Chapter 214
The furnishings inside the room were identical to the scene from his dream.
Fang Zichen’s mind buzzed, and his neck stiffened as he slowly looked toward the floor.
Guaizai lay face down on the ground. One hand still clutched his pants, the other was raised above his head as if he had been reaching toward the door earlier. One leg was twisted outward in an unnatural position. He was motionless.
His clothes were in disarray; the back of his shirt was torn open, revealing his sunken spine, bare and covered with marks from incense burns. The skin on either side was bruised blue and purple, with not a single spot left unmarked.
Fang Zichen’s eyes turned bloodshot. It was as if he had suddenly plunged into an ice cavern; all the blood in his body seemed to freeze solid. His entire body stiffened unbearably, an overwhelming sense of panic crashing down on him like Mount Tai. His limbs went numb, his blood seemed to congeal abruptly, and his heart stopped for a moment, as if a sharp knife had been thrust directly into it, twisting until his internal organs felt ripped apart!
Fang Zichen’s eyes instantly reddened.
"Son..."
His legs felt weak and drained of all strength. Staggering unsteadily to Guaizai's side, he dropped to his knees with a heavy thud. His hand shook as he reached out.
"Son..." Guaizai stayed exactly as he was—face down, motionless, giving no reply.
This wasn't like him at all.
He had wanted a father so desperately. In the early days of living together, Guaizai would try every way to please him. He thought that if he were obedient and diligent enough—if he were just well-behaved and sensible enough—then his father wouldn’t abandon him and his daddy. Later, Fang Zichen gave him enough security, and he began to show his true nature, developing a little temper. When Fang Zichen upset him, he would say things like: "Father is a bad egg," or "Farting stinks, annoying father."
He would say such things, but only such things. Every time he got angry, Fang Zichen would coax him, and before long, he would start giggling again. Whenever Fang Zichen called him, if he heard, he would always answer. Even when getting up to pee at night, if Fang Zichen teased him, pinched his little bottom, and called his name, even if he was so sleepy he couldn’t open his eyes, he would still mumble a response: 'Father.'
He was never like this.
An indescribable oppression and despair made it almost hard for Fang Zichen to breathe, causing his vision to blur into a sea of crimson.
He carefully turned Guaizai over. Looking at his son’s unrecognizable face, for a moment, he almost didn’t dare to believe it was him.
How had it come to this?
When he left in the morning, his son had been perfectly fine—his little face fair and tender, bouncing around, clinging to him for a kiss. How could it be that in less than a day, he was like this?
How could it be like this?
Fang Zichen could no longer hold back his emotions. Tears streamed down his face, falling silently from his chin.
Because of his pride and because he had been thoroughly sheltered by his family, he had never suffered hardship or pain. From the age of two, he had never shed tears. Yet now, he was crying.
His entire body trembled uncontrollably—fear, anger, panic, regret—all these emotions tangled together.
From inside the room came a despairing wail, choked with tears.
The thugs, hearing the sound, rushed in and then froze.
They considered themselves men of the world, doing work that could be described as living on the edge of a knife. In the gambling den, troublemaking gamblers were often beaten black and blue by them, spitting out teeth mixed with blood. Chopping off fingers—they had done it all so often they were numb to it, believing themselves brave. But now, seeing Guaizai, those shocking wounds still horrified them.
That beast from the Sun family is simply inhuman!
The child’s right eye socket was severely swollen, as large as an egg. His face was bruised purple, his little lips pale and cracked. Not an inch of his skin was left unbroken; the cratered wounds made the frail boy look like a carcass left to dry in the sun after vultures had finished their meal.
He was only a child. How could anyone bring themselves to commit such an act of savagery?
Sun Shangcheng scrambled up to flee but was kicked back down by the thugs. They asked Fang Zichen what to do now. Fang Zichen picked up his son and rushed out, leaving behind only one sentence.
"Guard this place. Not a single ant is to be let out."
Zhao Ger had internal injuries, and the pain was now even more severe. After taking medicine, Physician Xu told him to lie down and rest, but he refused outright. He kept gazing longingly toward the door, and every time there was a sound outside, he sent Aunt Liu to check.
This happened repeatedly until dusk, when he finally saw Fang Zichen.
This was a day Zhao Ger would never forget until death.
That feeling of suffocating agony was something he remembered for a lifetime.
Even Physician Xu couldn’t help but gasp upon seeing Guaizai.
Burns, kicking wounds, beatings, fractured bones—the child was basically crippled!
Fang Zichen handed the child over to Physician Xu, his voice terribly hoarse as if he hadn’t spoken in a very long time. He said nothing else, only: "Physician, save him. Spare no expense. I beg you, save him."
Guaizai’s injuries were severe but not life-threatening. However, the bone in his calf had been kicked broken, and his right eye was badly injured, with a risk of blindness. The child was unconscious now, so Physician Xu couldn’t make a proper assessment.
It seemed that in just half a day, the child had grown terribly thin. Lying on the bed, covered by a blanket, yet from the doorway, the bed showed no bulge. If one didn't look closely, they might not even notice a person was lying there at all.
He had lost control of his bowels from the beating, and his pants were wet. Physician Xu wanted to take them off to check for further injuries, but Guaizai’s hand still clutched them tightly.
Physician Xu had no choice. The child’s body was covered in wounds; he couldn’t force it. He looked at Fang Zichen and Zhao Ger.
Zhao Ger’s entire body felt icy cold. He leaned close to Guaizai’s ear, not daring to touch him with his hands, and said, "It’s alright now, it’s alright now. Be good, let go. Let daddy help you change your pants, okay?"
