AZG 20

Chapter 20

Zhao Gongzi cursed at me, “I’ll strangle you to death the moment I get down!”

I didn’t memorize it on purpose. For a period of time, Jin Xian’er had used his phone number to compose a melody, and he would sing it whenever he saw me. Jin Xian’er really had a beautiful voice.

Zhao Gongzi said, “Go drop dead.”

Before Zhao Gongzi and I could even disembark, we were detained. Only after detaining the two of us did Fourth Master Zhao allow the other passengers to leave the ship.

Zhao Gongzi and I were escorted into the back seat of a sedan. After a long silence, we decided to resist.

Zhao Gongzi criticized me for instigating him to elope, while I maintained that he shouldn’t have come looking for me yesterday in the first place.

The moment Fourth Master Zhao placed his gun onto the dashboard at the front of the car, both Zhao Gongzi and I cooled right down.

I said, “My apologies, Master. My feelings for Xiao Long are genuine.”

Zhao Gongzi said, “It has nothing to do with him. He can’t decide a damn thing for me; I wanted to do this myself.”

Fourth Master Zhao said, “Shut up.”

Zhao Gongzi and I knelt inside the study, receiving a beating.

Zhao Gongzi was shielding me in his arms, so he was the one taking the brunt of the beating. He still managed to curse at me: “Damn it, at least make a show of helping me block it a little! It hurts so much! Dad, gentler, ah!”

I was afraid of pain. If Fourth Master Zhao beat me, it would definitely be far harsher than how he beat Zhao Gongzi.

I said, “I love you, Zhao Long.”

Zhao Gongzi cursed at me, “Damn it, hide well and don’t move around recklessly, or you’ll get hit!”

Uncle Dali barked at me, “Qiu Yixin, you son of a bitch!”

Zhao Gongzi snapped back at him, “You’re the son of a—Dad, I’m hurting! You hit bare flesh again!”

Fourth Master Zhao roared at him, “You just skin-deep crave a beating! I’ve beaten you too little, it’s spoiled you rotten! I’m going to beat you to death today, you little brat! Zhao Long, your mother’s…”

“What about Zhao Long’s mother?!”

Through mental telepathy, I told Zhao Gongzi to hold on; hope for our rescue had arrived.

Before Thirteenth Concubine could even be seen, her voice preceded her: “My Xiao Long, ah! I spent a whole day in labor just to give birth to you! If I had known you were born just to be beaten and suffer, why would I have given birth to you at all?! Master, go ahead and beat! Beat me first! I failed to raise your son well! It’s no use beating him, beat me instead, so that I don’t fail to raise the next child you’re getting as well! In any case, young ladies are everywhere out there! Female students who graduated from foreign schools are naturally much better at raising children than a backward old-society woman like me, who climbed windowsills to elope and marry someone as a concubine in her teens! Those who elope deserve to be drowned in a pig basket—I should have been drowned long ago, then I wouldn’t have given birth to a little brat who makes you angry, Master!”

Caught in a dilemma, Fourth Master Zhao kept a rigid face: “He was spoiled rotten by you. Who told you to come back? Aren’t you supposed to be waiting in the hospital to give birth?”

Thirteenth Concubine: “A mother and child share one heart. Every time my Xiao Long takes a blow, I feel a pang of pain. Xiao Long, if you get beaten to a pulp, blame your mother for not raising you well. In the next life—”

With a dark face, Fourth Master Zhao asked her, “What about the next life?”

Thirteenth Concubine stroked her stomach and said calmly, “I’m about to give birth. Hurry up and send me back to the hospital. I don’t want to give birth at home; giving birth to Zhao Long at home last time nearly claimed my life. Yixin, steady yourself, don’t let them intimidate the doctors. I’ve heard that some doctors hold grudges and seek revenge.”

Mother and daughter were safe.

Oh! A daughter! Zhao Gongzi was completely finished. Not only was he no longer the youngest child, but he also had a younger sister now. His father and mother wouldn’t dote on him anymore. If his younger sister turned out unruly, she would be seen as sharp and cute; if his younger sister turned out sweet and thoughtful, he would be completely abandoned.

Zhao Gongzi sat silently in the hospital corridor, unwilling to accept this reality.

Fourth Master Zhao wouldn’t give him money to buy those expensive and ugly clothes anymore, and I wouldn’t give him money to buy those expensive, ugly, and space-consuming clothes either.

Zhao Gongzi looked thoroughly wretched.

I bought a bottle of soda for him to drink.

He looked at me.

I said, “Your mother had me buy it for you. She said that everything the newborn child wears and uses before turning three will be what you wore and used before. You still won’t lose.”

Even though that was the plan if it had been a younger brother—now that it was a younger sister, everything would be bought brand new.

Zhao Gongzi was truly finished.

I said, “We moved out long ago anyway. You have me from now on. I’ll work five jobs. Aside from household expenses, all the remaining money will be for you to buy clothes. I won’t play with your younger sister in the future; you and I will isolate her together.”

Zhao Gongzi immediately said, “Deal.”

Is he even human?

I grabbed his hand, sitting by his side in the quiet hospital corridor. The room next to us was packed with Fourth Master Zhao’s sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters, filled with laughter and voices praising Thirteenth Concubine’s daughter for being beautiful, cute, and good-natured.

In truth, I also found them too numerous and noisy; I wanted to isolate them together with Zhao Gongzi.

A few students passed in front of us, noticed us, and stopped to ask about Third Brother’s situation. They seemed to be Third Brother’s friends, comrades who had handed out flyers on the streets together to call for the overthrow of warlords and local ruffians.

I told them Third Brother had gone to the Capital University. They looked immensely yearning, saying that it was a center where talents emerged in large numbers, where winds surged and clouds rose, and where new ideologies clashed violently. They were also preparing to head over there, as it was full of hope, passion, and the pursuit of independence and freedom—any New Youth ought to go there.

Watching them walk away while discussing passionately, a bold idea struck me.

I asked Zhao Gongzi, “Have you ever been invited—”

Zhao Gongzi said, “Shut up.”

Zhao Gongzi said, “I don’t want to deceive my dad and my mom.”

Zhao Gongzi said, “But since they were unkind first, they can’t blame me for being unrighteous. I won’t listen to them anymore.”

Zhao Gongzi said, “Once my mom finishes her postpartum confinement in three months, we leave.”

I said, “Then let’s leave in six months instead. Let Thirteenth Concubine take care of herself for a bit longer, let’s not upset her.”

Zhao Gongzi said, “No, my mom won’t be upset. Three months is enough. As long as my mom can stand up and prevent my dad from beating us to death, we can attempt to forge a path. Ever since Third Brother and Zhao Wu ran away, Dad has grown increasingly vigilant, and now he is even more so toward me. It’s highly likely we’ll have to try many times before we succeed, but with my mom around, he won’t truly beat us to death. At most, he’ll break our legs or crack our heads just like he did with Third Brother—it’ll heal in a few months, don’t be afraid.”