Chapter 6 – Understanding

The Meng Family’s main house, inside the exquisite and elegant hall.

Meng Guang knelt on the ground. His head was bowed and he didn’t speak, but his expression was prickly and his attitude seemed to say ‘you can scold me, but I refuse to acknowledge that I did wrong’. In any case, it made his father incredibly angry.

Father Meng was about to be angered by death by this misbehaving son of his, “You got into a fight! And even sent the other party into the hospital! If you’re so powerful, why don’t you beat me up, too!”

“Do you feel that you’re very powerful? Do you think that you weren’t wrong? Bring me a plank––Laozi is going to teach him a lesson today, otherwise, he’ll go and kill someone tomorrow.”

The servant trembled as he handed over a long wooden plank.

Mother Meng was very anxious as she watched from the side, “Eh, are you not even going to listen to our child explain?”

Father Meng irritably roared, “The other person’s son is already in the hospital, what else is there to explain!”

Meng Guang continued to kneel on the ground without saying a word.

Song Yu saw that his elder cousin didn’t intend to speak about what he’d done, so he could only steel himself and stand up, “That’s not it, uncle. In fact, I’m also responsible for what happened today.”

He surprised the entire room by suddenly speaking up. Everyone turned to look at him.

Song Yu continued to brace himself, “I was also at Linshui today. Elder cousin only fought with Wang Beidan because of me.”

Grandma Meng’s eyes widened. She was elderly and found it difficult to accept this level of stimulation, “Yuyu, what were you doing in Linshui?”

In her mind, Linshui was a seedy place with a chaotic atmosphere.

Father Meng frowned, “Yuyu, go to sleep first. You don’t need to speak up for this brat, I know what he’s like.”

“No, no, no. It’s the truth.” Song Yu spoke quickly, “Uncle, you can go and check the CCTV footage. It was Wang Beidan who tried to force me to drink. I sent a message to my cousin, and he only started fighting with that Wang Beidan because he came to save me.”

Of course, the CCTV footage didn’t exist. Wang Beidan had been in a private room when he did these things. How could he leave evidence behind? They must have dealt with the footage a long time ago.

Grandma Meng’s eyes grew even wider, “What? Drinking? They tried to force you to drink!”

Mother Meng was also stunned. She had a good relationship with Mother Song and knew that Song Yu had almost died because of a glass of alcohol when he was a child.

As soon as she thought about how something had almost happened to her sister-in-law’s son while he was with them, Mother Meng was filled with anger. Meng Guang had inherited most of his temper from her and, at this time, Mother Meng directly snatched the plank away from Father Meng’s hand, “Did you hear that! This time, I’m standing on my son’s side! He was right to fight! I even feel that he let them off too lightly! It’s not a secret that Wang Beidan does those shady things in Jing City! Killing off such an animal is simply helping the heavens do justice.”

Father Meng’s earlier surprise had been washed away by his wife’s sudden, fierce behavior and was now replaced by anger, “Look at what you’re saying. Is there any other mother that acts like you?”

“So are you doing the right thing as a father?”

The two of them began to argue fiercely. Grandma Meng grew impatient listening to them and slapped the table loudly, “Go back to your room to fight! Your son has already been kneeling on the ground for a long time!”

The pitiful Mayor Meng was gentle and elegant outside, but at home, he was provoked into anger by the two women and just wanted to close himself off. He left without even eating dinner.

Meng Guang was pulled back to his feet by Mother Meng and winked at Song Yu.

After dinner, Song Yu wanted to go back and stay at his grandmother’s place.

Meng Guang drove him back. Outside the house, the insects were chirping, the night sky was pure and clean, and the moon was bright.

Meng Guang no longer held back when they were in the car. He leaned against the steering wheel and started to laugh, “That was great, you made me risking my life to go and help you vent your anger worth it. Oh, man, the expression on my dad’s face, hahaha.”

The corner of Song Yu’s lips pursed, “It’s too early for you to be happy. The Wang Family won’t be willing to let the matter go.”

Meng Guang raised his brows and wasn’t concerned about it at all, “So what if they won’t let it go. Can the things that Wang Beidan had been doing in the private room be made public? They won’t dare to go publicize it and can only brood and keep their grievances to themselves.”

He’d been a prince of Jing City for so many years and knew what his limits were when he did things. Who could be provoked and who couldn’t, whether or not the issue would spiral, he was clear about all of it in his heart.

Song Yu: “Mm.”

At this time, Meng Guang suddenly realized something, “Did Wang Beidan really try to force you to drink?” He hadn’t seen the situation clearly at the time, but now that he thought about it, it seemed that something was off.

Song Yu laughed briefly, “No. At the time, I was the one who picked up a bottle and tried to hit him.”

Meng Guang: “……”

A moment later, he burst out laughing, “He deserves it!”

He tilted his head, eyes full of curiosity, “How did you end up in 305? Weren’t you going out for air?”

Song Yu thought for a moment and laughed, “Maybe it’s fate wanting me to go save people from disaster, punishing evil and promoting good.”

*

This matter really did turn out the way Meng Guang had said. It didn’t even cause a splash in Jing City.

For Song Yu, the only impact it had was that it left Grandma Meng with a lingering fear and she never tried to force him to go out again.

