[Another sigh, and she decides she can spare the bare minimum of explanation as she chops some tofu.]

My mom and me, back home... we weren't really that well liked. Respected, I mean. My mom didn't care, she just went about her business, but... I couldn't be that strong. I had to work twice as hard all the time just to get people to think I wasn't... bad, deep down bad. And most of the time, even that didn't work.