Chapter 81: Home

Li Shun was truly furious; his lips trembled as he began to curse.

"You bastard! I guarded against everything, fearing you'd get into this kind of trouble. I begged everyone I knew to send you off to join the army, yet I still couldn't prevent it. In the military, you even dared to...! And you even brought back a foreign... I'll beat you to death!"

As he spoke, he swung the shoe in his hand toward Li Xuewu.

The alcohol in Li Xuewu's stomach was surging upward. He had been slow-witted at the door, which was why he'd talked so much, but once he returned home and felt the warmth, the alcohol rose even more.

With his reactions dulled by the drink, Li Xuewu didn't dodge. Li Shun hadn't actually intended to hit him; he had assumed that with his son's agility, dodging a half-old man like himself—who was already limping—would be effortless.

Yet, he hadn't expected the sole of the shoe to land squarely on his son's face.

*Smack! *

The sound not only startled the few people watching the child, but it also stunned Li Shun. He stood there holding the shoe, staring at his son's red, swollen face, not knowing what to do.

Liu Yin climbed up from the kang in distress, grabbed Li Xuewu's head to examine him, and cried out, "You silly boy, why didn't you dodge?"

Li Xuewu didn't feel much pain; it just felt swollen and numb.

Li Shun glared at Li Xuewu, threw the shoe back on his foot, and limped out to knock on the door of his eldest son's room.

Liu Yin stroked Li Xuewu's face, tears streaming down her eyes.

Ever since Li Xuewu left for the army, Li Shun had never resorted to violence at home. This time, he had truly frightened Liu Yin.

"That stubborn old man. He didn't look for his son when he wasn't here, but now that he's back, he's acting up again."

Li Xuewu patted his mother's arm as she held him and said, "It's nothing, Mom. It's just a small injury. Sit down; you'll scare the baby into crying soon."

Only then did Liu Yin remember the child. She turned to look at the infant in the old lady's arms and asked, "Tell me, where did this child come from? Whose is it?"

"It's not anyone else's, it's..."

"Then it's yours? With this yellow hair and these features... did you have her with a foreign woman?"

Liu Yin knew her son had been serving in the south and had heard there were foreigners there. She was terrified that her son had done something wrong, which would be a stain on his life, so she asked urgently.

"It's not mine."

"If it's not yours, why did you bring her back? You want to scare me to death? Speak up!"

Liu Yin's eyes were truly red with anxiety; this kind of thing was not to be trifled with.

The old lady said to Liu Yin, "Sit down first. You have to give Xuewu a chance to speak."

"Grandma, I really..."

Hearing the old lady's words, Liu Yin collapsed onto the kang. She was truly frightened by her son. The sobbing in her voice hadn't stopped, and now she began to wail, "Boohoo."

Li Xuewu hurriedly took the supporting documents from his bundle and handed them to Liu Yin. Liu Yin snatched them, her hands trembling as she opened them to read.

By now, his elder brother and sister-in-law had also draped clothes over their shoulders and come over. They had heard the gist of it, and seeing their mother reading, they followed suit.

His elder brother, Li Xuewen, went over to the old lady's side to look at the child. She was pink and tender, with deep eye sockets and yellow hair, and he felt quite curious.

Li Xuewu sat on the western kang, took the cigarette handed to him by his great-aunt, lit it, and took a puff to ease the alcohol's effect. With a raspy voice, he began to recount the child's background.

The people there, having read the certificates and case files provided by the foreign affairs departments and local authorities of both countries, already believed Li Xuewu.

When they heard the child's tragic background, the looks they cast toward her were filled with pity.

Liu Yin had calmed down by now. With a bitter face, she asked her son, "You're only 19. What will you do with this child? Don't you want to find a partner? Don't you want to start a family?"

Li Xuewu smoked, trying to clear his head, and explained, "You might not believe me if I say this child and I are fated, but I'll just say that if I hadn't taken her at the time, she wouldn't have survived any of the three paths ahead. Besides, the situation at the time was very complex..."

He flicked the ash from his cigarette against the edge of the kang and said in a low voice, "I've considered the future, but when I found her under the train, she was the one who grabbed my hand first. Since she chose me, I cannot abandon her."

Seeing his family looking so troubled, Li Xuewu braced himself and said, "Do good deeds and don't ask about the future. If I hadn't done that at the time, I would definitely regret it later."

The old lady rocked the child in her arms, making clicking sounds with her tongue to amuse her. When the others heard the child's "giggle," they felt even more sorry for her.

Liu Yin, Zhao Yafang, and the other women couldn't bear this kind of thing. Hearing Li Xuewu's words, their tears had already begun to flow.

Zhao Yafang choked back sobs and said to her mother-in-law, "Xuewu isn't married yet; it's not good to have a child. Let's put her under Xuewen's and my name. We'll raise her as our own daughter."

Li Xuewen, who always listened to his wife and loved daughters, nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes, yes, yes."

Li Xuewu smiled and shook his head at his sister-in-law, saying, "Sister-in-law, I know you mean well, but the adoption papers were processed in my name. When I go to register the household in a few days, it will have to be under my name. Furthermore, the child's identity is special; it wouldn't be convenient for you and my brother. I'm a transferred cadre, so I can avoid a lot of trouble."

Li Xuewen didn't understand, but Zhao Yafang did. She nodded at Li Xuewu. Two smart people didn't need to say much; a single look was enough to understand what was going on.

Liu Yin was afraid her second son would be burdened and also afraid her eldest son would have trouble. Since the child had already been brought back, she couldn't bear to keep scolding him.

When the old master of the Li family was alive, he was famous for his kindness; otherwise, he wouldn't have practiced medicine for years without accumulating any family wealth.

The old master only left behind a room full of books, a trade, and a reputation he had protected for the Li family through years of turmoil.

Liu Yin gathered her thoughts and said, "Your father and I aren't that old yet. We've raised all of you; raising one more won't be difficult. Let's keep her under Xuewu's name, and we'll raise her."

"Exactly. I'm not old yet. As a grandmother, I can still help my grandson take care of the child. You young people don't need to worry."

The great-aunt didn't say anything. She went to the eastern kang to look at the child and said to Li Xuewu, "The cradle your family had was broken when you were naughty as a child. Tomorrow, I'll find some wood and make another one... no, make two. One to hang from the ceiling, and one to use on the floor."

At this moment, Li Shun walked over from the southern room, limping, carrying a small dish of black medicinal paste.

Seeing Li Shun approach, Li Xuewu extinguished his cigarette with his fingers and stared blankly as Li Shun pinched his chin to examine the swelling on his face.

"Are you going to work tomorrow?" Li Shun's voice was a bit hoarse.

With his chin pinched, Li Xuewu hissed and managed to say, "I have to go. I have to go out again in a while."

Hearing this, Li Shun's brow furrowed again. He wanted to scold him, but after thinking about it, he held it back. He sighed and said softly, "Toss and turn less. Let me live a few more years."

As he spoke, he bent down and applied the black medicinal paste from the dish onto Li Xuewu's face. ===== CHAPTER 82 =====