Momo's Gradual Change

C2. Meeting Unacquainted.

Chapter 2: Meeting Unacquainted

After freshening up, she came out to find breakfast already set on the table - boiled eggs, white porridge, and a plate of homemade side dishes. Song Yimo's eyes turned red as she looked at the pickled vegetables her grandma made. They were the most delicious, even though she had learned how to make them herself under her grandma's guidance. People who tried them all said they were delicious, but she had tasted even better ones, and upon comparison, she knew they were lacking in flavor.

"Do you think you can be full just by looking at it?" the old lady came over after washing her hands, about to sit down when they heard a knock at the door.

"Good morning, Grandma Song, I'm here to see Mo Mo."

"Come in, have you had breakfast?"

The girl who came in was tall and sun-kissed, with short hair exuding energy and vitality. She seemed to be full of vigor, completely different from Song Yimo.

Song Yimo resisted the urge to rush forward and instead stood up, opening her arms towards her, "You've turned into charcoal after not seeing you for a whole summer, come here for a hug."

"Haha, my mom says my teeth are so white now, she wishes she could bleach me." The girl ran over and gave her a tight hug, then pinched her face, "Your skin is so tender, it looks like water can be squeezed out of it. My mom said you didn't go out all summer?"

"I'm not made of clay." Song Yimo swatted her hand away, sat down next to her, handed her an egg, and peeled one for her grandma. During this process, she thought of what happened over the summer.

She had successfully entered the top high school after her exams, with two months of vacation without homework. She had planned to find a job to help out, as her grandma's pension supported the two of them, and even though they managed to get by, times were not easy. She wanted to contribute in any way she could.

But her grandma gave her an address to find her mother and personally tell her she got into the top school.

It had been many years since she last saw her mother, and she harbored resentment, but her innate love for her mother made her hold onto the hope of a happy reunion. She wanted to tell her mother, who abandoned her, that she was doing well without her and had even made it into the top school. She didn't need her.

Yet, two days later, she returned with a defeated look on her face. It wasn't that she didn't find the place or see the person - she did see her, and she looked just as she remembered, barely aged at all. In fact, she looked even more beautiful after dressing up, especially when she smiled. But that smile wasn't for her.

She was holding a boy who looked about seven or eight years old, very much like her. She heard him call her 'mommy'.

As they passed each other, her gaze was distant, treating her like a stranger. None of the imagined scenes she had conjured up on the way came to fruition; the person she should have called mother didn't even recognize her.

Until then, she had always believed that her mother's absence had a valid reason, and her grandma had always spoken highly of her mother. But this scene proved that it was a complete lie.

From start to finish, she was the one who wasn't needed, and was even considered to be surplus.

After returning, she didn't speak to her grandma for days. Her grandma just sighed and didn't say much. Song Yimo remembered that since then, her grandma never mentioned that person in front of her. She spent the whole summer entangled in this matter, with no energy to go out.

Song Grandma's chewing stopped as she now looked worriedly at her granddaughter. She felt like she couldn't swallow the egg yolk anymore, feeling her sinful daughter was agonizing!

"This is the last stress-free vacation before high school. Of course, I have to sleep enough at home. Do you think you can still have the luxury of waking up naturally in high school for three years?"

Miao Zhiruo nodded seriously, "No wonder you're so pale, even whiter and tenderer than this peeled egg."

"Zhiruo..."

"Okay, enough, enough." Miao Zhiruo rolled her eyes in annoyance, "I must overthrow this evil force and change my name."

Miao's mother was a Jin Yong fan in her youth. Unlike others who admired Zhao Min's fearless love in "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber," her favorite character was Zhou Zhiruo. After getting married and giving birth to a daughter, she named her Zhiruo. She even regretted that her husband's last name wasn't Zhou...

The victim, her classmate Miao Zhiruo, was teased from a young age because of this name, and she got into fights because of it. She drifted further away from her mother's expectations, resembling Zhao Min's personality more and more. Every time Miao's mother talked about it, she and her daughter had the same expression when being called Zhiruo, and the mother-daughter pair often bantered about it.

"Both of you, hurry up and eat." Grandma Song watched the two of them helplessly, feeling relieved when she saw her granddaughter smiling heartily again.

Eating the egg white and stirring the yolk into the porridge had been Song Yimo's habit for years. She didn't like eating the yolk, but she never refused it just because she didn't like it. Their family's financial situation was such that her grandma insisted on giving her a daily egg for nutrition.

"Miao Miao, shall we go register together later? Will your mom or dad take you?"

Miao Zhiruo slapped her forehead, "I forgot why I came here. My dad said he's going to the company first and will come back to take us to register. Grandma Song, you should rest at home today, it's hot this morning."