Chapter 40: He’s Your Dad After All

Chapter 40: He's Your Father After All

Mid-September, and Deep City was still scorching hot.

Xu Moxing's foot was pretty much healed, and the two of them had agreed to go get checked up at the hospital that weekend.

In two weeks, during the upcoming long weekend, the young couple had already planned where to travel.

Su Lichen had a work dinner to go to and hadn't returned yet.

Xu Moxing, who had already showered, was lounging on the sofa scrolling on his phone, hugging a stuffed animal.

It had been over five months since his car accident, and the effects of the accident were slowly wearing off.

Xu Moxing, having lost his memory, had adjusted perfectly to everything else, except his lack of work experience meant his pay was a bit low.

Five years ago, he didn't use short video apps. Back then, such apps existed but weren't widespread; young people mostly used Weibo back then.

Now Xu Moxing didn't use Weibo either—he just scrolled through short videos. He had completely adjusted to his current life.

When the phone rang, Xu Moxing had just come across a short video and was laughing.

Suddenly, an incoming call flashed on the screen—Mom.

His smile faded, he hesitated for two seconds, and then answered.

"Hello, Mom?"

There was silence on the other end.

Xu Moxing sat up straight. "What's wrong?"

Sobs came in bursts, mixed with slurred words.

It took him a moment to make out—his dad had lost money gambling and came home and laid hands on her.

Xu Moxing gripped his phone, his mind going blank for a second.

He didn't know what to say.

He should ask where she got hurt, if she needed to go to the hospital, where she was.

But the words lodged in his throat, none of them would come out. He felt that suffocating feeling from his childhood all over again.

"Son..." Shen Qin's voice suddenly rose, thick with tears. "What am I supposed to do..."

Xu Moxing closed his eyes.

"Did you call the police?"

"Call the police? He's my husband! He's your dad!"

"Did you go to the hospital?"

"Go to the hospital? I don't have the money..."

"I'll send you the money," he said. "Go get checked out first."

There was a pause on the other end, and his mother's tone shifted.

Not crying anymore, but a different tone.

"Do you know why he hit me?"

Xu Moxing didn't respond.

"Because of you! You sent that stuff home, but you didn't send it to him or even contact him. He saw it and got all upset, said you only care about me, not him."

"He ripped up everything you sent and tossed it in the trash."

The tone of that sentence was totally different—bright and almost laughing.

Xu Moxing felt his mother was making fun of him, mocking the care he showed her.

When she'd called and chewed him out last time, he'd figured she was rough on the outside but soft inside, just bad at showing love.

But this time he was sure: no, his mother just didn't give a damn about how he felt.

The things he'd carefully picked out—she not only didn't appreciate them, she saw them as garbage.

Xu Moxing listened, his fingers slowly clenching around his phone.

"The past two years, he didn't hit me. When you two left me alone, he was fine," his mother continued. "Now you send something, and he..."

He cut her off. Xu Moxing was really annoyed, wanted to hang up, wanted to curse, but he couldn't.

"Mom."

She stopped.

"What do you want me to do?"

Shen Qin started crying again.

"I'm just cursed with bad luck."

"I didn't divorce for you two. Otherwise I'd have left ages ago. You two ungrateful brats, ingrates, don't care about me at all, don't have a shred of gratitude."

"Your dad bullies me too. I've given so much for this family, and this is how you treat me."

Xu Moxing was quiet for a few seconds.

"Then get divorced."

The crying cut off abruptly.

"What did you say?"

"I said divorce. I'll go back and take care of the paperwork for you."

There was a long silence on the other end. Shen Qin said nothing.

Xu Moxing seriously thought about whether it was doable. "I'll go back and take you both to the marriage registration office."

Shen Qin still said nothing.

"What's wrong? What's bothering you? You have to tell me so we can fix it. Don't worry, if he dares to touch you, I'll call the cops, and you can divorce—"

I'll bring you to "Shencheng" and rent an apartment for you.

Silence, endless silence.

