Mom Made Me Wear a “Mask.” On Picture Day, I Couldn’t Smile, and the Whole School Called Me a Monster

Starting on my sixth birthday, Mom “prepared” a hundred different masks for me. In the morning, when meeting people, I had to wear the “Well-Behaved” mask. At school, I had to wear the “Clever” mask. When facing my elders, I had to wear the “Filial” mask. “You have to play every role perfectly, and show that man you’re a hundred times better than the children he has now!” Mom was lonely all by herself. I had to make her proud. Even if I was almost beginning to forget what my face looked like beneath the masks. Then came my first class photo. All the other children beamed brightly. But when the photographer called, “Give me a smile,” I frantically searched my mind for the “Happy” mask. “Photographer, could you wait a moment? I’ll have Nuonuo get ready before you take the picture. Please make sure it’s high resolution!” My classmates backed away in horror. “Monster! She doesn’t even know how to smile! No wonder her dad ran away!” I lowered my head and thought to myself, If I weren’t Mom’s child, could I live with my own face?