Once the boy woke up, Dr. Phillip came to do some basic test on him before he cleared him off for discharge.
Despite Xiao Lei's refusal, Callum and Guang Ying both insisted to send her back to her home. Once they were at her place, Guang Ying frowned when he saw the dilapidated house. Not only did she lived in the poorest area in the city, but she also lived on the bad side of the town.
The moment Callum and Guang Ying walked out of the house, they could feel the sneer and glare from the greedy residents nearby.
"May-Maybe you guys should leave now… I-If they do-"
"No worries. We're more worried about you," said Callum. He shot a piercing glare at the sinister-looking bald man who was playing with his knife at the side of the road.
The moment the man sensed the killer instinct, he felt a shiver running through his spine as if he was facing the God of Death. The man quickly turned around and walked away. Even though he looked fine from the outside, his legs were trembling badly.
Guang Ying did not pay attention to what Callum was doing. Instead, he asked, "Have you guys been living here for long?"
Zhi Hao was impressed by how Callum managed to scare someone off just his eyes and he nodded as he answered absently, "Since before I was born… But Dad was here to protect us then… But…"
Just the thought of his father not being there caused his mood to sour immediately. As the boy looked at the broken gate of his house. Ugly graffiti had replaced the outer wall of the beautiful house that he used to love. Back when his dad was still here, their house was the best house on their street.
His mother would clean up the house in the morning and when he was off to school, she would follow him and do some menial jobs at the houses near his school. Then, they would wait at the park, rain or shine, for his father to pick them up.
His father was a kind father and a loving husband but ruthless to everyone else. No one dared to give them trouble. However, when his father suddenly disappeared 2 years ago, their neighbors started to show their real face.
They picked on his mother and said ugly words to her. ZhiHao knew that they were jealous of his mother who looked young and prettier than them.
He glared at those men who were watching from the windows of their houses and his fingers clenched into fists. He hated the way they looked at her mother. Thank God that she was a strong woman, or she would have fallen into their clutch a long time ago.
"Why didn't you move?"
"Mum can't get a house… Also, we can't afford it," Zhi Hao said in an annoyed tone. He did not want to study anymore, and he wanted to work so that he could get them out of this place. His mother did not have a formal identity. He was not clear of the reason why, but there was no official document that could prove her identity.
Without the necessary documents, his mother could not finish her schooling, or get a credit card, or buy a house. The current house that his father bought had a mortgage on it, and she was already struggling to try and pay it off.
"ZhiHao!" Xiao Lei shot a warning glare to her son to ask him to shut up. Even though they were obviously poor, she did not want others to look down or pity her. Her husband had taught her how to be strong, and that was what she intended to do.
Zhi Hao sighed. He took his backpack and his school blazer and walked back into the house. Just as he was about to turn the knob on the door, he heard a loud snicker.
"Xiao ZhiHao! You're finally back? I thought you'd never return to this slum! Is that the clothes from that uber-rich school that you're attending now?"
Zhi Hao glanced up at the second floor and saw a blonde hair young man who was smoking from the window.
"Are those your mother's new sugar daddies?" asked the 18-year-old. He then snickered, "Hey, sir! Why don't you take my sister instead? She's 14, still a virgin, so she'd be a better fit! $1500 for a night? How about $2000 for a threesome? You and your friend there looks like you enjoy f*cking!"
Zhi Hao's face tensed with anger when he heard the dirty words coming from the young man's mouth. When he saw the girl who was looking out from the room next door, he frowned.
The girl's face was reddened when she heard what her brother said. There was a fading bruise near her chin. Instead of being upset, she merely smiled at ZhiHao and mouthed, "I'm fine."
"Yun Qi…" thought Zhi Hao.
She was Zhi Hao's playmate when they were younger. However, she came from a bad family. After her mother abandoned her for another man, she had been suffering abuse from her older half-brother from her father's previous marriage.
As for her father, he was nothing good either. Drunk and unemployed, he often took his anger out at his children, especially his daughter. He would beat her for the smallest infraction and Zhi Hao could always hear her cry from his room which was directly opposite hers.
Not knowing what to do, Zhi Hao turned away from her and turned the knob of the door. When he did, he saw a fading scar at the back of his hand and a memory resurfaced in his mind.
Some time before Zhi Hao's father suddenly disappeared, he fought with Yun Qi's older brother before. However, he did not know that the then 15-year-old boy would actually pull out a knife at him.
At that time, Zhi Hao was only a scrawny 10-year-old boy. He was too angry to care and just jumped on the older boy when he saw the older boy beating his younger sister in front of their thrash filled yard.
If not for his mother's interference, Zhi Hao would have been dead by now. Before the older boy could stab him again, his mother had grabbed and twisted the boy's hand until he cried. She then dragged Zhi Hao back into their own house.
His father had been furious when he returned from work and saw Zhi Hao's bandaged hand. In the middle of the night, his father had broken down their neighbor's door and dragged both the father and son out from their bed.
Zhi Hao's father hated it when people picked on women and children, so he could not do anything to the then 15-year-old boy. However, he had beat up Yun Qi's father and warned him that if or that son of his dared to lay a hand on Yun Qi again, he would break all the bones in their bodies.
For a long time, both the mean father and son left Yun Qi alone. At least, she was fine until Zhi Hao's father suddenly disappeared.
At that time, Zhi Hao both fear and respect his father. He did not believe that his father was a mere cleaner, but he had no proof otherwise. How could a cleaner be so tough?!
That night, his father had scolded him as well, for putting himself in danger. Zhi Hao knew that his father did not want him to walk down the same path as him. His father wanted him to study hard and move out of this area.
Everyone was trying hard to leave this place. His father had said that they would be able to leave after his final job… but then, he suddenly disappeared.
Zhi Hao stood at the door and turned to look at the men who were standing at the gate with his mother. His poor mother had aged a lot the past two years. He knew that she missed his father, but he also knew that his father would never abandon them. Which meant that his father was… no longer here in this world with them.
As he looked at the two men, he wondered if one of them needed a wife. They looked like kind people, and his mother needed more kind people in her world. He did not know what had happened to her before, but once, not long after his father was gone, he had seen her crying in the middle of the night.
It had been raining cats and dogs, and when Zhi Hao woke up to get a glass of water, he saw her crying on the kitchen floor, with a glass of water spilled near her. She was trembling badly as she hugged herself. When he went to her, he could see the sweat that was flowing down from her forehead.
She seemed genuinely terrified of something as she reached out to hug him. At that time, she had muttered, "Don't leave me…", over and over again.
"It had been two years…" Zhi Hao wondered, "Dad, do you think it's bad of me to tell Mum to go out and date again? Are you ever coming back?"
…..