"What are you eating for? If you don't study hard, you'll only end up like your dad, doing manual labor! Why don't you compare your studies instead of your food and drink?"
However, the couple also had something in common. When relatives came to visit, Fang Zhiyi and Liu Mei would greet them with smiles and bring out all the good things they had. When a relative's child broke one of Fang Ting's few toys, Fang Ting cried. Fang Ning stood up for his sister, but Liu Mei grabbed him and said to the relative with a smile, "It's normal for children to make mistakes." But after the relatives left, Fang Ning and Fang Ting were both punished by kneeling for half an hour because they had embarrassed themselves in front of the relatives.
Fang Ning's personality also deteriorated. He stopped studying properly, since he didn't even know if he would be able to go to school in the future. When some classmates mocked him, he would hit them. Gradually, everyone in the school knew that Fang Ning was a formidable figure, and many people were afraid of him. This also made Fang Ning gradually find a sense of existence. He frequently skipped school, went to internet cafes and arcades, and hung out with some hooligans outside of school.
When he ran out of money, he robbed other students, imitating gangsters in movies by collecting protection money. The school found out about this and came to Fang Zhiyi's door to complain. Fang Zhiyi apologized repeatedly.
That day, Fang Ning was beaten again, but Fang Zhiyi beat him not because his robbery was wrong, but because Fang Ning had a conflict with another classmate. That classmate was rich and arrogant, and he didn't like Fang Ning, so he gathered a few people to beat him up. Fang Ning was naturally not satisfied and fought with that classmate. The classmate's parents also came to the door.
"We're broke, why don't you learn to behave? You just put up with it when someone hits you! If it weren't for their magnanimity in not making us pay compensation, let's see how you'd pay!" Fang Zhiyi shouted angrily.
"Exactly, why did they hit you? Isn't it because you're always being disobedient?" Liu Mei was knitting a sweater for her relative's child, and she would occasionally hold it up to look at it, as if Fang Ning wasn't her son.
Fang Ning was completely disappointed in his parents. He pushed open the door and rushed out, leaving Fang Zhiyi's angry roar far behind.
Even after he left, Fang Zhiyi continued to be a good person.
The couple often argued over money, and Liu Mei filed for divorce in a fit of anger. However, she only found out after the divorce that their house had also been mortgaged by Fang Zhiyi.
“Zhiming has a project and needs money, so he asked me for help!” Fang Zhiyi said, her eyes filled with pride as she spoke of her younger brother.
Liu Mei pointed at him: "Give me back your brother! Did he ever pay you back the money he borrowed from you? Did he ever treat you to good food and drinks? Bah! Fang Zhiyi, I was blind to marry you!"
"Say it again!"
"What's wrong with me saying anything? I've wanted to end up with you for ages! Look at the son you've raised—an ungrateful wretch! A mute, worthless good-for-nothing!"
The two started fighting over a disagreement, and little Fang Ting huddled in the corner, clutching her tattered rag doll.
Fang Zhiyi and his wife still divorced. Fang Ting stayed with Fang Zhiyi because Liu Mei didn't want a burden.
But Fang Ting's life didn't get any better. The little girl started to tidy up the house like an adult because Fang Zhiyi was even busier, helping this relative and that friend move, and often came back drunk.
Fang Ting only knew that her home was lost. Those fierce-looking people came to her door and kicked her and her father out because her second uncle hadn't paid back the money. She trembled and asked her father why her second uncle hadn't paid back the money, but her father said irritably that her second uncle had just encountered difficulties and told her to go to sleep early and not to ask too many questions. Fang Ting was afraid that her father would get angry, so she could only silently shut her mouth.
Although her mother's belittling was no longer present, Fang Ting still lived in the shadows.
Fortunately, Fang Ting started living at school after entering junior high.
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