Sometimes Mathilda found herself wanting to laugh when she listened.
She was fairly good at her studies.
She knew that plans could never keep up with changes.
Not to mention that her own sister and stepmother were both the sort of people who could never amount to anything. Would the wealthy Ding Ling next door really take a liking to women like them? Would he really fall for their clumsy plans?
"...When the time comes, find the right opportunity, bring a bottle of red wine, put on something a little sexier, and knock on his door. When he opens it, give him bedroom eyes and take the initiative to tease him. Young men his age are in the prime of their vigor. They can't resist a beautiful girl's advances. As long as you seize the moment and find his weakness, you can strike him down in one blow! Once you win him over, our whole family can live in luxury. We'll never have to pay rent again, and we'll never have to worry about money..."
Her stepmother's voice carried clearly, and every word fell into Mathilda's ears.
She listened with her eyes lowered, her heart stifled.
She felt deep contempt for her stepmother and the others.
But she said nothing.
Even though she had not said a word, the next morning she was still harshly berated by her sister and beaten by her stepmother. In their words:
"Why don't you have any sense of initiative? Do we have to tell you to buy food and daily necessities? There's no paper left in the house, and you don't know to go out and buy some?!"
Her father watched coldly as she went out to buy things. When she returned and he saw what she had in her hands, he did not