Chapter 25

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Chapter 25, Father

Ye Zi asked, why do you hate him so much? After all, isn’t he your father?

Hare replied, father? I’m afraid even he doesn’t believe himself to be my father. From when I was 8, he began hating me, suspecting me, beating me, throwing me onto the streets in the middle of the night, smashing a vase over my head, calling me a thief in public, and made me kneel on the roadside for a whole day just because I spoke up for my mother. I don’t care what he does to me, but what I couldn’t stand was how he treated my mother. He once sent my mother to his bastard friends and had them do those disgusting things to her in public, yet he just pretended not to see it. Later, my mom went crazy, and she was bullied by his new woman. But he didn’t care…To him, my mother was probably nothing more than a used rag. Hah, maybe she was even lower than that…

Then how could killing your father be easy? If I remember correctly, isn’t your father some wealthy bigshot? He must have a lot of bodyguards by his side, right?

If you do it according to my plan, killing him is easy.

That night, Ye Zi had a hard time sleeping. He looked through the details he received on his phone over and over again. The description did not include the man’s picture nor his name, but the location and the method were written clearly. This man was currently located in the city’s best hospital, proctology block, room 33, and his diagnosis is intestinal cancer. The methods to kill him were simple and plentiful. First, his throat was hooked up to a tube, and it was necessary to remove the phlegm buildup from time to time to unblock it. As long as the tube was clogged, then he will die of asphyxiation in just a few minutes. Second, he could mess with the infusion tube. By introducing large amounts of air quickly into the blood vessel, an air embolism could occur, or even heart failure, leading to a quick death…

The initial deal between the two of them was to exchange kills. Now, Ye Zi had killed Jiang Wei and that old woman, while Hare killed the man who was pestering his mother, Nie Haixia, and Zhang Tao. Based on that, Ye Zi had to take on one more target. However, their deal has already long ceased to be. This time, Hare’s intentions were to have Ye Zi prove his feelings to him through killing his father…He couldn’t wrap his head around it at all. How was doing this going to prove anything? Was there some hidden agenda behind all this?

What’s more…The man was already suffering from cancer. With how old he was, he wouldn’t have made it that far regardless even if he’d done nothing. So why?

Even though that was how he felt about the situation, Ye Zi had still gone to that hospital the next day. Proctology department, fourth floor. Of course, he wouldn’t just murder the man in cold blood right then and there. He was just curious to know about his condition.

The floors were a dark green while the walls were a lighter shade. Nurses in white uniforms walked back and forth in the hallways with their trolleys of medicine, bandages, syringes, et cetera. There were family members chatting in the hallway while a few patients in striped gowns sat on the benches, looking up at Ye Zi with their listless eyes.

As Ye Zi walked on, a strange feeling sprang up in his heart.

It felt like there were eyes all around him, watching him from the shadows. He hated that feeling.

Then, he found it. Room 33.

A tall man in black stood at the doorway, alongside a gaunt, curly-haired woman in the seat next to him.

Before Ye Zi could make his way over, the woman looked up.

She had a tall nose, and a pair of deep brown eyes were in her slightly sunken eye sockets. Despite her terrible complexion and the crow’s feet appearing next to her eyes, her past beauty still shone through. She looked like an exotic beauty from another country.

The woman’s face seemed to twitch when she saw him, and so were her fingers. Even her shoulders were shaking. She was visibly afraid.

This is…Hare’s mother, isn’t she? Ye Zi wondered. This was probably where Hare got his defined nose and fair skin from.

Speaking of which, this woman really did look quite familiar. Ye Zi’s head began to buzz. It felt like he was going to remember something. But before he could remember, he’d instinctively begun speaking. “Hello, Auntie.”

The woman scooted back nervously. She hung her head and said nothing in response.

The tall man next to her spoke up. “May I ask who you’re looking for?”

Before Ye Zi could say anything, his eyes suddenly moved over to the man resting on the hospital bed, and the bouquet he was holding fell to the floor.

The man was still trying to speak to him, but he pushed him aside and went in.

Very clearly, the old man sitting against the bed saw him as well.

There were barely any hairs left on the old man’s head. He had grey and sickly skin that made him look very aged. At this moment, his eyes had widened as round as bells. His mouth gaped open and he gasped for breath, drawing a whistling noise from his tubes.

Trembling, he pointed a finger at Ye Zi. His mouth moved, but he couldn’t make out any words. But there was no helping it after all…With the tubing in his throat, he was made incapable of speaking.

The young woman beside him looked suspiciously at Ye Zi before standing up and said, fuming, “Who are you? Who gave you permission to enter?!”

Ye Zi stood in place, both hands clenched into fists.

The old man continued waving his hands constantly, lips moving.

Even though he couldn’t hear it, Ye Zi could see what the old man was trying to say. His nose stung and his eyes felt hot, even becoming moist. Has it perhaps been at least a decade since he’d last seen him? The old man thought that their relationship had ended long ago. He never would have expected to see him here today, staring eagerly at himself. Over and over again, he called out to him soundlessly. Son!

