Chapter 18 Xie Sheng
The meal was far from peaceful.
Aunt Pu Manli looked at the two children with extremely low spirits with worry. In fact, she did not expect the two siblings to get along well, but she did not expect that they could not even live together under the same roof.
She sighed, and began to resent her heartless younger brother, Pu Ming, for failing in his responsibilities as a father and causing his two children to suffer.
...
The Pu family and Xie Sheng's mother's family were close when they were young.
As they grew older, both sets of parents saw that the two got along very well, so when they came of age, they arranged for them to get married.
The newlyweds were a perfect match; the man was handsome and the woman was beautiful. Anyone who saw them would think it was an excellent marriage.
At that time, the two of them were living a wonderful life, and they had a child, Xie Sheng, just one year after they settled down.
Just then, Pu Ming's university admission letter also arrived at his home. He was the first college student from their county in many years, and he was admitted to a university in S City.
Good things come in pairs, and both families feel incredibly hopeful for the future.
Perhaps there really is such a thing as fortune in this world; there is prosperity and there is decline.
Since Xie Sheng was born, his mother's family business has been getting better and better, eventually expanding to the provincial capital.
Apart from Pu Ming, who got into university, the rest of the Pu family seemed to be doing poorly.
Pu Ming returned less and less often, his complexion worsened, and the time he spent there shortened. Eventually, he stopped coming back altogether.
When Xie Sheng was 3 years old, Pu Ming finally appeared.
This was the first time he had seen his father while he was conscious, but unfortunately it was at his grandfather's funeral.
His father was as tall and handsome as the photos he had seen, and even had some attractive qualities that he didn't know about.
According to other people, it's something called dignity.
Xiao Xie didn't know what this meant, but he knew that his father seemed to be very important. He felt a surge of hope that his father wouldn't leave this time, and that their family could live together.
He was looking forward to it so much.
After the funeral arrangements were completed, he sat down with his mother, father, maternal grandparents, and uncle for a meal. It was quite late, and he fell asleep in his mother's arms.
When he opened his eyes again, he was woken up by a noise.
Through his blurry vision, he saw his mother leaning against his grandmother's chest, tears streaming down her face, while his grandfather and uncle roared at his father, who had just returned home.
He didn't know what they were arguing about; he was too young to understand the meaning of many words.
All he knew was that before he could even exchange a few words with his respectable father, he disappeared again, and his uncle, maternal grandparents, who had always been kind to him and his mother, moved to the provincial capital.
Xie Sheng's whole world consisted of his mother and his aunt, who would occasionally appear, hug him, cry, and buy him a bunch of toys.
He felt lost and confused, and even wondered if he had done something wrong.
However, as he grew older, he learned what had actually happened back then from the gossip of adults, the ridicule and insults of his peers, and from his aunt who told him the truth under his questioning.
He was furious to the extreme, his whole being consumed by rage.
He began to hate.
His mother, who resented his inability to move on, remained alone, immersed in the past, waiting in vain.
I hate my maternal grandparents and my heartless uncle for abandoning them here and not caring about them.
He hated Pu Ming for betraying the family and not fulfilling his responsibilities as a father for even a day.
Hate the world around you
I hate those adults who gossip and those children who mock and insult me.
Unable to vent his anger, Xie Sheng could only release it through fighting.
He would punch anyone who called him a bastard, an orphan, or someone no one wanted, and he wouldn't stop until he saw blood, until an adult pulled him away or he passed out.
Gradually, he also gained the nickname "madman".
These are nothing serious; physical pain is the easiest to bear.
What was unbearable was that whenever he was dragged to his mother with a bloodied head, she could only keep bowing and apologizing, then hugging him and crying.
He hated this kind of cowardice.
He really wanted to say—
Do you know what they're saying about you outside?
Can you please not apologize?
You can hit me, you can yell at me, but please stop crying!
But he held back; he couldn't add any more pressure to his fragile mother.
He stared blankly at his mother, who was tearfully searching for more wine, all words stuck in his throat.
