Does It Matter

Prologue

It was dark out, the storm clouds seemed to be hovering pointlessly overhead, the air was stuffy and oppressive, the kind of atmosphere in which people are generally put on edge and gloomy.
The little child sat in the windowsill, looking out on the gloomy night, almost expecting a disaster to appear out of nowhere to appease his boredom, or to give him a reason for his father's absence.
He had been sitting there for more than a few hours now, waiting for his father's return, while his mother paced anxious circles around her bedroom, and ignored his very being. It was long past dinner time, and his bedtime for that matter, but she payed no mind in the midst of her restless movements.
The child had given up on gaining her attention, and sat himself in the window to await the appearance of the living cause of her distress.

One hour had turned to two, which then blended into three. He was young, and had little concept of the time, though his eyes were slowly becoming heavy with sleep.

Finally the rain began to pour, and with it the sound of a door being closed as gently as possible, the culprit probably believing the houses occupants to be asleep.

The child turned from his perch and watched as his father entered the sitting room, at the same time as his mother burst into the room, the worry plain on her face.

His father froze when he saw her, and her expression slowly shifted from concern to anger.

"Where have you been?! You should have returned hours ago!" She was on the verge of shouting, and his expression slowly shifted to one of guilt.
He cleared his throat once before replying,
"There was a problem at the wushanju, and I offered to assist my brothers in fixing it. I wasn't expecting it to take so long."

He was shifting from one foot to the other, seeming uncomfortable and unsure of his explanation, and by the look in his mother's eyes, she had seen the same.

"What kind of problem would require your assistance in that shop? You know less of antiques than even xiao Xie over there."

The child in question cowered in the corner at being brought into an argument, even if it was a minor mention.

His father's eyes turned cold, and it was evident that, being caught in his lie, he would choose to turn to offense at the questioning.

"Zhang Li I have been nothing but good to you in the past, why would you choose to doubt me now? So what if I was a little late coming home, there are other things that I have to attend to than your neediness."

A new fire lit in his mother's eyes, and Wuxie slipped further into the curtain, hoping not to be caught in the ensuing inferno.

"My neediness you say?! All I ask is that you come home at a decent hour at least, do you have any idea how worried I had been over the last hours, look what time is it now?! The sun is almost risen whether you see it or not, and I and your child have been up anxiously waiting for your return home. We haven't slept a wink all night we were so worried for your safety, and only for you to dismiss and attack us on your return!"

Why did she bring him into it again? Wu Xie wondered, close to tears.

"Now you're just being unreasonable, when did I attack you?! And when did I dismiss you? I hadn't even seen our son since I arrived, and I certainly would never do anything to hurt him either! What in the heavens are you going on about woman?!"

Both were riding on waves of anger by this point, and Wu Xie was now looking for an opportunity to escape the room. Zhang Li was close to tears with her frustration, and his father was seething at her accusations.

"Where were you? That's all I want to know. And then I'll drop the subject." She said with a desperate air to her voice.

He glared for a moment, and finally seemed to resign to something, as he gave his reply, "let's not fight in front of the child, send him to bed and then we'll talk."

"He's your child can you not send him yourself?" Li was now feeling petty over the matter, and clutched at the opportunity to bite at her husband.

Wu Yiqiong seemed to think better of taking that bait, and instead turned to his child hiding behind the big red curtain, a strained smile appearing on his face,

"Xiao Xie, go to bed now, mother and I have to talk, I'll see you in the morning okay?"

Wu Xie thought better of mentioning his grumbling stomach, and nodded quickly before running from the room, hearing the muffled sounds of the ongoing argument from beneath his covers for what remained of the night until finally the sound of a slamming door rang through the house, followed by his mother's sobbing, just as the sun was rising.

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The next morning he didn't see his father, and his mother refused to speak at all. He was still hungry, having missed dinner the previous night, and now breakfast as well, but his mother paid no mind to his needs, and locked herself in her room. He saw neither for the next few days.

Three days later, he heard a knock on the door, the first sound in the house since the fight, aside from his occasional rummaging through cupboards for his meals.

Six year old Wu Xie ran to open the door, desperate for human contact after his days of isolation.

Reaching the lock was a struggle, and he eventually resorted to dragging over the nearest chair, finally he had the door wide open, to reveal his uncle Erbai.

"Uncle! I missed you!" Wu Xie cried as he threw himself at his uncle, who carefully caught the child with confusion.

"I missed you too Xiao Xie, but where's your mama? Or your Father?" He looked inquisitively behind the child, into the house in search of the individuals in question.

At the mention of his parents tears sprung to the child's eyes. "Uncle! Momma yelled at Father and Father yelled at momma and father left and momma hasn't left her room in days and I've been all alone! Uncle where did father go?!"

Erbai's eyes slowly widened at the revelation and he swiftly stood to enter the house, leaving the child on the doorstep to wait.

"A'Li? Are you here?" He could be heard to shout throughout the silent house as he searched for any sign of life, eventually ending up in the master bedroom, and closing the door behind him.

Some yelling could be heard distantly from inside, and Wu Xie sat in confused distress fro some time before his uncle reappeared in a huff and stepped outside, kneeling down to the child's height to speak.

"Xiao Xie, I'm taking you home with me, ok? You're going to live with me and Sanxing for a while." He took the child's hand and stood, intending to walk away with no further explanation.

"But uncle! Wait! What about mama? And where did father go? Why do I have to live with you?" A tear rolled down his cheek, thinking that he might never see his parents again.

His uncle sighed, and continued to walk, almost dragging him from the house as he went.

"You'll see them again soon Xiao Xie, your parents just have some things to work through first, and you can't be in the middle of it."

His uncle didn't mean to cause harm with his choice of words, but they stung none the less.

His little mind worked those words around, seeing as they were the only information he would be given for the foreseeable future, and twisted and turned them in the hopes of turning them into an actual explanation.
Finally, he gasped, seeming to have finally figured out the puzzle accidentally presented to him;
His family thought that he was getting in the way. That's why his father left and his mama must have asked his uncle to take him away.
He wanted to sob at the realization, but wouldn't let himself. He was a big boy now, his momma said he couldn't leave home until he was big, so sending him away must mean that he was big enough now. Big boys don't cry. It just makes them weak.