Witches, please stop thinking about me!

Zhao Yingying took a small stool and sat down in the living room, where she began to sort and organize the recyclables she had collected that day.

After sorting and organizing, the scrap yard owner is more willing to accept some of the scrap, and the price can be increased by a penny.

"Cough cough... Yingying, get some warm water for Mom."

"Okay~"

She got up and went to the small bedroom, where Zhao Yingying's mother was lying on the bed covered with a thin blanket.

After her daughter poured her some warm water, Zhao Yuru took a couple of sips and then placed the cup on the bedside table.

She lifted the thin blanket covering her body, revealing her bare legs.

When her daughter brought her a wheelchair, Zhao Yuru supported herself on the bed and sat down.

Upon entering the living room, Zhao Yuru looked at the room full of junk, a hint of sadness flashing in her eyes.

Especially when she saw her daughter sitting on a small stool, skillfully binding waste cardboard, Zhao Yuru remained silent for a long time.

"You ran into Brother Lin Jiu again today?"

"Yes, he bought me a drink."

Sunlight streamed through the dusty window and fell on the still-steaming beverage bottle that Zhao Yingying had only taken two sips of and hadn't touched.

Zhao Yuru knew that her daughter didn't not want to drink it, but rather that she couldn't bear to part with it.

To take care of herself, even a bottle of beverage is a luxury for her daughter.

"mom."

"Um?"

Interrupted by her daughter, Zhao Yuru turned to look at the scrap materials her daughter handed her, took them, and began to tie them up.

Looking at her mother, whose thoughts had been interrupted by work, Zhao Yingying breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm going to the recycling center tomorrow, Mom, why don't you come with me?"

Zhao Yuru looked at her daughter, who didn't even look up, and nodded with her lips pursed.

As night fell, Zhao Yuru and her daughter went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the two of them.

In the cramped, narrow kitchen, Zhao Yuru sat in front of a sink made from a wooden frame that her daughter had found, with a red basin placed on top, and washed the vegetables in the basin.

Every time Zhao Yuru saw the deep incision on her left wrist, it added to her guilt towards her daughter.

That suicide attempt made the already insecure daughter even more cautious and caused her few smiles to disappear.

You can help them in an emergency, but you can't support them in poverty. Their family is poor.

After that loan, the daughter realized that she and her mother were isolated and helpless in this world.

Two plates of green vegetables, mixed with a little bit of pork fat, and the mother and daughter's dinner was ready.

On Sunday morning, the mother and daughter set off from home.

Zhao Yuru held in her arms the scrap metal that Zhao Yingying had picked up from various corners, the ones that were relatively valuable.

Zhao Yingying bent over, carrying a full snakeskin bag, and headed towards the recycling station.

At the entrance of the residential compound, Lin Jiu and the mother and daughter met again as expected.

"Aunt Zhao, are you going to the recycling center?"

"Hmm, Lin Jiu, are you buying breakfast?"

"Yeah, I'm going to Baiyun District to work as a waiter at ten o'clock, and I'll grab something to eat while I'm there."

"Are you going to the recycling center? It's on our way."

During their conversation, as Lin Jiu was being wheeled in, the three steamed buns that were individually wrapped in a plastic bag were handed to Zhao Yuru.

Zhao Yingying glanced at Lin Jiu through her eyes hidden beneath her long bangs, then tightened her grip on the snakeskin bag behind her back.

"Lin Jiu..."

"Aunt Zhao, Yingying is taking the college entrance exam soon, right?"

"Um."

"With her grades, she would definitely have no problem getting into my current university, Rongcheng University of Technology."

When her daughter's achievements were mentioned, Zhao Yuru suppressed the gratitude she hadn't yet expressed with a smile.

"Yes, I'll need your help to take good care of her then."

"Definitely."

Turning to look at Zhao Yingying, Lin Jiu reached out and patted the snakeskin bag behind her shoulder.

"This week has been quite fruitful."

Amid Lin Jiu's surprised voice, Zhao Yuru handed the steamed bun in her hand to her daughter.

Everything was so natural, just like yesterday evening when we were tacitly drinking each other's beverages by the flower bed.

Zhao Yingying ate the steamed buns in large bites, so large that her hair covered most of her cheeks, making them bulge.

A hand landed on her back, and a plastic bag of soy milk was handed to her from her right shoulder.

Taking it, Zhao Yingying whispered a thank you.

The sound was so soft that Lin Jiu almost didn't hear it.

Pushing Zhao Yuru towards the recycling station, Lin Jiu and Zhao Yuru talked along the way, while Zhao Yingying listened.

She wasn't tall to begin with, and her 1.55-meter height appeared even shorter under the weight of the snakeskin bag on her back.

Like a tender bean sprout struggling to push open a boulder.

At the entrance of the recycling station, Lin Jiu said goodbye to the mother and daughter with smiles.

Watching Lin Jiu turn and leave, and her daughter beside her, Zhao Yuru's mouth almost opened several times.

But in the end, Zhao Yuru suppressed the thought in her heart.

Because, perhaps... he felt some pity for Yingying.

The male owner of the scrap metal recycling station was very familiar with the mother and daughter, and even with Lin Jiu's back view.

"It's seventy-four dollars and seventy cents in total. I don't have any change, so I'll give you seventy-five."

"Thank you, Uncle..."

Amidst the barely audible words of thanks, the shopkeeper glanced at Zhao Yingying before looking at the next elderly woman selling her waste cardboard.

"Oh dear, old woman, why do you always sprinkle water in the middle of the cardboard boxes? I've told you so many times, if you don't collect the water, move it aside, let it dry in the sun before bringing it back!"

Leaving the recycling station, Liu Yingying passed by a stationery store and bought herself a box of ten ballpoint pens for five yuan.

A child came up and, seeing her clothes, giggled and walked around her into the shop.

Zhao Yuru took everything in, just like her daughter; she had grown accustomed to it.

However, I still feel sad sometimes.

Back home, Zhao Yingying went to her "little study" and began to study diligently.

With nothing much to do, Zhao Yuru wiped down the old furniture in the house as best she could, and then lay back down on the bed.

In her mind, she couldn't help but recall the interactions between Lin Jiu and herself and her daughter.

Let's wait until the college entrance exam is over. After the college entrance exam is over, let Yingying invite him home for a meal.

Once you're in university, you're a college student, and there aren't so many taboos anymore...

Lin Jiu continued to work as a waiter in the restaurant, even though Liu Mei had given her some money.

But great rivers are formed from small streams, and who would ever complain about having too much money?

and...

Recalling Liu Mei's subtly dangerous nature, Lin Jiu was honestly a little afraid of her.

Although the two are currently in a cooperative relationship, this cooperative relationship could end at any time.

Relying on others will lead to their downfall, relying on mountains will cause them to crumble; being strong yourself is more important than anything else.

It's like in the interrogation room, if I were driven by lust, I might actually pull out a knife and kill that witch.

Doesn't that mean I'll be completely under her thumb for the rest of my life?!

Lin Jiucai wouldn't do something so stupid; even if he was determined to eat her, he couldn't eat her like that.

At 10 p.m., Lin Jiu finally finished serving all the dishes for the day and received 125 yuan.

Lin Jiu ran all the way to the bus stop and finally caught the last bus.

Just as he was about to take out his earphones and put them on, the woman inserting coins at the entrance aroused his suspicion when the bus arrived at the stop.