Reverse Approach

On a winding and bumpy road, Zhao Qin drove the car fast. Su Beimo sat on the passenger side, always maintaining a stiff posture. Su Jing in the back seat couldn’t help but say, “It’s not safe to drive too fast on this road.” Unfortunately, no one paid attention to him. Let alone Su Beimo, even Zhao Qin’s face was extremely ugly.

 

Su Jing heaved a sigh, sitting shakily, his heart also like a million ants crawling through, anxious and worried. Li Qin’s phone call was like a death warrant, and he couldn’t even understand what the woman was thinking. He clearly…clearly asked her to use the money to send Liao Nanqing to study abroad.

 

She also obviously agreed…

 

But these complaints, when you thought about it, were a kind of self-denial for him to escape his responsibility

 

Su Jing looked up at Su Beimo without saying a word, and the guilt in his heart was accumulating more and more. If he really killed Liao Nanqing because of this impulse, then, what was the difference between him and a murderer?

 

And Su Beimo would probably never forgive his father again in his life.

 

A few sparrows skittered across the sky, chirping and croaking. When the car finally stopped, Su Beimo got out anxiously and pushed the outer door of the house, but it didn’t open. He knocked impatiently, scaring away the sparrows on the surrounding wire poles.

 

Zhao Qin pressed his hand, “Calm down.” Then she said to Su Jing, “You call Li Qin.”

 

Su Jing did not hesitate, but as soon as he dialed the number, the door opened, and Li Qin shrank in the crack of the door like a shadow. The thin cheeks and deep sunken eye sockets made her look very wretched, her hair was covered with dust, and her thin hands carried a small suitcase. Su Jing recognized this, it was the cash he brought Li Qin that day.

 

Originally, he wanted to give a card. As a result, Li Qin insisted on cash, probably because she was afraid of Su Jing’s temporary regret.

 

“Here, here you go.” She scowled and shoved the box carelessly, as if throwing garbage in disgust. Zhao Qin took the initiative and put it in the trunk.

 

Su Jing and Su Beimo had already followed them inside, and the three walked hurriedly without speaking to anyone.

 

It was Zhang Yuangang, who had just gotten out of bed, who was speaking, leaning on the side of the door weakly, obviously not seeing the scene where Li Qin handed out the suitcase just now, so he seemed so calm. He held a glass of water in his hand, a toothbrush in his mouth, and tilted his head to rinse his mouth before glancing at Su Jing in amusement, and slowly spit to the ground.

 

He threw his water cup and toothbrush aside, stuck his hands into his trouser pockets and laughed, “Oh, Mr. Su, why are you here again?” He raised his eyebrows towards Li Qin, “What are you waiting for, go make tea, big customers.”

 

“No need, this time we come…”

 

Su Jing hadn’t finished speaking when Su Beimo interrupted, “Where is Nanqing?”

 

“This is?” Zhang Yuangang tsk-ed, and suddenly enlightened. “I know! This must be Mr. Xiao Su who is messing with our Nanqing, right? It’s a pleasure to meet you…” he lazily peeked over to shake hands, the stench of overnight alcohol was disgusting.

 

Li Qin casted her eyes to the entrance to the basement, she did not dare to speak.

 

Su Beimo calmly held his hand and silently accepted Zhang Yuangang’s eyes full of contempt, then Su Beimo twisted Zhang Yuangang’s hand and pinned him to the ground. Zhang Yuangang’s face was pressed against the uneven concrete, and the skin was abraded when it rubbed downward. Su Beimo punched him twice as if he had lost his mind, but he was not satisfied. He punched Zhang Yuangang again on his nose, and he didn’t react for a while. Su Beimo had the upper hand and did not dare to rest for a breath.

 

Zhang Yuangang drank too much wine yesterday; he had a hangover and just woke up, his bones were too weak to do much resistance, so he let Su Beimo beat him up. He was protecting his head with one arm and cursing, “What the hell are you doing?” He began to beg for mercy, “Bro, don’t fight! Hey, let me go, don’t fight!” The more he shouted, the more ambiguous he became, as he was beaten by Su Beimo with a mouth full of blood and he was confused.

 

Seriously, couldn’t help but fight.

 

Su Jing and Li Qin tried to pull, but they were shocked by Su Beimo’s crazy behavior. Fortunately Zhao Qin had enough strength and snapped at Su Beimo’s side: “Su Beimo, is your brain eaten by dogs like your father?! If you have this time to fight and cause some trouble, why don’t you find out where Liao Nanqing is!”

