Chapter 49 "But that's not the reason why I hate you the most."
Looking at that figure, I thought of Li Xiao's mother, whom he avoided talking about.
The four sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table confirmed my guess.
But... why would the other person lock themselves in their room alone on a day like this?
I'm not entirely sure how ordinary couples should get along on a daily basis, but at least it shouldn't be like this, separated by a tightly closed door.
One is under the lamp, the other is in the dark.
Although we are in the same time and space, it feels like we are in different worlds.
I think of that elderly couple on the street corner, looking out for each other and busily making sweet fermented rice balls. I always felt that that was how a couple should be.
Even my mother and father, before that incident happened, always ate under the same roof and chatted idly.
I heard that Li Xiao's mother had developed an illness years ago and always stayed at home, which makes sense.
Can……
If that were truly the case, Father Li could have stayed in the house with his wife instead of standing there like a statue, unmoved by the delicious food on the table, drinking alone under the moon.
If the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl are destined to meet only once a year across the Milky Way because they are separated by the mortal and immortal realms.
So, what is the invisible barrier separating Li Xiao's parents?
I suddenly became curious.
Just then, the figure on the paper window swayed slightly, as if it had turned its body slightly in this direction.
I was startled, and then I saw the lights in the room suddenly go out.
At the same time, the distant, ethereal sound of a night watchman striking his clapper drifted from somewhere, as if in a dream.
"Save it, it'll still be the same no matter how much I look at it," Li Xiao muttered indifferently.
I thought he was talking to me, but when I looked up I realized he was looking at my father, his expression a mixture of mockery and pity.
“She will not come to see you. There has never been an exception in all these years, as long as I can remember.”
Li Xiao casually sat down at the table and pulled me to the seat next to him.
"I remember one year you fell seriously ill, you were on the verge of death, and it seemed like you were about to pass away. You lay on your deathbed, wanting your mother to see you one last time, but you still—"
"..."
"Sometimes I really wonder what you're expecting?" The boy narrowed his eyes, and the two pairs of remarkably similar eyes looked at each other.
One pair of eyes held a faint smile, the other remained calm and undisturbed.
"...Could it be that sincerity can move mountains?" Li Xiao asked bluntly, a gloating smile on his face.
However, there was no anger on Li's father's face. He only glanced at me, who was standing to the side with his head down, secretly tugging at the boy's sleeve.
My small movements froze, and I involuntarily withdrew my strength, only to be gently pressed down by Li Xiao's hand.
I suddenly looked up at him, but all I saw was the boy's upturned profile, his back straight, looking at the man opposite him without flinching.
“Father, I remember the way you used to teach me to treat guests, but it’s not like this.”
Upon hearing this, Father Li said quietly, "Is that so? It's remarkable that you still remember. I had no idea I had ever taught you to speak so disrespectfully to your elders. Or perhaps some wounds heal too quickly and hurt too little, so you think it's all a dream and don't know how to learn from them?"
Upon hearing this, I clearly felt Li Xiao's knuckles twitch uncontrollably.
It was an instinctive fear.
He was afraid of something.
...or rather, his body was afraid of something.
Even so, Li Xiao's words were equally defiant: "What, Father, are you planning to take action again?"
The boy suddenly stood up, propped himself up on the table with his hands, and stretched his head over to reveal a section of his fair neck.
“Or you could just kill me, right here.” He gestured to the side of his neck. “Or whatever you please. Maybe if you really killed me, Mother would think more highly of you as her husband, wouldn’t she?”
"Li Xiao!"
I couldn't help but cry out.
—Has he really gone mad to say something like that?!
But Li Xiao seemed completely unmoved.
Seeing this, I felt dizzy from anxiety. Scenes from last night until now flashed before my eyes, twisting and tangling into a chaotic mess.
What exactly is Li Xiao?
Shouldn't I have realized that something was wrong with his mood when the boy suddenly turned and left in a huff?
My mind was in turmoil as I looked at Mr. Li on the other side of the table.
The man slightly raised his eyes to look at his son, his gaze utterly indifferent. His eyes swept over me, who was standing helplessly to the side, before turning back to the tightly closed door in the darkness.
"Is it fun to go crazy in front of outsiders? Or do you really think I wouldn't dare to do that?"
"I speak calmly," said Mr. Li, his overly calm tone carrying a chilling undertone.
He always gave the impression that what he said was truly from the bottom of his heart.
