Chapter 18

“Fu Yucheng’s father is named Fu Qi. He is 44 years old this year and is a junior manager at Lantai Pharmaceutical. This pharmaceutical company is very small. Including workshop employees, there are no more than 100 employees. I actually considered having my father acquire this company and use the job to control Fu Qi. This job is probably the only respectable thing for a middle-aged junior manager who only dares to raise his fist against his own child.”

"Wow~" Lu Mingxiao clapped his hands and exclaimed, "President Jiang, you're already a seven-tenths-ripe domineering CEO."

Jiang Huaiyu was speechless at his description, and lazily glanced at him with her upturned eyes.

Lu Mingxiao ran his long, slender fingers across his lips, making a zipping motion as if putting a zipper on his mouth.

Jiang Huaiyu continued, "But this company is too small and does not meet the acquisition criteria at all. I cannot damage the company's interests for personal reasons. Controlling Fu Qi through work is probably not an option. I can only sue Fu Qi and make him give up his guardianship."

“But Fu Yucheng said his mother has her own family now, and she has a child about his age…” Lu Mingxiao scribbled on the paper in distress: “His mother might not be willing to take over his guardianship, right?”

Jiang Huaiyu: "The Jiang family has an educational foundation that can provide Fu Yucheng with living expenses and tuition fees during his university years. In other words, Fu Yucheng will not spend his mother's money. She only needs to cooperate with the lawyer to obtain guardianship. It's just a small effort to take her own flesh and blood away from this misery. She shouldn't refuse, right?"

“That makes sense…” Lu Mingxiao continued doodling: “So what are we waiting for now? Let’s sue that Fu Qi!”

"It would be even better if we could get an audio or video recording." Jiang Huaiyu rested her chin on her hand and glanced at Lu Mingxiao: "What should we draw?"

Jiang Lan is a painter, and Lu Mingxiao is her biological child, so presumably...

"Is that a donkey?" Jiang Huaiyu examined it for a long time before asking uncertainly, "That crooked, ugly-but-trendy mascot from Wild Donkey Mountain?"

Lu Mingxiao: "...This is Tiger."

Jiang Huaiyu: ...

...

Upon learning that it would be best to obtain a video clip, Fu Yucheng fell silent.

Jiang Huaiyu quickly explained, "It's not that we absolutely have to have it, or else we can just forget about it..."

“No…” Fu Yucheng’s voice trembled, but his eyes hardened. He looked up at Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao: “You’ve helped me a lot, and I want to do something in return, at least not hold you back…”

“Then…” Jiang Huaiyu hesitated for a moment: “Can I take the next monthly exam as usual? I’ll give you a miniature camera. You can put it in a hidden place before he goes home, so it won’t be discovered.”

Fu Yucheng nodded, took the camera, and went home with his schoolbag on his back.

Lu Mingxiao put his hand on Jiang Huaiyu's shoulder: "I feel like his back isn't so hunched anymore."

Jiang Huaiyu: "Yes, indeed."

Jiang Huaiyu thought she would have to wait until the next monthly exam to get the video, but on an ordinary Thursday afternoon, the software on Jiang Huaiyu's phone that was synced with the camera suddenly sent a reminder that Fu Yucheng had turned on the camera.

Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao were giving Huzi a bath when they heard the notification. Ignoring their half-wet short-sleeved shirts, they nervously turned on the video call.

The sound of shattering glass came first, followed by a boy's low sobbing. Fu Yucheng appeared in the camera's field of view, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and his cheek swollen.

Footsteps drew closer, and Fu Qi, dressed in impeccably tailored suit trousers, appeared in the frame. He casually unbuckled his belt, his voice carrying a chilling softness.

"Why don't you listen to your father? Hmm? Who did you take after? Your despicable mother." Fu Qi squatted down, and his face, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and with a refined air, appeared in the camera's view. He smiled and asked Fu Yucheng, "Dad asked you to report that top student's small business, why didn't you want to? Dad said that punishing him would distract him from his studies, and he wouldn't be able to beat you next time. You'd still be number one, still Dad's good child, why didn't you want to write the report?"

Fu Yucheng curled up into a ball, backing away little by little: "I...I don't want to..."

Fu Qi's smile froze: "Don't want it?"

“Even though Jiang Huaiyu was distracted by this, he was still number one…” Fu Yucheng raised his swollen face, looking directly at his father for the first time in a violent situation. His speech was a little unclear, so he spoke very slowly: “I… I’m just an average person. The reason I can maintain my grades is because I’ve spent a lot of time repeatedly memorizing… In order to remember these things, I’ve only slept four and a half hours a day since the third year of junior high school…”

His speech gradually became more fluent, and his pace quickened: "Jiang Huaiyu is a true genius, he has the kind of outstanding genes you want, but Dad, genes are inherited, you know that..."

He chuckled: "A rat in the gutter can't give birth to a tiger."

Lu Mingxiao suddenly stood up and pushed the blue electric tricycle out of the small warehouse. Jiang Huaiyu quickly reacted and stepped into the small truck bed behind it.

The small tricycle sped out of the courtyard with a whoosh of wind, heading straight for the address left by Fu Yucheng. Jiang Huaiyu called the police amidst the bumpy ride.

