Chapter 21: Yao Xing Academy 21 Part 2

Lu Jianming’s older brother—Lu Zhou’s uncle—had a self-built house in the county town. The siblings usually lived scattered apart, but during holidays, they would stay over at his place.

That day, Lu Jianming took Lu Ting and said they were going to Uncle’s house to play. Lu Zhou originally wanted to go along, but Lu Jianming told him to stay and help his grandparents make dumplings, so Lu Zhou agreed.

They had set out in the morning, but by afternoon, they still hadn’t returned. Lu Zhou couldn’t sit still any longer and rode his grandfather’s old bicycle straight to his uncle’s house.

His uncle’s door was tightly shut. Lu Zhou knocked, but no one answered. A bad premonition rose in his heart, so he nimbly flipped over the courtyard wall and went straight inside.

As soon as he entered, he vaguely heard quarreling voices. As he drew closer to the living room, the sounds grew louder.

“Lu Jianming, when will this end?! You haven’t paid back what you borrowed last time, and now you want to borrow more? Do you think we’re your brothers or your ATM?”

“Yeah, Second Brother, you rarely come home, and it’s to borrow money again? You’ve already emptied Mom and Dad’s savings—now you want ours to go gamble!”

“This time I really won’t gamble anymore! I swear!” Lu Jianming was covered in snot and tears, kneeling on the ground and begging bitterly. “If I can’t pay back the gambling debts, those people will kill me! Even if you don’t care about my life, think of the kids!”

He pressed down on the head of the little girl kneeling beside him, forcing her to kowtow to the floor.

“Xiao Ting, quick, beg your aunties and uncles some more—they dote on you the most!”

He pressed the little girl’s head down hard together with his, smashing it against the floor with loud thuds. “If you don’t agree, Xiao Ting and I will kowtow to death right here in Big Brother’s house!”

“…Dad, what are you doing?”

Lu Zhou walked over step by step and squatted down in front of Lu Ting.

The girl’s face was ghastly pale. Her tender little face had cried itself dehydrated, her eyes red and swollen without focus. On her smooth forehead was a deep red mark; a child’s skin was too delicate, and it had already faintly started to ooze blood.

The new clothes Lu Jianming had bought her were now wrinkled and rumpled, covered in dust and tear stains.

When she saw Lu Zhou, it took her a moment to register who was in front of her, and then she burst into a loud wail. But her eyes were too dry to produce tears; she could only cry hoarsely and desperately.

“Lu Zhou, ah, your dad really… coming up with this trick to force us…” The relatives nearby felt awkward, some pitying. “Sigh, what a sin…”

Lu Zhou said nothing. He picked Lu Ting up into his arms and turned to leave.

“Wait!” Lu Jianming hugged his leg, his face twisted in madness. “Xiao Zhou, we have to borrow the money! This is the final deadline—you can’t watch your dad die! Quick, join your dad and…”

Bang!

Lu Jianming’s whole body flew out, his back slamming heavily into the living room’s tea table with a cry of pain.

Lu Zhou, holding Xiao Ting, walked up to him and kicked him again and again, nonstop, all over his body.

The relatives were momentarily too shocked to react, watching the handsome youth with a grim expression and murderous aura—no one dared to stop him.

Lu Jianming’s miserable howls gradually died down, and Lu Zhou stopped.

He said to the man collapsed like a pile of rotten mud on the floor, “If you dare touch Xiao Ting again, I won’t wait for the debt collectors—I will kill you first.”

*

With Lu Ting tormented like this, Lu Zhou originally wanted to take her to a hospital in the city, but he feared the long bumpy ride would make her feel worse, so he took her to a nearby clinic first.

Fortunately, after leaving Uncle’s house, Lu Ting’s emotions gradually calmed, and soon she fell into exhausted sleep.

Lu Zhou got some medicine at the clinic and brought her back to his grandparents’ house.

Night fell, and the remote little county town lit up with sparse lights.

Hot steaming dumplings sat on the table. After settling Xiao Ting, Lu Zhou was pulled by his grandmother to eat. He had no appetite but couldn’t refuse her, so he sat down and forced himself to eat a few.

He picked up a dumpling with his chopsticks—it fell. Another one—fell again. Only then did Lu Zhou belatedly realize that his whole body was trembling faintly. He tried to control it but couldn’t stop.

His grandmother picked up a dumpling and fed it to his mouth. Lu Zhou felt a bit embarrassed; he wanted to say he was too old to be fed, but the words caught in his throat.

Tears streamed down his grandmother’s wrinkled face. She cried silently, her cloudy eyes filled with endless love.

Lu Zhou silently opened his mouth and ate the dumpling. His grandmother fed him one by one until half a bowl was gone, then she set down her chopsticks.

His grandfather sat on the other side of the table, silent the whole time. Only after Lu Zhou finished eating did he push something across to him.

It was a Property Deed.

“Your grandma and I have been poor our whole lives; only this house is worth something.” His grandfather said to him. “I don’t trust giving it to that scoundrel. You’re a sensible child—take it, sell the house, and pay off that scoundrel’s debts.”