Thinking of this, my heart sank, feeling a heavy weight pressing on my stomach. The lingering, chilling feeling from before vanished without a trace.
Mr. Liu, who led us here, has already left.
In the unbelievably silent courtyard, only Li Xiao, his father, and I remained—the three of us.
—No, there's actually one more person!
The figure sitting upright in the room.
The woman who has not yet appeared in public is also Li Xiao's biological mother.
How could a mother allow her father and son to hate each other, or even kill each other?
My heart pounded, and I instinctively looked into the darkened room—unexpectedly, I met a pair of eyes in the darkness.
—Is she watching this place?!
Under the hazy moonlight, through the misty, milky-white fog, I saw the woman in red for the first time.
Her long, ink-black hair was simply tied back with a hairpin, revealing a full, smooth forehead and an extremely clean-cut face, bright yet spirited.
At first, I thought that Li Xiao's appearance was basically inherited from his father.
Seeing Li's mother's true face now, I realized that my judgment was premature.
It should be said that Li Xiao inherited the best qualities of both her parents.
I'm certainly not the first person to notice the woman.
Because Li's father was watching that side the whole time.
I thought that my wife, whom I had been waiting for all night, would finally appear, and he would be happy.
However, Mr. Li remained unusually calm, as if he had known this would happen all along.
Li Xiao, however, suddenly realized that both he and his father were looking in the same direction. He belatedly turned around and, upon seeing his mother, couldn't help but blurt out, "Mother..."
His mother, the woman in red, was walking towards them at a leisurely pace.
The translucent, milky-white mist drifted away, and the red figure gradually appeared on the black paper like a drop of ink.
If we had to say, judging solely by her facial features, the woman wouldn't be considered a stunning beauty, but the elegance and arrogance she exuded in every gesture were absolutely unforgettable.
The woman walked gracefully over and stopped a few steps away. Her gaze casually swept over the other three people present, without glancing at the dazzling array of delicacies on the table.
"Wan'er, you've finally come out." Father Li stood up and stepped forward, his face showing no excessive emotion, but his tone was noticeably gentler.
...Wan'er?
I never expected that such a woman would have such a tender and poignant name. I couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised.
"Mother."
Just then, Li Xiao called out softly. He seemed to be deliberately lowering his voice to make his tone sound less agitated, but after all, he was still a boy and could not truly keep his emotions hidden.
Ultimately, a slight tremor betrayed his tone.
"It has been a long time since Xiao'er has seen Mother. I wonder how Mother is doing lately?" Li Xiao said in a shy and almost comically humble manner.
The boy probably rarely spoke like that, so it sounded a bit awkward.
"Don't worry, you won't die anytime soon."
The woman replied calmly, her gaze not lingering on Li Xiao: "It's your commotion in the middle of the night that's really disturbing my sleep."
After hearing what Li's mother said, I finally understood why Li Xiao couldn't speak properly to people.
...It's probably a family heirloom.
“Since you can’t sleep, Wan’er, why don’t you stay and have a few drinks with us?” Father Li said gently.
“Father is right, our family hasn’t eaten together for a long time.”
Li Xiao echoed, his tone clearly pleading.
“That’s exactly right,” Father Li said again.
At this moment, the father and son were singing in unison, and the previous tension had completely disappeared.
"A family?"
The woman repeated the word in a low voice, a cryptic smile playing on her lips. Suddenly, she turned and fixed her gaze firmly on me.
Her thin, red lips parted and slowly uttered a sentence: "Since when can any cat or dog that you just picked up from outside be considered family?"
"..."
I think I must have looked extremely pale at that time.
Because Li Xiao subconsciously looked at me, and upon seeing my appearance, his expression didn't look good either.
Only Li's father, faced with his wife's cold words, maintained an indifferent attitude, like a bystander.
Perhaps angered by her husband's indifferent attitude, the woman suddenly laughed sarcastically: "That's true, after all, you raised him yourself, so his temperament naturally comes from you. Just as ungrateful and self-deprecating."
This can no longer be dismissed as a joke.
However, Mr. Li seemed to be used to this and showed no signs of anger. He even smiled gently when the woman glared at him with angry eyes.
“What you say is true, madam.”
Father Li looked at his wife with tender eyes, but a hint of distress appeared on his face.
