Chapter 17

Li Shaoze was woken up in the middle of the night. He looked around and found no one. His surrounding was pitch black and he could see nothing.

He remembered the last conversation he had with Li Junfeng was about Li Junfeng's heartfelt apology and circumstances in the Li family.

He went to bed right after their conversation then. He had also taken his sleeping pills so why was he awake again in such a short amount of time?

Li Shaoze called for his brother right away as he knew souls never slept. He bet Li Junfeng should be around nearby. However, he heard no response.

Li Shaoze knitted his brows, dumbfounded. He pushed away his duvet cover and stood up slowly. He felt his room was too dark than usual. The light of the moon in the sky would actually slip into his window occasionally but why was there no light at all?

Li Shaoze opened the door and went to the living room. However, the place he expected to be was not at all a living room he recognized.

Li Shaoze's heart suddenly beat faster. He didn't know why he was so uneasy.

He turned around and then saw his mother's face for the first time in years. He was startled but still managed to catch a breath. It had been a long time since he last saw her, but he was strangely convinced that this woman was his mother that he had long forgotten.

"Shaoze my son... why have you forgotten me?" Li Shaoze didn't know what to feel when he was asked this question.

"You caused me to die... you could have done... something. So why didn't you?!" she pressured him in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Li Shaoze suddenly recalled a distant past he thought he had forgotten about. When he was born, his mother was still healthy physically. His mother was just like any other young girls back then, fanatic with love and a happy ever after. But she gradually became ill for some reason.

She was naive and actually fell in love with his father, Li Qinfeng just like that, without any good reasons. At this time, his father was already betrothed to Lu Mimi.

Li Shaoze's mother hid her real identity as a second daughter of the Qin family due to a personal dispute back then and thought it would be more exciting if Li Qinfeng didn't know. Her interest was exactly 'love could conquer all' kind of thing. She didn't even care even if she snatched a taken man.

She was a beautiful woman and Li Qinfeng actually liked her too back then. But he wasn't seriously considering her as a marriage partner. It was supposed to be a fling. He didn't even bother to dig up her background as he thought she was just a beauty without brains.

This recklessness caused Li Qinfeng to let his guard down and caused Li Shaoze to be conceived. Li Shaoze's mother was ecstatic about her pregnancy and used it to tie Li Qinfeng down despite his chagrin.

The pregnancy was hasty and she even hid it from her older sister, Qin Meili, who was already the head of the family by then. At this time, she and Qin Meili had a falling out which caused her to run away from home.

The Li family, mainly the matriarch was furious and never blessed the woman. This caused Li Shaoze's mother to not be acknowledged and Li Qinfeng expertly hid the fact that they would never go to register their marriage legally. His promise to marry her became only an empty promise while Li Shaoze's mother was moved to live in a small house nearby the Li manor.

The matriarch already had Lu Mimi in her mind to pair her son with. So she never wanted to accept Li Shaoze's mother into the Li manor. Li Shaoze's mother was treated no different than a mistress.

Lu Mimi also began to scheme a lot in order to get her rightful place that the matriarch had prepared for her. In her eyes, Li Shaoze's mother was the third party in her relationship with Li Qinfeng. So she poisoned Li Shaoze's mother indirectly for a long time. She also used some dangerous drugs as her means.

Li Qinfeng actually loved Li Shaoze back then. Even if he wasn't truly in love with the mother, he still had affection for his firstborn son. But it changed when Li Shaoze was three years old.

This was the time where Li Shaoze's mother became unhinged after consuming poison for three straight years. Her heart couldn't function properly and she was experiencing hallucinations.

It was after her death that the doctor declared Li Shaoze's mother to actually suffer from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Having a mother who had a mental issue, Li Shaoze wasn't treated favorably at all.

Li Shaoze still remembered how she had almost succeeded in throwing him down the window of that two-story house while having a seizure. He had screamed and struggled but her grip was tight and it created hideous bruises on his delicate, younger self.

At three years old, of course Li Shaoze would forget about the memory. However, after his mother passed away and failed to kill him, he gained the ability to see wandering souls. And he also remembered every single detail of the attempted murder and her contemptuous eyes and hatred against him.

It was a strange occurrence and also a curse. Li Shaoze would get nightmares all night and remembered the incident. As a child, he would cry often and become confused. This was when he actually confessed to his father that he could see strange and scary things.

Li Qinfeng brushed his words aside but it made Li Shaoze even more desperate. His lack of vocabulary when he was just three caused him to shout out the same things over and over, like 'scared', 'ghost', 'blood', and 'help'.

Lu Mimi who thought that Li Shaoze could potentially harm her future interest, immediately took the chance and made him look bad in front of the Li family. This was the moment where everyone in the family changed their mind about him. He was treated like a delusional kid who lost his mind after losing his mother.

Li Shaoze's mental state actually deteriorated by this time and he refused to eat and do anything for an unhealthy amount of time. Soon, Lu Mimi conceived with Li Junfeng, and Li Qinfeng actually went ahead to marry her.

The matriarch went to see a shaman regarding Li Shaoze and found out that his fate was terrible and would bring disaster to the family. This was when the matriarch decided to discard all hopes for Li Shaoze despite him being her descendant as she focused all attention for the child inside Lu Mimi's belly instead.

Gradually, Li Qinfeng also followed along and was influenced by his new wife and mother. He began to hate Li Shaoze who would cry non-stop and caused a scene. His strange words and gloomy appearance made others feel uncomfortable and the matriarch even declared him as an abomination.

It was such a tough time for Li Shaoze as a kid but he did get through it. Mental and verbal abuse were a constant thing in his life even when he had yet to learn to write or draw.

The only thing that he found lovely was the existence of Li Junfeng once he was born. Li Junfeng as a kid felt very close to Li Shaoze.

This was why Li Shaoze developed a soft spot for Li Junfeng and was able to battle his mental health by himself, all due to the appearance of a single younger brother he held dear.