Chapter 1 He Finally Left This Hell

Chapter 1: She Finally Left This Hell

"Dad—I don't want to! I don't want to marry that old man, please!"

Thirteen-year-old Cheng Xiaofeng's messy hair was plastered to her cheeks, her patched shirtfront was stretched out of shape, and her scrawny arm ached from the grip of the slovenly middle-aged man.

Tears fell on the back of her mud-stained hand.

Her eyes were red, her voice shaking uncontrollably as she pleaded over and over:

"Dad, I won't marry him, I beg you!"

A sharp *crack* echoed.

A slap landed on her face, the burning pain instantly spreading.

Spittle flew as the middle-aged man yelled, his eyes fierce:

"What are you crying about? You little bitch! Cry again and I'll beat you to death! The old Zhang fellow at the village entrance has money. You think you'd suffer in his house? Who are you to look down on him? Other girls are fighting for this chance and aren't so lucky. He took a liking to you, it's your good fortune!"

He dragged her outside, his tone impatient:

"Move! Any more dawdling and you'll make Old Zhang angry!"

A chill ran through Cheng Xiaofeng's body.

She knew perfectly well he didn't have her best interests at heart. He was just greedy for that thousand yuan from Old Zhang, wanting to sell her off like an animal.

That Old Zhang was sixty-five, a lonely old bachelor who had earned some money from carpentry and put up a house.

Yesterday, while she was washing clothes by the river, his lecherous gaze had lingered on her. Today, he came to her door with someone to buy her.

She resisted desperately, kicking the middle-aged man in the leg.

The man winced in pain, his anger flaring.

He kicked her in the stomach with such force that she curled up on the ground, doubled over in pain.

"Bitch! You have no choice! I've already taken the money. You're Old Zhang's wife now!"

Cheng Xiaofeng gritted her teeth, clambered to her feet, and rushed into the kitchen like a madwoman. She grabbed the kitchen knife from the counter and pointed it at him, her hand trembling:

"If you force me again, I'll kill you!"

The middle-aged man was furious. He grabbed a stick from the corner and swung it at her head.

A dull *thud* of pain struck. Cheng Xiaofeng's vision went black, and she fell straight to the ground, unconscious.

When she regained consciousness,

she was being carried over someone's shoulder, jostled with every step as she was delivered to Old Zhang's house.

Upon waking, the first thing she saw was Old Zhang's bare chest, his wrinkled old face leaning in, his foul breath washing over her face.

Cheng Xiaofeng was terrified out of her wits. She screamed and kicked him in the stomach.

Old Zhang, old and off-balance, stumbled and fell to the ground, the back of his head hitting the corner of a table. Blood instantly gushed out.

She froze in place.

It took her a long moment to dare to creep closer, reaching out a finger to check under Old Zhang's nose.

No breath came.

Cheng Xiaofeng trembled all over, slumping to the floor. Only one thought remained in her mind:

She had killed someone.

She scrambled outside, half-crawling, half-running.

She just wanted to escape this hell.

But the village was full of people, prying eyes everywhere.

As soon as she ran out of Old Zhang's door, people closed in to grab her.

Upon learning Old Zhang was dead,

several men's eyes lit up with a predatory gleam, setting their sights on her.

They hauled her off, threw her onto a bed, rough hands reaching into her clothes.

Cheng Xiaofeng struggled frantically, despair clutching her heart. Just as she thought her innocence was lost and she was doomed, she bit her tongue, the only way she could think to protect herself—to commit suicide.

Suddenly, the world lurched violently.

Amidst the dizzying spin, she found herself sitting at a dining table.

Cheng Xiaofeng looked up sharply to see her own mother, who was usually acting crazy, bobbing her head as she shoveled rice into her mouth.

And a middle-aged man.

Her dad was serving him meat.

Grandma was also adding food to his bowl.

She froze, her throat tight.

In this life, she had never eaten meat, and her family had never served her a single bite of food.

The scene before her was so alien it made her heart pound.

Was it a dream? A fantasy before death?

Then, the middle-aged man looked at her, his tone actually carrying a hint of gentleness:

"Xiao Feng, what are you looking at? Hurry up and eat, finish your homework after dinner."

Xiao Feng? Homework?

Cheng Xiaofeng's pupils constricted sharply. Dad had never called her by name.

Her name was clearly Xiaofeng, not Xiao Feng.

She had never attended a single day of school. What homework? When had he ever been this gentle with her?

A head full of questions churned, unsettling her mind. It wasn't until after the meal, when she walked into the room and looked at herself in the mirror.

That she understood.

The face in the mirror looked both alien and familiar.

It was a boy’s face, with slightly upturned phoenix eyes, skin so fair it was almost translucent, sharp brows, and a well-defined mouth—a look that carried a hint of roguish charm. If he smiled, he was sure to be heart-stopping. Yet, hidden between those brows and eyes was a faint trace of Cheng Xiaofeng’s shadow.

Having grown into his features, he was sure to be dangerously attractive.

Cheng Feng’s memories suddenly flooded his mind.

He knew that this time, he was no longer a girl. He had become a boy, named Cheng Feng.

Simply because he was a boy, his mother no longer had to endure daily beatings. He could attend school peacefully, was the focus of his father's high hopes, and even his harsh grandmother was willing to offer a little more consideration.

Still thirteen,

he would never again be forced to marry an old man or live in fear.

