The poor parents turned out to be wealthy
On Christmas Eve, my parents once again left me alone at home for triple overtime pay.
Thinking of the past twenty years when they always did this, I no longer wanted to spend the holiday alone and cold. So I packed some dumplings and went to find them.
Unexpectedly, my parents, who always talked about earning more money, stepped out of a luxury car, arm in arm with a boy about my age, laughing as they entered a five–star restaurant.
“Mom, Dad, is it okay to leave Sarah alone at home?” I heard someone ask.
My mother casually replied, “It’s fine, she’s used to it.”
My father dismissively added, “She can’t compare to you. You’re our precious child!”
I turned and left. They had deceived me by pretending to be poor. This time, I didn’t care for their company either!
1
Back home, I dumped all the food on the table.
In the past, I would never have wasted food.
From as early as I can remember, I knew our family wasn’t well off. All my food and clothes came from my parents‘ frugal savings. Even my
clothes were rarely new.
Every season, my mother would bring home a bag of second–hand clothes, saying, “These are from your mother’s colleague’s older sister. They’ve been washed clean, so we don’t need to buy new ones.”
I don’t know where she got these old clothes from, but throughout my childhood, I hardly ever wore new clothes. I always wore ill–fitting clothes, and my classmates would make fun of me, saying I was a ragpicker.
I could only study hard, thinking that one day I would be able to buy new clothes with my own efforts.
During holidays, I would hand over all the money relatives gave me to my parents, just to ease their burden.
But who knew they had no burden at all?
I checked, and that luxury car belonged to the wealthy Johnson family in town. The Johnson’s son had once driven that car, showing off with a
celebrity girlfriend.
I had seen that gossip news too, and the face of that rich young man was the same as the boy I saw tonight. So, it turns out I’m actually from a
wealthy family!
I found it amusing, sniffed, and went back to search my parents‘ room.
Perhaps they were too careless to keep the contract at home.
When I saw my father’s name signed on a contract worth hundreds of millions, with a Mont Blanc pen tucked in the documents, my suspended heart finally died.
I put everything back as it was and quietly returned to my room, covering myself with the blanket to sleep.
I only hoped that when I woke up, everything would be a dream.
Early the next morning, my parents were already busy in the kitchen.
Looking at the breakfast on the table, I suddenly realized, who eats seafood porridge early in the morning?
The taste of this porridge was exactly the same as the seafood feast the professor treated us to last time.
I glanced at the garbage bag by the door, and sure enough.
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“Mom, Dad, has our family suddenly become rich?” I asked, sitting at the table watching them.
My mother looked surprised, “Sarah, what are you talking about?”
“Then how can we afford such expensive seafood porridge?”
I pointed at the garbage bag by the door, and my mother’s face immediately changed,
My father chuckled lightly, “That’s from when I worked overtime with the boss last night. He packed it for me, but I couldn’t bear to eat it, so l brought it back.”
“With our meager salaries, how could we afford seafood porridge?”
So that’s it. I nodded, drinking the porridge, inwardly laughing coldly, Seafood porridge, $80 a serving, Last night’s dinner probably cost thousands!
If they were truly poor, I would have found this porridge delicious.
Now, it just tasted like chewing wax.
I only took two bites before getting up.
“I’m full”
“Sarah, why are you eating so little? Are you not feeling well?”
My mother looked worried, her gaze not seeming fake.
I shook my head and smiled, “No, aren’t we going to Grandpa’s house today? I’m saving room to eat something good at lunch!”
Hearing this, my mother sighed in relief. My father looked guilty and was about to say something when his phone rang,
I glanced at the screen, the contact was saved as “Precious son Jack.”
Jack Johnson was his precious son, so what was 1?
My father hurried to the balcony, and my mother followed. I vaguely heard him saying things like “be sensible” and “don’t let Sarah find out.”
My heart turned completely cold. So, they had known all along, just conspiring to keep it from me.
I even wondered if the world I lived in was like The Truman Show.
But they seemed so real.
