vrcanaries Chapter 117 The father and son are at odds.
Chapter 117 The father and son are at odds.
"Mother, did it hurt a lot when Father hit you?" Yu Zixi looked at her mother with teary eyes.
Looking at her youngest son, whose eyes were full of heartache for her, Zhao Yining's tears, which she had managed to hold back, welled up again.
"It's alright, it's all over now." She hugged her youngest son tightly.
Yu Zilie stared at the two of them in shock.
"What? Mother didn't fall on her own, she was beaten by Father?"
Seeing that she could no longer hide it, Zhao Yining nodded.
"Impossible. How could Dad hit someone!" Yu Zilie felt like his world had collapsed.
In his heart, his father has always been a reliable and kind figure.
He would help up elderly people who collapsed in front of the government office, and he would give steamed buns to children begging on the road. Every month, he would use his own money and salary to help poor people who could not afford to eat.
He's so kind, how could he possibly hit someone?
“This isn’t the first time,” Yu Zixi said.
“I saw it before, Father beat Mother.”
It was because he witnessed his father hitting his mother last time that the scene was so horrifying that he had nightmares for days, so now he is afraid whenever he sees his father.
“Impossible.” Yu Zilie shook his head.
He refused to accept that his father was such a beast in human form.
"Mother, did you do something wrong that angered Father and made him hit you?" Yu Zilie stared intently at his mother.
These words were like a sharp arrow piercing Zhao Yining's heart.
She looked at her son in disbelief.
These were words that the child she had given birth to with tremendous effort and raised with great care could actually say.
She was beaten, but instead of caring about her, he questioned her about what she had done wrong.
“I did nothing wrong,” she said, disappointed.
"Brother, how could you say that?" Yu Zixi said angrily.
Seeing the shock and disappointment in his mother's eyes, Yu Zilie panicked and quickly explained, "I just felt that Dad wouldn't hit people for no reason. He's not that kind of person."
Zhao Yining looked at him: "Then do you think Mother is a liar?"
"No, no." Yu Zilie was in a state of utter confusion.
The news he learned today was a huge shock to him; it was unbelievable.
"You can go now. I'm tired and I want to rest." Zhao Yining closed her eyes.
She was so happy when she first saw her child, and now she is just as heartbroken.
"Mother, I don't want to go back. I want to stay with you." Yu Zixi held her hand, unwilling to leave.
He was afraid of his father.
They were also afraid of Aunt Rong.
Aunt Rong always said he was timid and girlish, and she didn't like him; she preferred her brother.
She made them call her grandmother, saying that "step-grandmother" sounded too awful.
But my father said that etiquette should not be disregarded, and only the deceased old lady could be called grandmother.
He dared not shout, or he would be scolded again.
He misses his mother and doesn't want to go back.
Zhao Yining opened her eyes, looked at her youngest son, and sighed.
She was already bothering others by staying in the third house, so it would be inappropriate for her son to stay as well.
But she couldn't refuse the child.
After all, this child has always been timid.
She patted Yu Zixi's head: "Then why don't you ask your third aunt? If she agrees, you can stay and keep your mother company."
Yu Zixi hesitated upon hearing this.
He was afraid of interacting with people, even though his third uncle and aunt were very kind.
However, the desire to stay by her mother's side overcame her fear.
He nodded and ran off to find Yu Ningyao.
He didn't dare ask his third aunt, but he figured it would be fine to ask his second younger sister, whom he was on good terms with.
When Yu Ningyao heard that he wanted to stay, she readily agreed.
"Mother, let's let Seventh Brother stay. I want to play with him." Yu Ningyao pulled him to find Shen Jinzhu.
Shen Jinzhu naturally wouldn't refuse.
Every time Zixi comes to the third house, he behaves well and doesn't cause trouble. He's much more well-behaved than Ziying, that mischievous monkey.
"Alright, you can stay here and keep Ziying company."
"Thank you, Third Aunt." Yu Zixi finally smiled.
On the other hand, Yu Zilie cannot accept the reality that his father beat his mother.
He returned to the second wife's courtyard alone, looking utterly dejected.
Seeing that he hadn't brought Zhao Yining back and Yu Zixi was also gone, Yu Kangnian couldn't help but ask, "Where are Xi'er and your mother?"
Yu Zilie did not answer his question. Instead, he raised his head and looked at him: "Father, did you inflict Mother's injuries?"
Yu Kangnian's expression changed instantly.
"Your mother said that?"
Yu Zilie didn't answer, but stared at him stubbornly, repeating, "Father, did you inflict Mother's injuries?"
"So what if it is, so what if it isn't? Do you still want to discipline me, your father?" Yu Kangnian's temper flared up instantly.
Yu Zilie was startled by his ferocious expression.
He had never seen a father like this before.
He said disappointedly, "How could you hit someone?"
“Women should be obedient to their husbands and have the four virtues. I am her husband, and she should treat me as her heaven. What if I hit her?” Yu Kangnian was furious that his usually submissive son dared to contradict him.
“But you said before that a gentleman uses words, not fists…” As soon as Yu Zilie finished speaking, a slap came flying across his face.
Yu Zilie's ears were ringing from the slap.
At that moment, he realized his mother's pain.
He was truly deserving of death for thinking that his mother was beaten because she said or did something wrong.
Now, he only told the truth, and his father beat him.
My father is nothing but a hypocrite!
Aunt Rong was heartbroken to see this, but she didn't dare to argue with Yu Kangnian, so she quickly pulled Yu Zilie aside.
"Lie'er, quickly apologize to your father and don't talk back to him."
“I did nothing wrong, why should I apologize?” Yu Zilie stiffened his neck and looked at his father.
Yu Kangnian's anger flared even more because of that look in his eyes.
First, the docile Zhao Yining rebelled, and now her obedient son has learned to talk back.
They're all deliberately trying to make things difficult for him, aren't they?
"Fine, I'd like to see just how tough your mouth really is." He went to the yard, broke off a tree branch, and whipped it directly at Yu Zilie.
"Are you wrong?"
With each lash of the whip, he would question the person who lashed out.
But Yu Zilie was a stubborn man.
He stood ramrod straight and declared firmly, "I did nothing wrong."
The father and son started arguing like that.
Yu Kangnian whipped him for fifteen minutes, but he still didn't give in.
The servant who was taking care of Yu Zilie was terrified when he saw this scene.
If this continues, the young master might get seriously injured.
He rushed to the third house in a panic, hoping to ask the madam to come back and save the young master.
"Has he gone mad?" Zhao Yining was stunned on the spot when she heard this.
"Please, Madam, go back and save the young master, or he'll really be beaten to death by the master!" The servant knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face, begging.
Zhao Yining instinctively tried to get up to go back to save her son, but Shen Jinzhu stopped her and pressed her back onto the bed.