Chapter 50: Father

This Friday, Pei Lexin deliberately left work early. She drove to pick up Pei Wang first, and then headed over to Jingcheng University to collect Yu Xi.

A heavy snow had fallen the night before. The sky was a misty grey, and the roads inside the university had been swept, leaving them wet and radiating a damp chill. The bare tree branches, weighed down heavily by snow, hung very low; a clump slid off right at that moment, landing squarely inside the collar of the passing Pei Wang.

Pei Wang shuddered violently from the icy shock. He spent a good while shaking himself out before he finally got clean, yet he still carefully protected the freshly bought sugar-roasted chestnuts and hot milk tea in his hands. Stepping back into the car and seeing Pei Lexin laughing, he was completely speechless: “Are you my biological mother? Watching your son have a stroke of bad luck and gloating over it.”

Pei Lexin laughed a bit longer before looking out the window: “Xiao Xi is coming out.”

Pei Wang immediately got out of the car and took the bag from Yu Xi’s hands.

“It’s only a few steps…” Yu Xi helplessly relinquished the bag. He smiled and called out to Pei Lexin, who had stretched her hand out of the window, “Auntie Pei.”

“Hurry up and get in the car, don’t freeze,” Pei Lexin greeted him.

Yu Xi nodded. But just as he was about to get in, his movements suddenly froze. He turned his head and glanced at the adjacent road.

“Did you see someone you know?” Pei Wang, who was holding the car door open for him, looked over as well, but he only saw a bustling crowd of students and vehicles.

Yu Xi shook his head: “I thought someone was watching me.” But he saw nothing in the crowd; it was likely just an illusion.

After getting into the car, he unbuttoned his coat. First, his left hand was stuffed with a cup of his favorite taro paste milk with 70% sweetness, and then his right hand was handed a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts. Both were piping hot, warming his frozen, red fingers.

He smiled softly: “Thank you, Xiao Wang.”

Pei Wang crossed his arms with a rather prideful air: “I just bought them out of boredom while waiting for you, to kill some time.”

Driving up front, Pei Lexin exposed him without any mercy: “In reality, he already pre-ordered the milk tea on his phone while we were on the way here. The moment we arrived, he went to line up for the chestnuts, freezing like a puppy.”

“Mom!” Pei Wang’s face instantly burned bright red.

Pei Lexin and Yu Xi burst into laughter at the same time.

Feeling like he had lost face, Pei Wang turned toward the corner in self-isolation, but he was very quickly coaxed out of it by a few chestnuts Yu Xi peeled for him.

Yu Xi began asking Pei Wang about his studies, and Pei Wang pulled his test report card out of his schoolbag to show him.

Pei Lexin looked through the rearview mirror with a warm smile at the two children, who had their heads huddled together as they whispered. She said, “The Spring Festival is coming up soon. Once it’s time, Xiao Xi’s mother will come over on her annual leave, and we can spend a lively and wonderful New Year together.”

Yu Xi’s eyes lit up instantly, and he couldn’t help but look forward to that day.

There were still two months until the Spring Festival, and he would be able to see his mother very soon.

The closer the time drew, the better Yu Xi’s mood became.

Even his roommates noticed that the smile on his face was much brighter than before, and his eyes were constantly sparkling with stars.

He was already beautiful to begin with, and since he smiled at everyone he met, he became even more fetching.

“Has something good happened to our Yu Xi recently? You look so happy,” Liu Heng asked.

Yu Xi touched his own face: “Is it that obvious?”

Zhou Anhe agreed and nodded.

Yu Xi: “It’s just that vacation is coming up soon, so I can’t help but feel happy.”

This somewhat childish side of him drew another round of well-meaning laughter from his roommates.

“I’m heading to work at the cat café now. I’ll bring you guys some bread from the shop when I get back.” Yu Xi bundled up in his coat, scarf, and gloves, and waved goodbye as he went out the door.

With finals approaching, Yu Xi was anticipating the vacation but certainly hadn’t forgotten the most important exams. On his way to the cat café, he used his earphones to play core review materials, muttering under his breath along with the audio.

He was listening intently. When he walked out of the back gate and saw someone walking toward him, he didn’t pay much attention and simply veered around him.

Not until his arm was grabbed, sending a bolt of pain through it, was he yanked into a stumble. He raised his head in utter bewilderment.

When he clearly saw the other party’s face, his entire being felt as though it had been nailed dead to the spot. He couldn’t move an inch, and even the thoughts in his brain were completely severed.

