0014 Blood Blade (6)

Chen Yixu walked out of the office with a cigarette dangling from his lips. It was a pack of Bai Jiang cigarettes that cost less than ten yuan.

His hands were covered in blood, which stained the cigarette red and made it look dirty.

He was also very dirty.

When he was very young, before his family fell apart, Wanqibo would hold him on his lap with Bai Jiang in his mouth.

The cigarettes were stolen from his soldiers. Wanqibo was a heavy smoker, and he couldn't distinguish between good and bad cigarettes; he smoked everything.

Xu Yi was very strict with him. When he returned to B City from the army, his craving for cigarettes would flare up, making him so anxious that he would scratch his head and feel itchy all over if he didn't have a smoke.

He had no choice but to occasionally use his most precious youngest son as a shield to shield himself from bullets, and beg his men for a few to satisfy his craving for guns.

In the sweltering heat of summer, a grown man and his teenage son, seemingly unconcerned about the confinement, sat down in some shady corner of the courtyard. Summers in City B were truly scorching; both father and son were drenched in sweat under the old locust tree. Little Fuze (Chen Yixu) would occasionally nag Wan Qibo, saying, "I want a bite too."

Wan Qibo would slap him on the butt: "You brat, this smoke is too strong!"

He insisted on taking it anyway, and Wanqibo laughed heartily, saying that he was indeed his son. Then, seeing Xiao Fuze choking and unable to stand, he laughed even harder.

When Xu Yi got home, he smelled the cigarette smoke on the two children and was furious. He pointed at Wan Qibo and yelled, "Old Wan, if you keep secretly smoking and corrupting our son, neither of you need to come back to this house!"

Wan Qibo laughed and comforted his wife, and he jumped over to kiss and hug her. Xu Yi couldn't do anything about them, so he kicked each of them.

It turned out to be a prophecy.

At that time, none of them expected that no one would ever be able to go back to that house.

The smoke was indeed strong and harmful to the body. Only when Chen Yixu calmed down did she realize that her internal organs were aching.

He dared not look back, dared not dwell on the past. The past, too beautiful, was like a knife. He knew that behind him lay a wasteland, and the only way forward was to forge a bloody path through thorns and brambles.

The people behind them dispersed, and the teachers were discussing the mother of the boy who had been beaten, wearing a fuchsia dress. Some said she was snobbish and aggressive, and that her son was a troublemaker at school, always talking back to teachers.

He said Chen Yixu was an illegitimate child raised in D province, and that his mother was a whore and a worthless piece of trash.

Chen Yixu threw a punch, and he continued to provoke him, saying that he was a coward no one wanted.

These words seemed to have touched a nerve with Chen Yixu, and he showed no mercy afterward. He used all the techniques Wan Qibo had taught him in the fight.

Yes, just like those teachers said, that woman was snobbish and greedy, and evaded taxes, but she still teared up when she saw her son injured, and stood in front of her son to protect him even when she was being scolded.

And even if he doesn't want to admit it, no one will ever stand in front of him again. Wan Qibo had made it clear to him a year ago when he went to the police station that he shouldn't expect to come to D province again because of such a shameful thing.

Just like that boy said, he was someone nobody wanted.

However, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed his waist from behind, the force of which made him stumble.

The person behind him was crying uncontrollably.

"Chen Yixu, you scared me to death!"

He hated looking back, but that day he couldn't help himself and turned back to wipe away her tears.

She said she saw it; the blood on the boy's body was all his. She asked him why he didn't cry out in pain. When she pressed a cotton swab against his face, she burst into tears first. He asked her, "Why are you crying again?" She pointed to his eyes and said, "You cried too..."

Yes, his mother died, and his father treated him like a dog, kicking him out of the house and practically "exiling" him to a remote province. At only twelve years old, he endured five years of hardship in an empty house. He had seen all kinds of looks, but never before had he felt so bitter. Even though he had just gotten into a fight like any other day, he couldn't help but feel, in front of someone, that he was nothing but a pitiful, unwanted, homeless child, and that even the slightest pain could bring tears to his eyes.

...

Lingling, lingling.

He silently repeated those two words in his heart, feeling an unbearable pain in his chest.

She gave him the courage to turn back; she personally added color to the past ten years, stroke by stroke, only to tear them apart again. He knew best that the past was a silver blade, gleaming beautifully, but soaked in blood.

P.S.: That's all for now for Blood Blade. Some flashbacks will be written from the male protagonist's perspective.

Oh, and I'll explain later why Xu Yi calls Wan Qibo "Old Wan" (老万). To reiterate, Wan Qi is a compound surname, pronounced "mo qi".

If any of you are reading this, please leave a comment!