Li Rui wanted to see Zhu Yun Xuan, but he also knew that he couldn’t leave without reason. As a six-year-old child, acting too strange wasn’t a good thing.
In his previous life, when he was eleven, it was actually his cousin who took his composition, signed her name, and submitted it. He had argued with her but was scolded into silence. The pushing incident was also started by his cousin, and in the end, everyone helped her, accusing him of bullying a younger girl.
He had always been good at Chinese, and it was his proudest subject. However, not long after, the essay that was posted in class as a model was later published in a school magazine under someone else’s name. You can imagine how angry he was at that time! And how hurt he felt when others suspected him of plagiarism!
The distrust of his classmates and teachers, and the way his family blamed him, made him so upset that he ran out of the house with money in his pocket. He decided that even if he had to beg for food, he would never return home. He ended up switching buses a few times and eventually arrived at Wende Town, not far from the provincial capital…
It was fortunate that he didn’t encounter any bad people. Instead, he met Zhu Yun Xuan’s father, who gave him a ride home, fed him a meal, and let him stay the night. The next afternoon, he was sent to the police station.
After his parents found him, they didn’t know about this experience. After all, Zhu Yun Xuan’s father hadn’t left any contact information. At that time, they were busy arguing, so they didn’t ask him about it. This event remained only in his memory…
1993? Later, he was sent to the School of Business Administration. Although Li Rui didn’t like it, he still learned a lot. He also gained some understanding of the economic situation in the 1990s. The fastest way to make money at this time should be through stocks, right?
However, stocks made money quickly but were unstable. If he wanted to escape his family, doing business would be the most suitable option. As for politics… in his previous life, even business was a struggle for him, so this time, even if he knew the future, he would still need to recruit talented people to grow and develop. Politics, like his brother, was something he didn’t even want to think about.
In fact, even business didn’t seem like a sure bet. If it went like his father’s failed ventures, he’d be facing huge losses again…
If only he weren’t born into such a family, if only he didn’t have such a strong-willed mother and influential maternal grandparents, he would love to live a peaceful life. In his previous life, he enjoyed writing. He had thick notebooks full of hand-written drafts in middle school, and in high school, he even wrote some things online. But after being sent to the military camp and knowing no one in his family would support that, he never wrote again.
But what if he only knew how to write novels? Even if he became wildly famous, once his grandfather or uncle spoke, no publishing house would dare to publish his books, right?
Li Rui was locked in the house and couldn’t even go out to see this familiar yet unfamiliar place. Fortunately, his grandfather soon returned with his cousin, Li Jia Jie.
Li Jia Jie was two years older than Li Rui. He would be starting his second year in the second half of the year. His grades were poor, and after failing the college entrance exam, he was sent abroad. After returning, he became a “returnee.” Now, Li Jia Jie looked down on him, but in twenty years, Li Jia Jie would go all out to flatter him.
However, at this moment, Li Jia Jie had yet to realize the kind of abilities that the third aunt, whom his grandparents disliked and his mother was jealous of, possessed. Naturally, he didn’t treat Li Rui differently. He didn’t even spare him a glance, instead, he just focused on watching TV. The cartoon on TV was Astro Boy.
Li Jia Jie watched with great interest, while Li Rui found it boring. He hadn’t said a word since he woke up, but no one thought anything was odd, because when he was young, Li Rui was a stutterer and somewhat introverted.
A stutterer? Li Rui, who later, for some unknown reason, stopped stuttering after entering the military, was very clear that his slight stutter had always been more of a psychological issue.
Later, when he saw reports on “left-behind children” on TV and heard discussions about their mental health, he naturally thought of himself. He even went to see a psychologist. After all, he was never one to shy away from seeking help, but no matter what, it was difficult to change his personality. By the time he was in his twenties, he had to face pressure from all sides. And with his aging mother and father, his elderly grandparents, his deceased grandfather, and his bedridden grandmother, along with unapproachable uncles and his half-brother, no one would ever approve of him being with another man.
