Trigger warning: Suicidal thoughts
In a pure white hospital ward, there sat a boy who was fifteen or sixteen years old. His black hair had been cut haphazardly with his long bangs covering his eyelashes. On the bridge of his nose, there was a pair of black glasses with thick frames. A pair of black eyes resembling a pool of stagnant water lay behind the thick lenses.
The boy glanced at the woman in front of him expressionlessly. His mother by blood relation, a remarried woman who was nearly 40 years old, was wearing a light purple branded dress. Her appearance was beautiful and poised, and her posture was lofty and aloof. Her expression did not carry a single shred of compassion as if he was just a stranger, and not the child she had carried for ten months and birthed.
Blood was thicker than water, the nature instincts between mother and child, all these things meant nothing to this woman. If not, he wouldn’t be lying in the hospital right at this moment, becoming a disabled person.
Fan Hong tapped the butt of the cigarette between her fingers before placing it between her red lips and taking another puff. She exhaled a ring of white smoke, “Have you learnt your lesson this time?”
All ten of Fan Yuan’s fingers clenched the sheet and his knuckles turned white gradually. His voice was soft, hoarse and dejected, “I’ll say it the last time, it was he who came onto me. If I hadn’t carried a knife at that time, I would have been violated by him.”
The corners of Fan Hong’s mouth tugged up in a grim smirk before she slowly put out the cigarette, “So what? Is it the first day you’ve known that he’s lustful? I prepared a house for you outside and arranged a nanny to take care of you. I’ve done all I can. You’re enjoying life like a young master, what else do you have to be dissatisfied with? Why do you still want to disrupt my life?”
Young Master huh……. Fan Yuan clenched his fist and explained in a low voice, “I went to look for you because……”
Fan Hong impatiently interrupted, “The reason is not important. I hit your leg, so I will pay for your medical and living expenses, but, it will only last until you become an adult.”
Fan Yuan fierced lifted his gaze up at her, “What does that mean?”
“Because I’m pregnant. This child will have the right to inherit the Ren Family’s assets, while you will only drag me down. I gave birth to you, so I’m willing to support you to adulthood. You should be thanking me. Compared to your father who just up and left, you have a mother like me. You really should burn incense and pray to Buddha in thanks.”
Fan Yuan gritted his teeth, “The doctor said that I may never stand up again. How will I live in the future?”
“That’s your own business. I gave you your life. If you hadn’t been so indecent to seduce Old Ren this time round, I wouldn’t have hit you in a rage. In the end, it’s your own fault.”
With that, she picked up her bag and left. Her high-heeled shoes made a clattering sound as they hit the floor, and the sound gradually faded in the distance.
Fan Yuan’s gaze followed her as she left, and he was silent for a very long time. He took out an exquisite bracelet from the bedside table that had a string of engraved English characters on the inside:
Mom, happy birthday!
Silent mockery.
His defeated eyes simply gave it a meagre sweep before he flung it towards the window. It glided across in a silver arc and disappeared before his eyes.
Having almost been violated by his stepfather, he had barely managed to escape out of the door, yet his own mother had smashed and disabled his leg. And yet this mother confidently told him that she was going to abandon him completely. Life, was always more cruel than the dog-blood in films.
He took out a folding blade from under his pillow. He thought in heart, it seemed like a good idea to end his life like this. He bought this blade to protect himself and he had used it to scratch many people, but he had never thought of using it on himself one day.
The gleaming, silvery white spine of the knife reflected his pale face, as well as the overcast eyes hidden behind the lens. He quietly stared at the sharp edge, and suddenly thought, how great would it be if this knife was inserted into Fan Hong’s abdomen to let her, as well as that unborn little brother or sister, accompany him to hell.
There was also that wretched and filthy Ren Qiang, his stepfather in name, that old man who always stared at him fixedly with lewd eyes. He was so disgusted that he wanted to vomit. How dearly he wished to gorge out that man’s eyes, and then……
Who knew when someone had opened the door as he was in a daze, allowing the terrible thoughts to germinate in his mind. Suddenly, a pale, clean hand grabbed away the folding blade from his hand and forcefully interrupted his thoughts.
Fan Yuan lifted his gaze slightly. An elegant and beautiful-looking female doctor stood in front of him, a smile in her eyes. She waved the knife in front of him, “Children cannot play with knives. Such a dangerous thing. Confiscated!”
Fan Yuan reached for it, but to no avail. He immediately lowered his head and said, “Give it back.”
“No can do. Hospitals have rules and regulations. Minors are not allowed to carry dangerous equipment so as to avoid accidents.” She put the knife into her pocket and patted the position where it was in like she was showing off. She had a cheeky smile, “I’ll return it to you when you’re discharged from the hospital. Now it’s time to change your dressing.”
Fan Yuan furrowed his brows and said in a cold voice, “Since there’s no way for me to recover, I’ll leave the hospital now.”
He had more important things to do than waste his time in the hospital.
“No can do. Mdm Fan has paid the medical expenses for the next two years. You’re not an adult, so you aren’t able to make rational judgments regarding your actions. The hospital will not let you act willfully. Plus, isn’t the possibility of your recovery still at 20%? It’s too early to give up.”
