Chapter 286 - Family Impositions (2)

While on the hunt for baby pictures—as ludicrous as that may have sounded. If there was anything that Bao and the Observers… well, just more of the Observers were eager to find out besides a photo of Li Yang naked as a child, it was how the family meeting would turn out.

The desire to communicate with one another on the chat group also resulted in new awards given to Li Yang. It wasn't just enough to be an observer. One needed to also share their thoughts and opinions to fellow like minded individuals!

[ VIP Observers Has Increased! ]

[ Sea Foam: I'm expecting some kind of dramatic scenario. Show that old hag who's boss! ]

[ Owl Brain: Of course, you do. Why am I not surprised? ]

[ DatPeach: Well, who wouldn't? ]

[ Sea Foam: Otherwise, you're just being a sheep ]

[ Pomegranate: But… he's going to be talking to a frail old woman. He wouldn't lay a hand on her. So I'm not sure what you mean. ]

[ TheOneWhoSlaughters: There is no discrimination in death ]

[ Scythe Wheat: ...but there is a thing as filial piety and honoring one's elders ]

[ Owl Brain: There are worse things than death ]

[ Sea Foam: Torture in one's existence? ]

Bao practically ignored the conversation and instead just floated about to take into account its surroundings. It had gone from one room into another and that was a lot of rooms. There was much evidence of something lacking with the family and it wasn't just the absence of a photo album or any sort of familial related item. 

The Panda saw the portraits that depicted the Li Family in a grand gesture that boasted of generation upon generation when it and Li Yang first entered the mansion and surveyed the place… but there was not a single memory of any happy event that was fully related to them as a whole family.

"What a dweeb." Bao muttered. 

There was an almost nerd-like college photo it'd seen of a summa cum laude with accolades, and other similar awards. However, it was just Li Yang alone without anyone with him except perhaps for the person who took the picture.

Well, there wasn't any picture of his older brother either. Much less evidence of the man actually existing at all.

There was not a love to be lost.

[ Sea Foam: Quit stalling about with the mansion tour and get us to the on-screen drama will you? ]

The Panda resisted the urge to roll its eyes. Of course, while initially interested, it was easy to grow bored of it. Bao located the grandmother's bedroom and teleported just in time.

Thwack.

Words often cut deeper than knives, but an actual slap in the face was still something that showed one's resentment. 

Not that it actually happened. 

Li Yang held onto the old lady's wrist and one could actually find a small hint of satisfaction on the man's face, presumably from the shocked reaction of his grandmother. 

"You—let go of me you ungrateful brat!" The old woman tried pulling back her wrist to no avail. "Will you bite the hand that fed you? I've literally given you everything from the palm of my hand and this is how you repay me?"

In the past, Li Yang's grandmother could easily do anything she wanted to do, but now, it was nothing more but insanity for her to think that she could actually lay a hand on him. Now he looked at her caretaker with a sigh. 

"Please make sure that she gets enough bed rest  and that her blood pressure doesn't elevate."

He released his grip on her at the same time that she trembled, not necessarily out of fear, and glared at him with the expression of someone who felt betrayed and treated unjustly. 

There was also a hint of rage within it and possibly a desire to perhaps strangle him alive if she could.

It was a sight that once made a younger child tremble… a part of him still felt that disconcertion within him, an uncomfortable and unnerving sensation but it waned at last. 

He came here as requested, and so he would see it through.

The verbal remarks were harsh as always, but now, it simply didn't seem to matter that much anymore. He no longer needed to live up to the high and overbearing expectations given to him,  he didn't need to prove himself anymore.

It was ridiculous to think that he sought validation and acceptance from them… but that was what most people naturally grew up with. Believing, thinking and hoping that blood was thicker than water.

Sacrificing so much for one's family.

It was about time that he truly understood that there was no amount of love whatsoever that could be gained from this elderly person. All that he could see was self-loathing and bitterness. 

Always wanting to one-up him and reminding that everything he ever amounted to—she was the one to thank for it.

"Did you think that just because you were gone for a year without telling anybody where you were and possibly went squandering your life away—you waltz right back here without any ounce of respect or regard anymore? I practically raised you when your mother died because of you and yet you lay your hand on me."

"I am aware."

If he could say neglect and favoritism was a form of childcare, then she was correct. A part of him hated this woman more than his own distant father who poured everything into the business, but in the end, this woman was the one who raised his father and so, there more than shared similarities and tendencies between them.

He couldn't let his vision be clouded.

Li Yang was actually more bothered that this was happening in front of a complete stranger, the caretaker,  but for once, he actually wanted to see how the bitterness and rage somehow made this old woman live far longer than her peers. 

It was a strange cathartic experience to no longer be bothered about this unlike before.

"All you had to do was keep up with what you were doing—but of course, you ended up having a child with some cheap slut or whore all those years ago." The old lady pointed a finger at him. "Do not think that I am unaware of everything that happens around your life. You cannot hide things from me."

"She's not a whore." Li Yang frowned as he concentrated on her first words. The latter was always just a threat. "She's the mother of my child—your great grandchild and deserves more respect. But of course, it's impossible to request that from you. Is there anything else that you'd like to berate me over for, grandmother? Or are you done? I have something to say to you myself."

"All the things I do to keep your life on track after your brother's gone in disarray." His grandmother clicked her tongue and shook her head.. "But of course, once you get rid of one of them, another just pops up like parasites."