 

This made Su Beimo stop his hand. He panted, slowly got up, and looked at the crumpled mass of garbage on the ground, coldly spoke: “This account, we are not settled yet.”

 

Li Qin looked away, not daring to look at Zhang Yuangang’s miserable face.

 

In the basement door, Xiao Ze heard the sound and came out. Seeing so many strangers, he took a step back: “Mom, gege is awake…”

 

Before the words were out, Su Beimo had already rushed in.

 

When he stepped into the dusty basement, the scene in front of him was something he couldn’t accept. The person lying on the ground, dying, was actually his Liao Nanqing who was so precious to the heart.

 

Su Jing froze in place, his heart clenched, wanting to take a step forward but found himself without courage. He was a sinner, he actually handed Liao Nanqing to the hands of this beast Zhang Yuangang. Su Jing clenched his fist and took a step forward.

 

Only to hear Su Beimo say, “You stay away from him.”

 

Su Jing was mute, he wanted to be stubborn, but at this moment, he blankly turned his head to look at Zhao Qin.

 

But even Zhao Qin was stunned. Liao Naqing’s tragic situation was the first time in her life that she saw it with her own eyes. She immediately dialed 120. Because of Liao Naqing’s injury, it was not safe for them to take the car with a smaller space to the hospital. Because you couldn’t know if Liao Nanqing had a fracture somewhere or if there was any injury anywhere, his condition was so serious that it had reached the point where you couldn’t move him at will.

 

In the little more than three days that he was missing, Zhao Qin could not imagine what kind of violent abuse he had suffered and what kind of hell torment he had gone through.

 

And beside him was a pair of wet pants, it was still so wet after a night because of the cold weather and the dampness of the basement. Su Beimo recognized that these pants belonged to Liao Nanqing. The silly boy was frugal, and he had bought these pants only when it was on the seasonal sale. Now, it smelled like uric acid, as if to tell Su Beimo nakedly that Liao Nanqing was beaten by his stepfather until he became incontinent.

 

Su Beimo gritted his teeth and the joints turned white, showing his exertion.

 

Zhao Qin frowned and continued to call 110; she wanted to call the police, but Li Qin snatched her mobile phone, pressed it off, pinched it awkwardly, and sobbed: “Don’t, don’t call the police…Please…” She cried out to Zhao Qin fearfully, “You take Nanqing away, and the money will be returned to you. Don’t call the police… Don’t call the police… ”

 

Looking at this poor and hateful woman, Zhao Qin fell silent, did not agree, and did not promise her anything.

 

 

Liao Nanqing, lying on the ground, let out a low breathing sound, deep, one at a time, very hard. Su Beimo kneeled on the ground and carefully took him in his arms.

 

The narrow light of the sky never leaked. The eyes were still open to the endless darkness, behind which was the cliff, and there was never a day of peace.

 

This was a long nightmare for Liao Nanqing, he could not open his eyes. The warm embrace was like a long-lost warmth, he began to doubt that people would return to the moment they most wanted to have before dying.

 

However, what he wanted most was only Su Beimo’s embrace full of love and warmth.

 

Liao Nanqing coughed gently, his internal organs all followed the pain, he frowned and cried out, “Su Beimo…”

 

But the next second, there was a response in his ear, it was actually Su Beimo. He called out to him and answered him in a panic, but did not dare to hold him tightly for fear of breaking him. Liao Nanqing’s body was burning, and he was caught in a hopeless deadly cycle that he could not free himself from. In his gray eyes, there was a silhouette of Su Beimo, whom he had longed for.

 

So he called out many times, “Su Beimo.”

 

Finally, his voice became mute.

 

But his eyes slowly became clear, and if it was not a dream, he really saw Su Beimo. Liao Nanqing’s eyes, which were originally dry and gravelly, became moist for no reason at that instant, and he moved his neck with great effort to get closer to Su Beimo.

 

“Don’t move, don’t move blindly.” Su Beimo’s voice was hoarse, and he choked: “I’ve called an ambulance, it will be here in a moment. Don’t be afraid anymore, Nanqing.” He kissed Nanqing’s unbruised brow, tears rolling down Liao Nanqing’s face that was cold. He suppressed his emotions, his heart ached like a knife scraping, “I’m here to take you home.”

 

Liao Nanqing’s eyes widened, tears falling from the corners of his eyes in disbelief, soaking the hair temples of his ears.

 

He did not have the strength to nod his head, only to look at Su Beimo quietly, he had never seen Su Beimo cry like this. It was something new, but it was sad. He didn’t want Su Beimo to cry so much, because Su Beimo looked especially good when he smiled.

