Chapter 41
At 4:10 PM, the two-day grueling exam finally came to an end. Xu Chen walked out of the exam hall and took a deep breath. The air was filled with the fragrance of grass and trees, mixed with the smell of damp earth after the rain. He looked up at the rainbow on the horizon, which resembled a watercolor painting.
Because he estimated that his score should be above the second-tier university admission line, he knew his own strength. Two years ago, he had already passed the first-tier university admission line. After repeating a year, the first-tier university became a distant dream, but the second-tier university should be easy for him. He was thinking about how to share this news with Li Muxue when he unknowingly arrived at his own door. However, the moment he pushed open the door, all his beautiful fantasies were shattered.
"What university? Where will the family get the money to send him to school?" Stepmother Luo Mei's shrill voice pierced my ears like shattered glass. "How much money have we already spent on him repeating a year? Do you think our family owns a bank?"
Xu Chen stood in the doorway, his schoolbag falling to the floor with a thud. The living room was a mess; chairs were overturned, and a teacup lay shattered in the corner, still damp with water. His father, Xu Zhenguo, squatted in a corner, his hands covering his head, silent.
"You're back?" Luo Mei glanced at Xu Chen and said with a sneer, "How did the exam go, our great talent?"
Xu Chen didn't answer; his gaze fell on his father. Xu Zhenguo slowly raised his head, his eyes darting away, unable to meet his son's eyes.
Luo Mei put her hands on her hips and raised her voice a few decibels, "I told you long ago to go to a junior college, get a diploma, find a job and earn money. But you insisted on going to university. Four years of tuition and living expenses will cost at least forty or fifty thousand yuan. Are you going to pay for that?"
Xu Chen felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing his heart. He spoke with difficulty, "Aunt Luo, I can apply for a student loan, and I can also work part-time..."
“Working?” Luo Mei let out a piercing sneer. “What can you do with that little bit of money you earn? Your dad went to drive a truck! All that money he earns goes to your tuition! I’m fucking speechless. My deadbeat ex-husband was a truck driver, and now he’s inexplicably married another truck driver! We’re all living off my meager salary, while you two are just dreaming more than the other!”
Xu Chen felt a surge of heat rush to his head, and he almost shouted, "No! I want to go to university! I promised Mu Xue!"
Upon hearing Li Muxue's name, Xu Zhenguo's expression suddenly changed: "Li Muxue? You still have contact with that girl from the Li family?"
“Yes, Dad, we made a promise to go to university together,” Xu Chen said eagerly. “Mu Xue understands me and supports me. She said…”
"What are you saying!" Xu Zhenguo suddenly flew into a rage, interrupting his son. "Let me tell you, give up on that idea now! That Li Muxue, her father Li Junsheng wishes he could kill me! I will absolutely not let Li Junsheng's daughter enter our Xu family!"
"Dad, you don't understand Mu Xue, she..." Xu Chen's voice trembled with excitement as he tried to explain.
"I don't understand?" Xu Zhenguo sneered. "I understand this society better than you do! And I understand Li Junsheng and Qiao Kexin even better! Besides, if it weren't for Li Muxue two years ago, would you have crippled someone? Would you have gone to jail? Would you have had to repeat a year of high school? If it weren't for her, you'd be a sophomore now! If you're going to pay off my debts, haven't you paid enough? Is this never going to end?!"
Luo Mei added fuel to the fire: "Exactly! I heard from the neighbors that that girl has been getting very close to a rich young man lately. They saw her going out to eat and shop with him. He drives a Passat! What makes you think you can compare to him?"
These words were like a sharp knife, piercing Xu Chen's heart.
"Mu Xue isn't that kind of person!" Xu Chen roared, tears streaming uncontrollably from his eyes. "She promised to wait for me! As long as I get into university, we can be together! Aunt Luo, do you think all women in the world are as vain and promiscuous as you?! Don't think I don't know about your affair with my dad back then! You two drove my mom to her death!"
Xu Chen's words unleashed all the resentment he had suppressed for over a decade, like a volcanic eruption.
Luo Mei's face turned deathly pale with anger: "Xu Chen, you beast! How dare you talk like that?! Are you trying to defy the heavens?! Xu Zhenguo! Look at the fine son you've raised! Waaah..."
Luo Mei began to perform a crying scene, but her acting was very fake, like an old woman's dentures...
"Shut up!" Xu Zhenguo grabbed the ashtray on the table and smashed it on the ground, shards of glass flying everywhere. "You unfilial son! It's none of your business what happens between me and your Aunt Luo! Do you think Li Muxue will obediently wait for you? On one side is a life of luxury, and on the other is the hellish poverty she's lived in for over twenty years! What do you think she'll choose?"
Looking at his father's face contorted with anger, Xu Chen suddenly felt a sense of estrangement. Was this still the father who had encouraged him that "knowledge changes destiny"? Was this still the father who had patted him on the shoulder and said, "Try again for another year, Dad supports you"?
"So, you want me to give up my ideals? Give up my love?" Xu Chen's voice lowered, but it was filled with a chilling despair: "You want me to be like Dad, a coward for the rest of my life, unable to even control my own destiny?"
These words completely enraged Xu Zhenguo, who raised his hand and slapped Xu Chen hard across the face.
A crisp "snap" echoed in the small living room.
Xu Chen covered his burning cheek, staring at his father in disbelief. At that moment, the light in his eyes was completely extinguished.
"Okay, okay, okay." Xu Chen said "okay" three times in a row, his voice as cold as ice. "I understand."
He bent down to pick up his schoolbag from the ground, turned around, and walked towards the door. The afterglow of the setting sun shone through the door frame, casting a long, long shadow of him.
"Where are you going?" Xu Zhenguo called out from behind, his voice tinged with panic.
Xu Chen didn't turn around, but simply said, "Go to a place where you are not."
The door slammed shut, leaving Xu Zhenguo and Luo Mei staring at each other in bewilderment. The living room was deathly silent, save for the old-fashioned wall clock ticking away, as if recording the moment this family fell apart.
Xu Chen walked along the twilight-drenched streets, tears blurring his vision. He didn't know where to go, only that the place he once called "home" had now become a battlefield, a place he wanted to escape from.
Xu Chen tilted his head back, trying hard not to let the tears fall. The summer evening breeze brushed against his face, but it was bone-chillingly cold. This summer, just after the college entrance exams, should have been a hopeful beginning, but it had become a nightmare in his youth…
(To be continued)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
