Actively destroying a stable family relationship—even one as precarious as walking a tightrope—that was still a capital offense.
When the words “I won’t” left He Xueqi’s mouth, his aunt’s lips twitched several times, and her eyes bulged like a pair of frog’s eyes.
It was as if a ruler had been defied by the lowliest of slaves. Her first reaction wasn’t so much anger as sheer shock—she had never expected him to dare do such a thing.
But when she caught a glimpse of He Xueqi’s extremely cold expression, a surge of indignation rose in her heart, and her hands clenched unconsciously.
“Mom, you’re pinching me too hard!”
It wasn’t until Xu Jiarui shouted that Xu Huidan snapped out of it and hurriedly said, “Sorry, baby! Mom pinched you too hard, I didn’t mean it.”
Seeing He Xueqi turn to leave, she barked angrily, “Stop! Where do you think you’re going?”
The boy paused mid-step and looked at her, eyes calm: “Does this have anything to do with you?”
His tone wasn’t harsh; it genuinely sounded like he was confused.
But Xu Huifeng, who knew her sister’s temper well, felt a jolt in her heart and quickly tried to smooth things over: “Alright, alright, Qiqi, you don’t need to say so much…”
Before He Xueqi could reply, the aunt exploded first: “Sister, step aside! Don’t take sides or sweep this under the rug! Today we have to settle this once and for all!”
She planted her hands on her hips, fingers stabbing the air like daggers. “He Xueqi, I know you don’t like the two of us, you’ve always been sly and underhanded, and I’ve never said anything…”
“Sly and underhanded?” He Xueqi repeated.
Xu Huifeng noticed her son’s expression flicker oddly and quickly said, “Dandan, you can’t put it that way. When Rui Rui was one or two, Qiqi was the one making his nighttime milk. Didn’t he help out?”
Mentioning it only made her aunt more agitated.
“Helped? When I asked him to go downstairs to grab a delivery, he dragged his feet and barely moved! When I had him teach Rui Rui English, he ignored the lesson plan and started teaching nonsense like ‘alien’… that ridiculously long word, how does it go again?”
Xu Jiarui piped up excitedly: “Extraterrestrial! Mom is Extraterrestrial!”
“Not allowed to talk! And don’t call Mom an alien!”
The aunt turned to Xu Huifeng, yelling: “Was that helping? He just thought my kid was cute and came over to mess around. How was that helping?”
He Xueqi repeated, still calm: “Cute?”
His gaze dropped to Xu Jiarui, who shrank back slightly, and he said the most cutting words of the night: “That one?”
The aunt trembled with rage: “Fine, fine… think you’re grown up now, huh? After I took you to Dongzhu City, bought you clothes and shoes worth hundreds, treated you to steak at fancy restaurants, bought you a solid gold pendant… you’ve forgotten all that? And this is how you repay me?”
He Xueqi’s lips curved faintly, but it wasn’t a smile—it radiated an eerie, almost ghostly energy. “How far back are you going to drag up my elementary school days? Until I’m in the coffin?”
The aunt, fuming, twisted her nose: “You heartless little bastard…”
Before she could say more, He Xueqi interrupted: “Those invoices you submitted… who did you give them to?”
Xu Huidan froze.
This wasn’t something that could be explained in detail.
Back then, Xu Huidan wasn’t married. After graduation, she went to Dongzhu City with big ambitions. Less than a year later, she suddenly returned, crying and making a scene in front of Xu Huifeng.
Harassment from the administration, bullying from colleagues, slanderous rumors from superiors—she had nothing but trouble around her.
Xu Huifeng, feeling for her sister, pleaded with her husband He Guanyou to arrange a simple accounting position for her at the company.
But not long after, Xu Huidan, taking advantage of being able to claim expenses freely, not only went to fancy restaurants but also replaced her entire wardrobe.
On the trip to Dongzhu City with He Xueqi, she bought herself three bags worth tens of thousands.
The money spent on He Xueqi? All came out of He Guanyou’s pocket.
As for that solid gold pendant she always boasted about…
She had it back under the pretext of a “full month celebration” for Xu Jiarui.
