After Failing to Reverse the Plot, I Made My Escape - Chapter 31

“What are you doing?”

For Yu Fuqiu, the existence of Chun Chun was an exception.

Yu Fuqiu was a diagnosed psychiatric patient. After being sent to an orphanage by his biological parents and subsequently transferred to a mental asylum, he was officially defined by a piece of paper with black ink on white.

Every day, facing the cold iron bars, all he could do was sit quietly in a corner by the window. He watched the shadows gradually lengthen and shrink. He did not understand the clock on the wall; he did not understand the minute hand or the second hand. No one had ever taught him.

When the shadow reached the center of the gap, Yu Fuqiu knew it was time to eat.

At first, he struggled. But every time he did, he was not met by the smiling ladies in white he used to know, but by a man holding a long, slender rod that emitted the crackling sound of electricity.

That brute of a man would grab the ten-year-old Yu Fuqiu and slam his head violently against the wall.

It hurt so much.

He screamed, but it only brought more heavy impacts. The once snow-white wall developed several deep cracks from his head.

He saw a lady in white come over with a smile, stopping the man. “Don’t kill him. Otherwise, it will be hard to give the Yu family an account.”

“This cub from the mountains is naturally cunning in his blood.”

Yu Fuqiu did not understand what they were saying. He only knew that the man let go of him, and he tried to use the opening to escape.

What followed was a heavy slap to his face. He could not stand steadily and fell to the ground. The slap mark was clearly visible, crisscrossing his thin face.

The man then swung the rod. The entire corridor was terrifyingly silent, save for Yu Fuqiu’s hoarse pleas for mercy and the muffled thuds of the electric baton striking his body.

“Eighteen.”

The man gave a cold snort and kicked Yu Fuqiu heavily in the stomach. Yu Fuqiu was kicked several meters away until his back hit the cold wall. He let out a muffled groan.

“Try to run again, and it will be double next time.”

The man looked at him as if he were looking at trash.

Yu Fuqiu curled up in pain. He watched the man’s departing figure in terror as the lady in white, who used to be gentle, knelt down and stroked his head with pity.

“Why disobey orders?” the lady said softly. “Just be a good boy; that is enough.”

“As long as you are obedient, you will have everything.”

She lifted Yu Fuqiu’s chin and brushed aside his messy bangs, revealing those incredibly beautiful eyes. The woman froze for a moment. Then, the smile at the corners of her mouth widened slightly as she rubbed his head. “Good boy.”

This was only the beginning of Yu Fuqiu’s nightmare.

It hurt. It hurt so much.

He was not the so-called “bride.” Why did all those filthy eyes look at him?

No. Please, no.

Yu Fuqiu suddenly jolted awake from his dream. He realized he had fallen asleep leaning against the door of the Intensive Care Unit, covered by Yu Zhuo’s coat.

The cold wind pierced through the gap in the door.

The dream felt too real. He leaned against the wall, his whole body aching so much that he could not move. It felt as if his bones had been crushed; the pain made it almost impossible to breathe.

But his child was inside. That tiny figure was being kept alive by a cold ventilator. Watching the heart monitor fluctuate, he felt as if a giant hand were squeezing his heart. Even breathing brought a stifling pain.

“It is cold here, Fuqiu.”

Yu Zhuo’s hand appeared before him. Seeing that deathly pale face, Yu Zhuo slowed his own breathing, fearing that any force would break the shattered soul before him.

Yu Fuqiu did not move. His eyes remained fixed and rigid, staring straight at Chun Chun lying on the hospital bed.

“I am also Tingzhi’s friend. Now that Tingzhi is not here, let me take care of you for him.”

At the mention of Chang Tingzhi’s name, Yu Fuqiu’s frozen eyes finally moved slowly. His mind felt numb, and the phantom pain of his head hitting the wall lingered. He remained motionless for a long time.

Regardless of Yu Fuqiu’s response, Yu Zhuo picked him up, wrapping him in the coat and holding him close.

Feeling the external heat source, Yu Fuqiu’s frozen body finally began to relax.

Yu Zhuo’s eyes darkened. He gently caressed Yu Fuqiu’s waist. Yu Fuqiu went limp, his head leaning weakly against Yu Zhuo’s neck. Feeling the heartbeat beneath the skin allowed him to slowly return to his senses and realize he was still alive.

“He was the one who taught you how to make today’s porridge, wasn’t he?” Yu Fuqiu said.

“Only he knows my preferences. The current Chang Tingzhi does not.”

“I envy you.” Yu Fuqiu’s eyes did not look at Yu Zhuo, but Yu Zhuo knew he was referring to his past self.

He began to talk about his past.

Persuaded by his grandmother, he had boarded a vehicle meant to fetch his mother.

On the way, he learned the truth: his mother had been kidnapped and sold there. His father was a rapist, and he was the product of that crime. His mother had once had a good job, a husband who loved her, and a son five years older than him.

He had thought that perhaps he would no longer be beaten. He thought he would no longer have to carefully watch his father’s expression or scavenge for the steamed buns left at the door for the dog.

He wondered if he would have his own little room. Would he no longer have to share a nest with Er Danzi?

