Chapter 7: Redemption (Part 1)

Chapter 7: Redemption (Part 1)

“I’ve been raising him for over two years, and he still looks at me like I’m a stranger. If I try to hold his hand, he pulls away. If I give him food, he won’t take it. Really, even a dog I’d raised by now would be familiar enough to lick my hand.”

“If it weren’t for Gu Zi having so much energy and getting lonely staying home by himself, I wouldn’t have taken him in. I said from the start we should just get a puppy for Gu Zi, but you said dogs are dirty. See? Even worse than a dog. Spending money to keep him around. Getting rid of him…”

“I like him… but I won’t let him… Such a hassle, and we still have to pay for his schooling. Now Gu Zi doesn’t lack for friends either—his buddies come calling every day to take him out to play. Where does he still need… company? Might as well send him back.”

“No, Gu Zi already treats him like a real little brother. If you send him away now, won’t you break Gu Zi’s heart?”

“So here I am, gritting my teeth and playing the happy family with an ungrateful person, keeping a cold stranger in my own home. It’s such a burden!”

Li Shuo hid in the bathroom, with only one thought in his mind: win over Li Su. Only by winning over Li Su could he have a home.

When Li Shuo woke up, it wasn’t even eight o’clock.

It was Saturday, no school.

He turned over, but didn’t find Li Su next to him.

.

Panicking, he got out of bed and went to the living room, where he saw Li Su lounging on the sofa watching the morning news. Only then did he relax.

“Brother, did you eat breakfast?”

Li Su had a cookie dangling from his mouth, and said lazily, “Mom left breakfast in the microwave. If you want some, just heat it up.”

Li Shuo muttered an “oh” and went into the kitchen.

In the microwave were two bowls of egg-fried rice—with ham sausage, green peas, and diced carrots, golden in color and looking delicious.

Li Shuo took out the two bowls, still a little warm, and dumped them one by one into the trash.

He washed the bowls clean in the sink.

Then he took out a bag of instant noodles, Li Su’s favorite, from the cupboard.

He put a pot of water on the stove to boil.

“Brother, braised beef or spicy flavor?”

The TV was so loud that Li Su didn’t hear Li Shuo clearly, and just answered casually, “Either is fine.”

The female news anchor was wearing a slightly tight suit, and her stern broadcast voice captured all of Li Su’s attention.

“For crimes committed by minors—for intentional homicide resulting in death or serious injury by cruel means—for severe cases—they can also be held criminally responsible. No leniency.”

Li Su didn’t really understand the law; he only knew that killing someone meant prison, the death penalty, execution by firing squad.

A phrase he often heard on the legal channel stuck in his mind.

“Justice has long arms.”

Captured fugitives, their faces pixelated, dressed in prison uniforms, would calmly recount their crime stories.

Li Su enjoyed these shows as if he were listening to stories.

Manslaughter, premeditated murder, crime of passion.

Affairs, domestic violence, hatred.

Killing the elderly, a spouse, or a close friend.

The criminals themselves would tell their own stories.

Li Su felt no empathy for the emotions behind those stories; he simply thought that anyone who broke the law was in the wrong.

But now, he no longer felt that way.

The female anchor’s cold, stern voice stirred fear in him.

As if every hidden secret were being exposed.

This made him suddenly think of Wu Yi.

Wu Yi, buried deep in his memory.

Wu Yi.

Wu Yi.

What is Wu Yi doing now?

All Li Su knew about him was his name.

Had Wu Yi returned to a family like he had? Had he been affected the same way? Had he too been branded a murderer?

This was the first time in a long time that Li Su had seriously thought about Wu Yi.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked at the door.

Li Su was about to get up to answer the door, but Li Shuo beat him to it.

“Brother, just keep watching TV.”

Li Su lay back on the sofa.

In less than two minutes, Li Shuo was back.

Li Su asked, “Who was it?”

Li Shuo said, “I don’t know. A man in a black suit. He asked if this was the Li family’s house.”

Li Su went “oh” and then joked with Li Shuo.

“Didn’t Mom tell us not to open the door to strangers?”

Li Shuo paused, then laughed. “I forgot. But even if he was a bad guy, I’d be the one protecting you.”

Li Su wasn’t as cheerful as Li Shuo, but he smiled too, though a strange unease settled in his heart.

Early in the morning, a man in a black suit knocking on the door, asking if this was the Li family’s home.

The latest criminal case was on TV.

Li Su listened until he was scared stiff, then turned off the TV and darted into the kitchen.

"Didn’t Mom prepare breakfast? Why are you cooking instant noodles?"

Li Shuo didn’t explain the fact that Mom’s egg-fried rice had vanished, just said, "You like instant noodles."

Li Su laughed. If Mom were here, she definitely wouldn't allow him to eat instant noodles, but Li Shuo was different—whether it was morning or midnight, as long as Li Su wanted some, Li Shuo would make it for him.

"I want two eggs and a sausage!"

Li Shuo said cheerfully, "Will eating that get you a perfect score on your test?"

Li Su said in mock anger: "That's your business!"

Two steaming bowls of instant noodles were set on the table. Li Su was just about to start eating when there was another knock on the door.

Li Shuo was washing the pan in the kitchen.

