She bustled back and forth with bowls and chopsticks, and when she noticed someone trying to pull her into a conversation, she immediately changed the subject with a cheerful laugh.

"Oh, Aunt Zhang, your grandson did well on his exams this time, didn’t he? I hear he’ll be able to get into a key middle school next year? Come, come, have a drink! We have to congratulate you in advance!"

Her words both flattered the woman and diverted the attention.

Shanshan and Ling Zhiwei were at a large table surrounded by a group of kids.

The dozen or so kids were chattering and clamoring, their noise enough to make one’s head throb.

Only Cao Jiajia was huddled by herself on a small stool in the furthest corner of the dining room, clutching a worn-out teddy bear.

From time to time, she would raise her eyes to look at the group of laughing children, her lips curling slightly.

But no matter how aloof she tried to act, the moment someone unintentionally mentioned an embarrassing story from her childhood, her face would instantly flush beet red.

"SOB SOB SOB! You’re bullying me!"

Finally, someone brought up an old story about how her accent had once made her the butt of a joke. She shot to her feet, tears bursting from her eyes.

"You all look down on me! You’re ganging up to make fun of me!"

With that shout, she turned and bolted out of the room without a backward glance.

Hearing the sobs, Liu Yingzi whipped her head around and caught sight of her daughter’s retreating figure.

Her heart clenched, and she instinctively felt that her daughter had been terribly wronged.

Her gaze drifted involuntarily toward Zhang Yunhua, as if seeking an explanation.

But Zhang Yunhua was now the battalion commander’s wife; her status was no longer what it once was, and Liu Yingzi didn’t dare offend her.

She could only clench her jaw, quickly get up, and chase after her.

"Jiajia! Jiajia, wait for Mommy! It’s cold outside, don’t run off!"

"SOB SOB SOB... Mommy, they’re all ignoring me, and they’re talking bad about me behind my back! They’re bringing up stuff from when I was little, laughing at me for being a hick, calling me stupid... I want to go home. Can we please go home? I’m not coming back here, ever again!"

Cao Jiajia threw herself into her mother’s arms, her face a mess of tears and snot.

Liu Yingzi crouched down, took out a tissue, and gently wiped her daughter’s tears.

Looking at her daughter’s reddened eyes and listening to her repetitive complaints, she simply felt exhausted.

"They won’t talk to me, and they keep gossiping with that girl, talking about the embarrassing things I used to do! What gives them the right to treat me like this? Mommy, why don’t you stand up for me?"

"Sigh... It’s all Mommy and Daddy’s fault. We’ve let you down. If it weren’t for what happened back then... if it weren’t for all the trouble our family went through, you wouldn’t be all alone now, getting bullied like this."

Liu Yingzi finally let out a sigh, her eyes reddening as well.

Without further hesitation, she turned and took Cao Jiajia to a relative’s house to pick up the luggage they had stored there earlier.

Without saying goodbye to anyone, she led her still-sobbing daughter out of the noisy compound.

On the way, Cao Daqiang, just coming home from the base, spotted his wife and daughter from a distance, waiting for a ride on a street corner.

"Have you eaten?"

The moment they saw him, the mother and daughter’s expressions darkened.

"Do you have any idea how wronged our daughter was today?"

"Exactly! It’s all your fault!"

Cao Jiajia chimed in angrily, her eyes red-rimmed.

"If you were the one who got promoted, who would dare treat me like this? You let someone else snatch away a deputy section chief position. Tell me, are you pathetic or what?"

Cao Daqiang’s brow furrowed sharply.

"What are you trying to say?"

"You think I’m useless, is that it? You think I’m an embarrassment to you, is that it?"

Liu Yingzi sneered, not backing down in the slightest. Instead, she took a step forward.

"That’s right. If you were really capable, would you still be stuck at the rank of deputy company commander after more than a decade in the military? You should have climbed higher long ago! If my parents hadn’t pulled strings for you back then and gotten you into the Guard Regiment, you would’ve been kicked out! You wouldn’t have even gotten a decent post!"

"You!"

Cao Daqiang’s finger shot out, pointing at her.

But he bit back the words on the tip of his tongue.

He had no background, no powerful connections; he was only able to hold on to this job thanks to his in-laws’ influence.

If they had a complete falling out, he wouldn’t even have a place to live.

"Fine! If you all think I’m so useless, then I won’t stay in this house!"

Before the words were even out of his mouth, he swung himself onto his bicycle and sped off.

He rode all the way back to the base and went straight to the guardhouse.

The small room, less than ten square meters, contained only an iron bed, a desk, and a broken chair.

He pulled his belongings out of a locker, haphazardly spread out his blanket, and sat down heavily on the edge of the bed.

This wasn’t the first time they had fought like this.

Every time, he was the one to bow his head and apologize first.

But this time, he simply couldn’t stomach the insult.

Meanwhile, Liu Yingzi didn’t think much of it at all.

She led her daughter home.

"You have to do us proud! In a few days, some officials are coming for an inspection, and the school is choosing student representatives to greet them. If you can get on stage to give a speech and make the officials remember you, everything will be easier in the future!"

Cao Jiajia listened intently, engraving those words into her heart.

The next day, the homeroom teacher announced the preliminary list of student representatives in class.

Cao Jiajia listened with pricked ears as name after name was read out, but hers wasn’t among them.

She shot up from her seat.

"Teacher! This is unfair! Why pick them and not me? How am I any worse than them?"

The teacher frowned and looked up at her.

"You’re supposed to raise your hand in class, have you forgotten? You can’t just interrupt."

A few students secretly exchanged glances, and someone lowered their head to stifle a laugh.

To keep the situation from getting too awkward, the teacher patiently offered an explanation.

"This selection is primarily based on grade-wide academic rankings. Grades are an objective metric and the fairest standard. For students, academic performance is what’s most important."

"But I have something to say!"

Cao Jiajia was not convinced at all.

The teacher hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

"Go ahead."

"Teacher, this is ridiculous! When we’re greeting officials, are we supposed to pick whoever has the highest test scores? Shouldn’t it be about who is personable, articulate, and good-looking? Do good grades automatically mean someone is polite? That they have a dignified presence? If the top-ranked student in the grade dresses poorly, would you really dare put them in front of the officials? Wouldn’t that be an embarrassment to the school?"

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone was stunned.

Then, someone let out a chuckle.

"Jiajia’s right! Image is important!"

"Our class needs someone to look good for us!"

"It doesn’t matter how good your grades are if you’re ugly!"

The teacher’s face turned pale with anger.

"Fine. Anyone who wants to participate can sign up with the class monitor. I’ll discuss it with the other teachers and see if there’s any room for adjustment."

Hearing this, Cao Jiajia immediately opened her little bookbag and frantically pulled out a set of clothes.

It was a pale pink dress that her mother had carefully picked out for her in advance.

She was certain in her heart. ’With a naturally pretty face like mine, how could I possibly lose to Cao Xueshan?’

And the result?

The moment Shanshan stepped on stage, the entire room fell silent.

When she smiled, her eyes curved into crescents; when she answered, she was poised and graceful.

And Cao Jiajia?

Not only did she fail to steal the spotlight as she had hoped, but she also stammered when answering questions.

When the results were posted, she hadn’t even made it into the middle ranks.