And of course, the supporting characters had to be idiots too. My aunt, the so–called “master teacher” who had taught countless prodigies, became Celeste’s number one fan. She stopped teaching me, even saying that only Celeste was “worthy of her time.”
The irony was, that single performance was purely for the plot. The author then seemed to forget about this particular superpower,
and Celeste never touched a piano again.
I played the piece Mrs. Torrence had requested, deliberately making a few mistakes.
Even so, she was so excited she immediately called my aunt.
“Aria, I’ve found a genius for you! Get over here! I’m sending you the address!”
Half an hour later, my aunt, whose name
A
1
AV
”
A
also Aria, was staring at me in the postpartum care center, completely speechless.
“Mom, I know you like this kid, but this is a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Do you have any idea how difficult Petrushka is? I’ve taught so many students, and I can count on one hand the number who can
play it flawlessly. And you’re telling me this baby…‘
I didn’t let her finish. I just pressed the keys of my toy piano and started to play.
A baby doesn’t need perfect fingerwork. As long as the melody is right, the word “genius” is well–deserved.
at
me
as
if I
she was
རད་པ་དང་་ད་ད་ངོ་ཚ་ན་འོད་་་བཅུན་འག་ད་གཏད་འཀ་ཀ་དཀར་ར༣
Sure enough, after just a few notes, Aria’s expression changed. By the time I finished a short passage,
were a priceless treasure.
“This isn’t a genius…”
“If this isn’t a genius, then what…”
“This is Stravinsky reincarnated!”
I successfully became Aria’s student.
My mother finally realized that relying on Celeste’s mother to get her into high society was a long shot. Relying on me was a sure thing. She was now at my beck and call, anticipating my every need before I even had to ask.
If I raised my hand, it was time for piano practice. If I stretched my leg, it was time for exercise. If I looked at the clock, it was time for the news…
After we left the care center, my mother gradually returned to work.
“Thanks to Big Bro Z for the castle! You rock, Big Bro Z!”
“Thanks to Baby Boo for the rocket! Mwah, love you, Boo!”
I sat in the corner, facepalming. Being an influencer wasn’t shameful, but being the kind who just screamed and flattered her view- ers with no actual talent wasn’t exactly what the Torrences were looking for in a daughter–in–law.
I decided it was time to put my mother on a new training regimen.
Using her spare phone, I registered her for a few… services. Soon, her phone was flooded with calls and texts.
“Debutante training? Guaranteed marriage into high society? Is this for real? … Maybe I should give it a try?”
I wasn’t a huge fan of these finishing schools. It wasn’t that they didn’t teach valuable skills; it was that they were too advanced for my mother. But at the very least, learning some basic etiquette was better than screaming “Big Bro Z rocks!” all day.
1660
Chapter 2
And so, my mother was forced to start grinding too.
16.00
In the mornings, she’d exercise with me. In the afternoons, she’d take me to Aria’s piano school, then rush off to her own classes
before coming back to pick me up. At night, she’d continue her livestreaming to make money while I read, played chess, and did
practice problems beside her.
This continued until my first birthday.
To my surprise, two days before my birthday, after almost a year of no contact, Celeste’s mother reached out to my mother.
“Anna, have you planned Nina’s first birthday party yet?”
“I’ve booked the entire top floor of the Grand Coastal Hotel for Celeste’s party. It’s all paid for, but some of my relatives from out of
town can’t make it, so we have a few empty tables. If you haven’t made plans yet, why don’t we celebrate together?”
After the poisoned formula incident, Celeste’s mother had moved out, but she and my mother were still friends on social media.
She had blamed the incident on a careless maid and transferred a hundred thousand dollars to my mother as compensation. My
and deleted her.
mother, for once, had stood her ground, returned the mont
Now, almost a year later, she was back with a friend request and this generous offer. It was obvious she
I was worried. My mother loved a freebie.
And I was right to be worried. Despite my repeated warnings that I didn’t like Celeste or her
invitation.
On the morning of my birthday, I sat in the taxi on the way
to the
hotel,
my face a thundercloud
was
up
to
no
good.
a
secretly
accepted the
eg
“Anna Chen, have you forgotten how she tricked you into feeding me poisoned formula?”
My mother looked away guiltily. “Sharon explained it to me. It was an accident, one of her maids broke a thermometer…”
“What did you learn in a whole year of debutante school? A maid ‘accidentally‘ breaking a thermometer in the formula tin is the same as you ‘accidentally‘ dropping a roofie into a rich guy’s drink.”
Just then, my mother’s hand flew to her pocket. It was empty. Her face changed.
“Oh no, I forgot something!”
I looked up at her, a ridiculous thought entering my head. No, it can’t be. After a year of grinding with me, and a year of finishing school, she can’t possibly be as dumb as she was before… right?
I was wrong. So very wrong.
“Anna! Come, let me introduce you. This is the second son of the Shen family, the eldest son of the Si family, the fourth son of the
Lu family…”
When I walked into the hotel ballroom and saw the guests Celeste’s mother had invited, then glanced at my mother’s greedy, wolf-
in–a–sheep–pen expression, I knew my premonition had come true.
