Chapter 41 "She wanted to kill me..."
As the car drove away from the city center, the scenery outside the window gradually became monotonous.
Lin Che was silent the whole way, and Lu Yu didn't try to find topics to talk about. He just drove quietly. Occasionally, when the traffic light was red, he would reach out and gently pinch Lin Che's hand on his leg.
Lu Yu locked the car and followed Lin Che a few steps away. He watched Lin Che stand in front of the payment window, his back straight.
Lin Che silently took out his bank card and handed it in, listening to the staff read out the huge figure - around 200,000 a year.
There was no expression on his face, and his eyes were staring blankly at a point in front of him. Only when he signed, his fingers paused slightly.
Lu Yu stood behind him and saw the number clearly. What did this money mean to Lin Che now?
He knew very well that this had almost drained away most of his savings accumulated through hard work, and after paying this money, he probably wouldn't have much left.
A sharp pain surged in Lu Yu's chest. He watched Lin Che, like a programmed machine, numbly completing the payment process—swiping the card, signing, and receiving the receipt.
Lin Che took the receipt and stuffed it into his pocket without even glancing at it. He felt as if he had completed some important task, and his entire body relaxed. However, that relaxation wasn't ease, but rather a drained exhaustion.
He turned around almost immediately and was about to leave.
"Clear."
Lu Yu's low voice sounded, and at the same time, a warm and powerful hand accurately grasped Lin Che's cold wrist.
Lin Che's body stiffened instantly, and he was forced to stop. He lowered his head and didn't look at Lu Yu.
Lu Yu's palm was very hot, and the heat penetrated the thin fabric and almost burned Lin Che's cold skin.
He used a little force to turn Lin Che's stiff hand over, and then, without giving anyone permission, inserted his fingers one by one into Lin Che's cold fingers, interlocking their fingers tightly.
"Don't you want to go see Auntie?"
Lin Che was held by Lu Yu's hand, unable to break free, nor could she escape his gaze.
He was forced to look up and into Lu Yu's deep eyes. There was no accusation in them, only quiet understanding and silent support.
Lin Che tried hard to pull the corners of his mouth upwards, trying to reveal a smile, but the smile was extremely forced, like a shaky mask hanging on his pale face.
His eyes flickered, and finally he avoided Lu Yu's gaze. His thick eyelashes drooped, casting a small shadow under his eyelids.
He did not answer Lu Yu's question. He did not say a word.
Silence is the best answer.
———
"I have seldom spoken to her over the years." Lu Yu still held Lin Che's hand with his fingers clasped tightly, and the two of them stood not far behind Lin's mother.
Mother Lin was sitting in a wheelchair, with a shawl draped over her shoulders, staring blankly out the window. The nurse leaned over and told Mother Lin about Lin Che and the others' arrival. Mother Lin turned sideways, glanced in this direction without any fluctuation in her eyes, and then remained as she was.
"My mother... when she was young, she was very beautiful and strong-willed." Lin Che's voice was very low, as if she was telling a distant story, with a strong sense of fatigue.
"My mother's name is Shen Qingwan. She fell in love with Lin Zhenbang, my father. At that time, they had nothing. They were just two people who climbed up from the bottom."
Lin Che's unfocused gaze fell on the dead tree flying past the window.
"They've been working together for ten years. Ten years, starting from scratch, enduring countless hardships and facing countless disdainful comments. Finally, the company is showing signs of improvement, and it seems like the end of the world is finally here."
"But... later I was born. Lin Zhenbang came home less and less often, and my mother... always used me to threaten Lin Zhenbang to come home. As a result, my mother found out that Lin Zhenbang had another family outside... Lin Yang was only two years younger than me..."
what does that mean?
This means that the betrayal had already occurred and borne fruit when Lin Che was still ignorant and naive, and perhaps even when his mother was still struggling for the future of the family.
"My mom... I don't know the details of how she found out." Lin Che's voice began to tighten, filled with suppressed pain. "I just remember coming home from school that day. The house was a mess, like it had been swept by a typhoon. My mom... she was standing at the stairs with a knife in her hand, her eyes red and frightening, like she was mad. My dad... Lin Zhenbang stood a few steps away from her, his face also grim."
Lin Che's body trembled slightly, the horrifying memory never fading.
"My mother pointed at me and yelled at Lin Zhenbang, she said... she said..." He choked, the huge shame and pain strangled his throat, those words seemed to be stained with blood, he could hardly say it.
Lin Che took a deep breath and forced herself to continue, her voice tinged with tears. "She said... Lin Zhenbang, if you dare bring that bastard into the house, I'll kill your son first! I'll make your Lin family extinct!"
“Kill me…”
Lin Che closed her eyes, tears finally rolling down her cheeks uncontrollably. "She wanted to kill me back then... She thought that by killing me, she could get revenge on Lin Zhenbang..."
Lu Yu's hands suddenly tightened, and his knuckles turned white.
He could imagine the impact of that scene on a teenager - being seen as a tool for revenge against his father by the mother he relied on the most, and even being threatened with death.
