Chapter 23: Sympathy (Part 3)

Chapter 23: Empathy (Part 2)

The Taoist priest arrived dressed like Lin Zhengying and holding a peach wood sword.

Li Shuo had seen him before.

He used to set up a stall in the alley near the school gate, spreading rumors—a con artist who tricked children into buying yellow talismans for five bucks each.

Li Su didn't buy it and didn't spend the money.

"In movies, they use sticky rice to keep zombies away. We're just kids. Talismans won't help when a zombie comes. Zombies have long arms—they'd strangle you before you could even stick a talisman on their forehead."

Li Su was only half clever.

He talked his mom into buying sticky rice and then sprinkled it at the doors of his and Li Shuo's rooms.

But the next day, his mom swept it away.

Later, the city inspectors came down hard, and the Taoist priest disappeared.

Li Shuo frowned. Seeing Dad Li take the Taoist priest into Li Su's room, he wanted to follow but was stopped by a look from Mom Li.

What were they going to do?

Li Shuo's mind was racing.

Li Su was sleeping groggily, smacking his lips and intermittently muttering a few words.

.

They were the same words he'd said the night before.

He insisted he was Li Shuo.

Muttering "it hurts," "don't hit me," "Mom, I was wrong," and so on.

Mom Li knelt by the bed crying, while Dad Li held her and comforted her.

The Taoist priest's eyes darted around, and he asked, "Who is Li Shuo?"

Mom Li choked back her sobs and said, "The younger one—that child in the living room."

The Taoist priest's eyes lit up as he probed, "Not your biological child."

Mom Li was a bit surprised but didn't react much, simply nodded.

The Taoist priest had noticed the scars on Li Shuo, and then looked down at Li Su lying clean and fair in bed. He had a pretty good idea of the family's situation.

They spoiled their biological son and abused the adopted one.

The couple also had violent tendencies, but they bottled up their feelings out of a twisted love.

Their son was hard to handle, and the couple couldn't bear to punish him, so they took their anger out on the adopted child.

The Taoist priest smirked to himself.

The Taoist priest lifted Li Su's eyelid to examine his eyes, then pinched his cheek, opened his mouth, and checked his tongue.

After the examination, the Taoist priest straightened up, closed his eyes, and meditated for a moment.

"Since it was a good bond, why has it become resentment?"

Mom Li was already somewhat superstitious; she understood terms like 'good bond' and 'bad karma.' Without needing the priest to spell it out, she suddenly gasped and widened her eyes.

When she first saw Li Shuo, she had called it fate.

Mom Li swallowed hard, steadied herself, and stood up, and asked the Taoist priest, "So what exactly is wrong with my son?"

The Taoist priest said, "Karmic backlash, soul resonance."

Dad Li wasn't as superstitious as Mom Li; he invited the Taoist priest just to appease her.

Hearing the Taoist priest's mystifying conclusion, Dad Li kicked him out.

"Rubbish! We gave Li Shuo plenty of food and clothes. What karma? We have done him a favor. The favor is obvious. How could a good deed backfire!"

Dad Li was yelling, but then he heard Li Su's weak voice.

"I am Li Su's toy. If Li Su doesn't like me, I'll be abandoned."

Dad Li was startled, his gaze locked onto Li Su's face.

Li Su had now opened his eyes, speaking woodenly, his mouth hanging open, as if the words were beyond his control.

Mom Li was terrified out of her wits and rushed over to hug Li Su.

"Don't scare mommy, you're not Li Shuo, you're not!"

Dad Li saw Li Su like this with his own eyes, and his rock-solid materialism wavered for the first time.

"How—how is this possible?!"

Li Su was dazed for a moment, then suddenly tore himself free from Mom Li's embrace like waking from a nightmare, sat up, and gasped heavily.

"Mom, Dad, I... I think I've become Li Shuo."

Mom Li screamed and clamped her hand over Li Su's mouth.

"You're not, you're not!"

Li Su scrambled back into the bed in fear, looking at Mom Li with terror, and shouted in a hoarse voice, "Don't hit me, don't hit me!"

Mom Li collapsed beside the bed, sobbing.

"Why would Mommy hit you? You're Mommy's son!"

But Li Su looked like he'd seen a ghost, his pupils dilating, curling up even tighter.

Dad Li forced himself to stay calm and reached out to Li Su.

