Chapter 16: Bad Seed (Part 1)

Chapter 16: Bad Seed (Part 1)

A woman placed her trust in someone and was brutally deceived.

The woman was in agony, her due date near.

But she had no money and no family to contact. When she realized she was about to give birth, she put on a thin maternity dress and went out into the street.

She flagged down a taxi.

"To the hospital, I'm about to have my baby."

The driver glanced at her and saw wet stains on her dress.

Just as the woman was about to get into the back seat, the driver turned her away.

The woman's water had broken, and the driver was afraid of soiling the car—the fare wouldn't even pay for cleaning the car.

The woman was in despair; she couldn't move a single step.

Just then, a three-wheeled bike came along.

The driver was an older gentleman,

and seeing her leaning helplessly against the wall, he kindly helped her into the carriage.

The driver said he'd take her to the best maternity hospital downtown, but the woman, gritting through the pain, said she had no money.

The driver asked about her family.

She said she'd run off with her boyfriend against everyone's wishes and had cut off all contact with her family.

The driver then asked about her boyfriend.

"He took off."

"Why didn't you get rid of it earlier?"

"Back then, he still loved me."

After hearing the woman's story, the driver's pity turned to disgust.

He veered off the road to the city center onto a secluded path.

He dropped her off in front of an orphanage.

He said, "You're not smart enough to raise a child. Give birth here; I'll get the worker. Leave the child here, and go find your guy. Once you find him, come back for the child."

The woman listened to the driver and, on the day of the Xia Man solar term, gave birth to a boy and left him at the orphanage.

But after the woman left, she never came back.

The worker had no choice but to name the child on the spot.

"'Man' is a nice character—it means fullness. I hope this child will have a complete family and abundant joy."

The worker only doted on Xia Man at first. Over time, Xia Man, like the other orphans, became just part of the workers' job.

When he cried, the workers would soothe him if they had time, but if they were busy, they'd just act like he wasn't there, occasionally glaring at him or rapping him with their fingers.

Most kids in the home had birth defects, but Xia Man was different.

While other children could barely speak, he could already eat on his own.

And it was precisely because of this that Dad Li and Mom Li took a liking to him when they came to the orphanage.

It was mainly on account of Li Su.

Li Su noticed the white steamed bun and curiously pinched a piece out of his hand.

Xia Man could tell Li Su wasn't very smart, just like those other kids.

Xia Man stuffed the whole bun into his mouth, not giving Li Su a chance to snatch his food.

But his action amazed Li Su, as if he had done something earth-shattering.

Li Su opened his mouth wide and babbled something, spitting out a few random words.

Xia Man knew what Li Su wanted to express—

praising him for being awesome, for having such a big mouth.

Dad Li and Mom Li looked at Xia Man with eyes full of surprise and delight.

But Xia Man felt displeased; that look was like they'd picked out a satisfying product.

Xia Man went back to the dormitory to sleep.

Several days passed, and the Li family never came back to the orphanage.

But a wealthy couple came.

The couple were originally DINKs, but when they found life a bit boring, they wanted to have a child, only to discover that both had infertility issues.

No choice—they had to adopt.

As expected,

Xia Man, being the most intelligent-looking child, caught the couple's eyes immediately.

But this look was the same as Dad Li's and Mom Li's—they were sizing him up.

Xia Man felt no desire for a family and didn't want to change his situation. He refused the couple's offer to adopt him, for the first time.

Later, the couple came twice more.

Xia Man saw them give something to the director, who grinned and accepted it, then came to talk to him about how nice the couple was, how wonderful their family was, how they lacked nothing in food and clothing.

Xia Man still refused.

But the director was very angry and hit him.

"You ungrateful brat! You don't appreciate being given face!"

The last time the couple came, they tried to forcibly drag Xia Man into the car. Xia Man's hands clawed into the ground, blood seeping from beneath his nails.

The couple saw that forced love wouldn't be sweet—the child who seemed the smartest was also the most stubborn—so they gave up on Xia Man.

After that, Xia Man's fairly comfortable life changed.

The director must have taken bribes from the couple, but didn't come through. The couple blamed him, so he took it out on Xia Man.

"You don't want to leave, huh? Then stay here forever!"

Later, when other families came to adopt children, the director locked him in the storage room and wouldn't let him out.

Watching one fool after another get picked like the best of a bad bunch, Xia Man started to regret it.

He had no one to talk to in the orphanage, couldn't eat well, couldn't sleep well, and the director was picking on him.

Then, Xia Man accidentally overheard the director talking to someone.

He learned that the director had embezzled most of the government subsidies and nine-tenths of the charity funds.

And that wealthy couple were long-time donors to the orphanage. Because Xia Man had defied them, the director lost a cash cow.

No wonder the director could've killed him.

Xia Man knew that if he didn't leave the orphanage, the director wouldn't let him stay either.

But he couldn't get away.

Since he couldn't leave.

Then...

The director's room was above the kitchen, where the caregivers prepared dinner.

Xia Man sneaked inside and spotted the still-glowing coals under the stove.

He picked up one with the tongs, left the kitchen, and climbed the narrow stairs to the second floor.

The director was napping like a pig, from one in the afternoon till dark, completely unaware of the danger he was about to face.

Xia Man placed the coal in the wastebasket by the door, then sat on the stair steps, watching the black smoke slowly rise.

By the time the fire drew attention and the fire trucks came from way out, half of the orphanage had already burned down.

Fortunately, no one was hurt.

When the director heard shouts of "Fire!", he quickly realized the source was at his own door. The door had already burned a large hole, and going out that way would be like jumping through a ring of fire—he wasn't a circus performer.

So he opened the window and jumped from the second floor.

A lump of flesh hit the ground.

In the end, the director only ended up with a sprained back.

Xia Man was rescued by firefighters from the third-floor rooftop.

Even though he was smarter than the other kids, he still didn't really know anything.

When the flames burst out, the smoke choked him and he headed upstairs, only to realize he couldn't get back.

The director was way too clever and sly; he instantly figured out that Xia Man was the culprit.

He finally had an excuse to dump Xia Man.

But Xia Man didn't want to be thrown out.

Perhaps this mutual hatred made Xia Man feel that he had a place in this world.

Even though that place was suffocating.