The man stared at him with somber, sinister eyes, pulling his lips into a mocking smile: “What, don’t recognize me? Or are you playing dumb on purpose?”

Yu Xi’s mind was a total blank. He stared with dry eyes, his mouth open as he inhaled the freezing air. His throat throbbed with a raw pain as if slashed by a razor blade, and he couldn’t produce a single sound.

“Haven’t seen you in half a year, and you’re living quite a comfortable life?” The man scanned him up and down, clicking his tongue as he yanked at his clothes. “When you’re eating well and dressing well, did you ever think about what kind of life your old man is living? You long threw this biological father of yours to the back of your mind, didn’t you? As expected, you’re an ungrateful white-eyed wolf.”

The earphones were brutally ripped away, and the sharp pain from his yanked ears finally brought Yu Xi’s paralyzed brain back to life. His eyes focused, staring straight at the man.

“Why are you here?”

The man sneered: “Did you think I wouldn’t be able to find you guys just because you ran away? You gloriously got admitted to such a prestigious university, and you’ve even become a big celebrity on the internet. While I can’t find your mother for the time being, finding you isn’t a difficult task at all.”

Hearing that he did not yet know his mother’s whereabouts, Yu Xi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. His expression turned guarded as he said, “We already drew the line back then. From now on, we will never see each other again until death. You shouldn’t have come.”

“I’m not allowed to come? A biological father seeing his son is entirely justified by the laws of heaven and earth!”

Yu Xi looked at the man before him. With his sunken cheeks and unkempt appearance, he had long diverged from the high-spirited, handsome, and humorous figure of the past. His gaze gradually turned cold: “You are not.”

He wanted to leave, but he was grabbed again with immense force. A fierce, vicious glint erupted in the man’s eyes: “Yu Xi, you possess my blood flowing inside you. No matter what, it’s impossible to sever relations. Even if I die, I am still your father!”

The excessively loud voice caused passersby to glance over. Yu Xi repressed the trembling of his body, saying in a low voice, “If you have any demands, let’s go to the side to talk. Don’t affect other people.”

“What’s wrong? You think your old man is disgraceful?” The man spat to the side. “Give me money and I’ll leave.”

“How much?”

“Five hundred thousand.”

Even though he knew the man must have a purpose for tracking him down, Yu Xi still found it hard to believe when he heard this amount. “I don’t have that much money.”

“Ask the Pei family for it.” A shrewd light gleamed in the man’s eyes. “Pei Lexin is certainly capable; as the years pass, she’s only getting richer and richer. A mere five hundred thousand is practically a drop in the bucket to her.”

Yu Xi felt nauseous at the man’s matter-of-fact tone: “The Pei family’s money belongs to the Pei family. It has nothing to do with me.”

“How is it unrelated? If it’s unrelated, why do you eat and drink for free at the Pei residence every day, gaining so many benefits? If you can’t ask her for that much, just borrow it from a friend at random. You mingle with those rich second-generation heirs every day; borrowing some money shouldn’t be a difficult task.”

Yu Xi froze, suddenly understanding that the sensation of constantly being watched recently had not been an illusion.

“I won’t borrow it.” Yu Xi’s face was as white as snow, yet his expression was resolute. “Even if it’s a single penny, I will never give it to you. Let alone five hundred thousand—you are daydreaming.”

“Is that so? Then I don’t mind helping you go to their door to ask for it.” The man grinned, baring his teeth. “Do those friends of yours know you have a father like me? I wonder if they will treat me as an honored guest for your sake, or if they will immediately cut ties with you because of me.”

Yu Xi’s heart shuddered, as if he had plunged into an ice cave: “You dare!”

“What wouldn’t I dare? Anyway, I’m already backed into a corner. Back then, I was scared by you, a little brat, and let you and your mother off the hook once, so you really thought you could always stamp all over my head? Now, I’m not afraid of death. If I’m having a hard time, don’t think you guys will have a good time either.”

The man seemed to remember something, looking around in a paranoid, frantic manner for a brief moment. “Fine, I have no time to talk nonsense with you. I’ll give you five days. Bring the money to this place to find me, otherwise, I will come find you.”

He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and threw it at Yu Xi. Palling up his collar to cover his face, he ducked his head and departed rapidly.

Yu Xi looked at the paper that had fallen onto the ground, soaked by the filthy snow water. He only felt as though his hands and feet were pressed directly against a sheet of ice—the cold pierced into his bones, and he shook uncontrollably.

He stood in the snow for a very, very long time, resembling a crumbling, withered leaf that could be swept away and torn to pieces by the freezing wind at any moment.

