Dream or Not: A Devil or An Angel

Chapter 24: Innocent Girl

The next morning, Wendy was sitting at the table and eating breakfast, with her face glowing.

When she saw Alina come downstairs, she greeted with a smile, "Alaina, what would you like? I'll get you!" She was no longer the grumbling woman she used to be.

"Thank you, Mom. I can do it myself," replied Alina with a wry smile.

At last, Wendy handed a bowl of porridge to her. She smiled and asked, "Have you talked to the young master of the Song Family recently?"

Alina froze when she took the bowl. "Mom, we are not in the same class and have no chance to talk."

Why did she still think about Joseph? He was just a conceited boy.

"What about the young master of the Tang Family? He is your classmate. Have you talked to him?"

Upon hearing this, Alina almost choked on the porridge. She tried to calm down after she drank some milk.

If Leo was the young master of the Tang Family, she was glad Wendy didn't know the head teacher had teamed them up.

"Yes. I, I have talked to him."

With great interest, Wendy asked, "How does he feel about you? Does he have special feelings for you?"

"Mom, I just said 'good morning' to him, and he only replied me with the word 'morning'."

Wendy curled up her lips with disappointment. She poked Alina on the forehead and scolded, "Why are you so stupid? Why don't you talk to him more? Are you really my daughter? How could I give birth to a daughter as stupid as you?"

"I want to talk to him, but you don't know how cold the young master of the Tang Family is. He never looks at the girls in our class. He's good enough to say 'morning'."

Alina said so because she hoped that Wendy would stop coveting the young master of the Tang Family.

Wendy snorted, "Bullshit! I think you little girls don't know how to please other people! Take a look at your father. I got him even if he was called as a cold and arrogant man!"

"Mom, how can I compare with you?" Then Alina changed the topic and said, "Why don't you let me focus on my studies first? When I grow up and become more sophisticated, I'll consider pursuing my future husband."

Wendy was hard to fool. She stared at Alina, "Bullshit! Your grades are so poor. I'm going to beat you to death if I'm not your mother! Let me tell you, the best way is to strike first. When you get to college, there will be more competitors."

"Mom, I suddenly found that a girl who does well in study is more likely to attract the attention of good boys. So I decided to study hard and improve my performance, so that more excellent boys can pay attention to me. And I get a good grade, so you're proud to mention it outside, aren't you?"

Wendy was somewhat persuaded. She squinted at Alina and asked doubtfully, "Are you sure that you want to study hard? Didn't you hate studying before?"

Alina cleared her throat and said, "Mom, I was ignorant before. After I went to the hospital, I've thought a lot, like study..."

Speaking of this, the look on Alina's face became much more solemn, "I used to think that as long as you and Dad were there, I could still live a good life even if I didn't study. But ever since I went to Joseph's birthday party, I suddenly realized that only when I'm excellent enough would people accept me, and would they think that I'm qualified to be the daughter of the Xu Family. Otherwise, I'm only a joke for them."

Wendy was surprised for a moment, as she did not expect that her daughter could say such words. She did feel ignored and scorned by some of the ladies, but she had to fawn on them. She could only endure and felt unhappy.

She knew better than her daughter. It was because she hoped that her daughter and herself could be respected and accepted by more people that she wholeheartedly hoped her daughter could marry a better man. Only in this way could she stop those people from gossiping, disappoint those people who were ready to laugh at them, and make them jealous!

Wendy put her hand on her daughter's face. She touched her cheek with her thumb and said, "Alaina, I found that you have become more sensible since you were discharged from the hospital. You don't even look like my daughter anymore."

Alina's body stiffened. What Wendy said made her look a little bit scared. She had to be sensible because she was not a teenage girl any more.

After all, she was the person who had taken away her daughter's body. To be honest, she was afraid that Wendy would ask her all of a sudden, "You are not my daughter. Who are you?"   

"It seems that you didn't fall for nothing!" Wendy then sighed.

Alina was speechless.

All right, she was relieved at last. It seemed that she thought too much!

"Mom, it's getting late. I should go to school now."

"Go ahead. Be careful. Come back after school. Don't hang out with anyone."

"I see. Bye."

Walking out of the door, Alina heaved a sigh of relief. It was lucky that Wendy wasn't as sensitive as Sheffield. Otherwise, she really didn't know how to face a mother's query.

The car went all the way to Ming Hua High School.

The classroom was still noisy. When Alina was passing by the desks of Bonnie and Ivy, she got a snort from Bonnie and a contemptuous look from Ivy.

Alina didn't care at all. Instead, she greeted them with a smile.

"Hello, Alaina." The moment Rose saw Alina, she greeted her happily.

"Good morning,"  said Alina, walking towards her.

Yana arrived earlier than her. Seeing that Alina was sitting down, she pushed a box over and said, "My mother asked me to bring you this. Thank you for helping me."

Alina opened the box and saw a mousse cake covered with white chocolate and two red cherries. It looked very delicious.

"Wow, it's so beautiful. Did your mother make it?

Alina's reaction obviously pleased Yana, and she said proudly, "Of course. My mother's cake is beautiful and delicious!"

Alina couldn't resist beautiful and delicious dessert. She couldn't wait to pick up the fork and eat.

"Yummy! Yana, you are so lucky to have such a mother!"

Yana couldn't help laughing happily.

"What are you eating? It smells so good!" Rose leaned over and stared at the cake as she smelt it.

Alina gave the fork to her without hesitation and indicated her to have a taste.

Rose tasted it and said, "It's so delicious, much better than what I had in a hotel last time! Where did you buy it?"

Alina pointed to her desk mate. "It wasn't bought. It was made by her mother."

Although Rose and Yana were classmates, they were not very familiar with each other. They were just nodding friends.

She turned to Yana and asked, "It's very delicious. Does your mother sell cakes? If yes, please bring two to me tomorrow."

"No. My mother doesn't sell cakes!" Yana said. The cakes made by her mother couldn't be bought with money.

When she spoke in that sarcastic tone, Rose was suddenly irritated and shouted, "Fine, fine. It's just a cake. How great you think you are!" Then she rolled her eyes and went back to her seat.

With a snort, Yana glanced at Alina with discontent. She pouted, looking a little angry.

Alina got confused. She didn't know what they were quarreling about.