Even now, Ye Zi remembered the man called Ye Cheng from when he was a very young boy. Together with Han Yao, he stepped down from his pricey luxury car and chose him among all the other children. Dressed in a suit, the man crouched down in front of him and smiled. From now on, I’m your father.

He still remembered how Ye Cheng had hired countless tutors for him in that luxurious mansion. He was taught subjects from theory, maths, and language, to etiquette, dance, and musical instruments. The man would listen to him recite poems from his desk. If Ye Zi did badly, he’d receive the whip, but if he did well, then the man would smile and pat him on the head, then they would watch Animal Planet together in the evenings.

He remembered that Ye Cheng would bring him to all sorts of large events, and he would proudly proclaim him his son in front of all of his friends.

But of course, if he remembered the good, he definitely remembered what came after, too. He remembered how he’d ignored and neglected him, until finally, both he and his mother left that home together, desolated.

Ye Zi felt his head buzzing louder and louder. It felt like he was going to explode.

He did feel moved at this moment, but more of it was confusion.

He now knew that the man Hare wanted him to kill was his father, but this man was also Hare’s father…God…What had he forgotten? Hare must be joking, wasn’t he?!

He turned around in an attempt to leave, but he heard a thud, followed by a scream.

Ye Cheng had rolled out of bed.

The man had a colostomy bag attached to his abdomen through a tube, which had begun to bleed.

But the man clung desperately to Ye Zi’s leg. His mouth was constantly moving, and his eyes were red.

Soon after, several nurses and a male caregiver rushed in. The caregiver carried Ye Cheng back onto his bed and helped him clean the wound and the bag.

The young woman shouted anxiously from the side. “Sir, are you all right? Is everything okay?”

Then, coming to a realization, she took out a whiteboard and a pen, placing them in front of Ye Cheng.

Ye Cheng wrote on the board. “Son, have you come to see Dad? I thought I’d never get to see you before I die. I can’t believe you’re really here!”

Ye Zi was silent.

Ye Cheng continued, ” often dreamt of you recently. Many times, I’d even called out your name in the intensive care unit. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Auntie Fang. You’ve really grown up. You must have graduated from university, right? I asked someone to check on you, but your apartment was empty. After that…”

Ye Zi looked up, fists still clenched. He interrupted the man. “Why were you looking for me?”

Ye Cheng responded, “Is it so strange for a father to want to see their son?”

“…”

“I’ve failed you as a parent, I know I have. Through all these years, I’ve never fulfilled my responsibilities as a father. That was wrong of me, and my illness was karma. Once I learned that I had not long to live, I regretted what I’d done in the past. I’m sorry, and I’m sorry to your mother. I’m sorry…”

As he wrote on, Ye Cheng’s writing grew increasingly messy. Two lines of tears spilled down from his eyes.

Ye Zi couldn’t stand it anymore. “You didn’t fail me. I was adopted to begin with. For all the years I’ve been alive, I never had to worry about food or dress. I’ve been blessed enough!”

The young woman called Auntie Fang cleared the whiteboard while saying, “So you’re the eldest son, Ye Zi? I’ve heard about you from a long time ago, but I’ve never met you. You’re such a handsome young man!”

But Ye Zi wasn’t in the mood for this at all. He asked the question he most wanted an answer for. “What about my little brother? Did he visit?”

Ye Cheng’s expression turned gloomy in an instant. Auntie Fang also shook her head.

After a while, Ye Cheng wrote on the whiteboard, “Jason is the devil.”

Ye Zi felt the world collapsing on him.

In truth, it had been crumbling since the moment he saw Ye Cheng. He was just avoiding reality.

But now, he suddenly remembered a scene from the past.

A family sat together around a round table, sharing a meal. The father asked the light-haired boy, only five years in age. “Chengxi, have you decided on an English name yet?”

The boy raised his head and smiled gleefully. “Yeah!”

“All right, what is it, then?”

“Jason!”

“Why Jason?”

The boy pointed to Ye Zi’s shirt, which had a line of letters written large across the chest, “Jason”.

…

When Ye Cheng stopped writing for a while, Auntie Fang carried on the topic. “Jason poisoned him, and he was unconscious for two whole days because of it. He’d almost lost his life then. It’s simply unthinkable that that boy could be so cruel. Sir has completely given up on him. He’d thought of sending him to juvie, but seeing as they’re father and son, he just drove him out of the house.”

Ye Cheng nodded and continued writing. “Jason is long gone. We’ve already given up on him long ago. But you, Ah Zi…You’re my only son. Promise me that you’ll never associate yourself with him.”

Auntie Fang nodded. “He’s truly a terrifying boy, a psychopath! I don’t know what sort of evil thoughts he’s hiding behind that creepy smile of his. Nothing good will come out of associating with that boy.”

Ye Cheng wrote, “You’re my good boy as long as you stay away from him. I’ll definitely find a way to make it up to both you and your mother. You know too that I don’t have long to live. All of my property and all of my shares in the Ye Group will be yours in the future.”

