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墨書 Inktalez
Since that day, Zhu Wenbin treated me and his mother as if we were his enemies; the home no longer felt like a home. I began to wonder if this house had been given to the wrong person.
One day, after drinking, Zhu Wenbin came home and saw me sitting on his sofa watching TV. Without a word, he kicked me. "Get back to your own room! This TV is mine; what are you watching?"
I was stunned. A man in his fifties had just kicked his own father. I stood up and slapped him across the face. "I am your father! How dare you speak to me like that?"
That slap ignited the fuse completely. Zhu Wenbin rushed at me like a madman, throwing punches and kicks. If it hadn't been for the neighbors hearing the commotion and coming to break it up, I might have been seriously hurt.
"Zhu Jingsi, listen to me," he shouted, pointing a finger at my nose. "This house is mine! You and my mother are not welcome here anymore! Go live with your eldest son!"
My heart felt like it was being torn apart. I couldn't understand how I could have raised such a son. Just like that, we were driven out of our own home.
With no other options and no houses available in the village, we couldn't bear to go to our eldest son's place either. My wife and I had no choice but to go to Jiangsu in search of work. I thought that if we left for a while, maybe Zhu Wenbin would calm down, and perhaps our father-son relationship could be repaired.
Life in Jiangsu was tough. We lived in a dilapidated worker's shed; I could find some odd jobs at construction sites while my wife collected scrap materials. We managed to scrape by.
But in the quiet of the night, I often thought back to when I used to hold Zhu Wenbin's hand as a child, when he would call me "Daddy" in his sweet little voice. Where had that obedient and sensible boy gone?
Nearly two years passed like this, and in early 2012, a relative back home passed away. According to custom, we had to return for the funeral. I thought that after being away for so long, Zhu Wenbin's anger must have subsided. This time, we could reconcile and return to how things used to be.
On that rainy day, my partner and I, weary from our travels, arrived at Zhu Wenbin's doorstep. I hesitated to enter directly and instead knocked politely on the door.
"Who is it?" Zhu Wenbin opened the door, and upon seeing us, his face immediately darkened.
"Son, Mom and Dad are back. Uncle Wang from the village has passed away, and we need to go pay our respects. We were hoping to stay with you for a couple of days..."
Before I could finish my sentence, Zhu Wenbin kicked our luggage out, sending it crashing into the mud.
"Get lost! You’re not welcome here! What parents? I haven’t recognized you as my parents for a long time!"
My partner burst into tears right then. "Son, we are your real parents..."
"Don’t call me son!" Zhu Wenbin roared. "If you come back again, I'll hit you every time I see you!"
With that, he slammed the door shut, leaving us standing in the rain, desolate and heartbroken. In that moment, my heart felt dead.
We had no choice but to seek refuge with our eldest son. After a few uncomfortable days there, we returned to Jiangsu in shame. It was no better; while he didn’t throw us out directly, he came close to cursing us.
The gossip in the village spread quickly. Everyone knew that I, Zhu Jingsi, had lived an honest life only to raise a thankless son; it felt like a cruel twist of fate. Hearing such words made me wish I could just disappear into the ground.
Six months later, when another relative passed away, I steeled myself and returned to the village. I didn’t expect much from my two sons; I just planned to stay with some relatives for a few days. However, this only seemed to infuriate Zhu Wenbin even more.
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