Mom called about her birthday, asking me to come home for dinner. I wanted to catch a ride with my sister, but she said she wasn't going until tomorrow. I thought she'd gotten the date wrong, but my daughter cut straight to the truth: Every time there's a family dinner, Grandma makes you come back early because she needs you to shop, prep food, and clean the house. Look at Aunt's family—they show up the day of, get out of the car, and go straight to eating. I was stunned, because what my daughter said made way too much sense. 1 I was scrolling through my sister's social media when I saw she'd taken her family on a trip. I looked at the photos and hit like, then accidentally noticed something in one picture—the necklace my sister was wearing looked familiar. I opened the photo and zoomed in to check the details. Finally confirmed it was the necklace I'd bought for my mom last week. Last week, my aunt had a birthday and invited a bunch of relatives over. My cousin gave Aunt a gold necklace as a birthday gift. Aunt was thrilled, showing it off nonstop, taking photos and videos. In all the cheerful atmosphere, I noticed Mom hadn't laughed too loudly. She just kept staring at Aunt. More specifically, staring at the necklace around Aunt's neck. I understood that look in Mom's eyes. It was envy. My first thought was that Mom had never owned a gold necklace in her life. When she married Dad, he was poor and couldn't afford the traditional jewelry set. He only bought her a gold ring. Mom said the ring was inconvenient for doing housework, so she rarely wore it. I understood Mom's expression. I knew she wanted a gold necklace too. Work had been going well lately—I'd gotten $30,000 from a project bonus. My husband's salary was stable and completely covered our household expenses. So normally I kept my salary and bonuses for myself. It was just a gold necklace. Right after dinner, I went to the jewelry store and bought one for fifteen hundred dollars. With the clerk's help, I picked a style that older people would love. I happily gave it to Mom. "Mom, Aunt only gets one because it's her birthday. You get one even without a birthday, because you like it, and I'll definitely buy it for you." Mom's face lit up with a smile. She praised me for being filial, then put it on. I thought Mom was satisfied and happy. But I never expected that in just one week, the necklace would end up around my sister's neck. My heart sank with an indescribable feeling. A coworker had told me before that Mom favored my sister. I hadn't taken it to heart. Because I figured we were all family—mother and daughters, sisters—why keep score? But Mom had just handed off my gift to my sister like that. It really bothered me. So for several days, I didn't say anything in the family group chat. Another week passed. That Saturday, Mom showed up at my door. She was carrying bags and bags, breathing heavily. "Scarlett, come help me out. Bringing all this stuff wore me out." I rushed over to help, curious. "Mom, what is all this?" Mom changed her shoes and opened the bags to show me. "Look, your favorite pickled radish, and the oyster pancakes I made for you, plus fried fish." Seeing all this food, I was touched. "Mom, why go to all this trouble? You must have gotten up super early." Mom smiled. "It's no trouble at all." She sat on the sofa and chatted with me for a bit before saying, "Scarlett, about last time—Mom was wrong." I didn't respond. Mom continued, "Mom was really happy you bought that gold necklace, and I loved it. But Mom's old now—what use do I have for that thing? Your sister's not doing as well as you. She's got bad judgment, married a useless man who's all talk and no action, no steady job or income. They're still renting." "You've got good judgment. You found someone like Chen—bought a house and car, gave you the full jewelry set at your wedding, gave you and my granddaughter a stable life. You're better than your sister in every way. You're more fortunate than her, so Mom's heart wants to favor your sister a little more." "She didn't even get gold jewelry at her wedding. Mom couldn't stand seeing her suffer, so I gave her the necklace." "Mom knows you're upset, but Mom wants to tell you—you and your sister are equally important to me." Hearing Mom's words, my resolve started to waver. I'd thought Mom only loved my sister and not me, which was why she'd handled my gift that way. Turns out Mom had her reasons. I sighed. "Fine, Mom. Let's just move past it." Mom's expression finally relaxed. She nodded. Around noon, I went out to buy groceries, planning to have Mom stay for lunch. When I got back, I heard voices in my daughter's room. My daughter Sunny had interest classes on Saturday mornings. I got closer and heard Mom's voice. "Sunny, how did your mother raise you to be so stingy?" "I see your closet is full of these dolls. What's wrong