8
The shopping street was crowded with people
rushing home from work.
She yelled, “Nina! No wonder you didn’t want
a child; you’re using Jason’s father’s money
to support a boyfriend! You hussy!”
I shook her off, retorting,
“Catherine, your son cheated, we’re divorced;
mind your own business.”
Onlookers started pointing, making Catherine
embarrassed.
She glanced at Jason, giving him the eye. She yelled, “I brought Jason to see you. How do you call yourself a mother? Even after a
divorce, you can’t ignore your son!”
I coldly replied, “How am I ignoring him? I pay
child support on time, don’t I?”
Catherine cried and wailed like a shrew.
“That little money is nothing! You must come home every week to see him. You have time
for men, but not for your son!”
Her words garnered sympathy from the
onlookers.
She continued, spitting venom, telling
everyone how selfish and irresponsible I was,
how I abandoned my family and was
promiscuous.
Coach Xu couldn’t stand it anymore, grabbing
her.
“Old woman, apologize, or I’ll sue you for
defamation!”
I looked at Jason, who was hanging his head.
I spoke with venom,
“Catherine, you’ve changed so much. Don’t forget, you pride yourself on being modern and independent, a lead dancer in your dance troupe; don’t behave so uncouthly.”
Jason, extremely selfish and proud, wouldn’t
help his grandmother garner sympathy.
His face fell; he pulled Catherine away.
“Grandma, why are you looking at her? She
doesn’t care about me now, she’ll get old
someday!”
Then, defiantly, he challenged me,
“Hah, what are you so proud of? When I grow
up, I won’t acknowledge you. When you’re old
and sick, I’ll pull your oxygen tube!”
The crowd booed, the situation reversed.
Catherine was furious, almost breathless.
I barely suppressed my laughter.
My foolish son, he must not have noticed that his grandmother had aged significantly in a
few days.
If she wasn’t desperate, she wouldn’t have
come here to beg me to take care of Jason. Watching Jason leave firmly, I looked at his
back.
Son, do keep it up.
Then, I apologized to the coach.
He looked at me, pointing, “That’s your son?”
I calmly nodded, “Yes, my own.”
He was speechless.
I smiled faintly and said goodbye.
It’s nothing. I know that while family love is
selfless, there are heartless mothers and
ungrateful children.
If I hadn’t seen the end, I wouldn’t have
believed that the son I raised with such effort
hated me so much.
Every time he hurt me, I consoled myself-
He’s still young, he doesn’t understand. I’ll
teach him; he’ll change.
But no matter how much I tried,
he couldn’t see others‘ efforts, nor did he
learn gratitude.
He inherited the coldness and selfishness of
the Zhou family, even to the point of not even
pretending.
