Chapter 8: Comparison

“This child is really cute. She looks just like the little teddy bear I used to give my daughter, but she seems a bit thin. Is she a picky eater?”

The woman, who resembled Luo Yun, gently stroked He Rou’s head.

“Her father and I are both too busy with work, so we can’t always look after her. But luckily, the company’s crisis has been resolved this time.”

He Rou’s mother said this while moving her head to He Rou’s shoulder, rubbing their cheeks together.

“When the weekend comes, Mom and Dad will take you out to play, okay?”

He Rou’s mother had a broad smile on her face.

That smile not only carried satisfaction over the work being done, but also surprise that her daughter had actually listened to what she had said before and followed through.

Just as the man and woman were chatting about their own topics, Luo Yun and her grandmother walked in from the back door of the garden.

“Mom!”

Luo Yun shouted loudly, then rushed over to her mother.

“Xiao Yun, haha, really, your friend is still here.”

Luo Yun’s mother held Luo Yun, her eyes full of affection.

After hearing her mother’s words, Luo Yun turned her head and indeed saw He Rou slumped on the sofa.

Maybe it was because her mother’s words actually worked, or because Luo Yun thought acting like this in front of He Rou was embarrassing.

In any case, she let go of her mother and returned to her usual demeanor.

He Rou shrank her head, looking at the situation.

It all felt unreal to her.

Her parents, who she barely saw in a single day, were now meeting her at the home of someone she had just met yesterday.

All of this made her uneasy.

Besides, her mother’s attitude toward her now was completely different from before.

‘If she really loved me, how could she send her own child back to her hometown and abandon her to take care of her own affairs?’

“Xiao Yun, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you make a new friend before. Your father and I weren’t prepared for a sudden visit today.”

“Uh… no, He Rou just came to exchange painting ideas. It really was sudden today. Sorry.”

“I’ve never blamed you, Xiao Yun. I worry about you. After all, a person without friends is very lonely. Loneliness is the most painful thing in this world.”

Luo Yun’s mother looked at her daughter with delight, as if she was very happy and welcoming about He Rou’s arrival.

Meanwhile, in He Rou’s mother’s mind, she had already started planning any future benefit activities between He Rou and Luo Yun.

Elementary school to lay the foundation of friendship, middle and high school to accompany each other in study and life, and even later—she needed He Rou as a pawn to secure the Wen family’s interests.

As for why He Rou was here, the couple didn’t care.

He Rou’s mother gently stroked He Rou, who was shrinking into her collar.

The emotion in her eyes formed a stark contrast to that of Luo Yun’s mother beside her.

He Rou’s birth was an accident.

The two had been in love since high school, and every subsequent time period was precisely planned.

The consequence of a one-night stand when they graduated from college was an extremely troublesome hot potato for them.

They couldn’t take care of her at work, and in life, they couldn’t even guarantee their own health.

They didn’t love He Rou.

The one they loved was the next child—the one they could ensure they gave all their love to.

As for He Rou, let her be the stepping stone for the next child’s wonderful life.

“Ladies, children, dinner is ready. Let’s end the topic and start tonight’s celebration.”

…

Dinner was over.

He Rou was taken back by her parents.

Luo Yun watched He Rou leave, feeling somewhat dissatisfied.

After all, tonight was supposed to be all planned out—to depict her truest self.

Her parents’ appearance was an accident, and He Rou’s parents appearing was completely unexpected.

In any case, she was very angry tonight.

After the entire estate quieted down, Luo Yun went to the studio.

She picked up her brush again, wanting to draw something, but tonight’s subject was already gone, and it was hard to improvise.

Just as she was about to put it all aside and go to sleep, in a corner of the studio, the painting that He Rou had casually thrown there lay quietly on the floor.

Luo Yun walked over, picked up the painting, and laughed.

During the day, she had only glanced at it a few times and hadn’t examined it carefully.

But now, looking at it again, she had a different feeling.

A feeling of seeing her own painting style fully reflected in someone else’s work.

It was like many people chasing the styles of great historical painters.

Addictive.

Then, she placed the painting in a conspicuous spot, planning to frame it tomorrow.

Meanwhile, lying on the bed in her own room, He Rou couldn’t sleep.

Her mother’s almost gentle attitude today was something she had never experienced before.

This kind of feigned tenderness made her feel sick.

And tonight, all the topics at dinner revolved around Luo Yun, not her.

They didn’t even care why she was at Luo Yun’s home.

A feeling of being forgotten and unloved quickly spread through her entire body.

In any case, she couldn’t sleep tonight.

A child who is not loved is always so melancholy.

She was eight years old now. In a while, it would be her ninth birthday. In her memory, her parents had never celebrated her birthday, and on her eighth birthday, they hadn’t even bought a cake.

He Rou didn’t think she was a bad child.

She had never caused trouble outside.

She knew her parents didn’t love her, but she still wanted to try—what if that love she had never seen was the result of her own efforts?

So, she met Luo Yun today.

After that, she would do anything her parents asked of her for their sake.

And for the reward after completing the tasks?

She didn’t ask for much.

Just wanted her parents to celebrate her birthday once.

To let her feel what it was like to be loved.

After seeing how much Luo Yun’s mother loved her child today, she realized that there really were parents who treated their children as treasures in the palm of their hands.

At that moment, she shrank her head and thought in her mind—‘If only I were Luo Yun.’

‘If only that love were mine.’

Tonight, the moonlight was blocked by dark clouds.

Sleeping by the window, she couldn’t feel the light.

And the love she longed for would never come true in the distant future.

Imprisonment, torment, pain, atonement, sickness, humiliation…

From the moment she met Luo Yun today, these words had grown like seeds, paving He Rou’s future.

That road was bound to be full of thorns.

By the time she finally reached the section where she was loved, her feet would be covered in scars.

The person who loved her would burn the entire road behind them and replant seeds of love and possession.

A life of being loved is not all sunshine, and a life of misery will gradually become the norm again.