His fingertips brushed over the unfamiliar contours in the mirror, and tears fell without warning.

Why?

Why were boys coddled and cherished, while girls were treated like dogs, trampled upon without a second thought?

Hatred seeped through his bones and blood—hatred for this cold family, this filthy village, and, even more, this world that knew no right from wrong.

Late at night, the all-too-familiar sounds of panting came from the next room.

Cheng Feng clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms.

His father was selling his mother again. His mother, once a vibrant girl from the city, had been turned by his father into a tool for his gratification and profit.

Any man in the village could trample over her as long as they paid. To keep her earning money endlessly, his father had even had her sterilized.

His mother hadn’t always been crazy. She used to hold him, whispering that she would protect him and take him away from these mountains.

But later, his father repeatedly smashed her head with a club, shattering her sanity and crushing any hope of their escape.

A fierce, ruthless glint rose in Cheng Feng’s eyes.

He had to take his mother away. He had to save her.

The next day, there was no school. After finishing his meal, Cheng Feng went out, wandering slowly through the village.

When he was a girl, he hadn’t dared to take a single step out of line, afraid of being harassed by men.

Now, as a boy, no one looked at him with those lecherous glances wherever he went. Occasionally, villagers even greeted him with smiles.

He responded casually.

But he was busy firmly memorizing the village’s layout and roads. He knew clearly that escaping via the main road was impossible—the village chief and his father were in cahoots, and even the entire village, including the police, were in on it.

If they wanted to run, they could only take the small paths.

Every day after school from then on, he ventured into the mountains. He explored along remote trails, leaving signs in hidden spots before returning home.

He was a boy, and his grades were good. His father hoped he would get into university and make big money. Even if he came home late, his father would at most scold him a few times, never laid a hand on him.

Six months later, Cheng Feng had already learned every path in Wantou Village by heart.

But the hardest part was taking his mother with him.

If the villagers discovered them, his mother would surely suffer a vicious beating from his father, and he wouldn’t escape either.

They had only one chance.

If they failed, there would be no coming back from it.

That evening while cooking, Cheng Feng looked coldly at the meat in the pot, quietly sprinkled rat poison into it, and mixed in some other miscellaneous drugs.

His father and grandmother both deserved to die. His grandmother was an accomplice too, and he felt not an ounce of pity for her.

When the food was served, he gave a deliberate nudge with his elbow. The bowl in front of his mother clattered to the floor, spilling the food everywhere.

His father immediately flew into a rage, pointing at him and cursing loudly.

Cheng Feng apologized with no expression, then turned to fetch his mother a fresh bowl of plain rice, adding only some green vegetables to it.

His father and grandmother ate the poisoned meat heartily.

Cheng Feng kept his head down, eating only the vegetables in his own bowl.

About ten minutes later, the two suddenly began convulsing all over, clutching their stomachs as they collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth.

Cheng Feng immediately stood up, found rope, and tightly bound them both before stuffing them into the wardrobe and locking it.

Tonight was a rare break for his mother. No one would come looking for his father. It was the best chance to escape.

He turned off the lights in the house. Hoisting his pre-packed bag of food and water onto his back, he grabbed a flashlight and pulled his bewildered mother along.

He helped his mother put on her shoes and coat, then led her, running frantically along the signs he had made earlier.

His mother, worn down by years of torment, malnourished and poorly clothed, collapsed to the ground after running only a short distance.

Without a word, Cheng Feng crouched down, lifted his mother onto his back, and trudged forward step by step.

He was only fourteen, but he had already grown to five foot nine. Carrying his thin, petite mother was not a problem for him.

They ran all night. As dawn approached,

Cheng Feng finally saw a road that didn’t belong to Wantou Village.

A bus happened to be passing by.

He pulled his mother, stumbling and staggering, onto the bus.

The moment the bus doors closed,

the pent-up grievances and wild joy surged within him, and tears streamed down his face.

They had finally escaped that hell. He wasn’t afraid at all that anyone from the village would come after them or go to the police. After all, there were no cameras there, and there was no evidence to prove he had killed anyone. Besides, pretty much everyone there had blood on their hands. Whoever dared to report it to the authorities would be a fool. Moreover, which household hadn’t experienced death? Those who died deserved it.

He had taken the thirteen thousand dollars his father and grandmother had hidden. He didn’t know how to take a train, so he asked passersby. He and his mother rode the train for a long time, far away from that rural town, arriving in a bustling metropolis. His first priority was to take his mother to the hospital for a check-up.

Just the initial consultation cost three thousand dollars.

Cheng Feng rented a cramped one-bedroom apartment, letting his mother sleep in the bedroom while he slept in the living room.

During a follow-up visit, the doctor said his mother’s mental confusion was caused by long-term trauma and would be extremely difficult to recover from.

The full work-up revealed his mother had early-stage cancer. While there was hope for a cure, it would require hundreds of thousands of dollars in treatment costs.

Back at his rented room, Cheng Feng crouched on the floor, hugging his knees and crying.

His mother was all he had left, and he was determined to save her, no matter what.

But he hadn’t even finished middle school, and he was still so young—how could he possibly come up with tens of thousands?

That night, Cheng Feng didn’t sleep a wink.

Early the next morning, after settling his mother, he changed into a decent outfit and headed out.

No matter how hard or exhausting it got, he was going to earn the money to cure his mother.