After a while, Shen Qin's voice softened, now sounding hurt.

"You young people don't get anything... Divorce isn't so easy..."

Xu Moxing didn't respond again, taking several deep breaths.

"Is divorce that hard? It's just going down to the civil affairs office and picking up a divorce certificate.

He's never supported me or my little sister Qing. From my birth until now, he's been living off you. Other women sacrifice their careers to cook, clean, and raise kids—what does he do?

He doesn't work at all—just chain-smokes, plays cards, and gambles on mahjong all day. Usually, when you come home from work, you still have to wash his clothes. I don't get it, what good is he around the house?"

Shen Qin's crying and complaining brought back all the bad memories Xu Moxing had of home.

Back then, Shen Qin washed hair at a salon. Every winter her hands got chapped from being in water all day.

Their family was so poor they didn't even have a washing machine. Everyone washed their own clothes, except for Xu Lan!

Xu Lan was his father, whose catchphrase was: "Why should men wash clothes? Housework is women's work."

By then, Xu Moxing was already in middle school. He shot him a glance and said, "That saying only works if the man actually brings home the bacon. Have you ever supported the family?"

At that time, Xu Lan didn't dare to hit him anymore; he'd just click his tongue and shoot Xu Moxing a cold glare, because he couldn't beat him in a fight.

Xu Lan wasn't stupid. Xu Moxing was now old enough to remember things. If he hit Xu Moxing over something like this, Xu Lan worried that nobody would take care of him in his old age.

As for everything else, Xu Lan never thought he was in the wrong.

No matter what, Xu Moxing and Xu Jianqing were his children. There's no way they'd really refuse to support him, right?

Shen Qin was his woman, and a woman was his property. He could do whatever he damn well pleased, hit her whenever he felt like it.

Anyway, no matter how he treated Shen Qin, she would never stop taking care of him. If he was a little nicer to her or gave her a kind look, she'd be so happy she'd forget he'd just given her a beating a few days earlier.

Xu Lan's eyes darted around, and then he said,

"Fine, let your sister wash them. If you care so much about your mom, have her do my laundry."

"I'm not touching your disgusting clothes! They stink! They're so vile!"

At that time, Shen Qin had also cried to Xu Moxing and Xu Jianqing. Xu Moxing was the softer one, so he ended up doing Xu Lan's laundry for a while, until he went away to high school and became a boarder.

Looking back now, Xu Moxing had a new realization.

His mom was actually just trying, by crying and complaining, to get them to take over all the brainless sacrifices she made for Xu Lan.

If she'd really thought it was wrong, she could've stopped washing his clothes ages ago, but she didn't—and ended up making Xu Moxing help her with the laundry.

So right after graduation, the first thing Xu Moxing bought for the family was a washing machine.

He also remembered something: every time he came home from college, Shen Qin was still washing Xu Lan's clothes.

By then Xu Lan had learned to play the good dad and good husband. With fake sincerity he'd say, "I really care about your mom, you know."

Xu Moxing shot back, "Then wash your own damn clothes. Look at Mom's hands—I don't see you caring for her."

Xu Lan couldn't keep up the act. He clicked his tongue again and shot Xu Moxing a cold glare.

Xu Moxing brought this up with his mother, but she stayed silent on the other end.

"I hate Xu Lan so much. Why doesn't he just drop dead?"

Xu Moxing was filled with hatred for his father.

At this, Shen Qin couldn't help but speak up: "After all, he is your father."

Every emotion Xu Moxing had just stopped, leaving nothing but endless sorrow.

"I don't get why you two act like enemies."

After the sorrow, anger surged up inside him, but he said nothing.

"Fine. Just earn a good living."

Shen Qin hung up the phone.

Xu Moxing set down his phone and sat on the couch, not moving for a long time.

The air conditioner was set at a perfectly comfortable temperature, neither too hot nor too cold. Logically, he shouldn't be sweating, but now Xu Moxing's forehead was beaded with sweat.