 

But he was always doing something wrong, and this wrong life of his always brought bad memories and experiences.

 

Xiao Ze wandered around them and asked Liao Nanqing reluctantly, “Gege, are you leaving again?” No one paid attention to him, so he ran behind Li Qin, tugging at the corner of Li Qin’s clothes, his short fingers were dirty.

 

Li Qin stroked his head and turned sideways.

 

“This is my business card, if you want to get a divorce and take custody of your child, I can find a reliable lawyer to help you.” Zhao Qin couldn’t help but hand out a delicate white business card after seeing the faint mark on Li Qin’s body. After a pause, she added, “Thank you for telling us about Nanqing’s whereabouts.”

 

Li Qin did not take it, she just looked at Liao Nanqing and Su Beimo with disappointment, and sluggishly covered Xiao Ze’s eyes. It was like covering the scene she didn’t want to see. Escaping solved nothing, but facing reality was even harder. Morality couldn’t bind the life buried at the bottom of the valley, they were desperate and had no way out.

 

“When he was a kid, he was very well behaved.” Li Qin whispered.

 

Zhao Qin: “En?”

 

It took a long time before she realized what Li Qin said was about Liao Nanqing.

 

“When he was five years old, he could write, and the first word was Liao, his father taught him. He learned it all at once, so smart. He was good and cute, always liked to follow me to sit at the door and peel the beans before I prepared dinner.” Li Qin lowered her head and her tears fell to the ground. She sucked her nose hard and smiled reluctantly. The fine lines around her eyes piled up together. “If it weren’t for us, he wouldn’t be forced and raped by the beast next door.”

 

The words were spoken with gritted teeth, and every word reached Liao Nanqing’s ears. Liao Nanqing numbly closed his eyes, but did not have the strength to cover his ears. Tears were something that you didn’t know, and you couldn’t stop it.

 

Su Beimo angrily scolded her, “Shut up.”

 

But Li Qin didn’t care about him, she continued to smile: “From that day on, he’s not good and broken. I want to die with him. I bought all the rat poison. But he’s so behaved that I couldn’t bear to… I thought, I’ll take him out of town. Let’s start over. Anyone can start over, right? I was introduced to remarry, but he was not so lovable. Always hiding in a corner, like a mouse…but a mouse should be like a mouse, just like me, and I live like this ….”

 

Li Qin’s words were confusing and his emotions were out of control.

 

Xiao Ze took the opportunity to pull away Li Qin’s hand, and pursed his lips discontentedly. He felt that he was more like a mouse than his brother, but why didn’t his mother say so? He also hated such gray and gloomy days.

 

Zhao Qin pressed Li Qin’s shoulder, signaling her to stop talking, and turned back to Su Jing, who was standing at a loss, and asked, “Has the ambulance arrived?”

 

Su Jing shook his head and repeated twice, “Not yet, not yet.” He found a point of opportunity to go over to see Liao Nanqing again, but was once again scared off by Su Beimo’s eyes. Su Beimo resisted his approach and even treated him as a blade that could kill Liao Nanqing.

 

Su Jing was terrified and took a step back in compromise.

 

A minute, two minutes …

 

In this silent atmosphere, no one bothered to care about Zhang Yuangang, who was lying outside and yelling that he was going to die.

 

The ambulance finally arrived.

 

The medical staff, under the guidance of Zhao Qin, came in and lifted Liao Nanqing on a stretcher.

 

There was a sliver of light coming through the basement doorway, Liao Nanqing’s cheeks were wet and cold, and Su Beimo wiped away his tears with his fingertips. As they walked outside, Li Qin suddenly followed, calling out to him reluctantly, “Nanqing.” It was as if this time it was goodbye forever.

 

“…”

 

“Nanqing, why do you have to… to go and destroy other people’s normal children? Why?”

 

Su Beimo’s gaze was thrown viciously at Li Qin, and he rushed up. If it weren’t for Zhao Qin to stop him, Su Beimo might have gotten into trouble. But his actions scared Li Qin so much that she shut her mouth.

 

But Liao Nanqing twitched and did not move for a long time. Su Beimo followed him over and clutched his hand. The medical staff looked at each other, not knowing what the scene before them meant, and questioned, “Can we go now?”

 

Su Beimo forced himself to calm down and nodded, “Let’s go.”

 

But he heard Liao Nanqing reply to Li Qin in a very soft voice: “Mom, am I… am I not a normal child?” His words were indifferent, just very light, so light that only the tone of sadness remained.

 

It was a pity that Li Qin would never hear this bloody rhetorical question in her life, because Su Beimo would not let her meet with Liao Nanqing again.