Du Jianshan stared intently at Liu Xiuqin: "Mom, I'll just ask you one question! Do you want him, or me?"
Liu Xiuqin felt uneasy under his gaze; his eyes were like ice picks, piercing her heart.
Her lips trembled, and her eyes darted around, refusing to look at Du Jianshan.
"Jianshan... what are you saying, child!" Liu Xiuqin's voice trembled and broke into a sob: "It's all my fault... it's all my fault... they're both my flesh and blood!"
"Both the palm and the back of the hand are flesh and blood?" Du Jianshan sneered, his voice cold and hard.
"Mom, do you even believe what you're saying?"
"Put your hand on your heart and ask yourself, all these years, whose side have you truly been on?"
When Li Fuqiang saw Liu Xiuqin's hesitant look, he immediately refused.
He grinned, squeezing out two drops of cat urine, and then howled at Liu Xiuqin in a shrill, piercing voice:
"Auntie! Look at him! Look how badly he beat me! What have I done to wrong him?"
“I’ve always considered him like an older brother! My dad has been incredibly good to him, hasn’t he? He’s provided for him completely! And what about him?”
Li Fuqiang pointed at Du Jianshan, spitting as he spoke: "He turned his back on me! He even hit me! When my dad comes home tonight, I'm going to tell him!"
That shout of "Tell my dad!" pierced Liu Xiuqin's heart like a needle.
The hesitation on her face was instantly replaced by panic.
She turned to Du Jianshan, tears and snot streaming down her face, truly panicked: "Jianshan... I beg you... will you kneel down for me?"
"Look at Fuqiang, he's still immature. You, as his older brother, are magnanimous and shouldn't take it to heart..."
She took half a step forward, trying to grab Du Jianshan's arm, her voice filled with desperate pleading: "Jianshan, this is the last time I'm begging you. For the sake of me giving birth to you and raising you, please go this time in Fuqiang's place!"
"Mom swears, Mom will wait for you to come out! Mom will sell everything she owns to help you get married! Just consider it... consider it repaying Mom for raising you... okay?"
"Repay the kindness of raising me?" Du Jianshan abruptly shook off her hand that was trying to touch him, the force so great that Liu Xiuqin staggered.
The burning rage in his chest suddenly surged to the top of his head, making his eyes turn red.
"Liu Xiuqin!"
Du Jianshan didn't even want to call her "Mom" anymore, and called her by her name directly, his voice sounding like it was filled with ice shards.
"Don't play the victim here! Stop with your fake 'gratitude for raising'! Do you think I'm still that fool who could be easily fooled by a few kind words from you?"
"Put your hand on your heart and tell me! You're making me take the blame, is it for this family? For Li Fuqiang? Or for yourself?"
"You're just afraid! Afraid that Li Guodong will find out about this and look down on you for having a child in your arms. Afraid that he'll blame you for not disciplining his son properly. Afraid that he'll abandon you!"
"I'm afraid that all the 'good days' you've worked so hard to please for so many years will be gone!"
"You're just doing this so you can stay in this house peacefully and continue to live off Li Guodong!"
"You could push your own son into a fire pit without even blinking an eye! Send him to that dark and sunless prison! For a full eight years! How the hell could you say that?"
Liu Xiuqin's face turned ashen from his yelling, and her lips trembled as she was unable to speak.
Du Jianshan didn't stop at all; the grievances and anger that had been building up for two lifetimes surged out like a floodgate opening:
"Ever since you remarried Li Guodong, do you still care about my dead father? Do you have even the slightest affection for him? You've fucking forgotten him!"
"All you think about is clutching that little bit of compensation my father risked his life for, that little bit of savings, to be a good wife to Li Guodong and a good stepmother to Li Fuqiang! All you care about is those two men!"
"Me? I, Du Jianshan, am nothing but a fart in your eyes!"
Du Jianshan slammed his hand on the table, making the flame of the kerosene lamp flicker wildly: "How have you treated me all these years? Don't you know?"
"If Li Fuqiang wants to eat meat, you'll tighten your belt and buy it for him! And me? I'll just have leftover vegetable soup and cornbread, and you won't even blink! He wears new clothes, and I'll pick up his old rags!"
"He went to school, while I was called back to the neighborhood to make paper boxes before I even finished junior high! You said the family was poor and couldn't afford to support two people! So how come Li Fuqiang was able to keep going to school?"
"Whenever Li Fuqiang caused trouble outside, wasn't it you who shamelessly went to apologize to him?"
“If I do something slightly against your wishes, you call me an ingrate and say I’m immature! If Li Guodong glares at me, you’ll grab a broom and start hitting me! You’re afraid the Li family will think you’re not virtuous enough!”
Do you still remember what my father looked like?
Du Jianshan's voice suddenly rose, filled with deep grief and indignation: "Where is that photo of my father wearing work clothes and a big red flower at the factory gate? It used to be hanging on the cabinet in the inner room!"
"And now? Where did you take it? Are you afraid Li Guodong will find it an eyesore? Afraid he'll be unhappy if he sees it?"
"Last year during Qingming Festival, the anniversary of my father's death, I asked you to come with me to pay respects at his grave. What did you say?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com