with giving a few to your cousin Hao? He'll thank you." Sunny's voice came through. "What do I need his thanks for? Is he some important person? I don't want his thanks." Mom's voice carried some anger. "Sunny, that's not right. Good children know how to share!" Sunny's tone was firm. "Sharing is voluntary. Forced sharing is moral blackmail!" My daughter was only in third grade, but she was outgoing and clear-headed—something I'd always been proud of. Seeing my daughter wouldn't give in, Mom reached out to grab the dolls. I pushed the door open. "Mom, what are you doing?" Mom looked embarrassed for a moment, then said, "Scarlett, you need to discipline Sunny. She has so many identical dolls—what's wrong with sharing a few with Hao?" I shook my head. "No." Mom's expression changed. "Scarlett, your sister's family isn't like yours. Your nephew doesn't have as many toys as Sunny..." I cut Mom off. "Mom, you taking my things to give to my sister—I let that go because they were gifts for you, so you had the right to decide who gets them. But everything in this room belongs to Sunny. I have no right to decide to give them away for her, and you shouldn't pressure the child either." Sunny happily grabbed my hand. "Mom's the best." She looked at Mom. "Grandma's mean." Mom's face turned ugly. She turned and started gathering her things. When she got to the door, she lingered, clearly wanting me to ask her to stay for lunch. But I was genuinely upset and didn't extend the invitation. After Mom left, I sat on the sofa feeling miserable. Sunny came out and sat beside me. "Mom, you were so cool just now, you know that?" I looked at her. "What do you mean?" Sunny smiled. "Mom used to always listen to Grandma. Whatever Grandma told you to do, you'd do it even if you didn't want to. Every time we went to Grandma's house, Dad and I felt so stifled. But Dad told me Mom had it hard too, and to just bear with it." "Mom, you finally realized you can push back. You're amazing." Hearing Sunny's words made my heart ache. "Sunny, you think Grandma favors Aunt too, don't you?" Sunny shook her head. "Not favors—her whole heart is with Aunt." At those words, I felt like my brain had crashed. Sunny pointed at the stuff on the table. "Mom, your tastes changed a long time ago. You used to like pickled radish probably because there wasn't anything else to eat—you needed something to go with rice, so you ate pickled radish. But Grandma still only brings you pickled radish after all this time. She doesn't pay attention to you at all." "And the oyster pancakes and fried fish—Mom, look at this." Sunny pulled out her phone to show me. It was my sister's social media post. Thanks to Mom for bringing fried yellow croaker and oyster pancakes so early this morning. Kids with a mother's love are so blessed. I opened the image. The yellow croaker was huge—a whole big bag of them fried. The oyster pancakes were plump and full. The oyster pancakes Mom brought me looked like broken scraps—all chives and batter, barely any oyster meat visible. I picked up my phone and scrolled. "How come I didn't see this?" Sunny smiled. "Aunt blocked you. Good thing she doesn't know this account is mine—probably forgot to label it." Hearing this, my heart filled with bitterness. Sunny hugged my arm to comfort me. "Mom, accepting that your parents don't love you is really hard. But Mom, you still have me and Dad. We're your crew, absolutely loyal to you!" I hugged my daughter, moved to tears. From that day on, I didn't contact Mom or my sister. When Mom complained in the group chat that the washing machine wasn't working well, I pretended not to see it. When she complained the fridge seemed broken, I ignored that too. I even stopped paying the water and electric bills for her. I wanted Mom to understand—I was kind, I was filial, but I wasn't a fool. Time flew by. Two months passed. Mom suddenly called me, saying next Wednesday was her birthday and asking me to come home for dinner. She told me she'd bought lots of food I loved, asked me not to be mad anymore about asking Sunny for toys last time, and to bring my husband and Sunny so we could all have a good time together. I agreed. I didn't actually want to go, but it was Mom's birthday and lots of relatives would be there. If I didn't show up, I'd probably get interrogated by everyone. My car happened to have driving restrictions that day, so I messaged my sister asking what time she was leaving so she could pick me up. But my sister sounded surprised. "Sis, Mom's birthday is the day after tomorrow. How could you forget our own mother's birthday?" I froze and glanced at the calendar. She was right! The birthday was the day after tomorrow. Why had Mom told me to come tomorrow? Sunny was watching TV nearby. Seeing my confused expression, she couldn't help but speak up. "Mom, think about it. Lots of times before, Grandma called