"It's so much better for you to stay here," Mom said. "I can cook and do your laundry for you. Who's going to be taking care of you if you went to another city instead?"

Her hands were warm as she held mine tightly.

In my past life, she held my hands like this too, saying, "I'm only doing all this for your own good."

Then, I ended up working at a gas station, exposed to the wind and sun, with my hands literally cracking from the cold, earning only 7.50 dollars an hour.

I also ended up being pinned to the ground by my husband and brutally beaten up until my teeth fell loose and rolled to the floor.

I just let Mom hold my hands without drawing them back, responding slightly, "Fine."

For the next two days, I became a lot quieter and more obedient than usual. Mom would log onto the application system at least twice every day, just to make sure that I didn't change it.

I didn't say much about it. In fact, I even leaned over and said something like, "I guess the teaching course you chose for me isn't that bad after all."

I went with her to the farmers market, helped her with lunch and dinner, and massaged her shoulders and feet when they were sore. I did everything she told me to do and didn't fight back at all.

She finally let her guard down and relaxed around me. Even her tone while talking to the relatives on the phone was light and happy. She praised me for finally being sensible and being mature enough to understand her good intentions.

On the night of the college application deadline, I told her after dinner, "Mom, one of my classmates said that there's going to be a meteor shower tonight on the mountain outside the city. I wanna go see it. But if you're worried about me, you can hold on to my phone and come with me if you want."

She was stunned for a moment, probably not expecting me to make such a request.

She took my phone from me and looked through it for a while, and found nothing amiss. Then, she looked at my eager expression and nodded.

"Fine. I'll come with you so you don't just run off on your own."

It was around 9:00 pm when we went up the mountain. There were already some people waiting for us at the top of the hill.

I quietly stayed by Mom's side, chatting with her like everything was normal.

Around 11:40 pm, I tugged on her sleeve and said, "Mom, I need to use the toilet."

Mom was worried that I'd pull a fast one on her and went with me, waiting for me at the entrance to the women's restroom.

I went into the farthest stall, locked the door, and dug out an old phone that was hidden in my jeans pocket. It was my old phone from when I was still in junior high, and the number wasn't working anymore. However, it could still connect to Wi-Fi.

I hurriedly switched it on and connected it to the public Wi-Fi at the observation deck. Then, I logged into a cloud-based note app.

It contained a complex password and a phone number.

I dialed the number. The call connected after three rings.

"Hello?"

A young woman's voice answered.

"It's me," I said, lowering my voice. "It's now time."

I hung up and felt my heart pounding in my chest. My palms were also clammy, and I had to breathe deeply to calm down. I hid the phone back inside my pocket, flushed, and walked out of the cubicle.

Mom was waiting at the door. She gave me a once-over when she saw me coming out.

"Why did you take so long?"

"I had a bit of a stomach ache," I said, caressing my stomach. She didn't question any further and hurried me back out to the observation deck.

It was midnight by the time we finally got back to the top.

Mom let out a huge sigh of relief as she flashed me a victorious grin.

"Alright, the system for the college application is finally closed. Everything's set in stone now. You just have to patiently wait for your acceptance letter from the teaching college now."

I turned around and looked at her.

Her face appeared soft and gentle in the dim light of the lamps in the distance, and it was filled with a smug and satisfied look of great victory.

I smiled as well. "Yeah."

My voice drifted in the night breeze, soft yet clear.

"Everything's set in stone now. I'm going to Brayton College for sure."