Chapter 22.2
The cries of children, the pleas of women, and the violent roars of men were mixed together to form a special symphony.
For the neighbors in this building, this had become a must-listen track after every meal.
Ever since the young boss who was once praised by everyone as a young talent failed in business and owed a huge debt, he would make such a noise at home every day while drowning his sorrows in alcohol.
At first, they thought about persuading him, and even the police were alarmed several times. But with the woman’s repeated sentence “I’m fine” and the man’s repeated defense “It’s just a family dispute, mind your own business”, the neighbors gradually lost patience, and the police no longer came to the door.
Upstairs and downstairs, they still ate, watched TV, and did homework as usual, treating the sound in their ears as special background music.
Separated by a wall, they seemed to live in two different worlds.
Only the elderly sighed a few times, “Day by day, why can’t this life be lived well?” Or sighed, “Old Wang is confused, his wife is also soft-eared and unclear, it’s just hard for the child!”
“Ah, who says it’s not?”
The 402 household, discussed behind their backs by the neighbors, were filled with a strong and pungent smell of alcohol at this time, broken wine bottle fragments were everywhere, the electric fan kicked over on the ground was leaning against the cabinet door, and the shattered vase, a few withered flowers leaned out, the withered petals were dyed red by the blood on the ground.
“Stop crying, no crying!”
With a roar from the man like an explosion, a stool was kicked out directly, narrowly missing the crying boy, his tender arm was directly bruised.
The boy’s crying stopped abruptly, his little face turned pale with fright, and he began to hiccup breathlessly.
The woman who was paralyzed on the ground crawled forward a few steps, shielding the trembling boy behind her. She tried to soften her voice, “Don’t be like this, you’re scaring the child. He doesn’t understand, he woke you up, I’ll teach him properly...”
“Bang!” Another empty wine bottle was smashed on the ground.
Splashing fragments scraped a bloodstain on the woman’s face, she just instinctively leaned back to dodge, not caring about the injury on her face...similar injuries, she had too many on her body already.
“The kid doesn’t understand? He’s seven years old and still doesn’t understand?” The man’s irritable roar echoed throughout the room, “I work hard every day to entertain and do business, you can’t even manage a child at home, what use are you!”
With every word he said, he spewed out a breath of alcohol, his flushed face was like an angry bull, pointing at the woman and cursing.
“Prodigal woman, a star of death for the whole family! My parents were right when they told me not to marry you, it’s you who ruined my fortune! You can’t do anything, you only know how to spend money, now that my business has failed, are you planning to run away with some wild man?”
The room fell into a suffocating silence.
The woman lowered her head and did not retort.
She wanted to say that it was the man who had promised to support her and let her live without worry, she also wanted to say that she was now trying to save every penny for the family, and she wanted to say that there was no need to worry about those men who had pursued her would still like her as she was now, because even she didn’t like herself.
But past experience told her that retorting was useless, choosing silence might let the other party vent their anger earlier, and after he got drunk, he might forget about it after sleeping.
...Endure it, endure it again.
...Just endure it a little longer.
The woman still held a faint hope in her heart.
...He was just hit by the failure of his business, sooner or later, he would return to his former self.
...He would become the good man who loved his wife and children again. How much he used to love her.
The boy suddenly smiled, his curved eyes were so bright, it was a brightness that the woman hadn’t seen for a long time.
This made her finally firm her resolve. She looked at the entrance that was still quiet, she pushed the boy. “You go back to the room first, go to bed and sleep, I’ll go and see.”
The woman bravely walked towards the door. She guessed it should be a kind neighbor who had held back the man. Such things had happened before, but once the person left, the man would vent more anger on her and the child.
...She hoped to prevent this as much as possible.
Walking through the entrance, the woman with scars on her face tried to show a smile. But the smile froze the next second.
She stared blankly at the man lying on the ground.
He looked like he had fallen asleep after getting angry every time, but this time, a black umbrella tip pierced his heart, and blood gushed out.
A hand pulled the umbrella tip out of his heart, gently propped it on the ground, and blood immediately bloomed on the ground.
The woman’s eyes followed the black umbrella, and finally, she looked up blankly, looking at the blond man standing in front of the man’s body, slowly shaking off the last drop of blood.
His movements were as elegant and understated as if he had just finished a meal and was wiping every bit of oil from the corners of his mouth.
There was an aura of indifference about him.
“Ah...” The woman, who had finally reacted, let out a short scream. The sound had just started when it was frozen by a glance from the man.
He raised a finger to his lips. “Shush.”
“Madam, please keep quiet. It’s not polite to treat a guest who has braved the heavy rain and traveled a long distance in such a manner.”
The curve of the man’s smile was as perfect as a mannequin’s.
The woman’s teeth were chattering.
She knew how terrifying this man, who could silently deal with her husband, was. At least, he was not someone she could resist. But the emotions that surged in her heart at that moment made her blurt out. “Did you kill him? Did you kill him...”
The brutal king was finally overthrown by an even more brutal outsider, and the weak subjects finally showed some backbone.
“Interesting.”
[K] lowered his head and looked at her. His gaze was like a biologist observing a newly discovered species.
It was as if he wanted to dissect her flesh, dismantle her entire structure for careful observation, making one’s hair stand on end!
“You don’t hate the man who made you live in hell every day, but instead, you hate me who indirectly saved you from hell?.. Even though that was not my intention.”
He laughed playfully and suddenly raised the umbrella in his hand.
“Ah!” The woman instinctively crouched down and covered her head, “Don’t kill me!”
The courage she had just mustered up disappeared in an instant.
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