Most abandoned children, aside from the few who were left behind due to desperate poverty, were usually discarded because they had some defect.
Seeing Fang Zichen was young and assuming he wouldn't understand, they spoke without restraint, all speculating on why a child with his appearance was abandoned, why his parents didn't want him, what illness his body might harbor, and how being adopted by the Fang family meant he had luck spanning eight lifetimes.
Their tone, their expressions, those pointed fingers, the malicious conjectures, the jealousy born from envy—none of it was painless or harmless. Instead, it became the sharpest knife carving into Fang Zichen's flesh.
He had never known he was adopted. At first, he was stunned. After the shock wore off, a delayed, needle-like pain began stabbing at his heart.
He was given no stage to gradually accept this fact. Suddenly knowing the truth, before he could even begin to process it, a storm of overwhelming force directly assaulted him.
The lobby lights were glaringly bright.
He felt stripped bare, thrown at the feet of the crowd, like a defective product being picked apart and evaluated.
Those people were still talking when the eldest Fang brother suddenly appeared and directly threw his tray at them.
The second Fang brother happened to return and, seeing this scene, rushed over: "Holy crap, big brother, what are you doing? What happened?"
The eldest Fang brother was twelve at the time, having shot up in height, somewhat thin but with extremely sharp features. As the eldest son of the Fang family, he had been raised since childhood as the heir. Though young, when he erupted in anger, his icy demeanor was enough to frighten the group of women.
He knew his second brother's weak points and was best at giving orders. He spoke little, as if he cared about nothing. But Fang Zichen knew that most of the times the second brother got beaten by Director Fang were instigated by the eldest brother. He said, "They bullied little brother."
"What!" The second brother turned his head and saw Fang Zichen's eyes unfocused, a pitiful picture of confusion and helplessness. Without another thought, he charged directly at the ladies opposite.
The incident caused quite a scene. The other party's family status and influence were no match for the Fang family. Even though they were hit with cake by the eldest Fang brother, their expensive outfits ruined, and then clawed at by the second Fang brother throwing a tantrum—they weren't seriously injured, but it was extremely embarrassing and humiliating.
Fang's father held Fang Zichen, pressing the boy's head against his chest. He asked the eldest Fang brother what happened and, learning the details, firmly demanded the other party apologize to Fang Zichen.
Apologizing to a child—some couldn't stomach the loss of face. Thinking there were still business collaborations between the families, and that while the Fang family doted on this adopted son, it was probably similar to how they doted on a family pet—cuddling it when bored, kicking it aside when busy, an insignificant little plaything—they said, "Director Fang, we didn't mean it."
"Yes, we just said a few casual things. We really didn't mean it."
Fang's mother directly picked up a glass of red wine and threw it at them.
In Fang Zichen's eyes, the phrase 'didn't mean it' was equivalent to 'lack of sincerity,' and its effect equaled 'so you should forgive me.'
Because they didn't mean it, what did saying a few words matter?
After returning from the banquet, Fang Zichen became somewhat withdrawn and unhappy.
If this had happened to the careless second Fang brother, Fang's father and mother probably wouldn't have thought much of it. But Fang Zichen, young as he was, was exceedingly clever.
The family no longer dared to keep it from him and told him the truth.
After that, Fang Zichen acted as if nothing was wrong. Although his adoptive mother and father also loved him, treating him no differently from a biological child, the fact of being abandoned remained like a thorn stuck in his throat—unable to be swallowed or coughed up, pricking him painfully.
Why did she abandon me?
Why did she throw me away, like I was garbage... into a trash bin?
Did she ever think, for even a second, about whether I would live or die?
...No.
She probably didn't.
If she had felt anything for me—any shred of a mother's love, any tiny bit of pity—she never would have chosen a place like that.
An orphanage, the roadside, a park bench—there were so many places to leave a child, so many more decent ways. Why did it have to be a trash bin? Why did she have to treat me like I was something filthy, something worthless to be tossed out?
If she never wanted me... why did she bring me into this world at all?
Towards this woman he had never met, Fang Zichen harbored resentment and an enduring preoccupation.
But he learned to hide his emotions and mask his true feelings. He acted completely indifferent, trying to fool everyone. His cheerful optimism was a front, a cover for the low self-esteem and sense of weakness he carried inside.
That night, those people, pointing at him with expressions full of disdain—he engraved it deeply in his memory.
What kind of words, carrying no outright insults or belittlement, could make someone remember them for a lifetime? The phrase 'didn't mean it' could achieve just that.
His grandfather told him that a true man should not be self-pitying or weak. He must be like iron—capable of bending, yet unbreakable. If someone threw a punch at him, it would be the other person who ended up feeling the pain.
He thought these words made a lot of sense. So, he locked those two emotions away in a little box, forbidding himself or anyone else from touching them. Afterward, he forced himself to study constantly, to keep enriching himself, wanting to make himself outstanding. He was just thinking that one day, if he met that woman, she might feel regret upon seeing how excellent he had become.
But at that time, he was only three years old. A series of changes made Fang's father and mother notice something was wrong.
After secretly observing him for a while, Fang's mother contacted her younger sister, who had been working away from home for many years.
When Fang's mother said she was taking Fang Zichen to the hospital, he was actually quite happy.
Most children were afraid of going to the hospital, terrified at the sight of people in white coats.
But at the city hospital, it was the emergency department doctors who were terrified at the sight of Fang Zichen.
Just before Fang Zichen turned three, his grandmother said she missed him, so Fang's mother sent him to the military compound. He hadn't been there two days before Fang Zichen got into a fight with a military dog.
The boy and the dog were locked in fierce combat. The military dog was trained not to bark recklessly and was ferociously strong; an average grown man would usually be no match for it.
When his grandmother and grandfather heard the dog's sounds, they were puzzled. But when they went outside to look, Fang Zichen was pinning down the nearly one-meter-tall military dog, biting hard into its belly.
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