224 Heartbreaks

Following her mother Cheng Min's instructions, Luo Da was immediately taken down from the net to avoid any accidents.

But Li Wei noticed that her mother was still impatient and seemed quite angry. Perhaps she was worried that she should go up and hang herself with Luo Da.

She certainly didn't want to go up, but Luo Da shouldn't be put down so quickly. Let him suffer there for a while, and if Mom feels sorry for him, he might feel better.

So, Li Wei went back to her room and looked at the two small pulleys and the rope on them, but didn't move them.

I dozed off against the headboard and actually fell asleep. When I woke up in the early morning, I remembered that Luo Da was still outside, so I quickly ran to the windowsill to check and make sure he didn't fall.

It would have been better if I hadn't looked at it, because once I did, I was furious.

Luo Da was lying inside the fishing net, using a washboard as a pillow, and seemed to be sleeping quite well.

How heartless!

Li Wei shone the flashlight on the room and, sure enough, found the person fast asleep. She was furious. This person couldn't stand being pitied. Even if you just pretended to be suffering, you could still gain some sympathy. If Mom knew, she'd feel a little better, wouldn't she?

Looking at the knotted rope, Li Wei really wanted to cut it with scissors and throw him off. After all, it was only one floor high, he wouldn't die from the fall. But in the end, she couldn't bring herself to do it, and she didn't want him to use the fishing net as a hammock anymore.

Li Wei ran downstairs to the storage room, found a long bamboo pole, went upstairs, leaned against the windowsill, and poked Luo Da with the pole, waking him up. Luo Da was still a little disoriented when he woke up, and his head and tail swayed a couple of times in the net like a fish before he came to his senses and realized that he was neither up nor down.

My arm hurts a little. I turn my head and see someone poking at me like they're stirring up a hornet's nest.

"Stop poking, or it'll leak." Luo Da said in a muffled voice.

Li Wei was furious. This guy didn't understand her good intentions at all, and never consulted her before doing anything. Now look what happened, he caused trouble and she has to clean up his mess, while he's sleeping soundly here. It's infuriating!

Li Wei grew angrier the more she thought about it, so she simply grabbed a bamboo pole and started hitting the ground with it.

At first, Luo Da held back, but then he was accidentally hit in the waist and felt a lot of pain. This triggered his senses, and he remembered Li Wei's intention in pinching him. He quickly opened his mouth and started to yell. The sound was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for the Li family to hear.

Soon, the window of Li's parents' room opened. Li's mother, Cheng Min, peeked out and saw Luo Da still hanging below the window. She turned to look at her daughter, who was poking at her like a fisherman. Furious, she yelled, "Why haven't you put him down yet? What's the use of taking your anger out on others? It takes two to tango. Now you're blaming everyone else? Don't you have a brain? Humph! Put him down right now!"

Li Wei was already in a bad mood, and her mother's words made her feel even worse, her nose stinging with tears. She hated Luo Da even more, tears welling in her eyes. She swung the bamboo pole forcefully: "I'll beat you to death! Beat you to death myself! No, I'll jump off a building! It'll be better if we're all dead, so we don't have to cause trouble every day. It'll be much easier if we're all dead! I'll beat you to death..."

Luo Da stopped yelling and didn't move, just stood there and let himself be hit.

The crackling sounds and Li Wei's sobs were particularly clear in the night. Li Wei's vision was already blurred, but she was still swinging the bamboo pole, hitting randomly wherever she could.

She didn't hear her parents calling her door at all.

Finally, after a long while, Cheng Min and his wife found a large bunch of keys to all the rooms. They opened the door to Li Wei's room, leaned against one side of the wall, hugged their knees, and said blankly, "It's alright now, we've chased him away."

Li Zhaoxing walked to the window and looked down. Sure enough, the person was gone, and only the fishing net was dragging haphazardly on the ground. He couldn't help but feel a little lost.

Cheng Min went over to take a look, then looked up at her daughter, feeling a mix of emotions.

The person left, but she didn't feel happy at all, even though she originally wished that brat would disappear from her sight.

And this daughter, who has always done things her own way, has now done something so shameful that she feels utterly ashamed and unable to face anyone. She wishes she could just slap her to death.

But now that one is gone and the other is sitting there silently, she doesn't feel any sense of satisfaction or joy.

A faint sense of depression arose from the depths of Cheng Min's heart, spreading to her throat and making her feel uneasy.

Li Zhaoxing waved for Li Lin and Li Lianhui, who had gotten up to watch the commotion, to go back to their room. He pulled his wife aside and said, "Let's go back and talk about it tomorrow. It's good for both of you to calm down."

The couple left, closing Li Wei's door behind them.

Li Wei sat there, motionless, feeling a deep, intense pain in her heart. How could this be?

The tears just wouldn't stop flowing, it seemed endless.

Li Wei sat there until morning, feeling uncomfortable from the sunlight. She wanted to jump off the windowsill, but her legs wouldn't obey her; they were numb, and she fell down.

Fortunately, the windowsill wasn't high, so I wasn't seriously injured, but it took me quite a while to regain consciousness. I climbed onto the bed, lay down fully clothed, and drifted off to sleep.

Actually, Luo Da was also feeling uneasy in the middle of the night.