She reveled in this, thinking she could buy her son with her father’s money while standing on a moral high ground, criticizing him for being ungrateful.
But she never expected that He Xueqi had no intention of going along with her schemes.
This damn kid…!
Of course, if a few words could shut her up, she wouldn’t be Xu Huidan.
Feeling mocked by his faint, ironic smile, she turned angrily to Xu Huifeng and cried: “Look at him! Rui Rui is his own little brother, and he doesn’t even care. A whole family, and he’s so cold! If he treats Rui Rui like this now, he might treat you the same way later…”
Xu Huifeng stammered: “Qiqi wouldn’t…”
“Wouldn’t? Then ask him where he ran off tonight! Didn’t even care about his little brother! Did he go to some filthy place and hang out with some loose girl?”
He Xueqi didn’t reply, only let out a cold sneer.
Next to his wailing aunt, he stood with his hands at his sides, completely indifferent, and the scene looked almost ridiculous.
“My life is so hard! I take care of this kid every day, I’m exhausted, and you mother and son are trying to kill me, aren’t you…”
Xu Huifeng: …Here we go again.
She let out a long, internal sigh but forced a smile and crouched down.
Just as she was about to confront her sister, Xu Jiarui—who had been sitting there like a dazed little statue—suddenly moved.
“Don’t bully Mom! Bad guy!”
Xu Jiarui stomped over, his chubby little hands pushing hard against Xu Huifeng’s shoulders.
Caught completely off guard, Xu Huifeng stumbled and fell to the floor.
Her tailbone hit the floor, and pain shot through her.
Xu Huidan, oblivious to her sister’s fall, wiped her tears and said: “Rui Rui is still the only one who loves Mom. Only Rui Rui loves Mom. This family doesn’t even welcome me…”
Xu Jiarui got even more fired up when he heard this. “I’m going to protect Mom! I’ll chase all the bad guys away!”
With that, he grabbed a small stool and a toy, swinging them at He Xueqi!
Then, like a cannonball, he launched himself forward, fists flying, kicking and punching at his opponent’s legs.
“I’ll beat you to death, you stinky bug! You sewer rat!”
In He Xueqi’s dark eyes, the small, constantly moving figure of Xu Jiarui was reflected.
Though just a little kid, he hit with full force, all the strength he could muster, and it hurt a lot.
Amid the constant shaking, the plastic bag unknowingly shifted into a very delicate angle.
The freshly sharpened blade was extremely sharp, its bright tip quivering as it slowly emerged from the darkness.
He Xueqi calmly calculated the unfolding scenario.
Next, he just had to release the force at the right moment, pretending to be pushed and falling. Without support, Xu Jiarui would naturally lunge forward.
There was a security camera in the living room, installed by his aunt—not only to monitor his studies, but, almost absurdly, because she feared Xu Huifeng might abuse Xu Jiarui.
In the end, that same camera would prove the entire incident was nothing more than an accident.
A soft tearing sound broke the silence.
The opening in the plastic bag widened slightly.
One hundred and three… one hundred and four… one hundred and five…
His heartbeat was steady, and he felt nothing about what was about to happen.
It was like simply solving a math problem and casually writing down the answer—no emotion required at all.
One hundred and six… one hundred and seven… one hundred and eight.
He had reached the last bead of the cinnabar.
Xu Jiarui, completely unaware, raised his fists high once again—
“Bang!”
The front door shook violently, the floor trembled in response—it was earth-shattering.
Xu Jiarui flinched, frozen in place, fists still raised.
Even his aunt paused her theatrical performance; the noisy chaos instantly fell silent.
In this dead quiet, Xu Huifeng suddenly noticed that several households across the street were peeking out their windows, clearly amused by the commotion.
Seeing Xu Huifeng notice, they awkwardly drew back and pulled the curtains.
A mix of indescribable embarrassment and a dull ache in her tailbone ignited her anger.
She shouted, “Who is it?! Knocking so hard at night—trying to scare someone to death?!”
After a second of silence outside the door, a clear young voice called out: “Classmate He, you left something at my place!”