"Are you coming with me or not?"
Lin Jingyue looked at the thin young boy in front of her and felt a pang of sympathy, but she still respected his choice. She didn't want things to escalate to the point where everyone would be unhappy.
Li Chengyi's lifeless eyes now reflected the image of his mother from his memories—the woman who had been deeply hurt by his father, ultimately leading to their divorce and her departure to a distant land.
Is it a dream? Why do the people in front of me seem so clear?
"Mom," the seven-year-old boy called out timidly.
He was trying to confirm whether her existence was just an illusion.
Lin Jingyue sighed and reached out to pat the other's head. "I came back to take you with me. If you want to come with me, then choose me firmly. If not, then let's never see each other again in this life."
However, we'll probably have to find another way to handle her task.
For a child of this age, all she needed to do was express her intention to the judge, and custody would naturally fall into her hands. Moreover, the child's father was unable to support so many children, which is why the case was resolved quickly.
When Lin Jingyue arrived in this world, she was very poor. Unlike in the previous world, she was a lonely and destitute woman. She had no stable job and no powerful background; she was just one of the masses.
Although she desperately wanted to bring her child back, she held back due to her current family situation. Without a stable source of income, she wouldn't regain custody.
Moreover, she wouldn't be able to care for the child after bringing him back. The child is already sensitive, and if he continues to live at home, his life will likely follow the same trajectory as before.
The mission in this life is to find this seven-year-old boy, Li Chengyi.
The original owner of this body met her father through a blind date and had two sons after marriage. In a family that favored sons over daughters, she was truly a great contributor to the Li family, and her position was secure.
But the problem was that Li's father was an alcoholic, and he would become violent after drinking. He wouldn't hit the children, so he would target the original owner of this body.
To protect her family and ensure her child's growth, the original owner swallowed all her grievances.
But is the sound of domestic violence really that quiet? Outsiders can't hear it, but surely your own child can't hear it?
The eldest son, Li Chengshi, is an ungrateful wretch. Because he was the first child, he was more affectionate towards him and was spoiled and protected. He was never mistreated.
But what about him? When he heard that his mother had been beaten and scolded, his first reaction was not to comfort her, but to frown.
"Mom, keep your voice down, you're making so much noise I can't watch TV."
Because it was his first child, he was spoiled even more. But this pampering made the child even more outrageous. He didn't care whether his mother was in pain or not; he only cared that he couldn't watch his cartoons.
Li Chengyi was just a child that year and had no idea what was happening. The little boy was locked in the room, knowing nothing. He only heard a jumble of noises outside, and nothing else.
The domestic violence from her husband and the indifference from her son drove this woman, who had devoted herself to her family, to a complete breakdown. She hated the father and son, hated their heartlessness, and hated herself for valuing them too much, which gave them the opportunity to hurt her.
So one day, she filed for divorce.
Mr. Li agreed without hesitation, but he wouldn't allow her to take the child away.
She won't be able to take either of her eight-year-old son or her three-year-old son with her.
"Mom, I'm not going to follow you. You can't do anything, what am I supposed to do with you? Suffer with you? I don't want to. You never let me watch TV and you're always yelling at me, I hate you!" The eldest son's words were heartbreaking.
"I want my mom! I want my mom! Let me go, I want my mom! Mom! Mom!" The youngest son tried his best to run to her, but was stopped.
Heartbroken, the original owner left this place of sorrow and went far away.
From then on, she lived simply to survive. However, after being a housewife for so many years, coupled with her lack of formal education, she faced even greater difficulties in society.
Because he was three months behind on rent, coupled with health problems accumulated from years of hard work, and his untreated depression, he couldn't think straight and committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills.
Sleeping pills are not fatal; only an extremely large dose would be needed to cause death, and doctors would never prescribe such a large dose. That's why Lin Jingyue had to go to the hospital for a stomach pump when she arrived; she almost died from the discomfort.
The original owner died in great pain; had it not been for her timely arrival, the pain would have been even greater. But even on her deathbed, she was still worried about her youngest son. She wanted to know how he was doing, whether he had grown up yet.
Her youngest son is Lin Jingyue's mission target; in this life, she will raise him to adulthood and help him escape the shadows of his childhood.
After divorcing the original owner of the body, Li's father found a divorced woman who didn't bring any children with her, which was what he was most satisfied with.
However, after getting married, she gave birth to a daughter who was spoiled at home.
His eldest son was his favorite child, and his youngest daughter was the only girl in the family, so he liked her too.
As a result, the second son, Li Chengyi, became the least favored member of the family.
He looks like his mother, and when he was two or three years old, his mother was the person he was closest to. He didn't like his father, Li's father.
Given this disparity, it's easy to imagine that he became even less favored at home.
The eldest child is loved by his father, the third child is loved by his mother, but the second child is just an unnecessary presence.
If she clearly didn't like the child, why was she unwilling to let the child be raised by the mother when they divorced?
This is what makes men so disgusting: they know that children are a mother's weakness, and by controlling the child, they control the mother.
Li Chengyi's life was very difficult. His house had three rooms, but he was the only one who slept in the living room. He didn't even have the right to sleep in the same room as his brother.
He did all the chores around the house, big and small, and everyone could be ordered around. It was as if he were the servant of this household, and one who didn't need to be paid.
Li's father earned a decent living; he was quite capable among ordinary people. Therefore, his later wife basically didn't have to do any work and could just wait to receive her money each month.
After they had money, they took their children out to play. They went to amusement parks, zoos, and science museums—basically any place that could broaden their horizons.
Li's father brought his eldest son, while his stepmother brought her youngest son.
As for the second child, let him stay home and guard the gate.
Perhaps no one abused him, but this invisible, cold violence is still a form of bullying. Unbeknownst to him, his heart had already been riddled with holes.
But no one cared about him; his world consisted only of himself.
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