After Li Wei put him down, her words kept echoing in his ears: "Go away, don't come back. If you really like me that much, come back to me after I get into university. Until then, don't show up at my house again, so my parents won't be saddened to see us. If you come back, I can't control you, but I can control myself. I'll jump off this building. I won't die, but I'll at least break my leg. Just get out of here..."

Since returning home, Luo Da has been lying on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling.

I don't know how I got back. It felt like I'd been walking for a lifetime, like a walking corpse.

I felt happiness was within my grasp, but suddenly, I ruined everything. Happiness was gone, warmth was gone. All that's left is a pale, lifeless ceiling…

And... Xiaoming's tear-streaked face, in the moonlight and morning light, appeared so pure, clear, and shocking, piercing one's heart and making it hard to breathe.

Luo Da lay there, his heart aching all over, feeling dizzy and disoriented, wondering if he was about to die from the pain. What was the point of all his hard work studying and trying to be a good student?

The Luo family's breakfast table is rarely full, but today Luo Da is missing. Grandma Luo asked Luo San'er to go find Luo Da, and Luo San'er quickly ran down: "Grandma, my brother doesn't want to eat."

Actually, the mistress didn't even go inside. She was immediately told to get out.

The Li family usually has all its members at breakfast, but today Li Wei was the only one missing.

But no one suggested going up to look for them. Old Mrs. Cheng sighed and said to her daughter, "Since ancient times, relationships between parents and children are always the easiest to damage. Other things are manageable, but love and marriage are the most vulnerable. Once damaged, they're hard to heal. You know, things have come to this. Why make the children cry and go their separate ways? These two children aren't like Xiaolin and the others; they've always been independent and self-reliant. When have they ever been reckless? You can't treat them like children anymore. If this were decades ago, they would have been married with children and serving their in-laws long ago. Even in our rural area, it's not uncommon for people to get married right after graduating from junior high. Children and grandchildren have their own destinies; you can't keep clinging to them."

Cheng Min felt wronged after her mother's words: "Mom—what else do you want me to do? I've already swallowed my pride and let them get engaged. Do you really want me to arrange the wedding for them right now? My bright future is going to be ruined like this!"

The old lady sighed, "I know how you feel. We're both mothers, but seeing him like this is even more worrying. The most important thing is for the child to be safe and healthy, but with Xiaoming like this, I can't be afraid something might happen to him."

Old Master Cheng slammed down his chopsticks, his face ashen, and got up to leave.

Li Zhaoxing comforted his wife and mother-in-law: "Mom, Xiaoming will be sad for a while, but nothing bad will happen to her. That girl is very rational. Even if she acts impulsively, she has a plan. Don't worry, she won't do anything stupid."

Li Wei certainly wouldn't do anything really stupid, but after waking up around noon, she found a few craftsmen outside the neighborhood and had them nail her windows shut with a loud banging. Her intentions were quite obvious.

Then, without any appetite, I ate a little something, picked up a book and started reading, but I couldn't concentrate. So, I took out my English book and exercise book and started copying words. I spent the whole afternoon doing this, writing almost every new word in the book ten times. I don't know how effective it was.

Anyway, I ate dinner with everyone as usual that night, went upstairs to continue reading, and then climbed into bed to sleep.

Two days passed like this, and on the morning of the third day, my third aunt came.

Aunt Luo, such a fierce woman, grabbed Cheng Min's hand as soon as she entered Old Li's house and burst into tears: "Sister, for the sake of our years as neighbors, let Xiaoming go and see my eldest son, sob."

Cheng Min panicked and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? What happened? Third Aunt, please stop crying and say something!"

It turned out that Luo Da was sick with a cold and fever. He had been on IV drips for two days, but he wasn't getting better and wouldn't go to the hospital. Luo Da, who had never been sick before, suddenly fell ill and was also drowsy and lethargic, which terrified the entire Luo family.

After gathering information from the whole family, including the housekeeper, they realized that the girl had most likely run into some kind of wall at Old Li's house, and might have even fallen out with Li Xiaoming.

So Auntie San came to Cheng Min, hoping that Xiao Ming would go and say some nice things, maybe Luo Da would get better faster.

Cheng Min originally liked Luo Dadi, but she started to dislike him after getting in touch with Li Wei.

But now that the child is sick, we can't just stand by and do nothing. So we asked Li Lin to go find Li Wei and go with her third aunt to take a look.

Li Wei is doing math problems; she can only concentrate when she's doing problems.

After listening to Li Lin's words and thinking about it, I figured Luo Da had just caught a chill that night, and was also in a bad mood, so he should be fine. I went downstairs, picked up the phone on the table, and dialed. It wasn't Luo Da who answered, but Luo Er, who said that Luo Da was sleeping.

Li Wei asked him to put the phone to Luo Da's ear, and then she roared and berated him until her throat was hoarse before hanging up.

Do you think you're Jia Baoyu? Losing a few things makes you act like you're going to die, acting crazy and unconscious. It's not like it's a life-or-death situation. You're acting like a tragic hero from a movie. Who are you trying to impress?

A real man shouldn't act like a woman. If he's so capable, he should just die and eat and poop as usual, then go to university. He's a guy who doesn't rely on his parents for anything, so what reason or right does he have to be sentimental and act like he's going to die...

The phone call was quite remarkable. When Aunt Luo returned home, seething with anger, her eldest son was already sitting at the table drinking porridge. He slurped down a large bowl, then staggered off to the toilet.