Pei Qingyu led Yu Tingzheng to the front of the Yu family’s house and raised his voice: “Yu Xiangbo, come out!”
The house remained silent, the doors tightly shut.
The mother of Qiao Xie opened her own door and emerged, shouting at the top of her lungs, “Yu Xiangbo, don’t play dead! Young Master Pei is here to settle the score!”
Qiao Xie followed her out, adding with a tone of schadenfreude, “Uncle Yu, you’re clearly home, so why aren’t you coming out? Surely you aren’t afraid?”
He then gave Yu Tingzheng a knowing look and turned to Pei Qingyu. “Young Master Pei, you have no idea. When Uncle Yu didn’t get the money he wanted, he gave Ah Zheng a kick. It was a heavy blow, right to the stomach. Ah Zheng was drenched in cold sweat afterward; his face was so white he couldn’t even speak.”
As Qiao Xie embellished the scene with dramatic flair, Yu Tingzheng tried to recall the moment. He couldn’t remember much more than what was being said, but he found himself believing the boy’s words. By the time he snapped out of his daze, his hand was already instinctively rubbing his own stomach.
Qiao Xie continued, “Since you’ve come today, you ought to demand justice for him. Otherwise, he’ll have suffered that kick for nothing, and who knows he might even receive a second one.”
Pei Qingyu’s gaze turned cold as he stared at the tightly shut courtyard gate. He raised his foot and delivered a sharp kick; with a loud clatter, the gate collapsed.
Inside the house, Yu Xiangbo and Madam Jiang broke into a cold sweat. Madam Jiang shoved Yu Xiangbo toward the door. “This is your mess. You deal with it yourself! If you’re going to die, don’t take me with you.”
Yu Xiangbo didn’t budge. “What did you say to Madam Pei this afternoon? Why did she let him come here to make trouble again?”
“What could I say? It’s a fact that you hit him, and the Qiao family saw it. How could I lie? I cried and knelt to beg for their mercy what more could I do?”
“You knelt and they still won’t let us go? This Pei family is clearly no house of virtue. They’re trying to drive us to our deaths”
Madam Jiang kicked him. “Then go die by yourself! Don’t drag me into it!”
Reluctant as he was, Yu Xiangbo finally had to head outside.
As soon as he stepped out, he saw the two youths standing at his gate. Seeing Yu Tingzheng, his panic subsided slightly. This is my biological son, after all, he thought. Even if I sold him, he must still care for his father. He wouldn’t let me be humiliated in broad daylight.
“You dared to harm him?” Pei Qingyu’s cold eyes fixed on him. “Did I not tell you the day we left that he is no longer a member of your family?”
Yu Xiangbo forced a smile. “I was just acting out of desperation that day. Zheng’er is my own flesh and blood; it pained my heart to kick him. Ever since he left, I’ve been restless, unable to sleep at night. I was just waiting for a good time to come and apologize to him. Since, since you’re here, shall I offer my apologies now?”
Though still a youth, Pei Qingyu already stood taller than the man. He looked down with indifference, remaining silent for a long moment.
Unable to guess the boy’s thoughts, Yu Xiangbo felt cold sweat trickling down his back, though he kept the smile plastered on his face.
Yu Tingzheng finally turned his head. The first words out of his mouth were: “You’re lying.”
He looked into Yu Xiangbo’s eyes, speaking with quiet certainty. “You wouldn’t… feel pain. You wouldn’t be… restless. And you wouldn’t… lose sleep over it.”
Yu Xiangbo’s smile faltered. “How could I not feel pain? You’re my son.”
Yu Tingzheng didn’t understand. “But… you’ve already… hit me many times. Why would you… feel pain now?”
If it hurt him, why did he keep doing it?
“That… in the past, it was because you were unfilial and did things wrong. As your father, I naturally had to discipline you. As for last time” Father Yu’s eyes turned red. “I was truly confused. I still thought of you as my son, as family. Seeing you wouldn’t listen to me; I lost my temper.”
Yu Tingzheng pursed his lips, unsure of what else to say. He heard the person beside him ask, “What kind of things would he hit you for?”