"And then?" Lu Yu's voice was terribly low, his eyes fixed on Lin's mother who was not far away.
"They were arguing and pushing each other at the stairs... My mom completely lost control of her emotions. She rushed forward with a knife, reckless..." Lin Che's voice was trembling. "In the chaos... I don't know who pushed whom... I just saw my mom slip... She screamed... and tumbled down the stairs..."
"Her head...hit the iron railing at the corner of the stairs..." Lin Che raised her hands and covered her eyes, as if that could hide the bloody scene. "She bled so much...so much...She just...stopped moving..."
"He was later sent to the hospital. His life was saved, but... his brain was damaged." Lin Che's voice was reduced to a numb statement. "Sometimes he's better, sometimes he's worse. When he's better, he recognizes me, smiles at me, and cooks for me... When he's worse, he screams, smashes things, doesn't recognize me, and becomes lost in the pain of the past..."
He lowered his hand, tears still etched on his face, his eyes as empty as a pool of stagnant water. "Where's Lin Zhenbang? He's busy trying to appease the woman outside, busy dealing with company matters, busy... getting rid of this troublesome mom. He thinks sending her to the hospital and paying the bill is the most he can do. He even... rarely comes to see her, feeling ashamed."
Lin Che twitched the corners of her mouth, revealing a smile filled with sarcasm and hatred. "My mother's medical expenses, rehabilitation expenses, and later the cost of her stay at Corning Hospital... At first, he would pay, but then... he became more and more perfunctory, and then... he almost didn't care. He felt that the money should be left to his son outside."
“So… starting from high school, I had to find a way on my own.” Lin Che’s voice became dry and calm again, but beneath that calmness was a bottomless exhaustion and heaviness.
"Tuition, living expenses, and the large monthly allowance from my mom...scholarships, part-time jobs, I did everything I could. Washing dishes in a restaurant, handing out flyers, tutoring, delivering food...I did it all. Sometimes when I just couldn't make up the difference, I'd...beg Lin Zhenbang humbly, watching his and his new wife's faces, listening to his sarcastic remarks..."
After Lin Che finished saying all this, he took a deep breath. He had laid out in front of Lu Yu those dark, heavy years with almost no light in them in the most straightforward and cruel way.
Lu Yu didn't interrupt him, just listened quietly. The hand covering Lin Che's hand never loosened, but instead tightened its grip.
"These years... I have been wondering... if... if I had hurt my mother..." Before he could finish the rest of his words, Lu Yu pulled the trembling Lin Che into his arms, interrupting him.
"No...no...Cheche." Lu Yu's chin rested on the top of Lin Che's head, and his palm stroked Lin Che's stiff back vigorously. He didn't say any more empty comfort, but just hugged him tighter.
After an unknown amount of time, the trembling in Lin Che's body gradually subsided, leaving only a deep sense of exhaustion, as if all his strength had been drained away.
He took a deep breath and slowly stepped back from Lu Yu's arms.
Shen Qingwan still maintained her previous posture, with her head tilted to the side and her eyes fixed emptyly on the window. She was completely unaware of her son's silent collapse just now, like a sculpture isolated from time.
Lin Che's gaze lingered for a long time on that familiar face, now filled with strangeness and emptiness, and he saw clearly what his mother looked like when she was young.
He gently broke free from Lu Yu's hand, which was still tightly gripping him. He walked to the wheelchair and slowly squatted down.
His eyes were almost parallel to his mother's in the wheelchair. He squatted there, slightly raising his head and looking at his mother's calm profile.
The sunlight streamed through the window, casting a faint halo on her gray hair. The nurse had already tactfully stepped aside.
Lin Che's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end no sound came out.
He simply stretched out his hand, and with an imperceptible trembling of his fingertips, he very gently and tentatively touched the back of his mother's hand resting on her knees.
The skin on the back of the hand was loose and cold.
Over the years, it was just the mother and son torturing each other. Lin Che spent his days in self-doubt and self-examination, while Shen Qingwan was trapped in this besieged city and couldn't get out.
Only the real villain - Lin Zhenbang lived a good life.
Lin Che maintained his squatting position and raised his hand to stroke the white hair on Shen Qingwan's temples. It turns out that so much time has passed and you have white hair too.
The wrinkles on her face were becoming more and more obvious. Lin Che felt a sense of desolation. He hadn't looked at Shen Wanqing so carefully for a long time, and he didn't even notice that she was getting older.
Finally, he almost staggered to his feet, supporting himself on his knees. He took one last look at his mother's still empty silhouette. The once beautiful and stubborn outline was now only left with traces of wear and tear from time and pain.
He turned around, not looking at Lu Yu again, but lowered his head and uttered two words in a hoarse voice: "Let's go."
Lu Yu didn't ask anything, but immediately stepped forward and firmly shook his hand again. This time, Lin Che didn't resist, and even gave a barely perceptible return of the hand.
They nodded slightly to the nurse and left the ward in silence.
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