Chapter 15

That afternoon, my mother suddenly received a call from Xu Ze’s university.

They said Xu Ze had gotten into a serious fight with a classmate.

The other student was severely injured, and Xu Ze was facing expulsion.

He might even face jail time.

“In any case, we hope the guardian can come to the school as soon as possible to handle the withdrawal procedures.”

My mother held the phone, stunned. “Why? He’s only half a year away from graduation. How could he get into a fight for no reason?”

The university’s explanation was tactful and polite, maintaining a semblance of decency.

“Due to some emotional disputes.”

In reality, the girl Xu Ze had been pursuing for a long time, the one he was about to confess to, had been won over by another boy.

He had gone to confront them in disbelief.

The boy held his girlfriend’s hand and said with a helpless smile, “Your own sister died such a tragic death, and you’re still in the mood for romance? Who would dare to be with you?”

Xu Ze, enraged, lunged at him.

The two of them got into a brawl.

In a fit of rage, he grabbed a glass and smashed it on the boy’s forehead. A shard pierced his temple.

Because he started the fight and the other party was more seriously injured.

Expulsion was unavoidable.

Worse, the other boy’s parents had already called the police.

Xu Ze, who had always been arrogant and domineering in front of me, cried the moment he saw my mother.

My mother remained relatively calm, sitting down to discuss compensation with the other parents.

They were initially adamant, saying they would press charges. Even if he didn’t go to jail for long, they wanted Xu Ze to have a criminal record.

Until my mother offered a million yuan for a settlement.

In the end, although Xu Ze was expelled, he at least avoided jail time.

On the way home, his expression was utterly dejected.

He couldn’t help but say, “Xu Tao is dead. What’s wrong with me dating? Can’t I just live a normal life?”

My mother whipped her head around to look at him.

Her gaze, as if looking at a stranger, made Xu Ze shiver.

“What’s wrong… Mom?”

My mother shook her head and said hoarsely, “Let’s go home.”

Xu Ze now only had a high school diploma. No decent company would hire him.

My mother told him to follow my father to the family factory and prepare to take over the business.

Because it was hard work, Xu Ze was reluctant.

But he knew he had no other choice.

And in his third month at the factory.

Something happened.

A worker’s right hand was caught in a machine and crushed.

He was rushed to the hospital, bleeding profusely, and his life was barely saved.

But his wife had just given birth, the child was young, and the family had lost its breadwinner.

And my father, using a loophole in the contract, not only refused to compensate him but also sued the worker for damaging the machine through improper operation.

As heaven’s will would have it, retribution was swift.

After the worker was discharged from the hospital, he went to the factory with a knife, found my father, and, holding the blade to his neck, forced him to put both his hands into the machine.

When this happened, Xu Ze just stood there, watching blankly.

That was his own father.

But he didn’t even dare to step forward and snatch the knife away.

He only dared to take my father to the hospital after it happened and then call my mother.

I floated behind her into the hospital.

I watched my mother walk over and slap the helpless and flustered Xu Ze across the face.

“That’s your father! Couldn’t you have stopped him, saved him?!”

Xu Ze’s eyes turned red from the slap. He stammered, “Mom, that man had a knife.”

How ridiculous.

He dared to fight a classmate over a girl.

But he didn’t dare to take a knife from a man to save the father who had always doted on him and was about to hand over the family business to him.

My father’s right hand could not be saved.

His left hand was left with only two fingers. The bare palm looked狰狞 and horrifying.

He said it hurt.

My mother stared at the bloodstains on the gauze and suddenly asked in a daze.

“Do you think that night, Taotao was in even more pain than this?”

“She kept calling for me, kept calling… I didn’t hear her.”

“How could I not have heard her?”

There was no answer.

Mother, why do you only understand now?

Some questions will never have answers, for all eternity.