Xiong Jun angrily roared at Xiong Le Le, “Xiong Le Le! Apologize to Auntie and Ke Bu!”
“I’m not apologizing! Why should I apologize? Was I wrong? This is my home!” Xiong Le Le shouted back. “I’m your biological son! What are they? They shamelessly moved into our house, and I’m not even allowed to say anything about it?”
“You believe I won’t…”
“What are you going to do? If you don’t want to see me, just say so and get it over with! I can leave. I don’t want to stay in this house for another minute anyway!” With that, Xiong Le Le stormed into his room and slammed the door. Xiong Jun looked awkwardly at Ke Bu. “Ke Bu, don’t take what he said to heart. I…” Wu Qian spoke up for Xiong Jun. “It’s fine, it’s fine. He’s just a kid. Our Ke Bu talks back to me sometimes too.”
That was the strangest part. At his father’s place, Ke Bu played the same role that Xiong Le Le did here, yet at his mother’s place, his role had suddenly become the complete opposite. Ke Bu understood that he would have to get used to things like this. He had only just returned from Yinguo Town, yet the time he had spent there already felt very, very far away, as distant as something from a previous life.
Zhi Li’s text message arrived with perfect timing. No, that wasn’t quite right. Maybe Ke Bu simply thought that any message from Zhi Li, no matter when it arrived, was perfectly timed.
[You broke my pencil by sitting on it.]
[Then go buy another one!!] It was an utterly trivial matter, but Ke Bu didn’t even notice the corners of his mouth turning upward.
[You broke it. Why should I have to buy one?]
[Fine, fine. Then don’t use one. Wait until the new semester and I’ll buy you another to make up for it.]
[You broke it. Why should I have to wait?]
[…Are you trying to kill me with the word “why”?]
[You’re someone who can be killed by a word. How strange.]
That familiar urge to lose his mind came rushing back. Ke Bu suddenly felt that everything that had happened at the hospital and everything that had just happened here had become incredibly distant. He could hardly believe his mood had improved just like that.
“Uncle Xiong, can I go into his room and talk to him?” Ke Bu looked toward Xiong Le Le’s room. Xiong Jun hesitated, worried that the two of them would start fighting and make the atmosphere even more awkward. Wu Qian looked nervous too. Ke Bu added, “It’s fine. We’re just going to talk.” Uncle Xiong nodded. Ke Bu got up, walked to the bedroom door, pushed it open, stepped inside, and closed it again behind him. Xiong Le Le was lying on the bed wearing earphones. He clearly saw Ke Bu come in but showed no reaction whatsoever.
Ke Bu walked over and yanked out Xiong Le Le’s earphones. “We need to talk.”
“I think we’ve already talked plenty.”
“So what exactly do you want? Do you think acting like this will let you vent your anger, or are you planning to make your dad spend the rest of his life alone?”
“Haha. You’re actually lecturing someone else?” There was absolutely nothing happy in Xiong Le Le’s laugh. He had imitated Ke Bu in all sorts of ways, so he had also learned a little about Ke Bu’s personality.
“I’m not lecturing you. I’m just asking what kind of outcome you actually want.”
Xiong Le Le sat up and crossed his legs on the bed. “What gives you the right to say my dad will spend his life alone? He doesn’t need outsiders. He still has me.” Ke Bu gave a faint scoff. “Do you think a child and a lover are the same thing?”
“That sounds like lecturing to me. Can you leave my room? Or let me phrase it more politely. Can you get the hell out of my house?”
“It’s pointless. Nothing you do will change anything. You think I like staying in your house? You think I like living while watching other people’s expressions all the time? There are too many things we simply have to accept. Too many…” Ke Bu clenched his hand. “I don’t want to lecture anyone. I just want to tell you not to treat my mom like that.”
“This is my house. Even my dad can’t control what attitude I use. What the hell are you going to do about it?!”
“I know you’re not afraid of me. But I also know you’re afraid of Zhi Li. I admit it’s pretty shameless of me, but when necessary, bringing out my man to back me up seems reasonable enough.”
“Watch it or I’ll tell my dad!!”
“You keep talking about your dad, but what the fuck have you ever done for him? Your mom is already gone. Are you too young to understand what ‘gone’ means? You want your dad to spend the rest of his life serving only you? Give me a break. If you think you can live some absolutely perfect life where everything goes exactly the way you want, I’m telling you right now, you’re fucking dreaming.”
The moment Ke Bu finished, Xiong Le Le sprang off the bed and grabbed him by the collar. “I told you to stop lecturing me!”
“Lecturing you? You’ve misunderstood. I’m making fun of you. You want your dad to stay single for the rest of his life and keep you company? Fine. Have the guts to stay single for the rest of your life and keep him company too. Let me make this very clear. I don’t give a damn about your house. I don’t like living like this either. But what can we do? Nothing. The day you find someone you like, and one person tries to stop you, then a whole bunch of people try to stop you, you’ll understand. Well, maybe you won’t, because you’re not like me, right? You won’t fall for a guy.”
“You…”
“Either we get along properly, or we make a complete mess of this. You choose. You’re not afraid of me, but I’m not afraid of you either.” Ke Bu pushed away the hand gripping his collar, then grabbed Xiong Le Le’s collar in return. “You want to protect your family. I have something I want to protect too. For the sake of what I’m protecting, I’ll use every means I have to destroy what you’re protecting.” That toughness was something Zhi Li had taught him. Ke Bu knew his mother genuinely liked Uncle Xiong, and he also knew she had every right to have this happiness. The door lock suddenly turned, and Ke Bu released Xiong Le Le’s collar.
“You two…”
Ke Bu smiled mildly. “We really were just talking. There were some misunderstandings between us before, but we’re going to become a family.” Yes, Ke Bu hated getting along with Xiong Le Le like this, but he didn’t hate what he was doing now. Maybe, once this hatred faded with time, they really would be able to get along like family. Time had already made him accept so many things. Sooner or later, he would accept this too.
Xiong Le Le looked at the relieved smile on Xiong Jun’s face. He still wanted to lose his temper. He still wanted to vent his anger. But in the end, he didn’t say a word. The truth was, he had never hated Ke Bu or Wu Qian themselves from the beginning. What he hated was the idea that Ke Bu would take his family away from him.
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