How could I dislike you?
When the gavel fell, what ended was not only a marriage full of violence and pain, but also a nightmare that lasted for twenty years.
In order to celebrate this hard-earned victory and to thank the allies who provided the most critical help in this battle, Lu Yu hosted a party and booked a private room in a hotel restaurant on the night the lawsuit ended.
There were not many guests at the banquet, only two: the professional and powerful lawyer Wang Jing, and Aunt Li, who overcame her fear with her conscience at the critical moment.
The atmosphere at the banquet was unprecedentedly relaxed and joyful. Shi Guang's mother seemed to have unburdened herself of the weight of half her life, her entire being radiating a new energy. She was so moved that she wept several times. Holding a cup of tea, she repeatedly expressed her inexpressible gratitude to Lawyer Wang, Aunt Li, and most importantly, Lu Yu.
The banquet ended in a cheerful atmosphere. After the two important guests had left, it was already dusk. The afterglow of the setting sun was gently pouring in from the floor-to-ceiling windows of the hotel.
"Let's go back to the hotel and rest." Lu Yu smiled and was about to take the mother and son back as usual.
But at this moment, time gently held his hand.
Lu Yu turned around and looked at him with some confusion.
"Lu Yu," his voice was soft but clear, "Don't go back yet... Can you go somewhere with me?"
Lu Yu looked at the cautious expectation in his eyes, his heart softened, and all his fatigue disappeared.
"good."
Time took him through several old streets full of the flavor of urban life and he came to a somewhat dilapidated river bank.
This is the riverside park where he grew up.
The embankment was made of rough cement, mottled by years of wind and rain. The river water, far from clear, carried a murky golden hue, flowing slowly eastward. A breeze rustled the untrimmed weeds that had grown wildly along the embankment.
Everything here has an old atmosphere that has been forgotten by time.
However, in Lu Yu's eyes, the scenery here became extremely gentle because of the people around him.
The setting sun was slowly setting, burning the clouds in the sky into the most brilliant orange-red. The warm afterglow stretched the figures of the two people walking side by side very long on the embankment behind them.
The two of them walked quietly like that.
Shi Guang didn't say a word along the way. He seemed to be organizing his words, or perhaps he was saying a long goodbye in his heart.
Finally, he stopped under an old crooked willow tree at the end of the embankment.
He turned, his back to the huge setting sun that was about to sink into the river. The golden light outlined a furry outline of his entire body, but his face was cast in a soft shadow, making it difficult to see clearly.
He looked at Lu Yu, his eyes, which were as white as glass under the setting sun, filled with emotions.
"Lu Yu," he began, his voice slightly hoarse due to emotional fluctuations, "Do you know why my name is Shi Guang?"
Without waiting for Lu Yu to answer, he continued talking to himself.
"My mother said that when she gave birth to me, she hoped that I could have all the good times in the world and also hoped that I could forget all the bad times. So, she gave me this name."
“Actually, I had a lot of bad times.”
His narration, calm at the beginning, gradually took on the heavy breaths that had been suppressed for too long. He recounted those fragments of memories that he had never had the courage to share in detail even after they had confirmed their relationship.
"When I was little, I was most afraid of the rain, especially thunderstorms. Every time he got drunk, he would lock me out. I'd just curl up in the hallway, listening to my mom's cries and the sounds of things being smashed, until dawn."
"So, I'm particularly afraid of the dark and thunder. Every time there's thunder, I feel like the door is going to lock me out again."
"Also... I don't like anyone touching my back, all the way to the back of my neck." He lowered his head and spoke even softer, "Because when he's drunk, he likes to pull my hair or pinch my neck from behind and lift me up... So, whenever someone approaches me from behind, I get... I get uncontrollably scared."
All of this is a final reckoning with my past that is long overdue.
After he finished speaking, he was silent for a long time. He raised his head and looked at Lu Yu with his red and fragile eyes.
"Lu Yu, these... are all my past."
"It's terrible and it's cowardly."
"Thank you... for not despising me like this."
During the long and fragmented narration of time, Lu Yu listened quietly, the afterglow of the setting sun illuminating his profile like a warm sculpture.
He slowly stretched out his hand.
His fingertips were extremely gentle and precious as he gently wiped away the moisture that had quietly seeped out from the corners of Shi Guang's eyes due to his excitement.
