"I'm working as a manager at a company in the south now. Niu Niu will receive a better education with me and live a completely different life."
Tong Guoping: "Like you?"
Yang Lili nodded: "People strive for betterment, water flows to the sea. Staying in a place like this, you'll never get anywhere in life."
Tong Guoping: "I didn't expect you to be the same as always."
The girl: "I won't go with you, and besides, I'm not in school anymore."
It was already difficult enough to finish primary school in the countryside, and she had even attended middle school for a year.
"You're not going to school? How old are you that you're not going to school anymore? What will you do if you don't go to school?" Yang Lili was taken aback. After asking her daughter, she turned her sharp gaze to her ex-husband, Tong Guoping.
"When I entrusted Niu Niu to you, what did you promise me? Tong Guoping, you yourself are incompetent, do you want your child to be as useless as you? She's only fourteen, do you want to ruin her life?"
Thinking of her ex-husband's lifelong timid nature, no matter how poor their family was, he was only willing to stick to their few acres of land, even afraid to go to the city to work. Now, he had even neglected their daughter's studies. Yang Lili was furious.
"It seems I came at the right time. You can't afford to raise the child, so I'm taking her with me now. We won't be back. Having a father like you, I feel sorry for my daughter!"
Tong Guoping was reprimanded by her, his head lowered, unable to refute.
Niu Niu couldn't stand it any longer and said loudly, "What do you know? Blaming Dad without understanding the situation. After you left, Dad was sad for a long time. To support my studies, he went to the brick factory to carry bricks. He carried over a thousand bricks a day. As a result, he overexerted himself and got sick, and has been unable to do manual labor since then. On top of that, Grandma became paralyzed."
"I didn't want to go anymore. I want to help the family with my own abilities. You despise poverty and love wealth. I don't care about leaving this home, and you can't control me. But you have no right to talk about my father." As Niu Niu spoke, the tears that had been accumulating in her eyes finally fell, but she stubbornly wiped them away with her hand, not wanting to show her weakness to this woman.
Tong Guoping felt uneasy but still chided, "Niu Niu, how can you speak to your mother like that? No matter what, she gave birth to you and raised you."
Yang Lili looked at her daughter, who was like a porcupine, and said without courtesy, "You want to help the family with your own abilities? That's ridiculously naive. How old are you? What can you do to help the family?"
Niu Niu jutted her chin, "I can't do much, but I'm better than you. I didn't abandon my husband and daughter when the family was at its most difficult."
Yang Lili's hand rose in anger, but after all, she was her own daughter, and they hadn't seen each other for two years. In the end, she lowered her hand.
Tong Guoping: "Niu Niu, your mother is right. Following me will only lead to a hard life. She's doing better now, and you have a chance to study in a big city."
"Dad, do you not want me anymore either?"
Looking at his daughter's tear-streaked face, Tong Guoping felt his heart being squeezed.
"Lili, she definitely won't be able to accept it if you suddenly say you're taking her. It's too early now, why don't you stay for one night and talk to the child slowly?" Tong Guoping suggested.
Yang Lili shook her head: "This place is so small. I've already booked a room at the county guesthouse. I'll come again tomorrow. Please help me persuade her. Niu Niu is not a child anymore, she should know clearly what kind of path is best for her future."
After speaking, Yang Lili picked up her leather bag and turned to leave.
Tong Guoping chased after her: "It's almost dark, it's not safe to walk at night. Wait, I'll borrow a bicycle from the village to take you."
Yang Lili stayed at the guesthouse in town and went to Tong Family Village again the next day.
However, she was very disappointed. Her daughter still had the same attitude as yesterday, preferring to stay with the incompetent Tong Guoping rather than leave with her.
"I have other things to attend to and can't stay long. Here is two hundred yuan and my phone number. If Niu Niu changes her mind, you can contact me anytime."
Finally, Yang Lili left the money and her phone number.
After a long journey, upon arriving in the provincial capital, she planned to rest for two days, meet some acquaintances, and then go to the capital.
When Jiang Yuwei heard from a colleague that someone was looking for her, she thought it was another overconfident suitor. Just as she was about to say she wouldn't see them, she looked up and saw Yang Lili standing not far away. Yang Lili even smiled and waved at her. It took her a moment to react before she came out from behind the counter.
"Didn't expect me to come see you, old classmate."
Jiang Yuwei stared at Yang Lili, whom she could barely recognize, and nodded honestly: "You've changed quite a bit."
The person before her was wearing a cashmere coat that looked very high-end, a pair of high-heeled leather shoes, and her demeanor was completely different from when she was in college.
"I've finally returned from Pengcheng, and I wanted to see you, my classmates who helped me before. How about it, do you have time to do me the honor of treating you to a simple meal?"
Facing Yang Lili's invitation, Jiang Yuwei nodded: "Please wait a moment, I'll ask for leave from my supervisor."
After saying that, she went back behind the counter, quickly put on her outer jacket, and came out with her bag.
Jiang Yuwei thought that the "simple meal" she mentioned meant finding a casual restaurant, but she didn't expect Yang Lili to directly choose a high-end restaurant.
"It's quiet here, and convenient for us to catch up."
Jiang Yuwei came from a family with a good background and had seen a lot of the world, so her demeanor was quite calm.
However, her gaze kept unintentionally falling on Yang Lili. She couldn't help it; her transformation was indeed too great.
If it weren't for that accident back then, the opportunity to study abroad would have been hers, and perhaps she would have become like Yang Lili now.
No, she would definitely become even better.
"When did you return to the country? Have you been assigned a job?"
Hearing her question, Yang Lili couldn't help but laugh: "It's different abroad than at home; there's no such thing as being assigned a job. After graduating, I applied to a foreign-funded enterprise and am now working as a marketing department manager."
If Jiang Yuwei had felt a bit envious at first, that little bit of envy faded when she heard that Yang Lili's job was not within the system.
She casually asked, "Manager? Your salary should be quite high, right?"
Yang Lili said lightly, "A few hundred yuan a month."
A few hundred yuan?
Jiang Yuwei's hand, holding the teacup, trembled. She was completely unsettled.
Although she was a junior leader at the bank now, she only earned less than a hundred yuan a month.
It was more than ten times the difference!
Yang Lili looked at her expression and smiled, saying, "When we were in school, you and Chen Lishu had the best academic performance in the class. And the two of you were also beautiful. We were all so envious of you behind your backs."