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墨書 Inktalez
The day after my son was taken away, my partner and I finally returned to that empty house. The rooms were desolate and cold. I sat on the sofa, staring at the unfinished sales contract on the coffee table, unable to articulate the emotions swirling within me.
"Old man, we managed to keep the house, but this family is shattered," my partner sighed. I remained silent. At seventy-five years old, having endured so much, I no longer knew whether to feel happy or sad.
Three days later, the police station notified me to come in for a statement. Officer Xiao Wang informed me, "Master Hou, after investigation, your son and daughter-in-law are indeed suspected of fraud. However, considering this is an internal family dispute, if you choose not to pursue it, we can mediate."
"Not pursue it?" I chuckled bitterly. "They forced me to live in the stairwell for half a month, nearly freezing to death. And I shouldn't pursue it?"
"So your stance is..."
"Handle it however you see fit; I have no son," I replied coldly.
A week later, the court's verdict was announced. The house belonged to me; Hou Zuo Qing and his wife were convicted of fraud and sentenced to one year in prison with a suspended sentence.
Once the news spread, the entire neighborhood buzzed with gossip.
"That old man Hou Deyuan is ruthless; he sent his own son to jail."
"Ruthless? His son was the one who lost his humanity first!"
"But he's still his biological son; isn't this too extreme?"
"Too extreme? Where was he when his son forced him into the stairwell?"
Listening to their discussions, I felt a mix of emotions.
Two months later, one afternoon, the doorbell rang. I opened the door to find Hou Zuo Qing standing there, looking much thinner than before, with dark circles under his eyes.
"Dad..." he started.
I looked at him without saying a word.
"Dad, I was wrong." Suddenly, he knelt down before me. "I truly realize my mistakes."
My heart softened a bit, but I still remained silent.
"Dad, please forgive me. I promise to be filial to you and Mom from now on."
"Filial?" I scoffed. "When you were forcing us into the stairwell, did you think about being filial?"
"Dad, I was blinded by my own desires..."
"What about it?" I interrupted him. "Have you ever considered that if I hadn't discovered your plan to sell the house, we wouldn't even have this home anymore?"
"Dad, I really know I was wrong..."
"Know you were wrong?" I became increasingly agitated as I spoke. "Did you know you were wrong when you kicked your mother down the stairs? Did you know you were wrong when you said it would be just fine if we froze to death?"
Hou Zuo Qing lowered his head, unable to look at me.
"Dad, just think of me as a dog and give me one more chance."
"A dog?" I trembled with anger. "Even a dog knows how to protect its owner; you're even worse than a dog!"
At that moment, my wife walked out of the room.
Seeing our son kneeling on the ground, her heart softened. "Old man, let it go. After all, he is our son..."
"Our son?" I pointed at Hou Zuo Qing and said to my wife, "Does he still count as our son? When we were almost freezing to death in the stairwell, what was he doing? Planning to sell the house!"
My wife fell silent.
I looked at Hou Zuo Qing kneeling on the floor and suddenly remembered something.
"Hou Zuo Qing, let me ask you this: if I hadn't discovered that you were planning to sell the house, what would you have done?"
Hou Zuo Qing didn't dare to speak.
"Speak up!" I shouted.
"I... I..."
"Were you planning to sell the house, take the money, and leave us to fend for ourselves?"
Hou Zuo Qing still remained silent, but I could see the answer in his expression.
That was it. If I hadn't found out, he really would have done that.
"Get out," I said calmly. "From now on, I have no son."
"Dad..."
"Get out!"
Hou Zuo Qing slowly stood up, glanced at me, then at my wife, and ultimately walked away.
Since then, he never came back.
Now, three years have passed. My wife and I live in this house; though lonely, at least we are stable.
Our younger son and daughter occasionally come to see us, but they have their own lives and can't rely on them all the time.
Some people ask me if I regret it—regret sending my eldest son to jail?
I thought about it for a long time, and my final answer is: no regrets.
At 75 years old, I've been through it all.
I know what is right and what is wrong.
I also understand that some things, once they happen, can never be undone.
That winter, I nearly froze to death living in the stairwell.
But what truly chilled my heart was not the twenty degrees below zero cold, but the indifference of my own son.
I managed to keep the house, but this family had long since fallen apart.
Sometimes, in the dead of night, I wonder if things would have turned out differently had I not given him the house.
But after thinking it over, I still believe that I am not the one at fault.
The fault lies with him for forgetting the fundamentals of being human.
The belief that raising children is a safeguard for old age is a notion from our generation.
But now I understand that a son who cannot be relied upon is worse than relying on oneself.
My only wish now is to live out the rest of my days peacefully with my partner.
As for that Unfilial Son, I have long considered him dead.
Some say I am heartless for pushing my own son to such extremes.
But I want to ask those people: when a son forces his 75-year-old parents to live in a stairwell, has he ever thought about the meaning of being heartless?
Human hearts are made of flesh, yet some are harder than stone.
I do not seek their understanding; I only hope that those children with a conscience will read my story and reflect on their own parents.
Do not wait until you have lost them to feel regret.
Do not wait until you are old to understand what loneliness truly means.
This is my story, the heartfelt words of a 75-year-old.
If you have such an Unfilial Son around you, please tell them:
The kindness of parents is as vast as mountains and seas; one cannot live without conscience.
Houses can be bought again, money can be earned anew, but there is only one set of parents.
Once lost, they can never be found again.
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