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In the following days, the home seemed to return to its former state, but there were some differences. For one, Xu Li no longer shared meals with them; he only bought breakfast on his way to school. Lunch was provided at school, and for dinner, he would casually pick up something on his way home after school. He felt no shame in spending money that wasn't his own; after all, it was his mother's money, earned through her hard work alongside a man.
His mother’s money was as good as his own, a fact he confirmed after calling a law firm for information. This routine continued for about a month, and the family seemed to have grown accustomed to his reclusive nature. Aside from Kong Yan Hong, who called him for meals every day, the man in the house had tried several times to talk to him, but Xu Li had lost interest.
On this Saturday, Tian Xing was off from school. Kong Yan Hong changed into a set of autumn clothes and knocked on Xu Li's bedroom door before entering. She gently shook his shoulder while sitting at the edge of his bed. "Ali, today is Auntie's birthday. Shall we go out for dinner?"
"I’d rather not. Happy birthday to Auntie!" Xu Li replied before turning over, intending to continue sleeping. Kong Yan Hong wanted to mend the relationship she had painstakingly built with Xu Li, so she shook him again. "How about you accompany Auntie? She wants to apologize for what happened last time."
"That wasn’t your fault!" He turned to look at the somewhat sad Kong Yan Hong and thought about how she had cared for him over the years. He pursed his lips and got up to get dressed. Kong Yan Hong happily ruffled his thick black hair and said, "We'll be waiting for you in the living room."
After she left for the living room with a smile on her face, clearly in good spirits, the man sitting on the sofa chatting with Xu Lei noticed his wife's happiness and asked, "What’s going on? Did you eat honey or something?"
"Your..." She sat beside Xu Lei and pinched her son's cheek. "You need to apologize to your brother later, okay?"
"He hit you last time; I won’t apologize to him." Xu Lei pouted and turned away from her, which made Kong Yan Hong a bit angry. After a moment of silence, she said, "What happened last time was your fault too; Mom made mistakes as well! It’s because I spoiled you that you’ve become so unruly."
"I won’t!" Xu Lei got angry and jumped off the sofa, pointing towards the hallway opposite the living room just as Xu Li finished washing up and walked into the living room wearing autumn clothes. "You’re my mom, not his! His mom has been dead for a long time!"
"What did you just say? Say that again!" Kong Yan Hong and the man were stunned by Xu Lei's words. With red eyes, Xu Li rushed in front of Xu Lei and grabbed his collar. "Say that again if you dare!"
"I said your mom has been dead for a long time; good riddance!"
"How dare you!" Xu Li slapped Xu Lei across the face and then kicked him hard enough that he fell into the man's arms. Following that, he lunged at Xu Lei and began hitting him wildly without restraint.
Kong Yan Hong wanted to step in and pull the furious Xu Li away but was met with a slap that sent her sprawling on the floor. "Get away from me, shameless whore!"
With that, he grabbed an ashtray from the coffee table and swung it at Xu Lei's head and face. The man quickly intervened with one hand to stop him. "Ali, are you crazy?"
"You’re not any better! Today I’ll take you down too!"
Xu Li's face flushed as he struggled against the man, both of them locked in a stalemate. He watched as the man's face also turned red, and feeling his arms being pushed back, he decided to use his head instead, crashing it into the man's face. The sudden pain made the man instinctively loosen his grip.
Grabbing a large ashtray, Xu Li swung it down onto Xu Lei's left arm, which was protecting his head. Kong Yan Hong rushed forward, realizing that things were about to escalate dangerously. He grabbed Xu Li's hand holding the ashtray and slapped him to bring him back to his senses. The man, enduring the pain, pushed Xu Li away, shouting, "Calm down!"
"You damn wall! I've put up with you for too long!" Xu Li kicked Kong Yan Hong aside and began to smash the ashtray against the man indiscriminately until blood flowed from his head and his blocking arm dropped. Only then did he pull the terrified and crying Xu Lei from the man's embrace.
He shoved Xu Lei to the ground and kicked him repeatedly in the stomach and face. "Bastard! Your mother deserved to die! You pathetic wall!"
"Stop! If you keep hitting him, you'll really kill him! I'm begging you!" Kong Yan Hong could no longer hold Xu Li back; instead, he rushed to his son who was spitting blood. "Just kill me if you want! I deserve it! Just don’t hit Xiao Lei anymore!"
Xu Li's eyes were bloodshot as he gasped for breath, tightening his grip on the ashtray. Finally, he spat at Kong Yan Hong and threw the ashtray onto the man's increasingly rotund belly, causing him to yelp in pain.
"Let me tell you, Xu Haigui, I've tolerated you for far too long! How have you treated me all these years? Think about it!" He then turned to Kong Yan Hong. "And you, Kong Yan Hong! Don’t think I don’t know about your little affair when my mother was still alive! You were already getting involved with this old man while my mother was still here! How shameless can you be?"
He stomped on Xu Lei's calf, making him cry out again. "It hurts! Mommy, waah!"
"Stop! Auntie will bow down to you! It’s my fault; I’m sorry for everything—both for you and your mother. Just don’t hit Xiao Lei anymore, okay?"
Kong Yan Hong got up and hugged Xu Li's legs, trying to prevent him from hitting her son again. The man sat on the sofa in a daze, likely still stunned from the beating.
"I’ve long wanted to leave this house. You can’t accept me? I don’t care about dealing with you anymore." He looked at the dazed man. "If there’s anything, just send me abroad. From now on, we’ll go our separate ways!"
With that, he shoved Kong Yan Hong's arms aside, changed his shoes, and stormed out of the house. Kong Yan Hong quickly turned around to check on her son's injuries and saw him spitting blood in panic.
Trembling, she picked up her phone and dialed urgently: "Hello? You need to come quickly to Sunshine Community building unit; we have two injured people here who are both spitting blood!"
After hanging up the phone in haste, she rushed back to try and help her son but was stopped by the man’s bloody hand grabbing her: "Don’t move him; wait for the doctor."
"How are you? Are you okay?"
Only then did Kong Yan Hong notice that the man was covered in blood. She took off her jacket and pressed it against his wound while crying incessantly, "It’s all my fault; it’s all my fault."
The man ignored her and simply stared blankly at his son who was coughing up blood.
For three days, Xu Li seemed to have evaporated from existence. No one could find him at school or among familiar classmates' homes; reporting it to the police proved useless as well. Jinling City was vast; three days were only enough for the police to check through bus stations, internet cafes, and some hotels.
The man had a thick bandage wrapped around his head, and his left arm was in a cast, hanging in front of him. Kong Yan Hong's face was slightly swollen, a clear indication of the force behind Xu Li's slap.
The man sat on the sofa smoking, while Kong Yan Hong entered Xu Li's bedroom. As she thought about the care she had given to their child over the years, an inexplicable sense of grievance welled up inside her. She questioned herself; she hadn’t been a bad partner to Xu Li.
But just as he had said, it was her own lack of shame that had contributed to this situation, along with her indulgence towards Xiao Lei, which had turned their once-happy home into what it was now.
Turning on the desk lamp and looking at the photos scattered across the glass surface, a sudden realization struck her. She hurriedly rushed into the living room. "Da Gui! Da Gui! I know!"
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