Chapter 3: Sang Pa and Sang Ma

  Qin Luoshui didn't expect to be rebuked by her like this, and after pondering over the words, he found them to be surprisingly piercing, and couldn't help but feel embarrassed: "How come, again resorting to old tricks, diverting the topic?"

  Xiang Hong pulled at the corner of his mouth: "Are you being polite or speaking from the heart?"

  "Of course - just a polite way of saying it."

  "Oh——putting it politely: you're very good at making girls happy, and your gentle care makes me... um... a little moved"

  Handsome and impressive, very satisfying for my first date with a boy;

  But with just these, it's still not enough for me to follow you."

  Qin Luoshui nodded indifferently: "Oh, how do you say that from the heart?"

  "Honestly, being with a man like you, I'd inadvertently be forced to pretend to be a lady to please you, cater to your narcissism, play along with your sentimental drama, and acknowledge your self-righteousness;

  "The key is you're too eye-catching, making people feel insecure."

  Shang Hong's words made him dizzy for a moment, was he really that bad? A man gritted his teeth and said, "Is that all?"

  "Uh, I'm a bit out of it today, thanks for taking care of me, goodbye."

  Xiang Hong stood up, bowed to him and ran away without looking back.

  Qin Luoshui didn't understand how he had offended her. Clearly, she was the one who had humiliated him until he was left with nowhere to hide, yet she still looked wronged.

  He pursed his lips, lazily leaning against the soft seat, and narrowed his peach blossom eyes to watch her escape as quickly as a deer, what a proud little guy.

  He was trying hard to think why he would say such an unthinking remark at the time, and after careful consideration, he could only summarize it in one word - unbearable. Those bright eyes full of hope had obviously touched a strange corner of his heart.

  He raised his hand and gently patted his forehead, calming down. How could he let a little kid like that affect his mood?

  However, such a delicate and refined young woman, if she really agreed to follow him, his face would naturally not be able to gloss over it with empty words, and the subsequent events would not be easy to handle. It turns out that she has a clever and resourceful mind!

  Xiang Hong ran a long way without stopping, then finally had the courage to turn back and look at the small ice cream shop on the corner of the bustling street, which was surrounded by white wooden fences, revealing an unchildlike sadness.

  "Thank you, Qin Luoshui, it turns out that such a wonderful encounter can really happen in life."

  She knew she was too crazy today, daring to climb the wall and follow a strange man out during class, but she didn't regret it at all. Since such an unthinkable thing could happen, then her life would always have a way out.

  Back home, Dad was still nowhere to be found as usual. Mom remained in the same posture as when she left, lying on the balcony sunbathing.

  Her mother had congenital heart disease, and she had a difficult delivery when giving birth to her. After a series of struggles, her body has been getting worse and worse. Nowadays, without anyone's support, it is impossible for her to even move from the balcony back to the bedroom.

  The balcony was already shrouded in twilight, and when her mother saw her coming over, she propped herself up on the armrest of the recliner to get up. Xiang Hong leaned forward, stretched out her arms and hugged her waist: "Mom, I'll carry you back to your room."

  "Just help me up, you don't have to use so much strength, girls are supposed to be gentle and weak."

  "Mom, look at how thin you've become, I can pick you up with no effort at all. What do you want to eat? I'll go make it for you right away." Xiang Hong teased, her voice filled with gentle laughter, as she carefully put her down and supported her.

  "You don't have to cook today, your father brought back some small dishes at noon, and we can just make some noodles soup later."

  "Alright, I'll do it."

  ……

  "Mom, eat more, you're so thin now, it's like hugging a kid when I hold you."

  Xiang Hong childishly picked up some food and sent it to her mother's mouth.

  "What nonsense are you talking about? This old bone also weighs dozens of pounds, how can it be so thin? It's you who is growing up and should eat more."

  Third Auntie looked at her daughter with a heartache, it was all because of her that her daughter had grown up like this. Other people's daughters were dressed up like flowers by this age, but her own daughter grew up carelessly like grass.

  "Is studying stressful? The high school entrance exam is approaching soon, what are your plans?"

  "Mom, what if I get into college and leave, what will you do?"

  "Of course I'm happy, isn't your dad taking care of me? You just focus on taking the college entrance exam, and if you get in, mom will support you."

  Xiang Hong bit her lip and lowered her head, thinking "Can I really entrust myself to a father like that?"

  Conceal the grievances in one's heart, lift one's head and smile lightly.

  "Mom, don't worry about me, otherwise I'll just take the military school exam, and the country will cover my tuition and I'll even get an allowance."

  "Is a military school something you can just say and get into? Whatever we get accepted to, that's what we'll attend. You just focus on studying hard and taking the exams well, Mom will figure out how to pay the tuition."

  Xiang Hong felt a lump in her throat, where could her mother get the money, all she could do was to thicken her skin and let her father take her back to her maternal home for help.

  "Mom, I'll definitely get into a free military school, and who knows, maybe one day I'll miss you so much that I won't want to go. Don't worry, just take care of your body."

  ……

  Xiang Hong patiently accompanied her mother to finish dinner, cleaned up the things, and waited for her mother to fall asleep before saying: "I'm going out for a while to find Dad."

  Sang Dawei sat in the small restaurant he often went to, drinking wine with a few greasy dishes. When he saw his daughter come in, he pointed to the seat across from him and let her sit down. He took another cup, poured a little white wine into it, and pushed it over to her.

  "Dad, it's time to go home."

  The pungent smell of inferior wine made Sang Hong frown, she whispered, wanting to push away the cup of wine, but didn't do so.

  Could only sit there, staring at his cup and thinking of ways to persuade him back home before he passed out.

  Facing the violent and unpredictable Sang Dawei, she was always on high alert, not daring to show even a little bit of her true personality.

  Sang Dawei raised his head impatiently and glared at her: "Drink it!"

  After finishing speaking, she picked up a big mouthful of vegetables with her chopsticks, tilted her head back and stuffed them into her mouth, making crisp chewing sounds.

  "I don't want to drink——" Shang Hong spoke out in resistance.

  "Dad has something to say to you after drinking."

  Sang Dawei gritted his teeth and glared at her, his eyes turning red.

  Xiang Hong furrowed her brow and glanced over, immediately lowering her eyelids to conceal the anger in her heart, pretending to be cleverly obedient as she lowered her head to look at the cup.

  Sang Dawei sat in front of her, his chewing sounds growing louder.

  She had always suspected that her father was a mule or some other livestock in his past life, which is why he could produce such an unpleasant chewing sound without any shame.

  She quietly lowered her head, the gazes around her were all too familiar, mocking, disdainful, sarcastic, sympathetic or contemptuous, anyway, they all made her feel so uncomfortable that she wished to bury herself.

  She wanted to get up and run out of the small restaurant, away from this man who brought her a sense of humiliation.

  But she couldn't, for the person sitting opposite her wasn't someone like Qin Luoshui who had no right to dispose of her gentle and unfamiliar self.

  Her father had always been very fierce and overbearing to her, although he hadn't laid a hand on her in a long time, but she still had an innate fear of him.

  It's just cowardice, although she doesn't want to admit it. However, she has been secretly practicing her boxing skills all along. Isn't it because she wants to beat up the man who has been tormenting her and her mother until he is bruised and battered?