Chapter 59 - Brother's Burden

Qing Chen's first sparring partner was his brother. It was a one-sided fight with him on the winning side. Qing Chen was only twelve at the time and his brother was thirteen. Their father was punishing Wei because he snuck out of the house and missed his training. It was Wei's third offense.

It was a spontaneous punishment just before lunch and Qing Zihao brought his two eldest sons out in the garden. It was a much preferred venue when they were younger. Made it seem like they were playing.

Qing Zihao strapped two boxing gloves on Qing Chen's wrists.

"I don't want to do this father," he had said.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to hurt, Wei," he quietly replied. At the age of twelve, the brothers had already received some of their martial arts lessons. He knew for sure he would hurt his older brother.

"Look at him," their father chuckled. Qing Chen tore his gaze from the blue gloves and looked at Qing Wei. He had already known what was coming and was lying down the grass, toasting under the sun like it was just an ordinary day. "He doesn't even seem to be bothered. I think he thinks you wouldn't make a dent."

Qing Chen frowned. "Stop pitting us against each other, father."

"I'm not pitting you against him! I'm just letting you carry out the punishment."

"Why won't you do it?" he asked, still looking at Qing Wei.

"Because I will never hit my children. Your mother will kill me. Brothers, on the other hand… brothers fight and they hit each other. Why not do it with a purpose, eh?" his father patted him on the chest. "Go on, then. Do it."

Qing Chen remembered that his feet felt like they were bolted to the ground. His mouth had gone dry and the gloves on this hand weighed his still growing body. Their father never let them work out their bodies yet as it would hinder their growth. But come with their trainings, their bodies developed muscles.

Their father nudged him with his dragon-headed cane. "What are you waiting for?"

"I don't want to do it?"

"If you won't do it, I'll let someone else do it."

"I can't hit my brother."

"You won't do it?" their father gruff.

He looked at his father. "I won't. I'll never hit Wei."

His father considered him for a moment, puffing out smoke from the small corner of his mouth. "That's your final decision?"

Qing Chen nodded his head. "Yes."

Qing Zihao shrugged and patted the chair next to him, pulling the gloves off his hands. "If that's the case—" he whistled, "you get to have the VIP seat for today."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You're going to watch your brother get beat to a pulp. Sit down."

"No," he growled. "I'm not going to watch."

"You watch or I'm going to pull Lok here and you're going to watch him get beat up too. Sit your ass down!"

Qing Chen felt a punch in his chest even though his father never hit him. He loved his father, but he could be cruel sometimes. Qing Chen sat there as one of their father's men land blows to Qing Wei's body, his body freezing as he could feel the pain Wei was feeling. His fingers hurt from clutching the metal armrests of the seat.

The person left the face unscratched but blood poured out from the corner of Qing Wei's lips by the time their father said "That's enough."

Qing Chen felt his father tapped him on the shoulder. "Will you help your brother get cleaned?"

He couldn't even speak as his throat had closed. Only then he had realized he was crying. He nodded and rushed to Qing Wei. He carefully slung his brother's arm on his shoulder. He smelt of blood and sweat. "I'm sorry, Wei," he said, his voice was shaking.

"It's okay, Chen," Wei choked. "Now we know what to do next time."

After the bath, Qing Wei could barely bring the spoon to his mouth without spilling anything in lunch. Their mother glared at their father the entire time and gave him the cold shoulder for the rest of the week.

As much as he hated to think about it, it made them more responsible for each other. The next time Qing Wei messed up, Qing Chen carried out the punishment himself. Qing Wei looked a whole lot better than the last time. When Qing Chen received his first beating, he had been thankful that it was Wei's fists that connected with his body.

For years they shared the burden of having to hurt each other. Qing Chen's pain was Qing Wei's and Qing Wei's pain was Qing Chen's. Then when Qing Lok reached twelve years old, he was included in their little circle.

Then after some more years, Qing Wei officially became Wuming in their family.

Today, the brothers rode together in Wuming's car. He insisted on using that car because of the top down—which he also insisted they kept down as they drove through the highways.

"So…" Wuming said, a pair of sunglasses atop of his nose. "Feng Lizhao's daughter. I am honestly impressed."

"You knew Feng Lizhao?"

"Yeah," Wuming said that sounded more like a sigh and Qing Chen had gotten the idea that Wuming must've been telling the truth, that if he had stayed he would've been Feng Xuan's husband. "I met him just before I vanished," he said with a grin.

It ticked Qing Chen that he had just realized this fact. Wuming really was the original mafia boss and the promised one for Feng Xuan. He felt his fingers ball into a fist.

"Meeting her today," Wuming began. "It is obvious that she didn't know what really happened to her and her mom."

"Yeah, she has no memories of it."

"Maybe if you would just tell her, she could help you. Make your life easier, you know?"

"It's her father's decision to not let her know."

"That's an utterly stupid decision," Wuming commented. "Maybe you'll change your mind once you hear what I would share with the family later."

There it was again. That fear. The fear of someone getting hurt. Of Feng Xuan getting hurt because of all this mess. Just how grave of a danger did Wuming get into this time? Qing Chen only felt so mad at the world right now. Can't he be just a simple married man enjoying the honeymoon phase of his marriage?

"Chen, I know it's not my place but I think you need to hear this: she's your wife now. She's part of our family. Ever since you married her she was no longer theirs. She's ours and yours. You could chip in your two cents on what she needed to know. Of course, it should've been her decision but she has no memories of it."

Qing Chen sighed, he had thought about this more than a thousand times. Every day it bothered him, even before they were married. "It's her father's decision. He made me promise."

"I just think she would've wanted to know." Wuming took a look at Qing Chen. "Wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, she would've liked to know everything."

"Then move."

"I can't, Wuming!" he said, his hands flying in front of him. "It's her father's decision. I can't do anything about it!"

There was a beat of silence in the car. All he could hear was the wind in his ears and the soft hum of the engine.

Then Wuming said the most stupid thing, "Want me to get rid of the father?"

"N-no! God, Wuming! What are you talking about? No! Are you kidding me?"

Wuming rolled his eyes. "Relax, I'm just joking. Just stop cowering."

"I'm not cowering!"

"Then what the hell are you doing?!"

"It's not the time to tell her!" Why was he the only one who seemed to be getting the logic in this?

Wuming pressed, "You don't want to tell her that her mother died by—"

"Shut up!" Qing Chen said. "Feng Lizhao reserves to have that right. I respect the man and I'll let him decide for his daughter."

"Respect?" Wuming said in disgust. "Pft. It'll get you nowhere. As if you don't know the way of the world: power and violence, we feed on fear."

Qing Chen shook his head unbelievingly. "You really are our father's son. You're his greatest masterpiece. You see the world just as he does. So does Qing Lok. If only you weren't stupid enough to kill the other mafia lords' sons—"

"I did what I have to do," Wuming interrupted. "Those boys were stupid."

"You murdered them in cold blood."

Wuming took a deep breath. "They were taking women, Chen. We beat men till they're half dead and toss them in the sea but we draw the line on innocents--women, specifically. I didn't murder them in cold blood. I murdered them with the purpose of cleansing off trash in this business."

Qing Chen only propped his head on his hand. Yeah, they all have heard of that story. But half the time, their whole family agreed that it was because of Wuming's rage.

Qing Chen felt like he had enough of this conversation. Thankfully, Wuming stayed quiet in the last minutes of the ride. They both unbuckled and went straight to the front door.

"Advice," Wuming said as they wait for the door to open. "Brace yourself just a little bit."