Chapter 58: A Mother Like This

Ling Xiaoli finally came to her senses.

No wonder the original owner had no house or car under her name. Aside from her rather expensive skincare and cosmetics, she didn’t seem to use any particularly famous brands or luxury goods. Yet she had only around three million yuan in savings.

She was, after all, a soon-to-be top-tier livestream celebrity. She had been in the industry for over a year, nearly two years. Even if the company had exploited her, she shouldn’t have ended up with so little money.

So it turned out the original owner had been supporting an entire family behind her—people who treated her like an ATM?

They casually opened their mouths and asked for one million yuan to buy a car?

Why didn’t they just rob someone?

Oh, right. Robbery was nowhere near as convenient. All they had to do was move their lips and the money would come rolling in.

“I—I don’t have any money lately.”

Even if she did have money, she wouldn’t give them any.

From now on, she was going to put a stop to this unhealthy habit.

“What do you mean you don’t have money! Didn’t you just write a song? And you’re filming a movie too. Making movies is lucrative. Don’t think I don’t know that!”

Ling Xiaoli patiently explained,

“The song I wrote was my first one, so I released it for free to promote it. As for the movie, I only played a minor extra. My pay was just 500 yuan.”

She would bluff her way through this for now. Later, she’d carefully think about how to deal with the original owner’s family.

It was true that she’d released the song for free, and it was also true that she’d only received 500 yuan for the movie.

But in reality, Ling Xiaoli was an influencer with her own traffic and fanbase. Even if she were only making a cameo appearance, she would normally be paid far more than that.

She had deliberately lowered her fee this time because her main purpose in joining the production was to gain experience and learn while helping the project.

That was also why nobody complained about her eating the crew’s boxed meals every day.

“You’ve been a livestreamer for two years, and you’ve accompanied so many rich people. And you’re telling me you don’t have any money? Impossible! You simply don’t want to give money to your family!”

Ling Xiaoli was stunned!

She suddenly felt ice-cold from head to toe…

W-Was this really something a mother could say?

As a mother, didn’t she even know whether her daughter had ever done something like that?

If the original owner had actually been willing to entertain wealthy patrons, she wouldn’t have ended up in such a miserable state at Maoya!

Before Ling Xiaoli could answer, the woman on the other end continued,

“I’m telling you, your little brother is waiting to get a new car so he can go propose to his girlfriend’s family. If you don’t give us the money, you’re trying to make the Old Ling family die out!

“My life is so miserable! I married a useless husband, and I raised a daughter all the way to adulthood, yet she doesn’t even know how to care about her own family! I might as well die! I’ve failed the Ling family!”

Even without putting the call on speaker, the woman’s voice was loud enough to echo throughout the entire restroom, and it was painfully shrill.

Ling Xiaoli’s face turned pale.

Perhaps some lingering emotions from the original owner’s soul were affecting her.

There was a dull ache in her chest, and she could barely breathe.

For a moment, Ling Xiaoli vaguely understood the original owner’s despair…

She didn’t want to say anything anymore.

She only wanted to reply: Okay, I understand.

But Ling Xiaoli quickly realized what she was doing and suppressed the impulse.

Those were the original owner’s feelings, not hers.

She gathered her emotions again and adjusted her tone.

“Mom, are you trying to force me to die?

“I just terminated my contract with the company, and I don’t have a single cent left on me…

“These past few days, I’ve been surviving on the crew’s boxed meals. If you keep forcing me, I—I really can only jump from a building…”

Her voice was hoarse and filled with sorrow. Her sobbing carried an unmistakable sense of despair, while the final sentence was delivered with a tone of absolute resolve!

It was practically the culmination of all the acting practice she’d done during this period.

Ling Xiaoli silently gave herself a pat on the back.

Hearing what Ling Xiaoli said, the woman’s voice finally dropped a little.

“H-How could it be that serious? You’re doing perfectly fine, so why did you terminate your contract with the company… I still have something to do. I’ll call you again when I have time.”

Listening to the beep, beep of the disconnected call, Ling Xiaoli breathed a sigh of relief.

At least she’d managed to bluff her way through it.

Good grief.

There were so many landmines left behind by the original owner!

First, she had to deal with the termination of her company contract. Then, a former boyfriend suddenly appeared. She hadn’t even figured out Zhou Yan yet, and now a family that treated their daughter like a cash cow had emerged.

It was really too much.

Ling Xiaoli now somewhat believed that the original owner had probably really jumped from the building of her own accord.

Her living environment had been more than just terrible.

As Ling Xiaoli thought about it, she walked toward the door.

Then, at a glance, she saw Lin Cheng passing by!