Yu Tingzheng’s heart fluttered. He lowered his head and whispered, “If… if I came back late… from work and hadn’t… cooked for him. If he came home… and there was no food… he would hit me. If I ate… an extra bowl of rice… he would be unhappy. When bathing… if I used too much water… he would threaten to… push me into the well to be a… water ghost. If Yu Chengfeng lost something… they said I stole it. If a chicken went missing… they said I killed and ate it. If a pig died… they said I fed it to death. For these things… he would hit me harder. It would hurt for… many days. If he drank wine… he would hit me too…”
Pei Qingyu’s brow furrowed deeper with every word. Before Yu Tingzheng could finish, he had heard enough. He glared at the pale Yu Xiangbo. “You beat him over such baseless trifles, and yet you have the gall to claim your heart aches? Is he truly your son, or did you steal him from somewhere?”
Yu Xiangbo’s eyes snapped up. “Of course he is! He is a child of our house!”
Seeing his agitation, Pei Qingyu narrowed his beautiful eyes. “If he’s your child, why are you so nervous? I don’t believe there are parents in this world who would treat their own child this way. Just you wait. I will investigate his origins thoroughly. If he isn’t yours, I’ll make sure you never have a happy day for the rest of your lives.”
“You… what are you going to do?” Yu Xiangbo stumbled back. “He was born to me and Xiaofeng. How could that be a mistake?”
Xiaofeng was the childhood name of Madam Jiang, Jiang Yuying.
“Whether it’s a mistake or not, a search will reveal the truth,” Pei Qingyu said, chin tilted haughtily. “Naturally, I must investigate the background of my own person.”
Yu Xiangbo wanted to argue further, but Pei Qingyu pulled Yu Tingzheng forward. “Apologize to him.”
Yu Xiangbo’s face froze again. Yu Tingzheng was stunned and looked back at Pei Qingyu, who squeezed his hand. Pei Qingyu turned his frigid gaze back to Yu Xiangbo. “Hurry up.”
Qiao Xie and his mother were watching the spectacle from their doorway. Seeing Yu Xiangbo’s hesitation, Qiao Xie called out, “Uncle Yu, you know how to apologize if you bump into a stranger. How is it you don’t know how to apologize for hitting Ah Zheng?”
Yu Xiangbo’s face flushed between red and white. After a visible internal struggle, he finally spoke. “Zheng’er, it was my fault”
“Address him as Master Yu,” Pei Qingyu corrected.
Yu Xiangbo paused, gritting his teeth in secret before changing his address. “Master Yu, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have hit you. I apologize. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Strangely, by the end, his voice carried a hint of a nasal sob.
Yu Tingzheng stared blankly at the man’s bowed head. Suddenly overwhelmed by a realization, he hastily pulled Pei Qingyu along and turned to leave.
Qiao Xie called out from behind them, “Ah Zheng, Qingyu! Come over and play when you’re free!”
The two walked a long distance before Yu Tingzheng finally stopped. Before he could recover from his melancholy, he heard the person beside him begin to cough violently.
With a constitution as frail as Pei Qingyu’s, he had never run so fast or so suddenly. Yu Tingzheng’s frantic pace just now had been quite hard on him.
“Yu’er…” Yu Tingzheng frantically pulled Pei Qingyu toward him and patted his back. “It’s, all my fault. I shouldn’t have… run so fast.”
Pei Qingyu crouched on the ground, shooting him a look that clearly contained many things he wanted to say, though only more coughs came out.
Yu Tingzheng crouched beside him, letting the other boy lean against him while he apologized incessantly.
After the coughing fit passed, Pei Qingyu had no strength left to scold him. He rested his head on Yu Tingzheng’s shoulder and demanded to be carried home.
Yu Tingzheng hesitated for only a second before immediately agreeing. He moved to the front and crouched down, letting Pei Qingyu climb onto his back.
Though Pei Qingyu was a head taller, Yu Tingzheng had spent years doing manual labor and possessed great strength. Carrying Pei Qingyu was no trouble at all.
Once Pei Qingyu was settled, Yu Tingzheng stood up with a slight grunt. He adjusted the weight with a little hop and realized that the boy was incredibly light. His heart ached at the discovery; he made a mental note to make sure Pei Qingyu ate more when they got back.
Pei Qingyu had braved the rain to find him the previous day, and his health was already poor. This ordeal had drained his remaining strength. He slumped against Yu Tingzheng’s back, his chin resting on a shoulder and his face turned toward the crook of Yu Tingzheng’s neck.
There, he saw a small mole behind the ear.
It was red.