Er Danzi was the family dog. He often fought Yu Fuqiu for steamed buns, which was why Yu Fuqiu’s body was covered in bite marks of all sizes.

Looking back now, the fact that he did not contract rabies was perhaps because God did not want him to die so quickly. Perhaps he was meant to endure more of the world’s sins to atone?

He returned to his mother’s home and realized that his mother was actually capable of smiling. She was not always the woman who would choke him and throw him against a wall, screaming at him to get out.

He was warned by his mother’s family not to approach her.

Even at the age of ten, he knew his mother did not want to see him.

But he was clumsy. When he tried to sneak a look at her, he was discovered. His mother reverted to the woman she used to be. He was chased away and thrown out of the house.

But he was so hungry. It was so cold outside.

Yu Fuqiu wore thin clothes as he walked through the snow-covered streets. The patched sweater he wore had been given to him by the neighbor’s older brother who no longer wanted it. It was his best piece of clothing. His mother had once praised it, which was why he wanted to wear it to see her, he wanted to make her happy.

But it seemed he had messed everything up.

Yu Fuqiu looked at the falling snowflakes. He could no longer feel his toes. Just then, he saw an ancestral hall filled with food.

He could no longer endure it. He grabbed a bun and swallowed it with difficulty. He remembered his father had once forced his mother to take many medicines from a temple, saying it would guarantee a son and that he could pray to the gods. Thus, he was born.

Yu Fuqiu wept as he ate and kowtowed.

The first wish he made was this:

He hoped for a warm steamed bun for his next meal. He did not want to fight Er Danzi for buns on the ground anymore. He hoped it could be like the one from San Ya next door; last time, San Ya had secretly torn off a small piece for him.

It was truly delicious.

But San Ya’s parents had seen it. San Ya’s father was very fierce; he kicked and beat Yu Fuqiu, telling him to get lost and calling him a jinx.

But it did not matter. If being beaten could be exchanged for a bit of a steamed bun, Yu Fuqiu was willing.

His slow mind whirled again, and he hastily kowtowed.

I am sorry, God. Let me add one more. I hope the beatings can be a bit lighter. Otherwise, if Father sees, he will mistakenly think Mother hit me again, and he will beat her again.

If… if Mother could hug me just one more time, that would also be okay.

Yu Fuqiu hesitated. Would God think he was too greedy for having these wishes?

Then…

He carefully tore a small piece from the bun in his arms for himself and placed the remaining large portion before the God.

I will eat less. Please, you must fulfill my wishes!

Yu Fuqiu carefully cradled the bun as he left the hall, taking one last look at the place. He held the warm bun in his arms, wanting to take it back for his mother to eat.

But he could not find the way home.

The bun in his arms eventually became hard as a rock. The road that day felt endless. Little Yu Fuqiu walked step by step through the swirling snow.

But he could not find the way home.

Did he even have a home anymore?

“Especially when I saw Tingzhi… he went out to collect bottles for three days just to buy a bag of spicy strips. I asked him why he bought them. He said they could keep him full and make him look more energetic. In him, I saw my past self.”

At home, he often had no food. He was beaten increasingly by his alcoholic father and mentally unstable mother. No part of his body was uninjured. But he could not cry out or scream; if he did, his father would beat his mother. If his father was beating him, he wouldn’t be beating her.

To prevent outsiders from seeing his scars and to make himself look more spirited, Yu Fuqiu would secretly take the money he earned from hauling manure, walk several kilometers to the town fair, and buy a bag of spicy strips. Then, he would find a riverside and eat them one by one, even licking his fingers afterward.

That was the happiest time of his life.

He did not have to worry about being beaten, or about a wine bottle smashing against him the next second. He did not have to worry about the village bully, Fatty Jiao, bringing a group to make him kneel and fight a dog for food. Although he could win the food, Yu Fuqiu did not like it because the dog bites hurt more than Er Danzi’s.

Most importantly, he did not have to worry about his mother digging her sharp nails into his skin and calling him a “slut.”

Yu Fuqiu did not know what that word meant, but he did not like the name. Yet he did not dare mention it; if he did, his mother would lift him up and throw him through the air. He couldn’t let that happen; that was the most painful thing of all.

Yu Fuqiu discovered that eating spicy strips prevented him from feeling hungry. Later, he learned that the strips would expand in his stomach, greatly reducing the sensation of hunger.

So, the moment he saw Chang Tingzhi, his heart softened.

“I picked him up. Perhaps it is laughable, I could barely support myself, yet I picked him up too.”

“Fuqiu…”

Yu Zhuo’s throat felt tight. He had recently learned of Chang Tingzhi’s car accident and had rushed over to comfort Yu Fuqiu.

He tilted Yu Fuqiu’s chin, pressing his forehead against the other’s. His eyes were full of pleading. “Look at me, Fuqiu. What if Tingzhi never remembers you? Look at me.”

“It is not the same.” Yu Fuqiu took a deep breath. “You do not understand what Tingzhi means in my world.”

He was incomparable to anyone else. He was the only solace in Yu Fuqiu’s darkest world.

“What are you doing?”