Chapter 248: [My Mother] Might as Well Destroy It All
“Teacher?”
The homeroom teacher snapped back to reality, realizing her face was drenched in tear tracks. She wiped away her tears hurriedly, nodding with solemn intensity as well.
“Alright, Teacher promises you. Teacher will call her Hong-mei, alright?”
Bai Cha nodded, her face bursting into a radiant smile.
“Then I’ll head out first. Don’t tell her I’m not here!”
“Alright, be careful out there alone. How about I ask another teacher to accompany you?” The homeroom teacher truly felt a bit uneasy.
Bai Cha hesitated, asking, “Is any teacher free right now?”
“Your art teacher is free. I’ll let her know; it won’t take much time, and she has a small electric scooter to take you around.”
The homeroom teacher strode into the office like a gust of wind, explaining the situation in a few quick sentences.
The art teacher hadn’t really understood the full story, but she agreed regardless—after all, it was just accompanying a child.
Although she actually had a class to teach.
Cough, anyway, if the homeroom teacher said she had no class, then she had no class.
The art teacher owned a small electric scooter. Mounting it with Bai Cha, she slipped out quietly through the back gate.
Because they feared running into Bai Cha’s mother at the front entrance.
After stepping outside, the art teacher asked her: “Where do you want to go?”
“Let’s go to the shopping street.”
“Alright!”
The town held only one shopping center, which was essentially a sprawling pedestrian street where numerous shops clustered together.
“You want to buy a gift for your mom, right? What are you planning to buy?”
Arriving at the destination, the art teacher found a spot to park the scooter, holding Bai Cha’s hand with one arm as they began browsing the shops.
Bai Cha had already planned everything out before coming.
“My mom was born in ’76, turning thirty-two this year. I plan to buy thirty-two gifts for her!”
The art teacher’s eyes lit up.
“Wonderful! If I were your mom, I’d be thrilled to death! Did you bring enough money?”
“Enough! This is a list I secretly made before coming. I’m not familiar with this area and haven’t gone out to buy things on my own before. Teacher, help me take a look!”
Bai Cha drew out a sheet of paper.
Written directly upon it was what all thirty-two gifts were, starting from her thirty-second year and working all the way down.
The art teacher scanned the page, her eye rims turning slightly red with emotion.
“No problem! Teacher lives right around here—I’ll take you! Let’s aim to knock this out quickly and head back early!”
Bai Cha nodded, and the two swept through virtually the entire pedestrian street.
The art teacher possessed a rather lively personality, occasionally asking passersby directly on the curb, allowing them to gather all the items in short order.
However, many items lacked gift boxes, requiring the packaging boxes to be purchased separately.
All in all, across the entire process, even the art teacher felt thoroughly exhausted.
Lowering her head to glance at Bai Cha, she noticed her complexion had grown visibly paler, her forehead drenched in sweat, yet she clutched the items without uttering a single complaint.
A wave of self-blame instantly consumed the teacher’s heart.
“How about you wait here for a moment while I ride the scooter over?”
Bai Cha shook her head.
“It’s just a few steps away. Let’s go—we can find a place to wrap the items. I still have some words I want to write to my mom.”
“Alright, let’s head to my place then.”
Saying this, the art teacher took a portion of the items from her hands regardless.
Having graduated and worked for merely a year, she still resided at home, currently single without a partner.
Consequently, upon arriving home, they happened to run straight into the art teacher’s mother. The moment the woman caught sight of the pile of items in the art teacher’s arms, her eyes widened as she snapped without hesitation:
“What a sin! What did you buy all these things for? Didn’t you go to work? Spending so much money every day, who could afford to marry you?”
“Hello, Grandma. These aren’t Teacher’s—they’re mine,” Bai Cha poked her head out from behind the art teacher.
The art teacher’s mother finally noticed Bai Cha, pausing in surprise.
“This is…”
“Aiya, it’s a long story! We’re pressed for time—I’ll explain to you when I get back.”
