Nice To Meet You, Mr. Leonardo!

Summer in City B feels very hot. Rose Ashford was sweating because of the hot weather, and as soon as she arrived at her door, she heard her brother Bernardo protesting to her parents "I don't want to go to university!" Mother Rose's voice became very serious "You have to go to university! You are the only boy in our family. If you don't go to university, who will this family rely on when your father and I grow old?" "Aren't my little sister's grades very good? Just let her go to college." Bernardo's goal is to become a great e-sports player. And in the previous year, he had made the decision to no longer study. At first he thought that as long as he graduated from high school, he could stop going to college and do whatever he liked. But unexpectedly, as soon as he told his parents what he wanted, he received strong opposition from his parents. "Your little sister. No matter how smart she is, she will marry another man in the future." "So? Are you going to force me to do something I don't want to do?" Bernardo said angrily. Then he glanced at his mother and said "With your and father's salaries, can you afford both of our studies?" Neither of his parents has a steady job, mother now works in a restaurant, and father works at a construction site. Half the time, they are unemployed because there is no work. $10,000 the family finally saved was only enough for one person to go to college. Bernardo saw this opportunity and decided that his parents would agree to let him not go to college. Then Mom said "Your father and me are doing this for your own good. What future do you think you can get by playing games all day? Although this university is not a major university, as long as you enter, study hard and learn some skills, you can get a job in the future. And it's not difficult to have a stable job." "What about my little sister?" Bernardo looked at his mother "I'm going to college, isn't my sister not going to college?" "Your little sister? She'll be twenty soon. Your father and me will arrange a marriage for her. That guy's family is quite rich and they own two houses!" Bernardo asked "You want to marry her? Does my little sister know about this?" "I haven't told her yet, but she'll agree!" Hearing this, Rose stood outside the door in shock, she couldn't believe what her ears heard. Her mother actually wanted to marry her off to a man she didn't know? Come on, where is she twenty years old? She was obviously only one year older than Bernardo. This year she is only nineteen years old. In the past, state regulations stipulated that a woman could not have a second child until the child was four years old. In order not to be fined, her parents deliberately reported her age as two years older than her younger brother in order to widen the age gap between her and Bernardo. How could she imagine her parents would want to marry her off because of this? Two houses? It turns out that in the eyes of her parents, her future is not as important as two houses? In their eyes, persuading Bernardo to go to college was important. Was it for the good of her younger brother that her parents allowed her to marry? Haha... Bernardo's test scores this time barely even made it into an unknown university. And she, ranked number one in the entire school. Rose never thought her parents would be so partial. She opened the door and entered. When her mother saw her, she was stunned for a moment and smiled, "Rose, you're home! How was work?" "I have to leave in the afternoon." Facing her mother's smile, Rose couldn't smile at all. Then she asked her mother, “Mom, is what you just said true?” Gabriel asked “Did you hear everything?” There was no expression of guilt on her face. However, she felt she had made a good decision for her daughter. Rose asked "You want Bernardo to go to college and you want me to get married?" Because of the hot weather when she exercised earlier, Rose was panting tiredly, but she knew the reason she was so tired was mainly because of her mother's unreasonable reasons. Gabriel approached her and said “Yes, since you have heard everything, mom will not hide it from you. The situation at home is like this, between you and Bernardo only one can go to college. Bernardo is a man, when he grows up, he will marry someone, you also know how difficult it is to get a wife now. If he only graduated from high school, what would other people think of him? But you are different, you are a woman, women only need to get married when they are mature. And the man's family has seen your photos and he is quite satisfied with you. Another reason, I'm afraid that after you spend a few years studying at university, you might not be able to find a decent job. Besides, that guy has two houses in City A, do you know how high house prices are now? Our family has struggled all our lives to afford it." "But I'm only eighteen!" Rose listened to her mother's words and felt hurt, even hopeless about her future. Two houses... all her life... could it be that, in her mother's eyes, she was just an object? Gabriel glared at her “Eighteen years old? You'll be twenty in October. There is no harm in getting married early, when you are forty, other people are still suffering, while you have started to enjoy happiness. I'm doing this for your own good, right?" "I want to go to college!" Rose knows that her family is very poor, but she also believes that just by going to college, she can change her future. Unlike her younger brother who has a dream of becoming an E-sports player, her dream is to go to college well. This is the only way to success. Seeing her disobeying, Gabriel became angry and said “I've told you so much, but you can't understand? I told you, if you want to go to college, it's impossible! Look at Amanda from next door, she went to work after she finished school, and now she can send thousands of dollars back to her parents! How about you? Look at you, apart from being good at studying, is there anything else you can do?" "What about Bernardo?" Rose looked at her brother in disappointment "He doesn't want to go to college, but you force him to go to college?" "Are you sick? Your brother is still so young! The age on his identity card is only sixteen years old! What can he do when he goes out? Even if he wanted to work, would any company want him?" "But he's only one year younger than me." Rose looked at her mother "You are my real mother, but don't you think you are too partial?" “What's the point of me taking sides? Sooner or later you will marry a man. Spending money on you is a waste, if you get married, you won't even remember having a mother like me." ..... Rose stood in front of Cassandra's house, thinking about the argument she had with her mother two days ago, she still couldn't hold back her tears. She reached out to wipe her tears, adjusted her emotions, then knocked on the door. After a while, Cassandra came out. When Cassandra saw her, she said affectionately "Rose, you are here! Come in and sit!" Rose and Cassandra are classmates, they are also friends. When Rose was in school, she sometimes came here, so she was very familiar with Cassandra's family. Cassandra led her in and asked "Why did you come here suddenly? What happened?" Cassandra knew that Rose's house was in area B, a small place around City B. So it took three hours to come here from there. Rose said "I have something to tell you and I want to ask for your help."