“Xiao Xi, it’s already closing time. You can go back.”

The owner of the cat café called out. After finishing the accounts, he saw that slender figure still mopping the floor over and over again. He walked over helplessly, nearly slipping on the wet floor. “No need to mop anymore, it’s already clean enough. The floor is about to have its skin rubbed raw by you.”

Yu Xi halted his mechanical movements: “…Then I’ll go back.”

“Mm, go back, go back.” The cat café owner waved his hand. Watching Yu Xi’s departing figure, he sighed and shook his head. “Why is this child so absent-minded today?”

After Yu Xi returned to the dormitory, he distributed the bread he brought back to his roommates. Then, he took a shower and changed his clothes to prepare for the next day’s course materials. These procedures were etched into his muscle memory, carried out in an orderly fashion.

Once he climbed into bed, he listened to the review materials through his earphones while replying to the messages on his phone, telling his mother goodnight.

After completing all this, it was time to sleep.

Yu Xi hugged his blanket and fell asleep right on time, without a single thing out of place.

It was just that the moment he entered a deep sleep, he began to dream.

The incandescent light bulb hanging overhead was very bright, piercing and deathly white. It illuminated this cramped room where not even a shred of daylight could penetrate, and it shone upon the walls where the paint was moldy and peeling, as well as upon the top of Yu Xi’s head.

Yu Xi held an express delivery document bag in his hand. His beautiful eyes were cold and vacant, staring at the man who was turning the bedding and wardrobe inside out.

“Xiao Xi, why did you run out just now without eating?”

His freezing hand was held. Yu Xi turned his head to look at the haggard-faced but still gentle-eyed mother behind him.

“Come, there’s one boiled egg left here. You eat first, don’t go hungry.”

Yu Xi took the egg and froze for a moment. He wanted to take the admission notice out of the document bag to show his mother, but he was interrupted by a low shout.

“Eat, eat, eat! What time is it and you’re still eating! Where on earth did you guys put the money?!”

Qi Qingyun curled her lips bitterly: “The very last bit was already taken by you to buy alcohol. The rent is still overdue, where would we have any more money?”

The man cursed under his breath: “Wasn’t your wage from yesterday’s night shift settled daily? Give it to me now!”

Qi Qingyun said coldly: “That is meant to be saved for Xiao Xi to go to university. It’s impossible to give it to you.”

The man’s eyes were already red with desperation. No matter how he searched, he couldn’t find anything. He stepped forward to search Qi Qingyun’s person, but he was blocked by Yu Xi.

The newly of-age Yu Xi had a frame that was more frail and thin than his peers. Yet when he stood in front of his mother, he resembled a red willow standing proudly in the wind and sand. His spine was straight and unyielding, and he faced his father without a single shred of hesitation.

The man sneered, rolling up his sleeves: “Alright, now that you’re of age, you think you’re hot stuff, don’t you? You even dare to glare at your old man?”

Seeing the man lift his palm, Qi Qingyun’s face drained of color. She stepped forward and gave a hard push: “Yu Xuelin! Are you even a man? You actually dare to raise a hand against Xiao Xi!”

Yu Xuelin said: “If you guys obediently bring the money out, everything will be fine! I already told you that I have a connection this time; as long as there is money, we will definitely make a profit. Why do you just refuse to believe me?!”

“You’re crazy. We finally paid off so many debts with great difficulty, and now you want to gamble again. You still believe other people’s nonsense; are you terrified that the debts we carry aren’t enough?!”

“Owing two million is owing, owing five million is also owing. A lot of debt doesn’t weigh a person down. Who knows, maybe this time—” Midway through his sentence, Yu Xuelin suddenly caught sight of something from the corner of his eye. Overjoyed, he stepped across the scattered mess and walked over.

Qi Qingyun wasn’t as fast as him, and the money hidden in the crevice of the wardrobe was still snatched away by him. She tried her absolute best to stop Yu Xuelin from leaving. During the struggle, her hair became disheveled, and she sustained minor injuries from the bumps but couldn’t care less about the pain, crying out in desperate urgency, “That is Xiao Xi’s tuition fee, you can’t, you must not—”

With great difficulty, she snatched the money back, curling up to press it against her chest.

“Give it here!” Yu Xuelin yanked and dragged at her, curses streaming constantly from his mouth.

At the moment he yanked Qi Qingyun’s hair, he didn’t notice in the slightest that the youth behind him had picked up the fruit knife on the table…

📚 Also on NHV Novels

The Villain Caught Between Two Magical Girls

DramaFantasy

Read Now →
Not interested