"Wan'er, you know me. I've been an orphan since I was little. To have grown up and met you, Wan'er, is the greatest blessing in the world. Unlike you, Wan'er, who was able to grow up under the protection and love of her parents..."
Mr. Li spoke with great sincerity and persuasiveness, and coupled with his gentlemanly and gentle appearance, he was extremely persuasive. Unfortunately, his wife did not seem to be swayed by his words.
His eloquent explanation was interrupted by a cold laugh from the woman, who glanced at her husband with disdain: "Li Jinzhi, now that things have come to this, do you still want my sympathy?"
"..."
"Disgusting! I just feel disgusted! Disgusted along with that bastard child—"
As the woman spoke, she suddenly turned to Li Xiao, and her expression changed abruptly from resentment to tenderness. Then she softly called out, "Xiao'er."
It was as if every gentle mother in the world would do this when calling for her son.
However, what the woman said next gradually became chilling.
She said—
"Xiao'er, my good child, the child your mother carried for ten months and gave birth to. What a coincidence, I remember that the day you were born was also a full moon night, that is, it just so happens to be the Lantern Festival."
"..."
"That day I was lying in bed, and through the window I saw a very round moon. The moon was blood red, just like the blood flowing from my body. The whole room was filled with blood, yours, mine, and the blood of many people mixed together. All I could see was red, a fiery red. That day I was in so much pain, the first time in my life I had ever cried from the pain."
"..."
“I saw you crawl out of my body with my own eyes. Bloody and red, like a little monster. I thought to myself, how terrible, I actually let a monster live in my body for so long.”
—I began to suspect that Li Xiao's mother actually had a mental illness.
Hearing his mother's seemingly insane confession, Li Xiao's already pale face became even more ashen, until it was completely devoid of color.
"But that's not the reason why I hate you the most."
The woman's voice returned to its gentle tone, a sickly flush rose on her cheeks, and her eyes were fixed intently on the pale-faced boy. She murmured dreamily, "You know, even if my child really is a monster, it doesn't matter."
Upon hearing this, Li Xiao suddenly looked up, a faint light seemingly flashing in his eyes as if a dying ember had been rekindled.
At the same time, the woman in red slowly opened her arms towards the void, as if to give her child a gentle hug.
Li Xiao couldn't help but take a step forward, as if he wanted to get closer to the woman.
The full moon peeked out again from the edge of the clouds, huge and perfectly round. The exceptionally bright moonlight fell on the two people, like a layer of silver frost.
What was supposed to be a touching scene of a mother and child embracing each other gave me goosebumps, and I felt uneasy, as if something bad was about to happen.
I looked at He Jinzhi beside me.
He didn't move, but simply watched quietly as the boy, as if bewitched, involuntarily walked towards the woman in red. He seemed lost in thought.
I couldn't resist and grabbed Li Xiao's clothes.
—This is so strange.
Everything that happened tonight..., whether it was Li Xiao or his parents, was too illogical.
With a crazy mother, a father who watches coldly, and Li Xiao, didn't he feel that something was wrong?
"Li Xiao, Young Master Li! Wait a minute, please wait a moment!"
I hurriedly tried to call out to Li Xiao.
Upon hearing this, the boy paused slightly, glanced back at me, and the darkness in his eyes startled me.
"wait……"
My voice suddenly caught in my throat.
At the same time, the hand that was grabbing Li Xiao's clothes was pressed down, and it felt unusually cold.
"if--"
Li Xiao didn't turn around, but I seemed to hear him mutter something under his breath.
The boy's voice was very soft, and in the instant I tried to figure out if it was my imagination, my hand was gently shaken off.
Li Xiao walked steadily towards the woman in red who had her arms outstretched.
Then she let those pale, thin arms, like vines, slowly wrap around her shoulders.
Li Xiao was already a head taller than his mother. To make it easier for her to move, Li Xiao bent down slightly, like an extremely humble believer, closed his eyes, and deeply lowered his usually proud head.
Until those thin, pale hands slid upwards and silently stopped at Li Xiao's throat, then began to apply pressure little by little.
Upon realizing this, Li Xiao opened his eyes, his dark green pupils fixed intently on the woman before him.
"Mother……"
Li Xiao called out, his voice slightly choked as he struggled to breathe. His pale face gradually flushed red from the blood rushing to his head.
The boy's gaze never left the woman's face. The smile on his face was slightly distorted by the pressure of suffocation.
Even so, Li Xiao did not struggle at all.
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