The art teacher hurried into her bedroom, signaling Bai Cha to follow.
Before closing the bedroom door, muttered complaints could still be heard from outside:
“With a temperament like that every day, how is she ever going to get married? Graduated for a year already and still can’t find a partner—drives me to death with worry!”
The art teacher let out a deep sigh, rubbing Bai Cha’s head.
“Tell me if you need my help—I have paintbrushes and art supplies here.”
Bai Cha nodded and set about her work.
This could be considered helping Han Yingying fulfill her original wish as well.
Back during the “Passing with Flying Colors” instance, Han Yingying’s final wish had been for her mother to live well.
Regrettably, during that instance, she held no possibility of helping her fulfill that wish.
Meanwhile, over on Mother Han’s end, she was still chatting with the homeroom teacher.
In truth, it was primarily Mother Han weeping continuously in an emotional breakdown.
Coming to the school, she naturally sought to see her daughter; the moment the homeroom teacher inquired about Bai Cha’s situation, she lost control completely.
“I genuinely didn’t know that would harm her…”
The homeroom teacher comforted her for a long time, asking numerous questions regarding Bai Cha’s situation at home to stall for time.
Although in truth, after Bai Cha departed, she felt her own actions carried a touch of absurdity.
After all, that was a child suffering from a severe illness—how could they allow her to act willfully outside on her own? If something went wrong and the parent sought accountability, teachers like them would inevitably bear the responsibility.
Yet Bai Cha’s words made it exceedingly difficult for her to remain unmoved.
“Sister Hong-mei, you don’t need to blame yourself. The child never blamed you, and she loves you deeply. What she wants most is for you to be well too.”
Mother Han fell silent.
She shook her head.
“My life is set like this anyway. I only hope she can get better, hope she can understand me. As long as she gets better, I will be fine—I am truly unimportant.”
The homeroom teacher parted her lips, somewhat at a loss for what to say.
With rimmed-red, swollen eyes, Mother Han stared at the trees in the schoolyard, their lush green leaves swaying gently.
“Tell me… I wake early and work till dark every day, earning that pitiful bit of money outside, coming home to care for everyone top to bottom, only to end up despised in the end—unable to earn money, useless for anything. After the divorce, I raised the child alone, terrified I couldn’t provide a good environment for her, terrified I wouldn’t raise her well. I’ve been working so hard to earn money because I don’t want people to look down on her.”
“Teacher Zhang, am I truly such a failure? My maiden family despises me, thinking I’m unpresentable, uneducated, an embarrassment. After getting married, I was despised every single day as well. I worked so hard at home, yet they still claimed I did a poor job. I worked hard outside to earn money too, but they said the pitiful amount I earned was worse than staying home—and when I stayed home, they claimed I refused to go out and earn money.”
“Now Ying-ying is… she refuses to listen to me again. All those good things I did for her ended up harming her instead, so it’s all my fault. Does she resent me? Otherwise, why does she always look at me like that? Otherwise, why does she always reject me?”
“Why?”
A crimson hue began spreading through the depths of Mother Han’s eyes once more.
Why was her life always such a failure? Why was her daughter going to leave her as well?
Destroy all of this and start anew!
She wanted to start over!
A bit earlier—perhaps if it were a bit earlier, everything would be fine!
A bit earlier, and she could make up for it!
She would exert every ounce of strength to make up for it; things could definitely be changed!
Yes—destroy this world and start anew!
Black mist began radiating outward from around Mother Han’s body.
“Ms. Han Hongmei, do you know why I’ve been calling you by your name today?”
The homeroom teacher naturally couldn’t discern the changes on Mother Han’s body, yet she felt an empathetic grief and anger toward Mother Han’s words, causing her tone to turn far more solemn as well.
She repeated Bai Cha’s words from earlier today.
“Your daughter said that you are Han Hongmei first, and only then her mom. You have your own name.”
Han Hongmei froze, the dangerous aura surrounding her halting in an instant.