Ye Zi was silent for a long time. As if to confirm it once more, he asked, “Why did my brother call himself Gu Chengxi?”

Auntie Fang sighed. “That’s because he feels he no longer needs to keep his surname after leaving the Ye family, so he changed it to his mother’s surname instead. Unfortunately, her mother had already gone insane. There’s really no point in him changing his surname.”

Ye Cheng was obviously unhappy about this, so Auntie Fang shut her mouth.

That day, Ye Zi stayed in the ward for a whole afternoon before heading back in a complicated mood.

A dull ache was constantly assaulting his mind, making him feel drowsy as if he’d caught a cold. He could feel his old memories reviving themselves rapidly with each step that he took.

Jason, Ye Chengxi, was his little brother. Ye Cheng’s biological son.

While he, Ye Zi, five years older than Ye Chengxi, was adopted by Ye Cheng and Han Yao, the two of whom had been raising him as their own for eleven years.

But Ye Cheng’s fondness for him disappeared completely after the long-awaited birth of his biological son. Of course, there may have been hidden factors behind this, such as the collapse of Ye Cheng and Han Yao’s relationship.

Ye Chengxi was born overseas and he wasn’t brought home until he was around four years old. So, he had only lived with Ye Zi for a little over two years.

Ye Chengxi clung to Ye Zi very much, and for a very simple reason. He had never been sent to preschool, and he had never been in the presence of any peers. In his mind, his big brother was perhaps the only person he could play with.

The reason why Ye Zi hated him was also simple. After all, it was Ye Chengxi’s appearance who robbed him of everything.

So, the pushing incident and the rabbit mask incident were only logical progressions.

But despite regaining his memories, Ye Zi still couldn’t understand.

He didn’t understand the Hare’s intentions.

Why did he decide to make a deal with him in the beginning, and even threaten him? Why, even though he knew he was his older brother. Why would he…

He opened the door to see Hare standing by the window, pure white shirt fluttering with the breeze.

Pale sunlight poured into the room through the french windows. The curtains billowed and fluttered.

“You’re back,” Hare said.

Ye Zi stood in the doorway, voice tinged with weariness. “So this is your surprise to me? Fine, now that I know what our relationship truly is, at the very least, you should tell me what you’ve been doing all of this for right now, shouldn’t you?

Hare turned around and stroked the white rose that he was holding. “You want to know the reason? Well, I probably figured that it’s probably too— lonely to go into hell alone. Unable to help myself, I thought I’d find myself a companion.”

Ye Zi hung his head. “And that’s the reason why you’ve been lying to me with all those so-called feelings of yours?”

Hare frowned. “How could that be? I love you, you know?”

Ye Zi raised his head and his voice. Even his eyes had turned red. “I’m your brother, your brother!! What are you thinking, Ye—Cheng—Xi—?”

“So you finally remembered my name? That makes me happy.” Hare’s voice contained his joy. But after that, it turned grim again. “But it’s not like we’re related by blood. What’s more, it’s not important to begin with.”

“…”

The torn rose fell to the floor in scattered fragments. Hare approached Ye Zi, stepping over the corpse of the rose on bare feet. “Ah Zi, I just wanted us to be together. I wanted it to happen no matter the cost. Is that so wrong?”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Why did you hide it until now?”

“I hoped that you could remember everything on your own. Remembering everything about me. Then, I hoped that you could fall in love with me. Once you know everything about me, I hoped you could choose me.”

“…” Ye Zi’s head throbbed heavily. He could no longer process Hare’s words.

Sitting down on the piano bench, he rested his eyes.

Hare reached around him, embracing him from behind. And like before, he tapped out the same nameless, ethereal melody in a high register of the black and white keys.

He pressed his lips against Ye Zi’s ear, whispering softly like a demon enchanting its prey. “Ah Zi, have you forgotten how much you hate that man? Have you forgotten how that irresponsible father of yours ignored you and abandoned you and Auntie Yao? They quarreled in the room and had tossed the pots and vases everywhere. Then, Auntie Yao woke you up in the middle of the night and took you away first thing in the morning. Did you forget that? Have you forgotten the fact that he’d never given you a single cent after all those years? Forgotten how he’d completely ignored you when you bumped into him on the streets? And have you forgotten how you’d ran back and called him dad, yet he’d simply asked someone else to drive you away?”

“Don’t you remember that oath you made about making him pay? Did you forget that you once hated this man enough that you wanted to kill him?”

“And besides…Did he not tell you to stay away from me today? He called me the devil, didn’t he? Heh. See? He’s trying to get in our way! Anyone who tries to get between us is an eyesore.”

Hare gently lifted Ye Zi’s face with his hand and turned his head over, pressing his lips onto a corner of Ye Zi’s.

As the sun set, the light gradually shrank into a small beam, illuminating the tops of their hair.

The sunlight danced above Hare’s faintly trembling lashes.

As one hand slid down the piano, his voice was just like a beautiful melody. “I’ll give you one week, all right? Kill him.”

|TOC|

Like this:Like Loading...