"Why didn't you scream for help?" the woman roared at the boy. "Why didn't you struggle? Why, why, why didn't you struggle? Why didn't you just die back then? Why did you give birth to two bastards? Why didn't you strangle them after they were born? Why, Ma Caiyu, I'm asking you, why didn't you have the courage to commit suicide? Why were you like an idiot, letting your own cousin trick you into her husband's bed? Why didn't you try to abort the bastards after you found out you were pregnant? Why, why? Hahahaha..."

The little boy was completely terrified. After a long while, when the woman stopped her inexplicable crying and laughing, he mustered up his courage and asked her, "Were you talking about yourself just now? Is your name Ma Caiyu?"

Suddenly, the woman hugged the little boy tightly, holding him close. "My child, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have brought you into this world. I shouldn't have selfishly taken you away and left your brother with the Xiao family."

The little boy stared blankly at the woman. "What did you just say? I have an older brother?"

The woman nodded, her gaze suddenly softening to a tender, almost ethereal quality. "Yes, you not only have an older brother, but your brother lives a life a thousand times, ten thousand times happier than yours. Do you feel balanced about that?"

The little boy's happiness still lay in being able to bask in the sun every day, take a bath, and wear new clothes, until his mother took him to hide in an alley not far from the Xiao family's house to peek.

He had never seen such a big and beautiful house, nor had he ever seen someone being picked up and dropped off in a high-end car every time he went out, and he had never heard the melodious piano music coming from a beautiful big house.

And all of this was enjoyed by his older brother.

When Ma Caiyu took him away, she asked him, "Wang Gousheng, you have seen with your own eyes what kind of life your own brother is living. Now I ask you, are you at peace with yourself?"

Wang Gousheng, his name is actually Wang Gousheng.

His older brother, who lives in a big house, drives a car, and can even play the piano, is named Xiao Qinghan—what a beautiful name! And look at him.

They came from the same womb, so why are they so different?

He was unwilling to accept it.

Ma Caiyu didn't give him a chance to resist. Instead, she took him back to the countryside. He quickly realized that something was wrong with Ma Caiyu. When she was mentally sound, she would cook for him. When she had a mental breakdown, she would not only beat and scold him, but also strip herself naked.

No matter how much he disliked his mother, the blood relation was still there. How could he just stand by and watch her run around naked, letting the men in the village look at her as they pleased?

He was still young, and besides, he often had to sneak out of the school window to eavesdrop on other children's classes, so he couldn't keep an eye on Ma Caiyu all day.

One day, when he returned home, he couldn't find Ma Caiyu anywhere. Just as he was wondering what was going on, he suddenly heard a muffled sound coming from next door, the creaking sound of old, worn-out wood.

He followed the sound and saw a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

His biological mother was being sung by an old bachelor in his sixties or seventies who lived next door... and his mother was still laughing and singing, and when she saw him come, she even winked at him.

The old bachelor turned around and saw it was him, but pretended not to see him and continued talking to Ma Caiyu...

As a son, seeing such a scene would probably be unbearable. He didn't say anything, turned around and left. When he came back, he was holding a knife that country folk use to chop firewood in the mountains.

---Aside---

mingtianlaikano

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