But now, he was reborn.
He could find a way to earn his mother’s affection, he could choose a path for himself again…
In his previous life, he was timid and cowardly, only daring to secretly watch Zhu Yun Xuan, seeing him work part-time after his regular job, seeing him strive to make his life better, seeing him live with another man, taking care of that man’s child and still being disliked, and even watching him use a few tricks to let the man see the child’s true character… But in this life, did he have the chance to be with Zhu Yun Xuan?
Thinking of Zhu Yun Xuan made Li Rui more eager to see him. Even if it was just the child who would throw a tantrum if his attention was stolen away from the family, it would be fine.
If he could see Zhu Yun Xuan, and then live with him… Li Rui furrowed his brows slightly. Although his mother had always neglected him due to business matters, it wasn’t that she didn’t love him. If his grandmother hadn’t firmly said that she could take care of him, his mother would probably have kept him by her side, even though he’d still be taken care of by a nanny.
In his previous life, it wasn’t until he was eleven years old that his mother finally realized his grievances and had a big fight with his father. If she had known earlier, she would never have let his grandmother take care of him, right?
If, like in his previous life after he turned eleven, his mother had given him pocket money and hired a nanny who would listen to him… back then, he felt too lonely being alone, but now, that kind of life was exactly what he needed most.
Li Rui was introverted, but not stupid. And sometimes, the more introverted a person is, the more likely they are to be sly.
In just half a day, Li Rui thought about a lot. So, when he saw his cousin, Li Jia Hui, returning with his grandmother, still holding an ice cream stick in her mouth, he immediately requested to have one too.
“It’s so hot! Who’s going to go out and buy you an ice cream?” Li Rui’s grandmother immediately refused his request, glaring at him before turning her attention back to the vegetables she was handling.
The Li family didn’t lack money, and the living allowance Li Rui’s mother provided was also quite large for the time, so the Li family never had to worry about food. This time, Li Rui’s grandmother, Zhao Hong Juan, also bought a chicken, which she stewed. As per the usual routine, after it was done, Li Jia Jie and Li Jia Hui each got a chicken leg and a chicken wing.
Li Rui had been treated like this since he was young, to the point that later on, he wouldn’t even reach for a chicken leg or wing, making everyone think he didn’t like them…
“Grandma, I want a chicken leg!” Li Rui couldn’t quite put into words what he felt for his grandparents. To them, wasn’t his mother, their daughter-in-law, totally inadequate? But he was their grandson!
Decades later, his grandmother even came to his house throwing tantrums because his mother hadn’t arranged a job for Li Jia Jie. Yet, she never stopped to think, what obligation did his mother have to arrange a job for Li Jia Jie?
“You can have some chicken, but there’s nothing special about the chicken legs.” Li Rui’s grandmother gave him a piece of chicken breast.
“I want a chicken leg!” Li Rui insisted. His grandparents were strong-willed people who didn’t tolerate any opposition, and this was also one of the reasons they disliked his mother, she had often disagreed with them!
“Little coffin! What chicken leg!” Li Rui’s grandfather, Li Yuan, slapped the back of Li Rui’s head. From childhood, Li Rui had been hit by his grandfather many times, and of course, his cousins also got hit.
“Little coffin” was what his grandfather called all the boys.
Li Yuan didn’t hit him too hard, but for a six-year-old child, it was no small thing.
Li Rui stumbled into the table from the force of the slap. Since he had been kneeling on the chair while eating, the impact, combined with him deliberately falling, made him topple to the floor.
“Little coffin!” Li Yuan shouted in a local dialect, then grabbed Li Rui’s arm and lifted him up. “Eat properly! If you’re not good, I’ll throw you out!”
Adults loved scaring children, and Li Yun was no different. His threats didn’t work on Li Jia Jie or Li Jia Hui, they’d even go and tell their parents, bad-mouthing their grandparents. But it was extremely effective on Li Rui.