He kicked the door hard, then walked to the living room with his head down and skillfully took out an iodine bandage to bandage himself.
...
Everyone has a limit. Whether it's anger or joy, once it reaches a peak, what follows is endless numbness.
When Xie Sheng found his mother lying in the bathtub covered in blood, all his emotions reached their peak. All his anger turned into confusion, and his sadness and grief disappeared.
At this moment, Pu Ming reappeared, wearing an expensive-looking suit and carrying a black umbrella. His pale, chiseled features were a mixture of gentleness and indifference, a stark contrast to the warm smile on his mother's face in the photo at the grave.
Pu Ming said to him, "Do you want to come to S City with me? You will have a much better life than you have now, but for the time being you will have to call me uncle."
Xie Sheng remembers replying "Get lost" at the time. Not long after, he was sent to his aunt Pu Manli's house, changed his surname to that of his uncle, and became his aunt's son.
He thought it was a good thing; he had long been disgusted by the surname Pu, and it would be best to sever ties with Pu Ming.
Xie Sheng's wish was not fulfilled. From then on, Pu Ming often returned to the county town to look for him.
I told him that I had opened a company in the provincial capital, and that he should study at a certain university and major so that he could manage their family business in the future.
Xie Sheng scoffed at this, saying it was just like what his mother's family said—all nonsense.
Why do they ignore it for years, only to suddenly start interfering the moment they show up?
The violent urge to destroy grew stronger and stronger, running rampant through his body.
He goes around causing trouble like a madman, not caring about the consequences or whether they can be cleaned up.
Life went on in a daze. Until recently, when he returned to his and his mother's house covered in blood after a fight, he found Pu Ming sitting on the sofa.
Without thinking, he grabbed whatever was at hand and threw it at Pu Ming, yelling, "Get out!"
The man dodged the flying ornament, but wasn't angry. He glanced at the blood on his body and said calmly, "It's okay for boys to play around, but they should still be careful. Fists can't solve everything in this society."
"Mind your own business and get out of my house."
"I won't be staying for long, I just wanted to let you know. In a few months, your sister and I will be moving here to live in the provincial capital, and I hope you will come with us."
Xie Sheng was so angry he almost laughed. How could this man have such a problem with his brain to say something like that?
Seeing that Xie Sheng didn't speak, Pu Ming continued, "Pu Xia is very quiet, and may be a little rebellious at times, but overall she is easy to get along with. I hope you two siblings can look after each other."
"Are you done talking? If you're done, get out."
A deep-seated ferocity brewed in Xie Sheng's dark eyes. He clenched his fists, suppressing the urge to strangle Pu Ming.
However, Pu Ming seemed oblivious to his emotions and anger, but he still got up. He thoughtfully sized up Xie Sheng, and as he was about to leave and brush past him, he even said something—
"I suddenly realized that in some ways you and Xiaxia are quite similar, and I think you would really like her."
"Fuck you, you like your mom? Get lost!"
Xie Sheng finally couldn't hold back any longer, pushed the person out, and then slammed the door shut.
However, he never expected that a few months later, he would hear the news of Pu Ming's death, and then meet his so-called younger sister.
What surprised him even more was that, just as Pu Ming had said, he had really fallen in love with Pu Xia.
To say he simply liked her would be an understatement; his feelings for her could be described as a mixture of love and hate.
Just like now, filled with anger, he pressed Pu Xia's hands above her head with one hand, pinched her chin with the other, bit her delicate lips, and asked, word by word, "What do you mean by moving to the dormitory?"
She actually tried to escape even though he had completely fallen for her.
He absolutely will not allow it.
——————
It introduced Sheng Ge's growth experience and background, and it was quite enjoyable to write.
In fact, both he and Pu Xia were victims, and their similar experiences made them particularly able to understand each other's desires and loneliness.
However, since no two leaves are the same, their ways of dealing with people and things are completely different, which will definitely cause them to encounter many twists and turns in their relationship.
So please don't blame me for always making them argue, it's really not my fault, hmm!
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