Youth: You Were My Redemption
Chapter 01: The Madman and the Doll (1)
-Summer, 2004.-
“Shushu, the lady will ask you some questions now. You just need to answer yes or no, okay?”
“…”
“Is the sky blue today?”
“Yes.”
“Does that make you feel happy?”
“Yes.”
“Since your last visit, have there been any happy events?”
“Yes.”
“In those events, did you express your emotions through words or expressions?”
“No.”
“In this period, have you…”
…
“Alright, we’ve successfully completed today’s little task. Thank you for cooperating, Shushu.” The woman in the white coat closed her notebook and stood up. She smiled, bent down, and patted the girl’s head. “Shushu, wait here for a moment. Auntie needs to talk to your mom, okay?”
“…”
Song Shu quietly raised her eyes and watched the woman leave the therapy room.
Because of the wind, the door didn’t close completely. Slight murmurs of conversation drifted back through the crack.
“Ms. Bai, don’t worry. Based on the results of this phase of testing and treatment, your daughter doesn’t show any obvious severe psychological issues.”
“But she still doesn’t fit in with her peers.”
“Being introverted or extroverted doesn’t equate to having psychological problems, and there’s no good or bad distinction. We respect children’s personality differences…”
The voices outside fluctuated, sometimes soft and sometimes loud.
Song Shu retracted her gaze and looked toward the window.
The glass was clear, and jasmine flowers were blooming luxuriously among the intertwined branches on the railing.
Outside, cicadas chirped, while inside, it was quiet.
Song Shu swung her dangling legs, feeling the wind pass under her feet.
In fact, Song Shu felt that her mother needed this kind of test and conversation more than she did. Her mother was always busy with work, and…
Song Shu tried to recall, but she couldn’t count how many lies she had just told on the questionnaire.
Same as before.
She didn’t like these questionnaires much; it was easy to guess the answers the doctor and her mother wanted to hear, and completing them felt like a waste of time.
However, if this could make her mother focus on work without worry, it wasn’t so bad.
After all, time always felt long.
Changing the activity wouldn’t make it less boring.
“What? You’re going abroad?”
“…”
The girl’s legs, which had been swinging lightly, gradually came to a stop. She slowly turned her head, her delicate face showing no emotion, just blank calm.
She looked toward the crack in the door.
“The company is expanding its overseas market. Mr. Qin has valued my efforts over the years. I can’t refuse his kind intentions.”
“But what about Shushu?”
“The Qin family will take care of her.”
“Sister Bai, Mr. Qin values you, but his daughter is different. How could Qin Fujun possibly tolerate her husband’s ex-wife’s daughter living under her nose?”
“Don’t worry. She’ll be living in the city house, where only Mr. Qin’s grandson and his caretakers reside.”
“Mr. Qin’s grandson? Wait—do you mean Qin Lou?”
“Yes. What’s the matter?”
“Sister Bai, this decision is inappropriate. You don’t understand Qin Lou; you absolutely can’t let him live with Shushu!”
A ringtone interrupted the conversation.
The prelude was soothing; it was her mother’s phone, a familiar sound to Song Shu.
It was probably a company matter. The conversation was forced to pause as Bai Song handled the urgent business on the phone. A few minutes later, the discussion continued.
“Xiao Qian, there’s an emergency meeting at the company. I have to take Shushu now.”
“Are you really decided on sending Shushu to the Qin family?”
“Shushu isn’t sociable by nature. I think she can get along well with Qin Lou.”
“No, Sister Bai, Qin Lou’s situation is entirely different. He’s not like any normal child; he’s very dangerous!”
“He’s only 11.”
“Yes…as a psychologist, it may be inappropriate for me to say this, but Qin Lou is like a madman. He has no trust or affection for anyone, shows significant antisocial behavior, and his aggression and desire to harm are beyond imagination! He—”
“That’s enough, Xiao Qian. I don’t want to hear this again. Mr. Qin is more than an employer to me; he’s like a father. I don’t believe he would put Shushu in danger.”
“But…”
“Alright, I don’t have much time. We’ll talk about the rest over the phone, okay? Shushu, let’s go. Mommy will take you home.”
Bai Song entered the room, her gaze and expression softening the moment she saw the girl.
Song Shu slid off the chair and took Bai Song’s hand.
As she walked out, she turned her head and saw the doctor auntie, who smiled so gently, now standing behind them with genuine worry and unease on her face.
Song Shu silently turned back, clutching her drawing book tightly.
Qin Lou…huh?
Before leaving the country, Bai Song sent Song Shu to the Qin family’s main house. On the day they went, Qin Fujun, the only daughter of the current Qin generation, happened to be at home.