"He's deliberately provoking his father!" Jiang Huaiyu gripped her phone nervously. "He didn't need to do this. He could have just paid to start the fight and left evidence. Why did he..."

“He probably wanted to say these things a long time ago.” The wind blew his bangs across his forehead, revealing his prominent brow bone. Lu Mingxiao pursed his lips, looked ahead, and suddenly said in a low voice, “There are traffic police.”

Jiang Huaiyu's heart tightened as well.

The two were stopped, and a tall, thin young traffic policeman wearing a fluorescent yellow vest walked over and glanced at Jiang Huaiyu sitting in the back of the vehicle: "You can't carry people in the back of an electric tricycle. How old are you? Are you adults?"

"Officer, we have an emergency!" Lu Mingxiao handed Jiang Huaiyu's phone over: "My classmate is being abused at home. We're in a hurry to get to his house, which is why we drove against the rules."

The young traffic policeman frowned as he took the phone.

In the footage, the metal buckle struck the tiles with a chilling crack. Fu Yucheng's dodge only enraged Fu Qi, who kicked Fu Yucheng hard in the stomach. Fu Yucheng curled up in a ball, unable to make a sound.

The young traffic policeman's face darkened: "You two get out and wait for me in that patrol car. Leave the electric tricycle there for now. I'll talk to my colleagues and then I'll take you there. Did you call the police?"

The two boys shouted in unison, "Call the police!"

Fu Yucheng's home is in an old neighborhood. The neighborhood is actually in a good location. When he first bought it, it was probably a rare high-end residence in the small town. However, as time has passed and new housing developments have been built one after another, these mottled old buildings are out of place with the surrounding neighborhoods. People who are able to move have probably all moved away, and most of the residents in the neighborhood are elderly.

As Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao ran upstairs with the young traffic policeman, an elderly couple came downstairs. The gray-haired old man held hands, and the old woman muttered, "That man downstairs is hitting the child again. How can he keep hitting such a big boy..."

The old man was a little hard of hearing: "Huh? What did you say? That's hitting a child? I thought it was someone's cat in heat..."

The young traffic police officer didn't dare to rush the frail elderly couple. Three tall, thin men stood in a row against the wall in the stairwell, waiting for them to come down before continuing to run upstairs.

"502! We're here!" Lu Mingxiao kicked the door shut. "Fu Qi! Open the door!"

The young traffic policeman pulled the taller-than-himself minor behind him: "Don't be impulsive, your colleagues from the police station will be here in a few minutes..."

He went up to the door and knocked: "Hello, I am a police officer. Someone has reported you for domestic violence against a minor. Please open the door and cooperate with our investigation."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Jiang Huaiyu stared nervously at her phone screen and whispered, "He was startled just now, but he's stopped now."

But Fu Qi didn't open the door immediately. He picked up Fu Yucheng, who had fallen to the ground, threw him on the sofa, quickly cleaned up the broken cups, and finally tidied himself up.

He took two steps toward the door, then suddenly realized something. He stopped, turned around, and walked back, pacing thoughtfully around the room. Finally, he discovered the camera behind the flowerpot.

There was a delay in the video feed; on the screen, Fu Qi crushed the camera, while on the other side, Fu Qi had already opened the door.

"You think smashing the camera will do any good?" Jiang Huaiyu raised her phone, looking coldly at the middle-aged man with a fake smile on his face: "You're just burying your head in the sand, utterly foolish."

Fu Qi's smile froze for a moment, and resentment surged in his eyes, but he quickly put on a mask again and greeted the traffic police officer gently: "Officer, what did you say? Domestic violence? How could it be domestic violence? I was just disciplining my child. Boys are too naughty and disobedient."

The young traffic policeman didn't tolerate him and took out his identification: "I need to make sure the child is safe, please move aside."

“This is your traffic police ID.” Fu Qi smiled. “Isn’t it enough for you to manage things on the main road? What about the family matters inside the house?”

“Shameless people always have a lot of nerve.” Lu Mingxiao sneered, grabbing the doorknob with one hand. As he exerted force, the door opened wider and wider. Fu Qi’s face grew increasingly grim. Looking at the boy who was about the same height as his son, he realized for the first time that a boy of this age could easily contend with him.

As an adult capable of "controlling the situation," this loss of control reminded him of his wife's betrayal, his boss's reprimands, and his clients' cold shoulders...

And his last shred of authority was slowly crumbling before him.

"You little brat, don't you know what proper upbringing is?" His face flushed red, and he clung tightly to the door, shouting in a disheveled manner, "You're trespassing!"

Footsteps were heard downstairs, and two uniformed police officers came upstairs. Upon seeing the scene, they immediately asked loudly, "What are you all doing?! We received a call about domestic violence. Who called the police?"

Just as Fu Qi was about to say something, Lu Mingxiao suddenly smiled at him and then let go of his hand.

Fu Qi pulled the door back shut with all his might, his hand, which was clinging to the crack in the door, was caught in the crack. Fu Qi let out a pig-like scream and released the door.

"I called the police." Lu Mingxiao opened the door: "Officer, the victim is inside."

Author's Note:

[Sliding knees.jpg] Click the paw to send a red envelope, there will be another chapter this afternoon [heart emoji]