A strange feeling stirred inside Li Su, making him restless. He hesitated, unsure if he should go check.

Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock.

The knocking grew more urgent.

Li Su couldn't sit still any longer. He tiptoed to the front door, stood on tiptoe, and looked through the peephole.

He didn’t see anyone.

But the knocking continued.

!

Li Su’s hands and feet went cold with terror.

Even though Mom had said not to open the door to strangers, that only applies if you can see who it is!

Li Su was both scared and curious.

He couldn’t help it—he was at that age where he had to figure out anything he was curious about.

After hooking the safety chain on the door and making sure it was secure, Li Su pressed his body against the door, carefully turned the knob, and slowly opened it.

A pale, slender hand with prominent knuckles gripping the doorframe and pushing inward.

Li Su fell to the floor in fright.

He instinctively moved to shut the door, but when he noticed the hand wasn't an adult's, he hesitated.

A voice came from the crack.

"It’s me, Wu Yi."

Wu Yi?

Wu Yi!

Wu Yi!

Li Su’s eyes widened in disbelief.

He unfastened the chain and opened the door completely.

Song Wuyi stepped out from beside the door.

No wonder Li Su hadn’t seen anyone earlier—there was a blind spot.

Only then did Li Su realize that the person knocking was Wu Yi, who he hadn't heard from in over two months.

"Li Su, long time no see."

Song Wuyi greeted Li Su with a blank expression.

Li Su hadn’t yet recovered from the shock, and asked in a daze, "Are you really Wu Yi?"

The Wu Yi in his memory had a dirty face that was hard to distinguish, and he stank. This—this was nothing like the little gentleman before him, dressed in a sharp little suit, with neat hair and delicate features!

Song Wuyi gave off a warm, pleasant vibe, showing no signs of being someone who would swing a knife and cut off an arm.

Li Su didn’t know how to react. The Song Wuyi in front of him was a complete stranger; only his voice sounded familiar.

He kept staring at Song Wuyi until he heard Li Shuo’s voice behind him.

"Brother, who is he?"

Li Su turned around. Li Shuo's face was just as blank as Song Wuyi's.

"He, he’s…"

Li Su didn’t even know how to introduce him.

Song Wuyi took a step inside and introduced himself to Li Shuo: "My name is Song Wuyi. I'm a friend Li Su can't afford to lose."

Cannot afford to lose?

A friend is just a friend—why add such a weird description?

Li Shuo frowned, his eyes cold.

"I know all of my brother’s friends, and I’ve never heard him mention you."

Song Wuyi slowly shifted his gaze from Li Shuo to Li Su, noticing how uncomfortable he looked.

"Li Su, in over two months, haven't you thought about me?"

Li Su said hoarsely, "I was just thinking about you…"

I was just thinking about him, and then he appeared.

Li Su moved aside, intending to invite Song Wuyi in.

But Li Shuo pulled Li Su back, blocking Song Wuyi at the doorway.

Song Wuyi was three years older and a full head taller than Li Shuo, so Li Shuo's attempt to block him didn't bother him. However, he didn't see the warm expression he'd expected on Li Su's face, which annoyed him.

"Li Su, I don't have much time. I just came to see you today. We'll meet again."

Then Song Wuyi left.

Li Su followed him out the door and stood at the doorway, watching Song Wuyi's retreating figure.

When Song Wuyi reached the stairwell, two men in black appeared, one on each side, following behind him.

Li Shuo also poked his head out and pointed at the back of one of the men in black, saying, "That's the one who was knocking at the door just now, like a mobster."

Li Su's mind was a mess.

Seeing Wu Yi again didn't seem to make him happy.

Perhaps that incident had way too big an effect on him, so big that he occasionally felt a bit of resentment toward Wu Yi.

"Brother, let's go back."

Li Shuo grabbed Li Su's hand and pulled him back inside, then locked the door.

The sudden appearance of this person made Li Shuo really uneasy.

A friend.

Li Su shouldn't have any more friends.

Moreover, the two men in black felt really menacing to Li Shuo.

It wasn't that he was scared.

But it felt like their presence was taking something away from him.

"Brother, what kind of friend is he?" Li Shuo kept asking Li Su.

When Li Su had told Li Shuo about his experiences, he had used 'him' to refer to Song Wuyi. So, except for their parents, who had talked to the cops, no one else knew the name of the other boy involved in that incident.

Li Su couldn't just make up an explanation out of nowhere for this sudden friend, so he simply replaced the 'him' in the story with Wu Yi.

Li Shuo's expression suddenly changed, his brows furrowed, and his eyes turned mean.

"He's the one who got my brother into danger, who got him hurt! How can he be your friend!"

Li Su felt a guilty twinge.

He now deeply distrusted the word 'friend', because the people who had walked away from him had made the word 'friend' seem just as unreliable as Li Shuo said.

Moreover, he had completely forgotten how he even became friends with Song Wuyi.

What they had said, what they had done—all of it was wiped clean from his memory after he woke up in the hospital. All he could remember was the image of Song Wuyi swinging a cleaver and slaughtering that man.

Now, whenever Li Su thought back to it, he only felt a chill of fear afterward.

"Alright, alright. Let's just eat the noodles."