"Xiao Min."
Sheng Min felt like his throat was blocked. He took a deep breath and finally managed to speak: "Mom."
"You're not busy now." Wang Shuying's tone was so flattering that Sheng Min frowned.
After the scene at home on his birthday that day, Wang Shuying called him several more times. In the final analysis, it was all about money.
"This month's living expenses have been transferred," said Sheng Min.
"Look at you, that's exactly what mom wanted to talk about on the phone."
Sheng Min didn't say anything. Wang Shuying heard his silence and quickly called him again: "Xiao Min?"
"Um."
"Are you still filming?... The weather is hot, you should pay more attention to your health. Don't get heat stroke. Ouch, you are young and naive. Heat stroke is not a joke. It can be fatal..."
It's always hard to pretend to be a loving mother. Sheng Min is filming on a mountain with a high altitude and many trees. The temperature at noon is only about 20 degrees, and it's even a little damp and cold in the morning and evening. During the filming period, he caught a cold twice, both times because of the cold.
Sheng Min didn't point it out, just gently said "I know". Wang Shuying asked him about his well-being for a while, and probably felt that was enough, so she asked him again: "When are you going back to N City? Your brother always says he misses you... There is another good news that I haven't had time to tell you. Didn't he join the school basketball team? Last month, he played a game with the neighboring school. It was quite large. It was said that the city leaders came to watch. I can't explain it clearly. You see, he was careless and not careful in studying, but now he has some potential. I wonder who will be more capable between you two brothers in the future..."
This happiness sounded particularly sincere, and he couldn't help but forget himself while talking about it. The more he spoke, the more proud he became. It took him a long time to pull back the subject: "Anyway, I got the bonus, so I wanted to treat you, my brother, to a meal..."
Sheng Min has long been accustomed to her different treatment, and she doesn't feel any loss in her heart: "I've been very busy recently, and the filming tasks are very heavy."
"How busy it can be, I know. You are still needed to do the hard and tiring work. Don't you have a substitute? The news has already reported it."
Wang Shuying said disdainfully, and then she realized that something was wrong, so she smiled awkwardly and said, "But you are working hard, and I know that... Your brother is the same, he has to study and train at the same time, he is very tired, and he has lost a lot of weight. I thought that the last time I talked to you, I should hurry up... I saw a house near their school, it's not expensive to buy a three-bedroom house, it's just a piece of cake for you. It will also be more convenient for your brother to train."
This reason is strange, I have never heard it before. Sheng Min thought absentmindedly, but his tone was still very calm: "He has a dormitory in the school, how can it be inconvenient?"
"How can they be the same? What are the conditions of the school dormitories? Besides, your brother is still young. It's so hard, won't mom have to take care of him? Our house is so far from the school, what do you think we should do?"
Her voice was so loud that Shengmin felt his temples throbbing. He stated a fact softly, "When I started filming at the age of five, I was much younger than he is now."
"How can it be the same? You have a lot of people in the crew praising you, who else do you need to take care of you..."
Sheng Min listened silently, not bothering to explain how a child star with little role and no fame would be ignored by the crew. Wang Shuying couldn't have been unaware of this. She just felt a little regretful that she shouldn't have mentioned this. Why? She didn't care.
Wang Shuying became excited: "Besides, your father was lying in the hospital at that time. How could I spare the time to take care of you? I can only blame him for being incompetent and getting sick at the wrong time, dragging down the family..."
"Mom!" Hearing this, Sheng Min finally couldn't help but frown and interrupted her, "Can you please stop talking about this."
"I was saying it was unbelievable, your father passed away and didn't care about our lives, and now you don't care either?!"
As she spoke, she burst into tears on the other end of the phone. Her voice was so loud that the staff passing by Sheng Min vaguely heard some of the noise. They couldn't help but look sideways and called out awkwardly, "Teacher Sheng."
This was not the first time that Sheng Min had found himself in such an embarrassing situation. He cheered himself up, nodded, and quickened his pace into the lounge.
On the other end of the phone, Wang Shuying was still crying, and it seemed that she was getting worse. Sheng Min sat down tiredly: "Stop crying."
"My son is not filial to me, how can I not cry? If I had known this would happen, I would have hanged myself with a rope, and I wouldn't have to endure your father's anger and yours!" She cursed angrily, "In other families, the eldest brother is like a father, but you are different. You have never liked your brother since you were a child. I know. If you don't feel sorry for him, at least feel sorry for your mother. It's not easy for me, a widow, to raise you to this age?... Do you think I did this for your brother? I just want him to train well and make money to reduce your burden."
At such times, Wang Shuying's eloquence was always exceptional. Like a vulture guarding meat, she would not give up until she had ripped a piece of him, including the skin and bones.
"If he wants to train, I'll rent him an apartment next to the school. You guys take a look and I'll pay the bill." Sheng Min didn't want to argue with her anymore and gave in.
"It's ok to rent a house temporarily..." Wang Shuying's attitude immediately softened when she heard that there was a turn for the better, and she sobbed twice, "But your brother is a boy, he must have a house. First rent a house near the school, and then buy a new one, and move in after the decoration is completed. It's the best of both worlds..."
She made a shrewd calculation. Sheng Min didn't know where to have the best of both worlds. What was even more clear was that if he continued like this, he would not be able to satisfy Wang Shuying's appetite sooner or later.
"The new residential complex opposite the school is pretty good. It will be delivered next year. The environment is good and it's in the school district. Xiaohui won't have to worry about his education when he gets married and has kids..."
The future is always beautiful, and the best part is that Sheng Min's position is not planned. He only needs to act as a diligent cash machine. Sheng Min got a headache after hearing this, and every second seemed long. He just wanted to find an excuse to end the call as soon as possible, and finally there was a knock on the door.
"I have something to do, so I'll hang up now." He said with relief.
"Your brother's house..."
"I'll transfer the rent to you. We'll talk about the rest later."
Sheng Min hung up the phone and saw his thin face reflected in the mirror. His expression was not good at all, so he just tried to cover it up with makeup.
He glanced at his cell phone. Wang Shuying had been calling for nearly a quarter of an hour, but there was no missed call from Li Xuan, let alone any message.
Sheng Min bit her lower lip hard, placed her phone upside down on the dressing table, adjusted a smile that she had practiced many times in front of the mirror, and stood up to open the door.
The door had been pushed open from the outside.
The author has something to say:
There will be another chapter tomorrow! So I can have both the comments and the starfish, thanks.