"I was chatting with that gentleman in the living room while my mother listened nearby. Irritated by those tiresome praises, I snapped at my mother and told her to stop eavesdropping and gossiping with others. Later, when we moved into my room to discuss the cooperation, my mother came in again to bring fruit for the gentleman, and accidentally stepped on my painting—the biggest commission I had landed in a long time, which had taken me two months to paint."
"Looking at the bruised, sliced fruit and the stepped-on painting, I snapped at my mother again. The gentleman looked at me with a flash of displeasure, then brushed me off with a few perfunctory words and left."
"I looked at the painting I had spent two months on, thinking of the gentleman who had left in displeasure instead of finalizing the cooperation, and I felt furious. That was money! For the rest of the day, I brooded over this setback to my livelihood and ignored my mother entirely. The next day, glancing casually at the calendar, I realized the day before had been her birthday."
Chapter 67