The elders at the main house were more or less aware of the discord between Qin Fujun and Bai Song over the years, so someone reminded Bai Song as soon as she got out of the car.
Bai Song stopped outside the Qin family mansion.
Next to the neatly manicured lawn, Song Shu stood on a gravel path. Today, she wore a new dress with a puffy skirt. Underneath was a layer of light purple silk lining, covered with a layer of white translucent tulle.
The aunt who delivered this custom dress smiled as she touched her expressionless face, saying it was the prettiest little princess style of the year.
Yes, it was also the type she hated the most.
But her mother liked it.
Submission is the first lesson of adulthood.
Young Song Shu always firmly believed this.
The best part was that your parents would be your permanent instructors.
“Shushu, once you arrive at the Qin family, you must be polite in everything you do, understand?”
“Yes.”
“Middle school will start soon. At your new school, respect your teachers and get along with your classmates.”
“Yes.”
“Mom is leaving now. Is there anything you want to say to me?”
“…”
Under Bai Song’s expectant gaze, Song Shu remained silent.
Then more silence.
Finally, she shook her head.
Her delicate face, which hinted at future beauty, remained blank and calm.
Bai Song sighed lightly and handed Song Shu over to the household staff of the Qin family. Mr. Qin had naturally arranged everything, so she didn’t need to worry.
“Alright, Shushu, say goodbye to Mommy, okay?”
“Goodbye.”
“Yes, goodbye, Shushu.”
The car drove away, taking Bai Song with it.
Song Shu stood quietly in place. Besides that one goodbye, she hadn’t said another word. She simply watched the spot where the car had disappeared.
At that moment, Song Shu realized she still had emotions, just more dulled…much slower than normal people.
This was the first thing she found regrettable.
The second regrettable thing was that she hadn’t fully experienced these emotional fluctuations before her state of mind was abruptly interrupted by a voice from above—
“So, my birthday present this year is this large doll?”
This was the first time Song Shu heard this voice.
It was the most pleasant voice she had ever heard. Clean, clear. It reminded one of a spring bubbling in a secluded valley and wind with wings passing through pine forests and ravines.
But it carried a cold, unfamiliar mockery.
Song Shu turned towards the voice.
The Qin family mansion had much higher ceilings than typical buildings, around four meters high. The boy speaking was sitting on the third-floor terrace.
More precisely, he was sitting on the marble railing of the third-floor terrace.
Facing outward, his legs dangled in the air. His slightly longer-than-average hands played with a Rubik’s cube, the faces spinning rapidly, almost leaving afterimages.
He lowered his head and eyes, completely absorbed in his play, seemingly lost in it—
The boy’s toes were ten meters off the ground, and a mere breeze could blow him off the terrace.
Song Shu looked down at the base of the wall.
Below the terrace was a concrete floor. Falling from over ten meters, even if he didn’t die, he would certainly be severely injured.
After being stunned for a dozen seconds, the servant standing beside Song Shu finally reacted, her voice breaking with panic—
“Young Master Lou, why are you up there! Get down now! Someone, quickly, go up and check on him!”
No one responded.
With a final soft “click,” the Rubik’s cube in the boy’s hand returned to its original state.
He raised his right hand, held it up against the glaring sun, and then glanced at his watch.
“Tch, two minutes.”
The boy sneered and casually tossed the Rubik’s cube aside, as if discarding useless trash.
It hit the concrete ground with a bang and shattered.
The boy sitting on the railing looked down indifferently, smirking, “Get down? How? …Like this?”
He suddenly leaned forward.
“Young Master!!”
The servant screamed hysterically.
The boy stopped.
In the scorching summer wind, he laughed freely, sitting on the railing, laughing so hard he bent over. Shadows of trees and patches of light alternated on his body.
Like a perfect madman.
Patchy but beautiful.
The servant could no longer endure this torment, so she abandoned Song Shu and ran to the entrance behind the building.
Song Shu stood quietly in place, unmoving.
In fact, she was observing the Rubik’s cube that had shattered into pieces a short distance away.
For the first time, she finally counted it.
A Rubik’s cube has six sides—this boy was playing with a peculiar six-layer Rubik’s cube.
He had restored it in two minutes but was dissatisfied, so he threw it away like trash.
Song Shu thought the boy must be the type her mother liked best, a genius.
“Hey,” the genius called to her.
Song Shu looked up.
“I hate dolls.” He sneered, his gaze cold as he looked at her.
Hmm, she didn’t like them either.
“The last doll someone gave me, I tore it apart and stuffed it into the pool drain.”
