Chapter 3: Ah, Ming Fei, You’re Caught!

Not dead abroad, but simply hasn't returned after five or six years?

Despite having anticipated something, when the news was actually spoken by his aunt, Lu Mingfei, whose face had always maintained a balance of three parts aloofness, three parts mockery, and four parts indifference, could not suppress the ninety percent shock and disbelief that surged forth.

Reborn, shifting from an orphan to a "left-behind child"—was this the setup for him to participate in a reality show about finding long-lost relatives?

Could she please get a grip on reality? Racial jokes had no place here!

Stunned, Lu Mingfei instinctively used his irrepressible urge to lash out with sarcasm to mask his true emotions. However, to his aunt, this reaction only confirmed that he, like her, had been struck by a painful truth. A flicker of pleasure, born from the consolidation of her own authority, surfaced in her eyes.

"How your parents are doing, don't you know better than me? It's been six years. They've only sent a few letters and haven't made a single phone call. They won't even say where they're working. If I didn't know better, I'd think they'd sneaked off abroad to get a divorce."

Today was Sunday, and most of the neighbors were home. She held back the rest of the sentence: "If it weren't for the fact that they keep sending money, I'd be afraid they'd abandoned you entirely." She still cared about her reputation, after all; speaking too harshly would only invite people to poke at her back in judgment. Moreover, she didn't want her own words and actions to damage her son's social standing.

Perhaps sensing that criticizing a father in front of his son was inappropriate, she added a self-justifying remark: "When you caused such a huge disaster back then, your parents didn't even ask about it. If we hadn't covered for you, you would have been expelled from school long ago!"

Upon hearing this, the joy of having his parents still alive was instantly diluted by a surge of anger, and a chill flickered in his eyes. This wasn't the first time he had heard this, and that so-called "disaster" immediately dragged up a memory he could never forget.

He remembered clearly back then—or rather, in his previous life during middle school—when he got into a conflict with a classmate and nearly beat the boy into the hospital. At that time, his parents had just been buried, and he had spent a month in a daze, walking around like a soul-less shell. An ignorant, idiotic classmate had seen this and spread rumors that his parents had divorced abroad, that neither wanted him, and that they had dumped him on his uncle and aunt.

For that reason, Lu Mingfei had set aside his cowardice and pain, choosing to engage in a "real man's" one-on-one fight. Though he was thin, he had never been sick a day in his life, and he possessed a natural strength far beyond his peers—in later years, one might call it a "prodigious physique."

And so, the boy nicknamed "Skinny Monkey," despite the interference of other students, managed to beat the rumor-spreading idiot until his eyes were watering and his nose was bleeding, crying out for his parents and threatening to tell the teachers.

He had acted in a rage for his parents' sake. The fight felt cathartic, but the consequence was being summoned to the principal's office. Since his parents were gone, his aunt went in his stead. Because he had thrown the first punch, he was in the wrong regardless of the reason. Not only was he berated mercilessly by his aunt, but he also had to lower his head to apologize and take over the classmate's cleaning duties just to minimize the medical expenses.

Back then, Lu Mingfei felt incredibly aggrieved, as if anyone—man or dog—could trample on him. By day, he endured eye-rolls and mockery while doing chores; by night, he returned to his uncle's house to serve meals and wash dishes for everyone. Once, while lying awake at night, he had overheard that old woman gloating, saying how lucky it was that she had handled it well, or else they would have had to pay a fortune.

Enduring the two most agonizing days as if each were a year, shame and anger gnawed at the boy's will. Just as he was about to make the extreme choice to either explode in silence or perish in it, a single sentence from his chubby cousin became the final straw: "Lu Mingfei, if you've run out of living expenses, just move out. I want a room to myself."

The words were spoken with such entitlement, as if he were shooing away a beggar, demanding he finish the scraps in his bowl and get lost. In that moment, Lu Mingfei realized his awkward position in this house. They only loved his parents' money, not him. No matter what he did, he would never win their favor.

A peak of fury rose within the boy, his reddened eyes glinting with a ferocity never seen before, like a starving lion of the wilderness ready to tear into its prey. His cousin was still a child, so Lu Mingfei "treated" him to his favorite: a heavy slap to the face.

With zero-frame reaction time and no warning, he knocked the boy unconscious with a single strike. Then, he kicked over the coffee table, shattered all the glasses, and grabbed a fruit knife to pin the family portrait of the three of them onto the wall. After packing his meager belongings, the boy tore up the bankbook that he couldn't access, as if venting his rage, and vanished alone into the sunset.