Guaizai did not respond, his eyes still tightly closed. Physician Xu tried to pull gently and found that his hand had actually loosened.
Guaizai’s entire left leg was red and swollen. The area where the bone was broken had even turned black and was oozing blood. Fang Zichen took only one glance before pulling Zhao Ger out of the room.
Zhao Ger’s legs were too weak to walk properly; each step was a stumble threatening to send him kneeling to the ground. Fang Zichen held him, supporting him as they walked outside.
That night, Guaizai did not wake up.
Fang Zichen and Zhao Ger did not dare to leave the bedside for a second. Guaizai’s prolonged unconsciousness filled Fang Zichen with overwhelming dread.
Zhao Ger’s own body had not yet recovered; rest was what he needed most. But now, his mind was in a state of constant oxygen deprivation. Staring at his son lying in bed, unresponsive no matter how he called to him, he clung stubbornly to a refusal to accept reality.
Every nerve in his body was pulled tight. The mounting physical strain and the suffocating weight of fear and despair pushed him to his absolute limit. A cold sweat beaded on his temples, soaking the hair at his forehead. The child’s breathing was very faint; he was terrified that if he moved even half a step away, the child would stop breathing.
He didn’t dare close his eyes. Sitting by the bedside, he stared unblinkingly at Guaizai. As he stared, tears began to fall on their own.
Every scar on Guaizai’s body was like a knife stabbing directly into his heart.
Seeing his son injured was more painful than death itself.
To a stranger, a person's death is just a subject for a sigh and a piece of fleeting gossip. But for those whose lives are woven together, it is the end of their entire world.
Aunt Liu, Zhou Ger, and the entire Lin Xiaoxia family came. After seeing Guaizai, Zhou Ger and Li Yanmei immediately rushed back to the village, went to the He house, dragged He Huihui out, and proceeded to beat and curse her wildly.
Lin Xiaoxia, fearing the two might come to harm, followed right behind them. When the He family moved to interfere, he blocked them all.
"You black-hearted thing," Zhou Ger shouted, riding on He Huihui and slapping her face repeatedly.
"Harming a child, you truly are a poisonous woman. I curse you to die a horrible death!"
Li Yanmei seized every opening she could find, lashing out with kicks whenever there was a chance.
He Tiezhu pleaded, "Zhou Ger, stop hitting, please stop. Huiniang already knows she was wrong. Please don’t hit anymore."
Zhou Ger was red-eyed with fury: "After what she did, does a simple 'I know I was wrong' make it all okay? Then how about I beat her to death, and then I say I was wrong? Huh? Would that be okay?"
He Tiezhu was left speechless by his barrage of questions.
During the two days Guaizai stayed at the medical hall, some villagers came to visit. Upon returning, they would come to the He house to shout insults.
This wasn’t to curry favor with Fang Zichen and Zhao Ger; it was simply because they couldn’t stand it anymore.
Guaizai was too pitiful.
Honestly, if it were their own child who had suffered like this, they would likely have grabbed a knife and stormed over in rage long ago. And to think He Huihui was a woman—people often say women are the most tender-hearted. Pah! That young man Fang was right; He Huihui wasn't human at all, she was just a venomous scorpion.
The gossip had grown too much lately. The He family hadn't dared to step outside their door recently. He Tiezhu, too, kept his mouth shut, not daring to speak up again.
He Huihui said nothing.
She regretted it too, but one wrong step led to many more.
She simply could not accept it. The sight of Fang Zichen taking Zhao Ger and the child to play with firecrackers by the river, and Fang Zichen covering Zhao Ger’s ears as he lit one... that scene had grated on her eyes.
She and Zhao Ger were no different. She was even better than Zhao Ger. If Fang Zichen could accept Zhao Ger, why couldn’t he accept her?
Someone she used to look down on and pity had now surpassed her in a single day, leaving a bad taste in her heart.
She believed all the mocking and scorn from the villagers was entirely because of them.
In a moment of excessive anger, last time she went to the market, she ran into Sun Shangcheng. Remembering the rumors about this man, her mind went blank, and she went up to strike a conversation.
She merely said there was a child in the village who was exceptionally good-looking, with features described as extremely delicate and pretty. Sun Shangcheng swallowed the bait.
Guaizai finally woke on the evening of the second day. Seeing Fang Zichen and Zhao Ger on either side of the bed, tears began to fall in a steady stream.
"Father, Daddy~"
He had only spoken two words before a violent cough wracked him, tugging at his wounds and causing excruciating pain all over his body. His tears fell even harder then, drop after drop, as large as beans.
Fang Zichen’s heart ached unbearably. He gently touched his face, his forehead pressing against Guaizai’s. "Mm! Father is here. Don’t cry, don’t cry."
Zhao Ger's eyes were bloodshot, laced with red veins. He wanted to pat his chest, but his hand stopped midway. His nose stung terribly. "Are you hungry? Should daddy feed you some porridge?"
Guaizai gave a tiny "Mm."
"Hungwy. Guaizai wants to eat food."
Not knowing when he would wake up, Zhao Ger had kept a pot of porridge warm, thinking that as soon as he woke up, he could feed him immediately.
Guaizai ate half a bowl in tiny sips before shaking his head and saying he was full.
He was awake briefly, then fell asleep again shortly after.
This sleep lasted until the next morning.
When he woke, he first drank a bowl of porridge as usual, then took his medicine. Watching him wince from the bitterness, Fang Zichen felt a sharp pang in his heart.
"Father," Guaizai said, clutching Fang Zichen’s hand. "I have one big eye. Why can’t I see cwearly?"
No comments:
Post a Comment