Chapter 876: Chapter 877 Toxic Fatherly Love 9

Feng Min was already feeling pretty upset, and when she got home, she found another vexing matter waiting for them as a couple.

“Mom, my teacher said I can sign up for the competition; it’s going to be in Yangcheng.” Wu Na expressed her excitement, as her teacher recommended her to participate in the piano competition.

In the past, Feng Min would have been genuinely pleased to hear this news, feeling that it was a recognition of Wu Na’s abilities by her teacher.

But now, all she felt was trouble and dissatisfaction. Participating in a competition meant expenses for the child’s food, accommodation, and travel, as well as for the accompanying adult—wasn’t that all money?

Of course, she wouldn’t mind if such competitions could enhance Wu Na’s level, but the thing was, Wu Na’s ability was really quite ordinary.

The last time they attended a birthday party for a colleague’s daughter, that little girl played the piano so well. Most importantly, people could request songs for the girl to play, and that truly tested her skills.

She performed excellently, playing some pieces from memory without even looking at the sheet music, clearly the result of long practice.

In contrast, besides the pieces Wu Na had to learn for her exams and those for competitions, she was quite unfamiliar with other music.

Not to mention playing from memory without sheet music, she even stumbled through pieces with the music in front of her.

Afterwards, although everyone applauded, Feng Min knew that compared to her colleague’s daughter, her own child fell short by more than just a little.

“You’re not going to compete; just practice piano at home,” Feng Min decided resolutely. “Always going out to competitions, talking about winning prizes and such, but the pieces you play…”

“And your grades.” When Feng Min thought about Wu Na’s last exam results, she also felt frustrated.

This is just elementary school, yet she couldn’t even make it into the top twenty. The thought alone angered Feng Min, “Also, you’re not going to play the piano anymore.”

Piano lessons are an expensive activity—the tuition fees alone for the teacher are no small figure, not to mention other competition-related expenses.

Feng Min truly didn’t dare calculate how much money it would require, fearing the total sum would alarm her.

Since that’s how things stood even after learning, there was no need to continue wasting money on it.

Especially since Wu Hao’s promotion had fallen through, no chance, and with no increase in the family income, they could only cut down on expenses.

Her own expenses were definitely indispensable. Wu Jian, being the son and the hope of the Wu Family, and a talented child at that—those expenses, of course, couldn’t be cut.

As for Wu Hao, it was possible to save a bit here and there, but not too much, or he would surely have complaints.

Then there were the expenses for the Wu Family. The mere thought of the Wu Family’s attitudes made Feng Min feel all sorts of discontent.

The family always turned to Wu Hao when something came up, saying how he was the most promising one in the family and that he must take on more responsibilities and such.

Recalling the money given to the Wu Family every year got Feng Min angry, wishing she could just stop giving it to them.

But that was something she truly couldn’t say, otherwise the Old Lady of the Wu Family would not let it go and would surely bring up Zhang Lina as well.

Feeling helpless, Feng Min could only curse Zhang Lina again in her heart, “The Zhang Family is so wealthy, and yet…”

She had set her sights on Wu Hao back in the day because he seemed generous and lived in a building, thinking that marrying him would mean living in a big house.

But what no one expected was that, although there was indeed a house, it belonged to the Zhang Family and was under the control of the old lady, with no share for Wu Hao.

Even less expected was how generous Zhang Lina was with money; every time Feng Min didn’t want to spend money, the whole Wu Family would bring up Zhang Lina again.

It won’t do, things can’t go on like this. Feng Min felt she couldn’t keep giving in; any further concessions would only inflate the Wu Family’s appetite.

Wu Min had not expected that this time, not only would she not be able to participate in the competition, but more importantly, they had decided not to let her learn piano anymore.

How could this be? Wu Min was certainly not willing, making a fuss, “I want to learn piano! Why is it that everything my brother is allowed to learn, I can’t?”

Wu Min knew she could skip her piano lessons, but Wu Jian’s classes would definitely continue without interruption. The thought alone made the little girl feel so wronged that she burst into tears.

On the way home, Wu Hao had been complaining to Feng Min the whole time, feeling quite upset. When they got home, he didn’t go straight upstairs but stayed downstairs to smoke a cigarette.

When he came back upstairs, he heard his daughter crying. “What’s wrong?”

Why would she cry all of a sudden? “You’re like this as well. I know you’re in a bad mood today, but you don’t have to be this way.”

It must be because he took his anger out on the child. Wu Hao gave Feng Min a few displeased glares, “Can’t you talk it out slowly?”

Talk it out slowly? “How can I talk it out slowly? Your daughter has a competition in Yangcheng, do you realize how much money that’s going to cost?”

“Last time she went out, she was just playing casually, and ended up being outperformed by others.”

“I’ve been bragging to my colleagues about how excellent Xiao Min is and the number of awards she has won.”

“And that day, she just completely embarrassed me.”

“If her piano skills are so mediocre, why bother continuing? Isn’t it just a waste of money?”

“You’re not unaware of our family’s financial situation right now,” Feng Min pointed out the most important issue directly.

Wu Hao wanted to say more, but when Feng Min mentioned money, he could only shut up.

Wu Min initially thought Wu Hao would speak up for her, but he turned out to be so useless, not saying a word.

She understood that since she couldn’t rely on Wu Hao, she had to depend on herself, and that realization made her burst into tears again.

She cried with a heart-wrenching intensity, so loud that even the neighbors could hear her.

Feng Min knew what she was up to. On a normal day, she would have given in to avoid colleagues knocking on their door with inquiries.

But this time she was determined not to give in and left the problem to Wu Hao to worry about. “Cry, cry, cry, all you know is how to cry.”

“The family can’t afford to pay for these classes, and you shouldn’t compare yourself with your brother, who is seriously committed to his studies.”

“And you, what have you learned? Since your grades aren’t good, don’t think about these extracurriculars all the time. Focus on improving your grades first.”

Feng Min admired herself for coming up with such an excuse so quickly.

Wu Min truly didn’t expect Feng Min to use her academic performance as the reason.

This left her without any grounds to continue; her grades really weren’t very good.

Wu Hao liked his daughter, thinking she was beautiful and sweet-talking, and that if nurtured properly, she would surely marry well and bring honor to her family.

But those were considerations for the future. At present, the son was the priority, and even if the daughter was exceptional, she couldn’t take resources away from the son.

“Xiao Min, considering your grades aren’t so good now, how about we put these enrichment classes on hold for a while? When your grades get better, we can resume the lessons. What do you think?”

Wu Min was taken aback, realizing that this was the final decision. Unless her grades improved, there was no chance.

As much as she was reluctant to accept it, what could she do when her grades didn’t cut it? “Fine.”

“Once my grades improve, I must resume my talent classes.” The little girl made another pact with her parents.

Feng Min hummed in response and turned to busy herself in the kitchen.