Song Yu looked into Jing City’s Wang Family and finally found out why it felt slightly familiar. In <Gentle Control>, the rich second generation who had made trouble for Xie Sui like crazy in high school, just so happened to be the Wang Family’s youngest son, Wang Ci. The entire family spoiled him like he was a treasure and, in Jing City, he could get whatever he wanted, and do whatever he wanted. With an elder brother like Wang Beidan leading the way, Wang Ci had started playing around with men and women from a young age and was rotten all the way down to his bones.

His brain was already full of obscene thoughts during high school. After school, he locked Xie Sui up in the classroom, wanting to take photos of him naked. During a sports competition, he deliberately drugged Xie Sui’s drink, wanting to make him look bad in front of the whole school. For their final examinations, he’d locked Xie Sui in the toilet to prevent him from attending the exam and obtaining a scholarship. Wang Ci had even done things behind the scenes for the college entrance examinations so that he’d miss the exam, destroying Xie Sui’s future.

Song Yu felt that he couldn’t think about the plot from the original book. It was really like asking for self-abuse.

On the third day of doing nothing at home.

His grandmother was afraid that he would be bored and brought him a child who was of the same age.

It was the son of the driver who’d picked him up from the airport that day. He was thin and small; a youth with wheat colored skin called Ma Xiaoding.

It was unknown what Ma Xiaoding had heard from his father, but at the start, his voice was as small as a mosquito’s when he spoke to Song Yu, as though if he raised the decibel any higher, he’d end up sending Song Yu to the hospital. Later, it was Song Yu who couldn’t take it anymore. He had to warn him before he was willing to change.

Ma Xiaoding and Xie Sui had actually been classmates in junior high.

Song Yu wanted to understand more about Xie Sui and chatted with him, “That Xie Sui who was in your class, what was he like in junior high?”

Ma Xiaoding’s eyes grew round, and he appeared simple-minded and honest, “Young Master, why are you asking about this?”

Song Yu didn’t like this mode of address, “Don’t call me Young Master. If you really admire me from your heart, then call me Brother Yu!”

Ma Xiaoding scratched his head, “Okay, Young Master, ah, no, okay, Brother Yu, why are you asking about Xie Sui?”

Song Yu choked but suddenly had an epiphany, “Didn’t this person get first place in Jing City’s high school entrance examination? His results were pretty good and I want to learn from him. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will be invincible in a hundred battles1.”

Ma Xiaoding was instantly filled with deep admiration. Although he didn’t know how he planned to learn from him, he was still very honest and obedient and told Song Yu everything he knew.

“About Xie Sui, I feel that he’s really quite pitiful. His family should be very poor, and he can wear the same item of clothing for three years, continuing to wear it even after the colors have started to fade from washing. He’s quite antisocial, and few people dare to approach him. Over the past three years, he hasn’t had a single friend.”

“At the start, there were people who wanted to approach him. After all, he’s good looking and has good grades, and becoming friends with him wasn’t a chore. But, there are some people in class who live on the same block as Xie Sui, and they often spoke ill of Xie Sui’s mother behind his back. They said that Xie Sui’s mother died because she jumped off a building and committed suicide due to AIDS, and that AIDS could be transmitted from mother to child, so it was most likely that Xie Sui also had it. With that, everyone in the class grew scared. Anyway, Xie Sui also never took the initiative to get close to anyone anyway and, over time, he became like a invisible person in class.”

“Everyone just deliberately ignores him when they do things. The teacher, too. During the three years of junior high, I haven’t heard Xie Sui say much of anything.”

“He often sleeps in class. I heard that he doesn’t seem to study even when he goes back, and he used to work at a restaurant. There was a group of troublemakers in the class who knew where he worked and they got together to make things difficult for him, talking loudly about the AIDS thing and making it so that he lost his job. Xie Sui didn’t say anything and held it all in. Once, when I came back from going to an internet cafe, I saw Xie Sui covered in blood, holding onto a pillar and throwing up.”

“He…” Ma Xiaoding sighed, “He’s probably gotten mixed up with a group of gangsters outside the school. There’s money in helping out with fights. But, this money is really earned by putting your life on the line.”

Song Yu’s face became increasingly cold as he listened. He dropped his gaze and toyed with his cell phone.

Ma Xiaoding looked up at the sky and continued, “Of course, I think that those people are just talking out of their ass. AIDS isn’t something that should be taken out casually as a joke, and they’re really going too far. I thought about helping Xie Sui, but he’s too cold, and too hard to get close to. If you say something to him, it takes a long time to get a reply. He probably doesn’t want to talk to us, either.”

Song Yu suddenly thought of last night and the hoarse ‘thank you’ that the youth had finally uttered.

He sneered, then switched his phone to the navigation page and entered the address Xie Sui had given him.

Song Yu: “He’s not hard to get close to.” It was that his birth conditions were too wretched, and he’d never experienced any warmth. He was bewildered by kindness and tenderness.

Ma Xiaoding: “Ah?”

Song Yu jumped off the bed, “I’m going out for a bit. Tell my grandmother that I went out to buy books.”

Ma Xiaoding: “???”

Song Yu stopped for a moment and casually made up a reason, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I’m going to buy some textbooks for Jingcheng and read ahead.”

Ma Xiaoding: “……”

Were rich second generations all so hardworking these days?