For the young Li Rui, who had always been without his parents, his grandparents, despite their shortcomings, were his only support. Many times in his memories, he had been hit by his grandfather, who would also threaten him. He didn’t even know how to avoid it, instead, he would hold onto his grandfather’s legs tightly, afraid they would really throw him away.
Back then, whenever Li Jia Jie was about to be hit, he would run away, and they’d often call him a fool for not knowing how to dodge. But no one probably understood how scared he was of being abandoned, did they?
After enduring so many unfair treatments, he had once bravely gone to his father to complain. And what happened? His father thought their family’s living conditions were already much better than his two older brothers’ families, and that he wasn’t grateful enough, even calling him a bastard. In the end, he was scolded and given a few slaps as punishment.
His little pinky hurt. Li Rui looked at it and figured it was probably broken from the fall just now. He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, and with his other hand, touched his forehead. Sure enough, there was already a bump.
Li Rui sat back at the table, and his cousin immediately started laughing: “Li Rui is a fool! A little bad boy!”
“You’re the fool!” Li Rui shot a cold glance at his cousin. If you asked him who the woman he disliked most was, without a doubt, it would be his cousin!
“Little coffin, is that how you speak to your sister?” Li Rui’s grandfather tapped him on the head with his chopsticks.
“Li Rui! How can you talk to your sister like that?” It was either a coincidence or something else, but Li Rui’s father, Li Yue, had just walked in. Looking twenty years younger, Li Yue was handsome and elegant, unlike the older version with wrinkles, white hair, and a disposition that had turned frustrated and irritable. However, he believed in corporal punishment and was always stricter with Li Rui than with others.
Seeing his young father, Li Rui couldn’t find his voice. He had long forgotten the memories from when he was six, and the only things he could remember were fragments.
“Apologize to your sister!” Like his father, Li Yue slapped the back of Li Rui’s head.
Li Rui had been holding back from using force because of the pain in his finger. After the slap, he lost his balance, and the bowl of rice on the table fell to the ground, shattering into pieces. This made Li Yue’s face even darker.
“Third uncle! Li Rui cursed at me!” Li Rui’s cousin, sitting in a large chair with a small stool in front of it, immediately jumped up when she saw Li Yue. Her eyes darted to the two large bags he had brought.
It was the early 90s, during the Pudong development. His parents had stayed in Pudong, occasionally coming back but always in a rush. Li Rui trembled as he watched his father hand the two large bags to his cousin and cousin, telling his grandparents to take them away before starting his usual lecture to him.
“You need to be nice to your cousins. They don’t have everything you have. You should learn to share more…” Li Rui knew, when he was in his teens, he had hated his parents for a while. He resented their indifference toward him, until he got older and even served in the army for two years. It was only then that he finally made peace with the fact that they had raised him. But right now, seeing his young father start his long lecture without even asking a question, the pain in his finger became unbearable, and he blurted out, “They’re not my brother, and they’re not my sister!”
“What did you say?” Li Yue glared at his son. His usually quiet and obedient son speaking to him like this made him furious.
“Who’s really your father?” Li Rui asked. In his previous life, he had always wanted to ask this. The indifference his grandparents showed him had a lot to do with his father’s attitude. His father was filial and felt guilty toward his two older brothers, so he always believed they were right without considering Li Rui’s feelings.
And what about his mother? His brother was sent to live with his maternal grandparents, and he was left with his paternal grandparents. Had his parents really been ready to be parents?
However, given the situation now, shouldn’t it be normal for him to leave this house? With his hands behind his back, Li Rui looked at his father. As for the pain in his finger, even though the saying goes “[1]“ten fingers are connected to the heart” means that physical pain, even in a small part of the body like a finger, can be felt deeply and emotionally—it highlights the strong connection … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1673832_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1673832_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });ten fingers are connected to the heart,” it wasn’t something that couldn’t be endured by an adult.
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