Fan Yuan stared at her silently, his gaze very dangerous. The female doctor helped him change the bottle for his IV drip without responding. Totally unconcerned, she hummed a song that he couldn’t understand. The tune was very cheerful and lively, it seemed Japanese.
After staring for a long time, Fan Yuan’s eyes began to ache. He finally realised that the woman was not only obtuse, but extremely naive, so he could only lie back in frustration.
That was the situation when they had first met. He thought he had forgotten, but it turns out that he didn’t. Looking at Dan Yarou’s fallen figure, the memories buried in his mind emerged one by one.
She accompanied him to train his leg muscles time and time again in the rehabilitation room. On holidays, she would work overtime to accompany him in the hospital. In order to make him try all varieties and types of things, she would help him buy good-looking clothes, and often brought all kinds of beautiful fresh flowers that she would place by the front of the window. Whenever he looked up at the sky beyond the window, the first thing he saw was this bunch of gorgeous flowers that were bursting with vitality
He once questioned her closely, “Why does Sister Yarou treat me so well?”
The female doctor blushed undisguisedly and said, “Of course it’s because Xiao Yuan is very beautiful ah~ Even more good-looking than the current popular idols on TV. If Xiao Yuan can become a star in the future, you will be liked by everyone all over the world!”
The corners of Fan Yuan’s lips raised slightly. This face was one that he’d once detested immensely and wanted to cover up all the time. It was similar to Fan Hong’s face. But at this moment, it was suddenly no longer abhorable.
At least, some people liked him because of it, and got close to him.
At least, it did not just provoke filthy bodies, but also those of genuine care and love.
Over the past thousands of years, he had traveled all over the world. He had seen the perils of the human heart, but also its honesty and sincerity. He could always face everything with a slight smile. Occasionally, some resentment would sprout, but he could always calm it down easily.
From a gloomy boy, he had gradually learned to be optimistic and strong. All this was because he had met a Dan Yarou.
Within that one, close to two years time, he got the love that he had never received in the past 15 years. No romantic feelings, just a shared cherishment between a life and another.
And this woman who was, to him, the only redeeming thing in his life, the brightest and warmest existence in his heart, had died in front of him on his 17th birthday.
He stared at the woman lying in the pool of blood on the screen, and his mind went blank……
She said that she had settled the adoption procedures. He would be her younger brother from then on.
She also said that she had paid all the savings her parents had left for her to Fan Hong, so she would be a broke egg from then on. She asked him if he would dislike an older sister who had no money.
She said that from then on, his surname was not ‘Fan’, but ‘Dan’.
——This was the gift she had given him for his 17th birthday. She bought the rights to his adoption from his biological mother at the expense of the huge inheritance left by her parents.
He saw that the him within the screen had gone into a daze like a fool. He was sitting beside her in messy clothes, unable to even cry. His eyes seemed to be saturated with darkness where you couldn’t even see a single glimmer.
As for the culprit, he threw away the knife dripping with blood from his hands and stumbled out of the apartment. That was Ren Qiang, his stepfather. When he heard that Fan Yuan was discharged from hospital, he came after him, wanting to violate him, but he was interceded by Dan Yarou. Finally, he killed her by accident amidst the struggle.
“Ding, it has been detected that Master is in danger of spiritual turmoil. Please calm down quickly.”
“She’s dead…… I always thought that she would live well. I thought that she would be happier than anyone…… Why, I’m clearly really upset, but I can’t shed tears? “
“Ding, Master is a half-spirit now, no tears.”
He covered his face and chuckled lightly, but his laugh was more ugly than crying, “She died for me, but I couldn’t even give her a single tear…… I’m not deserving at all……”
“Ding……the murderer will definitely receive his punishment. ” Xiao Wu comforted him awkwardly.
However, things were not the case. The Ren Family had been in S City for decades with a deep foundation. Even if human witnesses and material evidence existed, Ren Qiang presented a medical certificate from a psychologist and went through the motions in the court before finally settling matters with a huge sum of money. Dan Yarou had a few close friends while she was alive who wanted to publicise the incident to the media, but in the end, this group of people was arrested and put in prison for several months. After they came out, no one mentioned it again.
And Fan Yuan finally fell into the abyss again. This time, no one could pull him out and tell him that the world had more good people.
He solely believed that only people who were worse than the evil would be able to make these people receive their deserved punishment.
After accepting the money Ren Qiang had given in compensation, he stood in front of Dan Yarou’s tombstone and said, “Sister, I will use this money to make Ren Qiang, as well as his family, all die in horrible ways. Those disgusting people will all disappear.”
The boy named Fan Yuan had disappeared. At the same time, a movie star named Dan Wen appeared.
He had tampered with the information regarding his identity and changed his age to 18. Then, he invested that sum of money into a low-budget film. He simultaneously became the producer and the leading role in the film.
After the film’s release, he quickly began to expand his fan circle due to his excellent appearance and vivid performance in the film. In the entertainment industry where the beauty was supreme, even a flower vase without any substance could be worshipped to the heavens. Moreover, his acting skills were great, and coupled with peerless looks and a mysterious background, he quickly occupied a spot in the entertainment industry.
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