"I, Qin Guan, grew up in hardship. If not for you and Mom, I would have starved to death in that mountain village long ago. Forget studying, even surviving was a slim hope..."
Qin Guan cried. Tears obediently brimmed and rolled down.
Acknowledging their contribution was especially crucial—his father-in-law and mother-in-law had sponsored him for so many years. Wasn't this reputation and gratitude what they sought?
Give it to them. Give it all. These empty accolades were enough to soothe his father-in-law's current rage.
"My birth mother went mad and later left me. My birth father is gone too. I, Qin Guan, am an orphan. An orphan with nothing. Dad, it was you and Mom who saved me. You gave me a second life. In my heart, you are my birth parents..."
Qin Guan closed his eyes in pain and dropped to his knees with a heavy thud before his father-in-law.
"Dad, I cheated with Qi Min. That's true. I did it. I admit it, and I will take responsibility. I betrayed Ruyi. I'm scum. I will confess to her. I will leave this home with nothing..."
He took a deep breath, as if his heart were breaking, as if he carried immense pain and grievance.
"But, Dad, you can't say I harmed Mom. I never did anything to hurt Mom..."
"You can check. Qi Min has only been at the firm for two years. I swear to heaven," he raised his hand, every pore from his eyes to his body language radiating unwavering conviction. "If I'm lying, may I be struck by lightning..."
His father-in-law finally lifted his eyes to look at him.
Those eyes, soaked in tears, clearly still held doubt.
But it was only doubt now, no longer certainty.
It was working—Qin Guan watched his father-in-law's face. He knew him too well. His father-in-law was sentimental, soft-hearted, and also rather rigid.
After raising him for so many years, what his father-in-law most loved to hear must be these words of gratitude spoken from his own mouth.
And what his father-in-law believed in had always been these ethereal oaths.
"I, Qin Guan, swear to heaven!" Qin Guan swore again, his tone even more earnest. "I absolutely never harmed my mother! Neither my birth mother nor the mother who gave me a second life! I never did anything to betray them! If this is false, may Qin Guan die a horrible death, run over by a car, crushed to death..."
His father-in-law raised a hand.
He was stopping him from swearing.
He believed—only belief would make a parent stop their child from uttering such a terrible oath.
Qin Guan's heart slowly settled back down—he knew his father-in-law could be handled.
People who are too soft-hearted, too focused on their own emotional needs, are usually like this—emotional, easily appeased.
Just like... just like his crazy mother.
"What do you want to do, Guan'er..."
In the dim night, the main door was already open.
His crazy mother held the door with both hands. She turned to look at Qin Guan, who was rushing towards her, knife in hand.
She didn't dodge, didn't even show any panic. Just hunched over, gazing deeply at the child trembling in the cold night air in his thin layer of clothes, clutching the knife, staring fixedly at her.
His small face, illuminated by the cold moonlight, looked like ice carved into a sculpture.
His eyes burned fiercely with a cold light, glaring at her.
Equally cold and confronting was the kitchen knife in his hand.
The knife that trembled slightly along with his body.
The knife's tip gleamed with a resolute cold light under the moon.
Equally resolute and cold was Qin Guan's voice. "Where are you going? What do you want?"
"Do you think I'm going to find your teacher, or that sponsor, to tell them your secret?"
His crazy mother let go with one hand. Her exhausted body leaned wearily against the doorframe—her injuries weren't healed; she shouldn't be moving much. She was clearly short of breath now, struggling to speak.
Besides, she was dressed too thinly, in ragged clothes that couldn't block the cold wind rushing in through the open door.
But she seemed beyond feeling the cold.
"What if I insist on telling?" She looked at Qin Guan with a complex expression. "What if I still insist you face this mistake and correct it? Are you planning to use that knife on me?"
Qin Guan didn't speak.
He didn't intend to use the knife on his mother. He didn't dare.
At such a young age, he wasn't clear on his crazy mother's purpose for leaving, nor the true intent behind her words. He couldn't figure it out, but he knew one thing for sure.
He absolutely could not let his crazy mother reveal the secret.
How to stop her? He didn't know.
As a last resort—he stared at his crazy mother's bare head—as a last resort, he could find a way to provoke his drunkard father again, make him beat her. Best if he beat her until she was injured, until... she could no longer remember these things...
"Guan'er, do you... do you want to hurt your mother? Like... like you did to that dog?" His crazy mother looked at him. Whether it was the pain in her chest or her heart, she couldn't straighten up at all. Her body hunched further; her breathing became more labored.
"I... I don't..."
Qin Guan looked at his crazy mother's strange, sorrowful posture in the darkness, at the tears glistening in her eyes. In an instant, he suddenly understood—
It was concern for him. It was reluctance. It was what the books called "motherly love."
"I... I just want you to stay," Qin Guan lowered the knife. In that moment, it was as if something had unblocked the stiff, clogged channels throughout his body. His tone softened, became gentle. "I... I'm afraid you'll leave me..."
"Not afraid I'll go tell your secret?"
Tears rolled down his crazy mother's face again, but there was clearly a flicker of hope in her eyes.
"No..." Qin Guan swallowed, his tone even gentler—it was working. She really believed him. Then, if he pushed a little harder, he could stabilize her.
Keeping her here was the most urgent thing. Then he could slowly coax her—since she cared so much about him, her son, she would surely listen. If she really wouldn't, he could think of another way then!
"I'm afraid you'll leave me. I've only just managed to have... a complete family..." He pursed his lips, "pitifully" lowering his head as he spoke.
"Guan'er..."
His crazy mother was indeed moved to tears. "I know... I know... you're still just a child... I know your heart, but..."
She turned back, looking at this wretched, stinking house. "I truly can't stay here anymore. This home, that man... from the moment I remembered, I couldn't stay here any longer. If it weren't for you, I would have left long ago..."
So it was this impoverished home she couldn't stand, and the drunkard father.
She wanted to leave this place.
Qin Guan certainly wanted her to go. But what if she told someone after leaving?
No, he absolutely could not let her leave.
"Please stay, okay?" Qin Guan stepped forward urgently, two fingers clutching her sleeve. He opened his eyes wide, trying to appear more eager, more reluctant. "Stay. For me, okay? If... if you really can't stand him, I... I..."
He declared urgently, "I can think of a way. Don't worry. I'll find a way. I can drive him away. Or... make it so he never gets up again, never speaks again to anger you. Or... simply, have some accident happen to him! He drinks every day anyway! He said it himself, one day he'll die from the drink!"
He rattled on excitedly, completely oblivious to the sheer terror now written across his crazy mother's face.