1 The past.
Living in Chongqing as a child was one of Wang Yong's darkest memories throughout his life.
His father, Liu Zhiqiang was a well paid pharmacist who was greatly respected for his great talent and special skills, earning the title God of Alchemy. At the peak of his career, his parents picked a young beautiful woman with hidden secrets for him to marry, perfecting his image of a man pursuing flawlessness.
But they were greatly disappointed.
His mother, Fan Qiuyue was a spendthrift who was cunning and pretentious. It irked his father to no end but he tried his best to tolerate it, saying that he would work harder to spoil his beautiful wife.
Nobody noticed the little bumps on her head being disguised by the elegant styling of her auburn hair. They didn't see the purple bruises on her skin she hid by wearing long sleeves dresses that were admired by her fellow socialites.
It seemed that Liu Zhiqiang was not the person he appeared to be.
On their two year anniversary, Fan Qiuyue was discovered by her mother-in-law with a packet of codeine. That night, she was thrown out of the house.
She pleaded and begged, claiming that it was for a childhood injury she had and it was prescribed by her family doctor but her husband ignored her and closed the doors of his house against her, leaving her in the streets.
She roamed the streets living as a beggar for a month.
Liu Zhiqiang was preparing to marry a second wife when he found out that his wife was admitted in a hospital in a critical condition.
She was hit by a drunk diver but that wasn't the reason he had paid for the hospital expenses and forgiven her.
She was two months pregnant.
The doctor warned that it was found that they were traces of codeine and morphine in her blood and they should be watchful over her.
Fan Qiuyue returned to the house, being truly pampered and spoiled bringing joy in the house to the family members. They had completely forgotten that their beautiful daughter-in-law was a hidden drug addict!
On the seventh month, she had a premature delivery and had given birth to an extremely weak boy. But still his father was overjoyed giving him the name Wang Yong. The in laws worriedly looked at the beautiful baby boy who cried a lot no matter how hard they tried to cajole him.
To strengthen him, his father fed him a lot of experimental drugs and supplements throughout his childhood but still, he couldn't go out of the house always coughing blood and shivering.
Wang Yong always felt empty like he was craving for something but he didn't know what it was at an early age so he started over eating gaining a lot of weight.
His father was greatly disheartened over his only child but his mother couldn't care less about him. She was always attending parties and spending money. If she wasn't doing that, she was in a corner taking alcohol and drugs.
Wang Yong was always found to be absentminded, never being able to concentrate seriously. Sometimes, he would be found scratching parts of his body in odd times. His father continued to shower him with affection thinking that all his odd behaviors would eventually fade in his teen years.
Wang Hong turned five, he was found out that his mother was pregnant again. At first he was happy that he wouldn't be alone anymore, finally he would have a little brother or sister to play with.
His father decided that if it was another boy, he will be named Mingli. If it was a girl, she will be called Quinyang.
His father shifted all his time to the new unborn baby, his hope rekindled leaving him. Wang Hong wondered why everyone was ignoring him because of a little baby that wasn't even born yet?
It was like he turned invisible to his parents and the maids who were always wary of him started to blatantly ignore him. His mother was always smiling, rubbing her stomach with pride when she walked around the house.
One day, Wang Hong was bored playing with a dinosaur toy in the garden so he went back to the house to change it only to find out the door was locked. He knocked and knocked so many times but there was no response.
He decided to enter the house by climbing through the kitchen window, his chubby little figure barely fitting through the gap. When he had succeeded, he was about to go to the toy room when he was attracted by the loud music on the balcony.
He started walking towards the source of the music, puzzled by what he saw his mother doing. He frowned, remembering that the big doctor told his father that his mother must always be in bed resting. He was worried about his little brother won't be able to sleep properly so he decided to try and convince with her to go to the bed.
He hesitated because he was very scared of his mother so he took little steps, his lower lips trembling a little.
Fan Qiuyue was dancing haphazardly around a table filled with little packets of white substances. Her hair was slightly disheveled with stains on her brown shirt. She stood near the rail giggling and holding a bottle of him alcohol.
Wang Hong suddenly became curious, wondering what she was drinking and what those things were. "Mom, what are this?"
His mother gave him no response, the loud music drowning his tiny sickly voice. His mother was in her own little world, feeling lightheaded and ecstatic.
He bent over the table, swiping his hands over the table and was about to lick it when his mother suddenly turned around, her face twisting in horror.
"What are you doing here, you little brat? How did you even get here? Get out! Get-" She swayed suddenly.
"Mother!" Wang Hong didn't know how it happened.
His mother fell off the balcony.
