But now? There were so many ways to solve things, yet they chose the ugliest. If they had just a little patience to listen to each other, they wouldn't have ended up like this.
They were married for family reasons. So many years had passed. He was seventeen. They had been fighting ever since he could remember. Was there no love at all?
Xiao Yu smiled bitterly.
Probably not. Not for him either.
After all, no one told him about the divorce.
Liu Jie kept giving him instructions on the phone: eat well, sleep well—all useless crap. Annoyed, Xiao Yu bent down, picked up the phone, and smashed it to the ground.
Shards of glass turned into blades, cutting into his already unlucky life.
It was all a lie.
Nearby, Zhang Yi jumped at the sound. When she came closer, she saw the phone shattered, the screen covered in spiderweb cracks. Even a repair shop probably couldn't fix it.
Xiao Yu looked at it calmly. The nagging was gone, and it was quiet, but his heart was still restless.
Zhang Yi didn't know how to comfort him, and he didn't want it. Backing up a few steps, Xiao Yu turned and went upstairs without a word.
Not long after, Xiao Qu remarried—to Huang Xu's mother. Because of that, Huang Xu had often made snide remarks about Xiao Yu behind his back.
As the rumors spread, those who didn't know Xiao Yu believed them. They went with the wind. Back then, only Xu Qingsong and Liu Xu stood firmly by him, telling others that Huang Xu's words were all lies—because the girl Huang Xu liked liked Xiao Yu, and he made up those stories to get revenge.
But people's mouths can't be stopped. They open and close, becoming deadly weapons. At first, they worried Xiao Yu would be hurt by the gossip, but he didn't seem to care. He always felt that as long as you live, there will be rumors.
"Even the dead get talked about. Why should the living be any different?" That was a common saying back then.
In truth, he simply didn't care about Xiao Qu. He had no respect for anything Xiao Qu did. He didn't know how Liu Jie was doing either. After that huge fight, no matter how curious he was, he couldn't bring himself to ask.
Still, Xiao Yu hoped she would come back.
Come back to see him.
Even if it was an illusory dream, he had fooled himself until today. When he pushed open the door of his home, full of joy, the dream finally shattered completely.
Liu Jie had brought a daughter.
The little girl couldn't walk steadily. She held onto the edge of the coffee table, stumbled a few steps, and fell beside Xiao Qu, crying loudly. Xiao Qu sat still. Liu Jie ran over, picked up the girl, and held her to comfort her. She even found time to glare at Xiao Qu.
"Still the same old you."
This was a sight to behold. Xiao Qu's eyes widened, wrinkles forming on his forehead. "That's your child. What does it have to do with me?"
Xiao Yu finally understood the cartoon profile picture on her WeChat. He stood at the door for a long time, then laughed at the scene.
Laughing at Xiao Qu's coldness, at Liu Jie's concern for the girl, and at himself for being a clown.
He had always been an outsider.
They were too busy fighting to care about him. It was Zhang Yi, just coming out of the kitchen, who noticed him first. She ran over and pulled Xiao Yu inside, her brows furrowed. "Why are you wearing so little when it's so cold outside? What if you catch a cold?"
Only then did the others look up. They stopped talking awkwardly, the hatred in their eyes still clear.
Before Xiao Yu could sit down, Xiao Qu's eyebrows shot up. He looked Xiao Yu over from head to toe, finally settling on his face. "Xiao Yu, what the hell do you want? Why did you fight with Huang Xu again? Did he provoke you? Can't you stop picking on him?"
Bringing up Huang Xu immediately, Xiao Yu narrowed his eyes impatiently. "Did you call me back just to interrogate me?"
"Is that how you talk to your father? You unfilial son!" Xiao Qu coughed violently, his face turning red. The family's strongest point was their coldness; even coughing like that, no one paid him any attention.
Finally, Zhang Yi handed him a glass of water.
Xiao Qu took a sip to wet his throat. After a moment, he looked at Liu Jie and said coldly, "When are you taking him away?"
Xiao Yu didn't understand. He tilted his head. Liu Jie shook her head. "I can't. I have a home, a daughter."
Now Xiao Yu understood.
Xiao Qu instantly exploded. He spread his hands and argued with Liu Jie. "You're a grown woman. How can you go back on your word? Didn't we agree on the phone? If he stays here and keeps causing trouble, how can I live in peace?"
Liu Jie didn't back down. "When did I agree? I said I'd come back to talk face to face, so you wouldn't keep nagging without understanding."
Xiao Qu: "But you—"
"When are you two going to stop?"
Xiao Yu couldn't help trembling with anger. "Did either of you ever take care of me growing up? It was always Aunt Zhang who stayed with me, looked after me, even went to parent-teacher conferences for you."
"You never took part in my life. Now you want to kick me away like a football, as if I'm your burden."
Xiao Yu's voice trailed off, and he gave a faint, ironic smile. "Don't you think it's funny?"
"Are you blaming us now?" Xiao Qu refused to see his own fault. He stood up angrily. "I'm asking you: did we ever short you on money? If I hadn't cleaned up the messes you made, you'd be in jail several times over! You ungrateful little—"
"I don't need it!" Xiao Yu kicked the coffee table. The glass shattered instantly, shards sliding across the floor. "Don't you know why I made those messes? It's because of your precious son! He's been spreading rumors about me behind my back because he can't stand me! Strangers don't get it, and you, as my father, don't get it either. And now you're standing here scolding me for being ungrateful! I'm just wondering what the hell goes on in your heads!"
Xiao Qu increasingly felt he had raised a degenerate. He pointed at the door and roared, "You don't remember a single bit of the good we did for you! Fine, you ungrateful little wretch! Don't use my money from now on! Get the hell out!"
After shouting, he started smashing things on the floor. The house Zhang Yi had cleaned spotless was instantly a mess. Xiao Yu backed away, nodding slightly. His gaze shifted to Liu Jie. She raised a hand, opened her mouth as if to speak, and finally showed a pitying expression.
Disgusting.
Xiao Yu backed out the door and slammed it shut.
He would never come back.
But where could he go?
Xiao Yu looked down at the time on his phone and noticed two messages from Ye Qingli.
First: "Where did you go?"
Second: "Xiao Yu, are you back at school?"
It was too late to reply now. He put the phone in his pocket and wandered aimlessly down the street. He was thinly dressed but didn't feel cold. Looking up at the oppressive sky, his heart felt like a squeezed lemon—sour and bitter.
The street was filled with people: children heading home from school, young people off work. In a daze, he seemed to see a familiar figure.
Xiao Yu blinked and suddenly laughed.
This was Gu Cheng, over 700 kilometers from Xi Zhou.
He must have really been blinded by anger.