Delinquent High

Chapter 100

Wei Wuxian startled from his reverie after a loud bang. He got dissatisfied at once. Was he not even allowed to enjoy his madness in piece? Were there still people who were after him even now? He heard loud stomping steps and he sighed internally. Well, it seemed like his peaceful moment was about to end. May as well, he did not deserve nice moments anyway.

"Excuse the intrusion," a familiar voice said.

Wei Wuxian opened his eyes only to see the figure of Madame Yu sweeping across the room. That was surprising, but not too much. He had already been wondering why she had not appeared earlier to deal with him. She must have read the letters as well, but it seemed like she was not satisfied with his apologies. Well, he had not expected she would be.

Way more shocking discovery was that his mind was still letting him think he was in Lan Wangji's house, even being hugged by the other in a warm embrace. He should have already been in jail or homeless, he did not have any right to imagine taking advantage of his childhood friend any more. Yet, here he was. With Lan Wangji keeping him in his lap and humming a low-key tune into his ear.

Everyone else was here as well. They were sitting around the conference table and either looking at the approaching Madame Yu or staring at him. Wei Wuxian shuddered under their gazes. He felt like he was being judged and observed like a small insignificant insect. He shuddered. The looks were weighing heavily on his heart and he could not help but to want to withdraw back into that place where it had been just him and Lan Wangji's hands around him.

It was impossible though. His eyes followed Madame Yu as she came to stand opposite to him, on the other side of the conference table. And on that table, he saw a neatly arranged stack of his apology letters.

His heart dropped through the couch and fell onto the ground. Dread overtook his very being. If there had been even a miniature chance that the letters had not been read, it had disappeared. For last time he had seen them, they had been scattered all over the living room and the kitchen area. If someone had picked them up, they must have seen.

Apathetically, Wei Wuxian watched Madame Yu stop and take a deep breath. There was something not right about her, but he could not quite pinpoint what exactly it was. His attention was attracted to the phone she was holding in one of her hands. The screen was lit up and she turned it to show him. Wei Wuxian stared at it, or more like through it in fact, he could not see anything. What was she trying to show him?

"Wei Wuxian, is it true?" she asked, her voice very uncharacteristically soft. There was a curious undertone to it and if Wei Wuxian's mind was not refusing to properly assess the reality, he would have noticed that it was husky and somewhat hoarse.

He was taken aback instantly. He had been prepared for a harsh lecture and it would not have surprised or distressed him. He was however shocked by the soft voice.

"Is all that you wrote true? Were you really struggling like this the whole time?" Madame Yu asked again.

The question was still not making any sense to Wei Wuxian's ears. He did not understand at all from where she was coming from. Or what she was trying to show him on the screen of her phone. But there was that soft spoken voice she used.

Despite himself, he looked up and finally realized what he should have seen earlier. Madame Yu was crying. And Uncle Jiang was standing behind her and hugging her shoulders. She had never looked this weak and devastated. Wei Wuxian had only ever seen her as a strong and ambitious woman who would not forgive him for tarnishing her family's reputation. He had never seen her this... broken.

He did not say anything and only stared blankly. His mind was done with him now and it decided he did not need any rational thinking anymore. Or any thoughts for that matter. All he could do was being a spectator who was watching a play that he did not understand at all. Even if the main actor of that play was him.

Suddenly, Madame Yu shook Uncle Jiang's hands away and went around the conference table in one swift motion. Before Wei Wuxian or anyone else could react in any way, she kneeled down in front of him and kowtowed.

"A-Ying, I had no idea it was this bad. It is true I was angry and I wanted to teach you a lesson, but not like this. I never imagined the experience would break you to this point. I am sorry."

Now, Wei Wuxian could hear tears in her voice. It was so strange that his mind was called from its apathy filled place back to reality. If this was a dream, it was the weirdest on he had ever had. No, wait, that was not quite right now that he was thinking about it. Back during his first days at the Delinquent High, back when he had thought he was at his lowest but still had a long way to go to reach the actual bottom, she had been nice to him as well. It had been strange then, and it was even stranger right now.

Wei Wuxian was watching her with open mouth, he had no idea how he should react. Seeing his adoptive mother kowtowing to him and apologizing, it was something he had never thought possible. How should and could he react to that as her former son? He looked around for help, but everyone else seemed equally as shocked as him.

After a very long while, it was Jiang Cheng who broke the silence: "Wei Wuxian, it is true what you wrote in those letters?"

His voice was also soft and meek, no traces of any scolding or harshness. That was weird as well, but infinitely less so than Madame Yu's behaviour. Wei Wuxian decided that it was easier to deal with his brother first and he slowly turned towards him. His head was lowered in shame. He had not actually intended to send those letters out, and here they were when the situation has gotten as bad as it was.

He took a shallow breath and then he nodded his head. He did not believe he would be able to speak so he preferred to reply to Jiang Cheng's question in this way.

The silence in the room became thicker and all that could be heard were Madame Yu's quiet sobs and pleas for forgiveness. Wei Wuxian could not take hearing or seeing her this broken and more on instinct then anything else, he slowly reached out his hand and put it onto her shoulder: "Madame Yu, it is fine, it was all my fault anyway. You do not have to apologize; you only did what I deserved. I can finally see the person I really am thanks to you."