Chapter 8 - 1.8*

**[WARNING: (many) depictions of VIOLENCE below. Please view at your own discretion.]**

Turning his head around, Li Yong saw a potbellied man in his thirties with a spiky beard and a face that resembles Zhou Feng's.

/This son of a bitch must be the one hurting my hubby./

Li Yong stared intently at the fat man in front of him in immense anger.

"Oh? Would you look at that? A pretty boy? What're you doing in this uncle's house?"

Zhou LiJun let out a lecherous grin and walked closer to Li Yong. When he was 4 feet away, Li Yong aimed his foot at the man's crotch and spared all efforts to crush his precious manhood.

"AHHhHHhhHHHhH!!!" Zhou LiJun let out an agonizing scream so loud that his voice cracked.

"W-Who are you?!? I-I-I will call the police!!"

Zhou XiuYing was hiding behind the wall separating the dining room and living room. Scared out of her wits from her husband's scream, she threatened Li Yong to leave.

"Bitch, you need a beating too."

Li Yong didn't hold back at all when he slapped Zhou XiuYing hard on the cheek. She fell to the ground and held her cheek in pain. Li Yong delivered a kick to her gut and picked her up by the collar.

"How does it feel to experience the same pain your son felt? Feels wonderful right?" Li Yong grinned at her tearful face which was covered in snot. Throwing her on the ground, Li Yong continued to kick her a few times with no regards to her screams.

/This cunt never stopped her husband's beatings, she even encouraged them. She's worse than that son of a bitch./

These loud screams brought Zhou LiJun back to reality. He saw that his wife was being beaten up by the same guy who had kicked his balls and felt shamed. Seething with anger, he grabbed the broken alcohol bottle near him and silently stood up, closing in on Li Yong.

Zhou Feng, who was still half conscious at this time, saw that his father was about to attack Li Yong and crawled to his feet yelling, "Yong! Be careful!"

Li Yong turned and high kicked the person behind him without looking. Zhou LiJun was struck in the face and stumbled backwards.

"Who do you think you are?" Li Yong slammed his foot on Zhou LiJun's face, nailing a clear and distinct footprint on that ugly mug.

However, Li Yong underestimated this 'opponent' of his. Zhou LiJun held Li Yong's foot in place, pulling it down so he could pull himself up and momentarily make Li Yong lose his balance.

"LI YONG!"

Zhou Feng rushed to protect his lover, blocking him from his father's attack.

Just as the broken bottle was going to strike Zhou Feng's head, Li Yong felt a sense of deja vu arise in his mind.

The scene of Wang Wei shielding him from the bullet and dying replayed in his head.

/No...NO!!/

Li Yong held Zhou Feng to his chest, flipped around and gave Zhou LiJun one last powerful kick that knocked him out cold.

"Hah...hah..." Li Yong calmed down from his sudden adrenaline rush and tightened his hold on the person in his arms.

"Are... Are you okay Yong?" Zhou Feng mumbled softly in his embrace. Although he was elated about his current situation, he was still worried that Li Yong might've gotten hurt.

Furious yet concerned, Li Yong pulled Zhou Feng off his chest and shook him.

"ArE YoU C R A Z Y?!?!? WHAT IF YOU GOT HIT?!???!!"

"That's fine. I'm used to it. As long as you're not hurt." Zhou Feng replied in a soft voice.

"How are you such a crybaby, hm?"

Li Yong buried himself in Zhou Feng's arms and cried to his heart's content.

"You-*sniff*-you bad man! *sniff* You big meanie! What if you got hurt and died!! *sniff*"

Zhou Feng coaxed Li Yong slowly and caressed his head gently.

"Everything is fine... I'm fine..."

***

"Here's the evidence."

Zhou Feng handed over this phone which had recorded yesterday's beating and today's event.

"W-W-When did you have evidence?!?"

Zhou XiuYing shouted in surprise. Zhou LiJun was still unconscious on the ground and it didn't seem like he was going to wake up anytime sooner. So the police started searching the house for more evidence of child abuse and possible signs of any other illegal activities.

"Have fun behind the bars~"

Li Yong smirked and waved them goodbye as they left with the police.

"Live with me from now on."

As a teenager who hasn't reached 18, Zhou Feng needed a guardian until he became 18.

"Mm. Let's go back home." Zhou Feng and Li Yong went to Li Yong's house hand-in-hand.

Just as they went inside the house, Zhou Feng let loose his beastly instincts and pounced on Li Yong.

"Mhm!"

Li Yong's lips were nibbled and ferociously kissed numb. Sliding his hand into his shirt, Zhou Feng plunged his tongue inside Li Yong's mouth and swirled it around. The two tongues made contact and entangled as they kissed. Feeling light heated and weak of his knees, Li Yong quickly pinched Zhou Feng by the waist.

"Ah!..."

"Stop it! You're still injured!"

Pouting, Zhou Feng followed Li Yong to the kitchen and sat quietly at the dining table. A few minutes passed and a bowl of porridge appeared before his eyes. Placing the home-cooked dish on the table, Li Yong was slightly embarrassed and said, "This is my first time cooking..."

Zhou Feng stared at what looked like porridge and once again, felt that fuzzy happy feeling arise in his heart. It seemed like he felt the most happiness around Li Yong, the most concern, and the most love.

/My Yong is very talented!/

Bracing himself, Zhou Feng took a large spoonful of 'porridge' in a joyful manner.

However.

It looked like he spoke too soon.

After taking in that spoonful of 'porridge' into his mouth, he discovered a large chunk of an unknown ingredient, in which he couldn't chew, appear. The 'porridge' was too watery, it slid down Zhou Feng's throat without difficulty. But after swallowing the liquid, it left a slightly bitter aftertaste. And that piece of unknown ingredient? Zhou Feng finally managed to bite into it only to have his taste buds invaded with it's bitter juices.

Li Yong stood by his side the whole entire time, eager to see Zhou Feng's reaction to his newly created porridge.

/I hope he likes the bitter melons. They taste pretty good./

(A/N: that's a bitter melon. My mom loves them...ಠ◡ಠ)

Using all his will, Zhou Feng swallowed the barely chewed piece of bitter melon and smiled at Li Yong.

"This dish tastes rather unique..."

"Ah yes! I thought it would be better if I added some bitter melons! You received too much injuries today, you're lucky nothing was broken. Bitter melon has lots of vitamin C, it's good for healing wounds! There's also folate, which will help your growth and development; afterall, you're still underweight."

Zhou Feng: "..." ( ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ ) *no tears left to cry*