Chapter 2

The refrigerator was crammed with vegetables whose leaves had already yellowed.

Many of the ones at the bottom had already rotted, some even oozing sour, foul-smelling liquid.

My mother came rushing into the kitchen after me.

Seeing this, even though I hadn't said a word, she'd already stiffened her neck and started defending herself.

"What are you looking at? I pick these up at the wholesale market first thing every morning. What's wrong with saving money?"

"Besides, aren't I doing perfectly fine here? Eating this stuff never made me sick!"

My hand was trembling a little as I pointed at the fridge.

"I give you five thousand dollars a month just so you can eat this kind of thing?"

"Is this what you meant when you said you had enough money?"

My mother was about to say something more, but right then came a knock at the door.

It had to be Uncle Gerald.

At the sound of the knock, my mother seemed to find her anchor, and she trotted over to open the door.

The next second, I heard her tattling.

"Gerald, you're finally here. I've been utterly humiliated today. Jessica actually took an outsider's side instead of her own mother's."

"You and your wife were right. A daughter is an ingrate who'll never care for me."

I walked out of the kitchen and met the eyes of my uncle, sitting on the couch.

The instant our eyes met, Uncle Gerald was already gearing up to lecture me.

My mother's face filled with smugness, and she turned to go make him some tea.

"Jessica, it's not that I'm criticizing you as your uncle, but that's your own mother. How can you side with an outsider?"

"Don't take it to heart when your uncle says this. I know you've got grievances against our family, but think about it. You're a daughter, and sooner or later you'll get married. Once you marry into another family, you'll belong to them."

"Who will your mother rely on then? She'll still have to rely on me, her own brother."

I'd asked my uncle to come over today because I wanted to settle this matter for good.

And if I was going to settle it, I'd start with the money.

I sat down on the other side of the coffee table, took a sheet of paper out of my bag, and pushed it in front of him.

"Since I'll be an outsider in the future, then it's time we settled this account properly. My mom is your sister, she can do whatever she wants, but my money can't be put off any longer, can it?"

"Five years ago, after working four years and scrimping and saving, I'd put aside three hundred thousand for a down payment on a place of my own. Then you borrowed that money, saying Kevin needed it to get married and buy a house."

"It's been five years now. Forget the interest, but your family should pay back the principal by now, shouldn't they?"

My uncle froze, and stood up before he could even drink the tea my mother had just poured.

"All right, Susan, I just came to check that you were okay. Since you're fine, I'll head back now, it's so late."

"You two are mother and daughter, so talk it out nicely."

With that, my uncle didn't wait for either of us to answer and walked straight out of my mother's place.

My mother's face went from pale to flushed and back.

Stupid as she was, even she could tell my uncle had no intention of paying the money back.

But instinctively she still wanted to protect her own brother.

"Why are you pushing so hard? That's your uncle, he's my brother, we're all family."

"Once they've got money, don't you think they'll pay you back? They're not strangers."

I'd long known what kind of person my mother was, but hearing her say that, I still couldn't hold back my disappointment in her.

"They're not outsiders, so does that make me the outsider?"

My mother choked, her lips working for a long moment, but in the end she said nothing more.

I didn't want to say anything more either, so I stood up to leave.

"Starting next month, I'm only giving you one thousand dollars a month."

"As for food, I'll bring it over to you every day after work."