Yun Hua ran like the wind.
In the end, she finally got home at the usual time.
"Hua Hua, I made you snow fungus soup. It's in the kitchen. Go and get it yourself." Her mother, Jiang Huanqing, came out of her room. She had just finished showering and was cleaning up the house.
Yun Hua suddenly smiled after staring at her mother for a second before she ran over to Jiang Huanqing and wrapped her arms around the latter's elbow like a spoiled child. "Mom, have some with me. Snow fungus is good for skin care. You should eat more."
"I'm an old woman. There's no need for any skin care." Jiang Huanqing barely contained her laughter. "You must eat more. It's good for your health."
Yun Hua blinked her eyes. "Who dares to say my mom is old? You're young and beautiful. It's just that you don't like to doll up."
Jiang Huanqing reached out and knocked on Yun Hua's forehead once with her knuckles. "What has gotten into you today? You know exactly how old I am. What purpose is there to make myself look good?"
"But, Mom, look at Xiao… Auntie Xiao. She uses so many different beauty products every day and takes all those skincare supplements. She practically looks like a 20-year-old woman after putting on makeup, and she's already in her thirties! Auntie Xiao and Xiao Ruyue are mother and daughter, but people always mistake them for sisters when they go out together," Yun Hua insisted.
"I know. Auntie Xiao is a teacher at Nanxi Middle School, which is also your school. She must apply makeup to look presentable. I don't go to work. All I do is stay at home to care for you and your father. Why should I bother to doll up? Quit your pestering. Go and eat. It won't be nice once it's cold," said Jiang Huanqing with a smile. "Oh, there's soup for your father too. Will you heat it up too? He should be home any minute now."
Yun Hua bit her lip and went to eat her soup sullenly.
Her mother was always like that, putting Yun Hua and her father before herself. She came from a poor family in the countryside. Even now, when she was doing much better financially, Jiang Huanqing would never spend a penny more on herself. She was always there for Yun Hua and her father. As thrifty as she was, she wouldn't scrimp on anything that was meant for her daughter and her husband.
However, what did she get in return for being such a kind mother?
Jiang Huanqing could never have foreseen her husband and her best friend committing adultery behind her back.
Yun Hua bit on her spoon in agony as she recalled her mother's tragic death in her previous life.
"Look at you. Still biting the spoon at your age. You will damage your teeth." Jiang Huanqing came over, and she then poked at Yun Hua's head. "Go answer the call. It's Ruyue."
Yun Hua was stunned for a moment. She then put her spoon down and walked away to answer the phone call.
Xiao Ruyue was not one to waste time.
It was the same in her previous life.
When she had been stripped naked in the stadium—in full view of everyone—by Han Lulu, Xiao Ruyue had called her household phone to ask if she had arrived home safely.
At that time, her mother had answered the call. Jiang Huanqing had panicked at whatever Xiao Ruyue said and called her husband, Yun Congjun, in a hurry before leaving to search for Yun Hua.
She searched everywhere, along the way between the school and their home and even the alleyways.
Finally, they found Yun Hua trembling outside by the school fence.
The next day, photographs of Yun Hua wearing only her sexy lingerie, and the ones after she had been stripped naked, were already circulating throughout the whole school when she arrived.
Someone even printed Yun Hua's humiliating photographs and scattered them like confetti from the school rooftop.
From then on, it was rumored among the students that Yun Hua would go to the salon by the roadside to work as a hostess after the evening self-study sessions.