I am seeing a lot of comments praising one mom and discrediting the other.
This is no good, neither mom are perfect. Both care about their children, just one is absent emotionally and the other is absent presently. Neither is ideal and neither is particularly lordable, in context:
You have one mom who's off running down her teenage fantasies, whilst her daughter was at home crying on her birthday no less, because she's lonely with no one to celebrate with let's not forget, that's not good parenting in my book.. however, too her credit, she's always supportive of her kid, and wants her to be happy.
Then you have the other, who's completely aloof to her kids mental well-being. She's there but not there, doesn't seem to be at all attentive to her kids feelings, again, not very good parenting, but too her credit, she's there and cares about her kids safety.
This however, isn't to discredit the author. What I like about the authors work is, that's it's well done enough, that you can see the strengths and flaws of the parents, reflecting in their children. That's a mark of good writing to my mind, very impressed. :)
Very solid arguments here, thanks for posting this.
I had actually forgotten about the birthday incident that you mentioned, and now that I was reminded of it, I was also reminded of the reason why I didn't have a good impression of her mum in earlier chapters. I agree that Tong Tong's mother is a bit too carefree...? if that makes sense. Like, I get why people love her, and I love her too, but she often acts more like a friend, rather than a mother. And even though some people may say that parents should also be friends to their children, I think getting a more level-headed opinion, instead of an overly enthusiastic but not very thought-out one can often be more helpful.
As for Xiao Lu's (I forgot how I'm supposed to call her, hope this is correct) mother, I, too, got the impression that she is worried for her daughter, but she is way too restrictive, which has resulted in her daughter's (very much justifiable) distrust towards her.