Xie Yu had always suffered from poor sleep quality. Not long after falling asleep, he was awoken by the sound of something breaking downstairs.
It was the crisp and earsplitting sound of ceramic shattering against the ground.
Accompanying the sound of shattering were familiar angry shouts. The person's tone held the bone-deep pride of someone who had grown accustomed to holding a high position for many long years: "This is my house! All of you get out—pack up and get out! Remove your dirty hands! Who allowed you to touch me? You think you're fit to—"
Xie Yu removed his eye mask but did not open his eyes; his temple faintly throbbed.
"Eldest young master, I've made some soup to help you sober up. Drink some." It was A-Fang's voice, deferential. "You've drunk too much..."
There was a muffled thud from something else being thrown, then the person's shouting became more and more shrill: "I said get lost, all of you get lost! All you lower-class people, do you not understand human words?!"
"Oh, look at my memory. I almost forgot. This house doesn't have a place for me to speak, right? Instead, certain people who aren't surnamed Zhong still think so highly of themselves."
Xie Yu tossed and turned on the bed. Finally, he sat up in frustration and cursed: "Fuck."
Three years.
It had been three years but this ugly scene was just the same as it had been then.
Three years ago when Gu Xuelan married the famous entrepreneur of A City, Zhong Guofei, the news had spread quickly throughout the city. Not only Gu Xuelan, but Xie Yu, too, was subjected to all kinds of nasty speculation.
The rumors spread as if they were truth.
Countless onlookers, who had just come to see a show and didn't mind things getting out of hand, went ahead and wrote countless 'biographies' of his life. The most eye-catching among them was that of 'the third party and her illegitimate kid.'
Xie Yu had personally experienced many years of evading debt collectors and wondering where his next meal would come from, and had not even been able to pay his school fees for more than half a year. Otherwise, even he might have believed those endless ugly stories.
No matter which of the stories about this mother-son duo was the true one, Zhong Jie, who was Zhong Guofei's biological son, couldn't accept it. He didn't care what the truth was, either.
He only knew the facts laid out in front of his eyes: after losing his mother, someone was trying to snatch away everything he owned, including the most important thing.
His inheritance rights.
After a long time, it finally grew quiet downstairs. For better or worse, the eldest young master Zhong was being helped back to his room. Xie Yu leaned against the headboard and listened to the sound of them closing the door to Zhong Jie's room, their light sighs as they passed by his own door, and their footsteps as they walked back downstairs.
Xie Yu's eyes were open; he was thinking.
Out of nowhere he felt thirsty.
It was as if a ball of fire was burning upwards through his internal organs until it reached his throat.
Gu Xuelan sat on the sofa in the living room, her eyes desolate. Her lace dressing-gown swept the floor. When she saw Xie Yu come down she glanced up only slightly, as if she was very tired. "You're downstairs? Did we wake you?"
Xie Yu had guessed she would be here. He wanted to say, 'How many times have I told you? If he wants to throw a fit, let him be. It's none of your business.' But seeing her like this, he forced the words back down his throat and said in a lukewarm voice, "Happy now?"
