Chapter 388 I never expected I'd gone too far.

"What's there to be afraid of? It will all pass soon."

Su Lao Er's voice was cold, and his eyes were even colder. "Su Hongmei, do you know how a person dies when they are choked? They will first suffocate and not be able to breathe, their face will turn red, and their veins will bulge. At first, they can still hit me a couple of times to resist and struggle, but slowly they will lose strength and become less and less able to break free. They can only watch themselves suffocate to death. Do you know what a miserable state it is when a person suffocates to death?"

Su Hongmei's eyes were filled with terror; she was so frightened she was out of her wits. She screamed, "Su Min'an, you're crazy! I wanted Mom's money, not yours! Ah... Mom, help me! Su Min'an is going to kill me..."

Su Lao Er coldly watched as she rolled her eyes back in frustration, her hands losing all strength to slap her.

Her face was covered in tears and snot.

Seeing her clutching his hand, pleading desperately, "...I don't want it anymore, I don't want the money anymore, second brother, please spare me, I don't want to die, I won't ask Mom for money anymore..."

"You were born of your mother, and you have a share of the money your mother earns. Are you sure you don't want it?"

Su Lao Er asked coldly, "Who hasn't been a rebellious child? Does Su Hongmei really think she can hide her little schemes from him?"

Su Hongmei was pleading humbly while holding his hand, but upon hearing Su Lao Er's words, her anger surged up again, and she raised her eyes to glare fiercely at Su Lao Er.

To his surprise, when he looked up, he met Su Lao Er's mocking gaze, and the breath he had been holding in instantly deflated.

“I chose Su Youfu. I should ask him for my tuition and living expenses, not my mother. I only came to my mother because I had no other choice.”

Su Hongmei choked with sobs, feeling so suffocated by her pent-up grievances and anger.

Why did it turn out like this?

Her mother used to always grant her and her siblings' every request.

Li Banxia would always tighten her belt and give her brother and sister their allowance first.

Why won't they give her tuition and living expenses now?!

Why did it turn out like this?!

Just because of my third uncle's matter, just because when they divorced, I asked, "What will they use if she takes the wardrobe away?"

What help could they possibly be if they went to help with their third uncle's surgery? They might even fall behind in their studies. Wasn't it Li Banxia who said that their only task, no matter what, is to study?

She was just listening to her!

How dare she treat me like this?!

She was unwilling to accept it, she was resentful, sob sob...

How did things turn out like this when life was going so well?

She has parents, yet her life is worse than someone without parents!

"Waaah, second brother..."

Su Hongmei grabbed his hand, her tears and snot covering his hand.

Seeing that her eyes were bloodshot, her face was red and her neck was thick, and she couldn't breathe, Su Lao Er disgustedly let go of her and threw her to the ground.

Su Hongmei coughed for a long time, covering her neck, tears and snot streaming down her face. When she looked up and saw Su Lao Er standing there like a demon, she started to sob.

"Waaah, how pitiful I am! My parents don't want me, my brothers all despise me. Why are you willing to take in my eldest sister but not to give me a single bite to eat?"

Su Hongmei sobbed uncontrollably, "Second brother, why won't you forgive me? I'm just a child..."

She felt that no one understood her grievances, and no one wanted to listen to them.

The sadness in my heart is beyond words.

She looked up at her second brother, crying, and said, "Su Youfu won't give me any money. I won't be able to go to high school. What am I going to do? His factory took away my house. I don't even have a place to live, and I can't even get food. Second brother, if I wasn't being driven to my death, why would I be making such a fuss?"

She crawled over on her knees, grabbed Su Lao Er's pants at the knee, and clenched them tightly, as if grasping at her last hope.

She said, "Second brother, please, please talk to Mom and let me come back to live with you. I really can't go on living like this..."

Before he could finish speaking, Su Lao Er kicked him away.

Su Lao Er scoffed, looking down at her condescendingly, "I think you haven't learned your lesson. I'm not your mother. Your mother is willing to lecture you, but I'm not. I prefer those who obey me to prosper and those who defy me to perish. But there are some things I think your mother said very well. Do you remember them?"

Su Hongmei pursed her lips, shook her head, and backed away.

"...Mom said that she has to walk the path she chose, even if she has to crawl! Su Hongmei, don't use the child as an excuse. You are not a three-year-old. You have your own understanding and judgment, but you are as stupid as a pig. Su Youfu has never spent a penny on us since we were little, but you think he will spend money on you after he divorced Mom!"

Su Lao Er stepped forward, staring at her. "Your third uncle is struggling between life and death, yet you think it doesn't matter whether you go or not. What makes you think we'll take care of you just because you say you're about to die?! How could you forget your choice so quickly? We just did what you chose. What are you angry about? What are you aggrieved about? You said you couldn't go on living, but didn't you know that if your third uncle had an accident, Mom would be devastated? You knew, but you still made that choice because you thought she was your mother, and that mothers are born to be your caregivers and serve you. But you didn't expect to go too far. Mom actually kept her word and stopped caring about you!"

Su Hongmei's eyes widened suddenly, filled with anger at being exposed, but only for a moment before she suppressed it. She cried and said, "Mom used to love us so much. I thought she would just get angry, and that she would forgive me as before after I apologized. I never expected... Second Brother, I really know I was wrong..."

Su Lao Er sneered.

He called her out again, saying, "If you really knew you were wrong, you wouldn't have come today."

“…I came here because I couldn’t go on living…” Su Hongmei lowered her eyes, not daring to look directly at Su Lao Er.

Su Lao Er grunted and said, "If you can't live, then don't live. Go die. I'll send you on your way. After you die, remember to go find Su Youfu and settle accounts with him. Ask him why he refused to support you for even a few years after your mother raised you for eleven years..."

He slowly straightened up and walked towards Su Hongmei.

Su Hongmei's pupils constricted sharply. Remembering the feeling of being choked and unable to breathe, the near-death experience, she shook her head frantically, "No, no, Second Brother, I can live! I misspoke, I won't say it again! I'll go find Su Youfu, I really won't come looking for Mom, really..."

"Once is never enough, Su Hongmei. If there's a next time, I won't give you another chance to spout so much nonsense. Have you thought it through?"

Su Hongmei cried and said she had made up her mind.

Su Lao Er withdrew his hand, and Su Hongmei collapsed to the ground, but this time she didn't dare to say a word.

The second brother's eyes were terrifying; he really wanted to strangle her!

"Go wash your face and hurry up and leave. If you come back, Su Youfu's leg will be her fate!"

Su Hongmei looked up in horror, wanting to say, "You actually broke your own father's leg," but then she suddenly realized, "He even tried to strangle his own sister, so what's a little leg break? He didn't kill him."

Thinking this way, I also felt a strange sense of luck, like, "See, my second brother still cares about me, his little sister. He only grabbed my neck when he threatened me, but he didn't really do anything to me."

But the fear was genuine.

I used to think that if things got really bad, I could apologize to Li Banxia and make amends. Even if things couldn't go back to the way they were before, at least I'd be able to eat and drink without worry. But now...