Then, he took a step forward, opened his arms, and hugged the thin body, which was still trembling slightly, tightly into his solid and warm embrace.
Lu Yu gently rested his chin on Shi Guang's soft hair and could clearly smell his clean scent. He felt the person in his arms, from the initial stiffness of his body to slowly letting go of all his defenses and leaning all his weight on him.
"Silly boy, how could I dislike you?"
"I just feel sad. I feel sad that I couldn't meet you earlier."
He tightened his arms, as if he wanted to use his body temperature to smooth out all the wrinkles and scars deep in the other person's soul.
"But it's okay. Now, I'm here."
"Shi Guang, listen carefully. I promise you."
"From today on, there will be no more thunderstorms in your world."
The wind from the river brought the coolness after sunset, blowing away the last bit of oppressive air in the air.
On the taxi ride back, Lu Yu's nerves, which had been tense for over a week, finally relaxed completely. He leaned back in the back seat and, in front of Shi Guang, made the call he should have returned long ago.
The call was answered almost instantly, and sister Lu Yao's voice, filled with worry and a hint of displeasure, immediately came from the receiver: "Lu Yu! You finally called back! What's going on over there? What happened? You didn't even explain clearly in the message. I'm telling you, if you don't call back, I'm going to buy a plane and come over!"
Listening to his sister's rapid-fire concern, Lu Yu couldn't help laughing.
He glanced at Shi Guang, who was listening to his phone call nervously, and the smile on his face deepened.
"Sister, I'm fine, don't worry." He said safely, "It's all taken care of. Um... yes, it's nothing serious, it's all resolved. We'll be back in two days."
He paused, a barely perceptible boast in his voice: "Tell Mom for me too, don't let her worry. I'm fine here, I have people taking care of me."
After hanging up the phone with his sister, he thought about it, then opened the dormitory WeChat group and made a video call directly.
The screen was filled up almost instantly, and the two huge, somewhat deformed heads of Jiang Xiaopang and Sun Rui appeared in the picture.
"Fuck! Brother Yu! You're still alive! We all thought you were hit in the kidneys!" Fat Jiang's signature loud voice made the phone buzz.
"Where's Shi Guang? Is he okay? The counselor asks about him every day, and we can't keep up the story!" Sun Rui said from the side.
Lu Yu smiled and slowly turned the camera to the time around him.
Shi Guang obviously didn't expect this segment. He was stunned for a moment, then a little embarrassedly gave a faint smile to the camera and waved gently.
"It's okay." Lu Yu turned the camera back and looked at the two lively roommates on the screen, his heart warmed. "We've solved it. I'll bring you some local specialties when I get back. Please tell the counselor for us that we'll be back on time next Monday."
The video call ended amid the exaggerated howling of the roommates.
Shi Guang rested his head on Lu Yu's shoulder. He looked out the window at the familiar night scene that was rapidly receding, and no longer felt the slightest bit of oppression or fear of wanting to escape.
Instead, a solid and peaceful sense of belonging arose in his heart.
Lu Yu turned his head to look at his quiet profile. He clenched the hand that he had not let go of, and gently rubbed the back of his hand with his fingertips. Then, he asked in a low voice:
"Once things are settled here... at home, would Auntie... be willing to come with us and live in Jiangcheng?"
Shi Guang slowly turned his head and met Lu Yu's gaze.
Under the glittering neon lights outside the car window, he clearly saw the gentle and brilliant sea of stars in Lu Yu's deep eyes.
He nodded under the gentle gaze of the sea of stars.
"good."
The sunset has completely come to an end, and the lights in the city are lighting up one after another.
The legal judgment was like a sharp scalpel that precisely removed the cancer, but it could not clear away the traces of twenty years of decay overnight.
The next morning, accompanied by lawyer Wang Jing and two community workers, Lu Yu and Shi Guang, mother and son, stepped into Room 502, Building 3, Xingfu Community for the last time.
□□ wasn't there. According to the ruling, he had ten days to vacate. But the house was still in the same state of disarray as when they'd fled, as if a violent storm had been paused. The air still stubbornly stagnated with the smell of corruption and despair.
"Masters, I'm sorry to bother you." Mother Shiguang pointed at the crooked and broken furniture in the living room. "Except for the things in the two bedrooms, everything in the living room and kitchen that you can see, throw it all out. Don't leave anything behind."
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