Chapter 377: Favoritism
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Li Shi felt terrible when he said that. His parents were still alive, but he felt he had no parents or relatives. He was the second oldest, with an older brother and a younger one.
Li Shi’s father liked his oldest son, his mother liked his younger brother, and Li Shi was the least popular sibling. His parents usually never left him good food, so he was always the one who went hungry.
Whenever his brothers got into trouble, he would be the one who took the blame. His parents only believed what his siblings said, not him. He had gotten beaten up the most since he was a child.
Li Shi felt envious whenever he saw his parents pampering his siblings. His parents would not acknowledge him, no matter what he did or how he acted. Instead, they felt he was incompetent.
It felt highly unpleasant, but he did not overthink it back then. He just took it as his parents being biased. Nonetheless, something happened that made him realize his parents did not like him. Or rather, they did not treat him as their son.
During winter, his two brothers had cotton-padded clothes, but he did not. He only had thin clothes to wear and shivered from the cold. One autumn, he and his eldest brother fell sick with a fever.
Li Shi’s parents looked at their money and only wanted to save his eldest brother. Later, Li Shi dealt with his fever on his own and survived.
Another time, he went to the back mountain with his younger brother to cut wood, and they met a wild boar. Li Shi got severely injured to protect his little brother. However, his younger brother said something that caused a misunderstanding.
Immediately after, Li Shi’s parents beat him, saying he did not know how to protect his younger brother and almost killed him instead. That night, he gritted his teeth and did not make a sound as his parents beat him.
He could only cry under his blanket in the middle of the night. He thought of dying that night but had hatred in his heart. Later, his parents grew more accustomed to beating him, so he ran away.
He no longer allowed his parents to beat him for no reason. Li Shi felt hatred and never returned for the past few years.
Their village was quite far from town. Li Shi remembered that his family was impoverished and often did not have enough to eat. His parents would not come back to town either.
He did not know how his parents were doing since he had never returned. He did not even know what had become of them.
Lin Zheng said, “Let’s go back and take a look. I know you have a knot in your heart. It may go away after we check on how things are now. No matter what happens, let them know that you’re a promising person. Let them know they’ve mistreated you.”
Li Shi hesitated for a long time, but he still nodded. He was only returning to look on from a distance before leaving again.
He was usually reluctant to spend money or buy anything, but he brought some things back to the village this time.
His parents live in Northern Song Village, located very far from town. Li Shi walked quickly for two hours and only returned to Northern Song Village when it was dark.
“Woof! Woof!
There were still a few households in the village with their lights on, and barking dogs echoed throughout the village. It made Li Shi recall some of his childhood memories.
When she was young, she always heard the sounds of barking dogs whenever he walked around the village at night. When one dog started barking, the rest would follow suit.
When Li Shi was a child, he feared a dog not tied properly would run out and bite him. Sometimes, when his parents beat him and he ran away in the middle of the night, he would no longer be afraid of dogs, even when they were barking.
Li Shi carried his oil lamp and arrived at the house door. The thatched house he remembered had gotten renovated into a stone house, which was more spacious than before.
He stood at the open door for a long time, wanting to knock, but he did not move. After a while, someone came to the door to close it. It was Li Shi’s younger brother, Li Liang.
Li Liang looked at Li Shi in a daze. Then he exclaimed, “Ah! A ghost!”
A woman emerged from inside and scolded, “Why are you screaming?! I told you to close the door! What’s with the yelling?!”
Li Liang cowered and said, “I-I’ll close the door now, my dear wife.”
It was evident he was afraid of his wife.
Li Shi’s expression changed as he held the door open, saying, “Little Brother, where are father and mother?”
The woman inside heard the noise at the door and rushed out. She pointed at Li Shi and said, “Li Liang, who is this?”
“He’s my second brother,” Li Liang replied.
“Isn’t your second brother dead? Who would dare to impersonate him? Your parents have already given us this land, so don’t even consider getting it from us. Those two old farts only know how to be biased.”
The woman looked at Li Shi and said sharply, “Since you’re already dead, why did you return? Don’t tell me you’re thinking about the things at home.” Li Shi looked at the mean woman and then at Li Liang. He could not believe what had happened to his family since he left a few years ago. His younger brother was married to a horrible woman.
Even though Li Shi had something against his parents, the anger in his heart surged when he heard others speak of his parents like that.
“Who did you say is an old fart? Do you dare to repeat yourself?!” Li Shi clenched his fists.
The woman said, arms akimbo, “What? Do you want to hit me? Go on and try. I’m telling you, this is my house. Leave now! You better watch it, or I’ll get someone to beat you up.”
The woman looked at Li Liang, who was not moving, and pulled his ear. “Don’t you see that someone is bullying me? What are you doing standing there?!” Li Shi looked at the woman and was stunned. ‘What a shrew!’
He had never seen a woman behave so terribly before. However, Li Liang used to be dishonest and selfish and bullied Li Shi a lot. But now that the woman was controlling him, he dared not move.
Li Shi revealed a mocking smile, snorted coldly, and turned to leave. There were shouts and curses from behind, but Li Shi headed straight to Li Zheng’s house.
Li Zheng noticed that Li Shi had returned and was thrilled. “Li Shi, I didn’t think you’d still be alive. Someone in the village said they saw you in town, but no one believed them.
“Your parents never believed you were dead and kept saying you’d return. They even left you a piece of land and said they’d build you a house. Your eldest brother’s and third brother’s families have tormented your parents for that piece of land.”
Li Shi could not believe what he had heard. “Grandpa Li Zheng, my parents…
They won’t care whether I’m dead or alive.”
“What nonsense are you spewing? What parent won’t care about their child’s
life? Do you still hate your parents for beating you?” Li Zheng rebuked. Li Zheng said that because he discovered some things later on.
Li Shi remained silent.
Li Zheng sighed. “Your parents know they were wrong. They shouldn’t have treated you like that. They were upset and in pain when they heard you were dead. Don’t blame them, child. They were suffering too..”
The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on (f)reew𝒆(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