you back early, didn't she? Wasn't it always to have you and Dad clean, shop for groceries and fruit?" "Aunt's different. Aunt always arrives right on time and goes straight to eating." "Mom, don't you get it?" I froze, then thought back over all the past incidents. Suddenly I understood everything. I messaged my sister: Oh yeah, I got it mixed up. My memory! I'll come the day after tomorrow too. I deliberately turned off my phone, planning to turn it back on the next day. That way Mom couldn't keep calling me today. I also told my husband and daughter to turn off their phones too. We'd turn them back on the day after tomorrow. In between, I had no idea how many times Mom tried to call me. On Mom's actual birthday, I timed it perfectly and set out with my husband and daughter right at mealtime. On the way, my husband asked with some concern, "It's Mom's birthday today. Are you really going back empty-handed?" I smiled. "Empty-handed? Didn't I buy Mom a cake?" I pointed to the birthday cake I was carrying. An $8 clearance cake. My husband glanced at it, seemed about to say something, but held back. Because in the past, I'd really cared about Mom's birthdays. I'd ordered every birthday cake. Two-tier, three-tier—I'd ordered them all. Because Mom's birthdays meant inviting a bunch of relatives, and I didn't want Mom to lose face in front of them. So the cakes would be very fancy. But this year, when I went to the cake shop to choose, all I could see was the huge yellow croaker and plump oyster pancakes from my sister's social media. Even if my sister's family situation wasn't as good as mine, was that my fault? Why give away what I bought for her to my sister? Why treat us so differently, even with a few fish? I lost my enthusiasm for picking a cake and just grabbed a clearance one. My house was about a forty-minute drive from Mom's. When we arrived, several cars were already parked outside. Looked like the relatives had arrived. My husband, daughter, and I got out and went into the yard. My aunt saw me first and quickly greeted me. "Scarlett, you're here?" I called out, "Aunt." Mom heard my voice and hurried out from inside. "Scarlett, why couldn't I reach your phone? Chen's too, and Sunny's—none of you answered." Seeing Mom's reproachful look, I said, "We went out to handle something and didn't bring our phones." Mom clearly didn't believe this flimsy excuse, but with so many relatives around, she couldn't scold me. She just pulled me along. "Now that you're here, come help. I've been working myself to death for half the day." I turned to look at my sister, who was eating fruit and playing on her phone, and said angrily, "Ruby, what are you doing? Mom's exhausted in the kitchen and you're just sitting here on your phone?" My sister looked stunned. Mom quickly stepped forward. "Why are you calling her out? She doesn't know how to do anything." 2 I said nothing, just looked at Mom. Didn't move, didn't speak. Mom seemed to sense something was off with me and said helplessly, "Fine, if you don't want to help, don't. Why drag your sister into it?" I turned and left, heading to the front yard. Soon after, Mom came looking for me again. "Scarlett, didn't Mom tell you to come back yesterday?" I smiled. "I almost got the date wrong. I asked my sister, and she said she was coming today, so I came today too." "Mom, why did you tell me and my sister different times to come home? Is there some special reason?" Mom looked embarrassed. "Look at you, always overthinking. What special reason could there be? Maybe I just said it wrong." "But Scarlett, look at all these people eating. I can't manage it all. You've always been the most filial. Come help me." I could see Mom just wanted to boss me around and couldn't bear to let my sister lift a finger. So I stood up directly and said loudly, "Mom, you're right—it's too tiring for you to do everything alone. How about this—everyone get up and help, so we can eat sooner, right?" With me saying that, everyone felt too awkward to keep sitting and got up to help. With all the relatives standing, my sister naturally couldn't keep sitting and playing on her phone. She had to pull her husband up too. I went to the kitchen to help sort vegetables. Looking out the window, I saw my husband cleaning fish. My brother-in-law was standing nearby watching. Looking like he didn't want to lift a finger. It made me angry. I opened the window and yelled at my brother-in-law, "Brother-in-law, the kitchen's out of coal. Go outside and carry in a bag." I spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear. Mom heard and quickly stood up to intervene. "Your brother-in-law doesn't have the strength to carry coal. Chen, stop cleaning fish and go carry it." My husband, obedient as always, stood up to go. I suddenly shouted, "Don't you dare!"
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