The boy paused, leaning forward again, as if he wanted to lean over the ten-meter height and get closer to her.
He swayed precariously but grinned, giving Song Shu a silent smile.
It was filled with malice and madness:
“Doll—do you like the pool?”
Song Shu looked at him.
After a long silence, she shook her head expressionlessly.
After waiting for a response from Song Shu for quite a while but receiving nothing, the boy frowned. He got none of the expected reactions.
“Are you mute or just an idiot?”
Not speaking meant mute, speaking meant an idiot.
Young Song Shu faced her first dilemma in life, her expression even more blank.
“Turns out you’re both. Boring.”
The boy sneered as the servant’s calls echoed from the staircase behind him. Annoyed, he flipped back into the terrace.
He glanced at the girl still standing motionless on the lawn, frowning even more deeply.
A few seconds later, he averted his gaze, his voice icy and mocking.
“When I’m around, you’re not allowed on the third floor, or I’ll break your legs and stuff you into the pool—doll.”
Song Shu thought for a few seconds and gently nodded.
But the boy had already turned and left, not seeing her response.
Song Shu didn’t want her legs broken, much less being stuffed into a pool.
When Qin Lou was around, she wouldn’t go to the third floor.
She kept her word.
So later, when Qin Lou shamelessly sneaked up to her and whispered in her ear, begging her to come up, she still shook her head solemnly— Qin Lou regretted it.
She kept her word; she wouldn’t go to the third floor.
Evil deserves its own punishment.
Song Shu stood in place for half an hour before the servant, originally responsible for fetching her, finally remembered that she had forgotten something.
“Shushu, why are you still here? Auntie thought you left and looked for you everywhere,” the servant ran over in small steps, her tone tinged with blame.
Song Shu was silent for a few seconds, then slowly stood up, supporting herself on her knees. “I’m sorry.”
Although she didn’t know why she should apologize for waiting where she was left, adults often did this.
“Sorry” made things simpler, and Song Shu didn’t like trouble.
Though, her apology, paired with her blank expression, made it difficult for the other person to see her sincerity.
The servant certainly didn’t feel it.
But after thinking it over, realizing that in the Qin family, this little girl had no one to complain to, the servant felt much more at ease.
“Alright, let’s go.”
“…”
Song Shu’s hand was taken, and she was led away.
On the concrete platform no longer hidden by her figure, the six-layer Rubik’s Cube, which had shattered into pieces, still lay there alone. It was unclear when, but someone had already put it back together.
After being led into the first-floor living room, Song Shu saw Song Ruyu and Song Shuai sitting side by side on the sofa.
They were her half-siblings, twins from her father’s remarriage after he divorced Song Shu’s mother before she was born. Song Shu’s stepmother, her father’s new wife, was Qin Fujun, the only daughter of this generation of the Qin family. The twins, born shortly after Song Shu, had no respect for their older half-sister.
“Look, the little beggar is here again.” Song Ruyu turned around when she heard the noise and mocked, “I heard you’re coming to the same school as us, No. 2 Middle School? What bad luck.”
The servant, who had just brought freshly squeezed juice, hesitated before offering a placating smile while holding the tray. “Ruyu, the old gentleman will be angry if he hears you.”
“Angry… Angry about what? I’m not lying. She’s a beggar, isn’t she? Grandpa is mine, not hers. This is my home—if I call her a little beggar, then she’s a little beggar!”
The servant bowed her head awkwardly.
In the living room, only Song Shu was quiet. She walked to the sofa without expression and sat down.
The little girl opposite her was almost exploding with anger.
“Ill-mannered little beggar!”
“……”
“When we get to No. 2 Middle School, I’ll make sure you know how powerful I am. Grandpa won’t be there to protect you then!”
“……”
Still, no response.
Song Shu lowered her eyes and sat in the corner of the sofa. She didn’t like dolls, but she knew that sometimes it wasn’t bad to act like one.
Besides, her mother had said that manners are shown through actions, not words.
After exhausting her insults, Song Ruyu was reminded in a whisper by a servant nearby, “Ruyu, Young Master Qin Lou is also home today. If you speak so loudly, he might hear you.”
“Little begg—” Her words were abruptly cut off.
The previously arrogant girl now looked like a chick with its neck squeezed. After a two-second pause, she turned her head stiffly, a shiver of fear and confusion written all over her face.
“Qin… Qin Lou, cousin, is… is back…”
“I can’t teach him, I just can’t! You better find someone else!”
A sudden irate voice interrupted the conversation in the living room, and everyone turned to look at the spiral staircase on one side of the room.
An elderly man, over sixty years old, was descending angrily.
