My boyfriend and I were found out for having a premature relationship.
The homeroom teacher called our parents and his mother was berating me.
The skinny middle-aged woman is standing in front of me, saliva flying as she speaks:
"You're still young and already know how to seduce men! My son, Shu Hua, is going to Tsinghua or Peking University in the future!
"You're just some lowlife who doesn't even clean yourself up, probably just going to a vocational school and working on a factory assembly line in the future!
"Do you take responsibility for wasting his time?"
I wiped off the saliva stars she sprayed on my face and turned to look at my boyfriend, Shu Hua.
He avoided my gaze, not saying a word.
My mom angrily interjected,
"What are you saying? Good grades don't mean anything, maybe he's just a bookworm!"
Mrs. Jiang's anger only intensified upon hearing this.
"My son's grades are at least 100 points higher than all of yours combined! What kind of trash are you? Let me take care of yours!"
She tried to slap me, but my mom stopped her.
The two women started wrestling, causing chaos.
Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open.
Class monitor Ting Qiu walked in with a stack of papers, her eyes constantly darting over here.
Mrs. Jiang recognized Ting Qiu, who had previously given a presentation as the top student in the grade at a parent-teacher conference.
Seeing Ting Qiu come in only made Mrs. Jiang more angry, and she sneered,
"If my son wants someone, he wouldn't choose someone like yours, a waste of space. If he wants someone, he'll choose the top student in the grade!"
I saw Qiu Ting's face turn slightly red and sneakily looked at Shu Hua.
Shu Hua looked back at her, but quickly looked away.
...
The drama finally ended with the homeroom teacher giving each of us 50 swats with a ruler.
Shu Hua may have good grades, but my family is well-off and we frequently gave gifts to the homeroom teacher.
The homeroom teacher didn't want to say much about me, only stating,
"Students, focus on your studies. Qiaoru, you two should focus on your studies in the future."
I could tell the homeroom teacher still favored Shu Hua.
After all, a relationship between the last place student and the second to last place student would be seen as me holding Shu Hua back no matter who was involved.
I pursed my lips and replied, "Understood, teacher."
The homeroom teacher gave us a half day off and told us to go home and calm down.
My mom led me out of the school gate, and surprisingly, she didn't blame me anymore.
I looked at the blood marks on her face, caused by Mrs. Jiang's slaps, and felt a sour pain in my heart.
I had embarrassed her.
Because of my poor grades, she spent a lot of money to get me into a prestigious high school and constantly gave gifts and treated the teachers to meals, just hoping they would take care of me.
I was the last place student, and she didn't even have the courage to argue with others because of her status as a rich, arrogant woman, instead bowing and apologizing to the teachers in a low voice.
Because the other person's son was second to last in the grade and I was last, anyone would have seen it as my fault.
Others said she didn't know how to educate her child, and she couldn't refute it as a proud person.
"Mom..."
I walked up to her hesitantly, opening my mouth but not knowing what to say.
My mom looked back at me, her expression somewhat tired.
After a while, her eyes reddened.
"Can't you defend your mom's honor?"
At that moment, I finally understood what it meant to feel heartache.
My mom was such a strong person, I had never seen her cry in the 16 years I had been alive.
But now, she was crying because someone had insulted her daughter and she didn't have the courage to fight back.
It felt like someone was squeezing my heart, writhing with pain.
In that moment, I suddenly realized something.
I told myself that I had to defend my mom's honor.
I'll go to Tsinghua University, damn it!