I knew the road conditions in the countryside all too well.
My hometown here was considered to have good road conditions.
But this time, I didn't even dare to drive my new car back and instead rented an SUV.
With Alex's reckless temperament, letting him drive a sports car would surely lead to a crash!
Sophia's mother, Jade Chen, looked aggrieved and raised her teary eyes to look at the surrounding villagers.
"Look, Sophia has only been in the big city for a few years and has already started looking down on us rural people."
"I knew it, after winning the lottery, she despises us for being poor."
Henry couldn't stand seeing his wife cry and immediately defended Jade, scolding Sophia.
"Sophia, Dad doesn't mean to criticize you, but how could you forget your roots?"
Seeing even her father reprimanding her, the villagers' gazes towards Sophia immediately changed.
Some people started to chime in, "Sophia, everyone in the village knows you won the big prize.
Why are you still so stingy with your own brother?"
"Exactly, and you call yourself a successful person.
You can't even spare a car for your brother, you ungrateful wretch!"
Jade took the opportunity to add, "That's right, Sophia.
Didn't you say you wanted to renovate the family house when you came back this time? You didn't hesitate to spend money on that.
You're willing to spend on inanimate objects but not on your own brother?"
Mentioning "brothe."
over and over, I couldn't indulge her anymore.
"Yes, I'm not willing to."
"Are you here to pay respects to our ancestors or to beg?"
"You want a car? Fine, why don't you go ask our ancestors if they can give you the luxury car in your hands?"
With that, I stopped paying attention to my mother.
I walked to the ancestral tablet, respectfully lit incense, and kowtowed.
Then I slowly started burning the paper money I had brought.
Alex wanted to come and help, but Jade pulled him back.
As I burned the paper, I muttered blessings under my breath, but my heart was filled with bitterness.
After burning the paper money, I turned to look at my mother.
"Mom, did you ask our ancestors? Did they agree to let you drive that car back to our hometown?"
Startled by my question, my mother trembled all over, and the paper car fell from her hands.
She immediately turned to my brother and started wiping her tears.
"Alex, your sister says I'm fighting with the dead for things, and you don't even say anything to her?!"
My brother, Alex Sue, comforted our mother and glared at me.
"Sophia, you've gone too far! Apologize to Mom now!"
I frowned, "Hasn't she been running her mouth non-stop since we got up the mountain? She envies our ancestors for having good liquor to drink and luxury cars to drive.
I'm fulfilling her wishes, so why should I apologize?"
On the way home, I drove my SUV.
My parents and brother sat in the back, silent the entire way.
By the time we got home, it was already evening.
I dropped my family off at the old house and rushed to the company to handle work.
I am a designer and started my own business during college.
After years of hard work, I had already achieved financial freedom and had my own designer brand.
Winning the big prize could only be described as an unexpected surprise in life.
But I never thought my parents would set their sights on the prize money, and I couldn't let them take advantage of it easily.
I was reviewing the designs for the new series when I suddenly received a call from my grandmother.
She lowered her voice and asked me, "Sophia, what's going on? Your mom said you promised to buy your brother a car but went back on your word, and even said she was a beggar?"
I could hear my mother's angry scolding in the background.
I had a headache and briefly explained the situation.
Grandma sighed, "Your mom insists on dragging your dad and me to confront you...
How about this, apologize to her first and transfer some money to her.
Don't let her make a scene.
Your dad's blood pressure is high again."
After hanging up, Grandma transferred ten thousand yuan to me.
She specifically instructed me to accept it and then transfer it to my mother.
I looked at my phone screen and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
In the eyes of my family, my money seemed to still be everyone's shared property.