The servant hurriedly went up to him, “Mr. Jian, why are you coming down?”
“Me? You should ask your young master about that!”
“Mr. Jian, please calm down. Young Master Qin Lou didn’t mean—”
“Screech—”
A sharp electronic noise suddenly hit their eardrums.
Song Ruyu and Song Shuai cried out, covering their ears, while the servants scattered around the first floor looked around in panic.
Song Shu turned her head. Earlier, she had noticed a speaker in the corner of the living room.
The next moment, the boy’s voice echoed hollowly through the first floor, filled with mocking malice:
“A useless student who can’t derive Taylor’s theorem in two minutes is not worth my time.”
“…”
The noise ceased.
The living room fell silent as if gripped by a chilling frost. Song Shu sat quietly in the corner, watching the teacher’s face turn from white with anger to red, then back to white again. After several seconds of dead silence, the old teacher let out a cold snort through his nose. “I can’t teach a genius who can derive advanced mathematical theorems at the age of 11. Did the Qin family hire me just to humiliate me?”
“No, no, Mr. Jian, please stay—Mr. Jian!”
The old man, his face livid, turned and left.
“How many is this now?”
“No idea, who could keep track?”
“No wonder Mr. Qin wants Young Master Qin Lou to attend school. At this rate, the Qin household is going to be a forbidden zone for private tutors and therapists.”
“That young master should stay in the city mansion by himself, so he doesn’t harm others.”
“That would be difficult. I heard Miss Bai’s daughter is also moving there.”
“What—?”
After a few low murmurs around the living room, Song Shu felt a few gazes fall on her, some sympathetic, some complex.
Song Ruyu’s gaze was a mix of fear as the base emotion, surprise as the prefix, and with the catalyst of disdain, it turned into schadenfreude.
“You’re moving in to live with Cousin Qin Lou?”
“…”
Still, Song Shu did not respond.
Finally unable to bear it any longer, Song Ruyu stood up and walked over to the girl. She reached out and grabbed the round collar of the beautiful princess dress that made her envious—
“You’re just as detestable as your mother! That’s why Dad abandoned you!”
Song Shu was yanked up.
Song Ruyu was slightly taller than her and gripped tightly, making it hard for Song Shu to breathe. But the disturbance in her eyes was not due to this, but rather to Song Ruyu’s words.
Mom…
“Ruyu, what are you doing? Let go of Shu Shu immediately!”
Seeing things go wrong, the servants hurried over.
“She’s just a mute. Even if I choke her to death, she wouldn’t cry or scream.”
Song Ruyu was so infuriated that she spoke in a sharp voice.
She turned back, glaring venomously at the still expressionless Song Shu, spitting out the most vicious curse:
“It’s great that you’re moving in with Cousin Qin Lou. I won’t have to see you anymore because you’ll surely die at his hands!”
The nearest servant rushed over, trying to save the girl.
Everyone thought she still wouldn’t speak.
Until she suddenly did.
“Oh?”
The girl, being lifted by her collar, looked up at Song Ruyu with a blank expression.
Her eyes were vacant, her tone flat.
“Then I look forward to it.”
Song Ruyu was stunned.
A few seconds later, she came to her senses, feeling deeply mocked and insulted. Her face turned as red as blood from anger.
“You—”
Her brother, Song Shuai, who had been watching the show from the sofa, suddenly jumped up, his expression changing drastically.
“Co-Cousin!”
Everyone in the first-floor living room froze, except for Song Shu.
Song Ruyu, snapped back to reality, looked up, and her expression changed instantly. She stepped back frantically, shaking her hands, “Cousin, I-I-I didn’t say anything…” Her voice already trembling with tears.
Song Shu waited a few seconds, not hearing that arrogant but pleasant voice.
She turned back quietly.
The boy was lying lazily on the wooden railing of the spiral staircase leading from the second to the first floor, leaning over, looking down at the first floor with an unusually calm expression.
As Song Shu raised her head, their eyes met.
He was staring at her.
But his gaze was different from before.
As if he had found the newest, most interesting toy, the boy stared at the girl, slowly curling his lips.
In his eyes, the tip of the iceberg of madness emerged.
“This is my ‘doll’—who allowed you to touch her?”
Sansukini: Hey there. Welcome to my new novel translation. Well, this is a two-way healing novel, with some conspiracies and revenge. Not much comedy, but there are lots of pampering and chasing wife. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Thanks for visiting. If you like this story, then I’m shamelessly asking you to visit NovelUpdates and give a 5⭐ review. (人❛ᴗ❛)♪тнайк чоц♪(❛ᴗ❛*人)