted at once. “What’s wrong?”

I looked at the left side of my face in the mirror. “A pimple came out of nowhere.”

“I hope it won’t hurt my audition tomorrow.”

Mom panicked. “What?”

She leaned in to inspect my face, but I casually avoided her hand.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

I took a bank card from my bag. “I’ll transfer your living expenses to this card from now on. Spend it however you like.”

Mom accepted it, overjoyed. “Thank you, Yingying!”

Once she had the card, she did not linger.

Before leaving, she assured me with a delighted smile, “Don’t worry, Yingying. That pimple will be gone very soon.”

“Mom won’t let it affect your audition.”

After she left, I shut the door.

I washed up, lay down, then took out my phone and opened the security feed from my parents’ house.

Mom had said Xiao Ran was getting fatter.

She had been claiming credit.

In the end, she had turned Xiao Ran into my medicine after all.

Tonight, she would probably use that medicine to treat me again.

On the screen, Mom entered the house.

Dad immediately sat up from the sofa. “Well? Did she give you the money?”

Mom held up the card. “We’ll go to the bank tomorrow and see how much is in it.”

Dad grinned. “Yingying has really made something of herself.”

“Oh, right.” Mom lowered her voice and whispered in his ear, glancing repeatedly toward the room at the end of the hallway.

A moment later, she walked over.

“Xiao Ran, what are you doing? Come out!”

Xiao Ran’s scream erupted from inside. “Are you trying to force-feed me again? Forget it! I’m losing weight! I’m going to become beautiful! I’m not eating anything!”

Mom’s face turned livid. She pulled out the spare key and unlocked the door.

Xiao Ran came out screaming, dragged by her hair. Mom threw her to the floor so hard that her vision blurred.

Before she could recover, they had pinned down all four of her limbs.

She stared at them in terror. “What are you doing?”

Neither of them answered.

Dad lit a cigarette. “Which side of Yingying’s face is the pimple on? Don’t get it wrong.”

Mom pointed to Xiao Ran’s left cheek. “Right here. I remember.”

“And so what if I’m wrong? We can burn her a few more times. Nothing matters more than Yingying’s future.”

Their faces twisted as they held Xiao Ran down, like demons crawled straight out of hell.

Her screams were heart-rending.

Watching through the camera, I raised a hand to my left cheek.

The pimple was gone.