"When have Mom and Dad ever raised a hand to you? Gu Zi, stop it—come here and let us hold you."

Li Su still kept shouting "it hurts," then touched his own face and hugged his arms, as if he was covered in wounds.

Dad Li frowned, his patience wearing thin.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of Li Shuo standing at the door from the corner of his eye.

Li Shuo stood coldly at the door, watching the bizarre scene inside.

Li Shuo's face and body bore the evidence of violence from the previous night, mirroring Li Su's state of trembling and hugging himself tightly.

Could empathy really exist?

Would Li Su feel the pain inflicted on Li Shuo?

.

The chaotic day finally settled into calm after Li Su fell asleep.

That evening.

Their mom came to Li Su's room to give him medicine.

Li Su was gently woken by Mom's soft voice.

Li Su rubbed his eyes after waking up, as if it were an ordinary, everyday moment.

"Mom, I feel awful."

Mom, tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes, said nonchalantly, "Of course you feel terrible when you're sick. What were you thinking, going out to play in the middle of the night, catching a cold and getting a fever? Here, take your medicine, and you'll feel better."

Li Su obediently swallowed the medicine, then took Mom's hand and said, "Did my brother take his medicine too? He was out all night like me—maybe he has a fever too?"

Hearing Li Su mention Li Shuo made Mom's heart skip, and her eyes darted away.

"He...he's fine. He has a stronger constitution than you."

"Is that so? Is that why you always hit him?"

The water glass in Mom's hand fell to the floor, shattering into pieces on the floor.

Mom was left speechless, standing frozen, unable to justify what she'd done for a long moment.

"Alright, get some rest. I won't bother you anymore."

Mom tried to avoid the subject, but Li Su wouldn't let her.

"Mom, when you hit my brother, I felt a lot of pain. Please don't hit him anymore, okay?"

Mom looked at Li Su. Sweat was still beading on his forehead, clammy with fever.

Empathy.

The Daoist's words left a deep impression on Mom. What else could explain Li Su's behavior if not empathy?

Mom could see how much Li Su cherished Li Shuo.

She quietly slipped out of the room.

Li Shuo was still standing in the living room, where he had been standing all day.

The word "empathy" kept spinning in Mom's head as she asked Li Shuo, "You hungry?"

Roughly speaking, Li Shuo hadn't eaten in two days, and he had been beaten—he was likely in worse shape than Li Su, fever and all.

If there really was such a thing as empathy, Li Shuo's hunger and pain would both haunt Li Su.

Without waiting for Li Shuo's answer, Mom marched into the kitchen and made him a bowl of noodles.

"Eat it all up, then go to bed."

Li Shuo sat at the dining table without touching his chopsticks, his eyes fixed on Li Su's door.

Seeing Li Shuo not moving, Mom's voice turned harsh: "Are you ignoring me?!"

In the past, Mom would have slapped Li Shuo for that.

Mom's hand did rise, but it never landed. She stared at Li Shuo for a long time, then slowly lowered her hand without a word.

"Eat your food. Don't be difficult."

.

Because of this, both Li Su and Li Shuo stayed home to recover for several days.

But the brothers barely exchanged a word.

Li Su would curl up in the living room watching TV. When Li Shuo came out of his room, Li Su would vacate the TV and go play his handheld game in the bedroom.

At dinner, Li Su would pass the dishes Mom gave him over to Li Shuo's bowl, but they never even made eye contact.

After dinner, Mom went to the factory to deliver dinner to Dad Li, leaving the two brothers at home alone.

The cold war continued silently, with neither willing to be the first to break the ice and offer a way out.

Li Su didn't want to be in a cold war with Li Shuo, but he didn't know how to face Li Shuo at the moment, or rather, he didn't dare to face him.

Every scar on Li Shuo's body was deeply tied to him.

Mom's mistake was also his mistake.

When Li Shuo was doing his homework in the living room, Li Su would quietly retreat to his room.

Li Shuo watched Li Su's back disappear from view. The pen in his hand pressed heavily against the textbook until it snapped completely, the lead point flying out.

Li Shuo got up, walked to Li Su's door, and pushed it open.

Li Su was sitting on the floor playing a game. He looked up at Li Shuo in surprise, then lowered his head again. The character in his handheld game had already died.

These were the first words Li Shuo had spoken in days.

"Brother, are you not going to talk to me anymore?"