...

The memory flickered and vanished. Lu Mingfei’s dark eyes reflected the face of the middle-aged woman, who was reveling in her petty triumph. His eyes glinted, and a trace of chill seeped out.

It seemed that history had hit a snag at that middle school juncture. His parents hadn't died, yet he was still trapped in this prison, forced to observe this family's "loving" dynamic at close range.

Well, fine. The glasses he had kicked over had somehow mended themselves. What kind of bullshit "historical correction" was this?

Lu Mingfei chuckled, his tone filled with disdain and mockery. "Well, then, I truly thank you for your 'mercy' in not killing me."

"Killing with kindness" was still killing. If he had been the eldest son of an ancient noble or merchant family, he might have been spoiled into arrogance and folly by his aunt's machinations, eventually committing a grave mistake that would have led to him being disinherited and cast out as a wreck of a man. So, should he thank his aunt for her such diligent suppression, for customizing a life template for him as a submissive, obedient little baby?

Of course not!

Lu Mingfei was furious now! He wanted to drag her to the market square and have her head removed, just so she could experience a "kingly" treatment!

"Lu Mingfei, what do you mean by that?" His aunt’s brows furrowed like a shar-pei's. She had spent a fortune on her face over the years, not to retain collagen, but because she was afraid of getting wrinkles from being angered by him. "Speak clearly! What 'mercy in not killing'? I've raised you for so many years—have I raised an enemy?"

"Ah, yes, yes, and the mites on your face are fatter than me." Lu Mingfei couldn't be bothered with more nonsense. Since he knew his parents were alive, he had no need to act out this play with an old woman who despised him at every turn.

From this day forward, they would walk their separate paths. He would walk his broad road, and she could crawl her narrow bridge. Whatever happened in his past life, it would be the same in this one.

He turned to head back to his room, intending to pack his things and leave, freeing up the personal space his cousin so desperately craved for his "private time." He would go find Uncle Chu later to discuss whether he could help him obtain a visa and passport, and find someone to take him abroad.

Tsk, being a minor was such a hassle; he couldn't even go abroad on his own.

Behind him, his aunt tried to block him, demanding he explain himself, but Lu Mingfei suddenly turned around, his tone brooking no argument: "I won't bother calculating what you've devoured of my money over the years, but hand over the bankbook and the password for my living expenses immediately. If I don't see them when I come out after packing, I’ll head to the rooftop and occupy some public resources. I'll call the fire department, the police, and the reporters to witness a tragic teenager driven to desperation and suicide by his vicious aunt."

Having said this, he felt that might not be enough to stop this shrew, so he struck at her softest underbelly: "Don't you always want Lu Mingze to stand out and become a big shot? Your cousin here doesn't have much talent, but I'll gift him a chance to appear on 'Rule of Law Online.' After all, with his personality, the chance of him appearing in front of the whole country is slim. Since I've already sacrificed myself so many times, I don't mind offering one last contribution before I die, don't you think?"

As they say, the bold fear the brazen, and the brazen fear those who have nothing to lose. This string of reckless, death-defying words hit her like a hammer, nearly causing her calculating brain to atrophy. Her flushed face paled bit by bit. "Lu Mingfei, have you lost your mind? What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!"

"Right, I suggest you go get a rabies shot later. After all, I might be contagious."

"You—!!!"

His aunt truly hadn't expected this nephew, usually as limp as a pickled cucumber, to suddenly have a breakthrough. That mouth of his was just as sharp as any comedian on the Spring Festival Gala, and he actually dared to threaten her.

And yet, she was truly cornered. She cared deeply about her reputation and had pinned all her hopes on her son. This rogue tactic of Lu Mingfei's, being willing to drag Lu Mingze to hell with him, was something she couldn't handle. Locking him in the house to restrict his freedom wasn't realistic; the neighbors had heard every bit of their argument. If Lu Mingfei didn't appear as usual tomorrow, the neighborhood committee would be knocking on her door.

Did she really have to give that money to Lu Mingfei? That was the fund she had painstakingly saved for Mingze to go abroad and make connections!

Just as she was caught in a torturous dilemma, hurried footsteps echoed from the hallway. The door was shoved open with force, and Lu Gucheng staggered in, gasping for breath, shouting:

"St-stop arguing! Mingfei's study abroad application has been approved!"