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Chapter 141: Chapter 141 Extra: Brother’s Childhood
In the sanatorium’s ward building, nine-year-old Han Yi lay by the window, looking down.
——Downstairs, a young woman was scuffling with several medical staff. She was dressed fashionably, with good looks resembling a magazine cover model, making it hard to imagine someone like her being so fierce in a quarrel. She faced a dozen medical personnel without flinching, her curse words pouring out in heaps, leaving several young nurses in tears.
Han Yi turned his head towards the boy on the next bed in the room and said, "Xiao Jian, your mom’s here again."
The boy opposite showed no reaction. As if he wasn’t called Xiao Jian, or as if he couldn’t hear at all.
Han Yi didn’t mind and continued to watch the "battle" downstairs with dull interest.
He was very bored here.
The children here didn’t like to talk, like the six-year-old boy in the bed next to him, who would just stare blankly all day, seemingly deaf to whatever was said to him.
"Your mom is very pretty," Han Yi continued watching the drama unfold downstairs, "She’s more interesting than you, her fierce look is quite amusing."
"They say she’s the ’other woman’." Xiao Jian suddenly spoke up.
Han Yi was first stunned, then burst out laughing, "Heh... do you know what ’the other woman’ means?"
Xiao Jian looked at Han Yi expressionlessly and replied word by word, "It means a bad woman."
"What does it matter to you if she’s a bad woman, she’s not your wife."
Xiao Jian cocked his head as if seriously considering Han Yi’s words.
In a rare good mood, Han Yi felt like speaking more and said, "Besides, your mom can hardly be considered ’the other woman’, at most she’s like a number five or six on the list."
Han Yi had been staying here for two months, and Xiao Jian’s mother came to visit him every few days. The nurses in the sanatorium had nearly spread her story far and wide.
——The young girl wasn’t keen on studying, dropped out of high school to work as a bar hostess, then was kept by a high-ranking official, becoming one of his many mistresses. She was beautiful and not particularly worldly, living a comfortable life for two years, until, encouraged by a good friend, she stopped taking birth control pills, hoping to secure a portion of the official’s fortune through her child.
Perhaps due to her young and healthy body, it wasn’t long before she indeed fell pregnant. The official had many mistresses and would visit her only once every few months. At first, she made excuses about gaining weight, but as her belly grew too large, she switched to calling him, claiming she was unwell, telling him to spend nights elsewhere. In this way, she managed to delay for several months, and against all odds, she was fortunate enough to give birth to Xiao Jian smoothly.
But what she didn’t know was that officials dread scandals the most, and the existence of an illegitimate child was something totally unacceptable. The official simply gave her a sum to sever their ties, not intending to acknowledge the child, and just like that, sent Xiao Jian’s mother away.
She truly wasn’t a good woman, beautiful and well-shaped but pitifully simple in other areas. However, she was a decent mother; unlike others who sent their children here and then neglected them, she would visit Xiao Jian every now and then, bringing him lots of snacks, toys, picture books, and even asking the doctors about her son’s recovery... 𝚗𝚘v𝚙𝚞b.𝚌𝚘m
She had sent Xiao Jian here, simply because she believed the doctors in the sanatorium were more professional, and staying here would benefit his recovery.
It was because she harboured hope that her disappointment was all the greater. Almost every time she saw no sign of her son’s recovery, she would throw a fit.
This kind of woman... heh...
Han Yi maliciously said, "Someone like your mom, aspiring to be ’the other woman’ actually has her work cut out for her."
Xiao Jian didn’t know if he took it in, but he stood up and leaned against the window like Han Yi, watching the chaos downstairs. Upstairs, the two boys silently watched, one with a cold smile on his lips, the other expressionless.
After a while, Xiao Jian pointed at a figure approaching in the distance and said, "Your mom’s here too."
Han Yi’s smile faded as he replied, "She’s not my mom."
Xiao Jian stared blankly at Han Yi.
Han Yi sighed and said, "She’s a good friend of my mom’s."
Duan Shuhua came to take Han Yi away from the nursing home. Because his mother was on the brink of death, Duan Shuhua felt that, no matter what, Han Yi should see his mother one last time.
His mother had been moved from the intensive care unit to a private room. Having undergone several surgeries that failed to stop the spread of cancer cells, she had given up on treatment.
Lying quietly on the hospital bed with her eyes closed, she looked gaunt and pale. Only when she heard Duan Shuhua softly call her name did she slightly open her eyes. Upon seeing Han Yi, her brows furrowed noticeably.
She turned her head away, as if she didn’t want to see Han Yi, and said coldly, "Why did you bring him here?"
Duan Shuhua sighed, "After all, you did give birth to him..."
"I have no child like this... He’s a devil, he wants to kill me! He was born to kill me!"
Seeing her getting agitated, Duan Shuhua gently pushed Han Yi’s back and softly said, "Ayi, you go outside first, I need to talk to your mother alone..."
Han Yi obediently left the room and closed the door behind him.
The voices inside continued to filter out.
"...Shuhua, why did I give birth to such a child?! What sins have I committed for Heaven to punish me like this?"
"Calm down... Ayi is your only son after all, even if not for yourself, think about the child..."
"Why does nobody believe me? Chenjing doesn’t, and neither do you... He’s not normal! Do you know? He can hear the thoughts in my mind, he knows everything I’m thinking! Shuhua! He’s not my son! He’s a monster!"
"Don’t be like this... Calm down. The connection between a mother and her child is natural, it’s not unusual for them to understand each other so well. Don’t think nonsense..."
"You don’t know anything! Chenjing said the same! Every single one of you says the same! You... you know nothing at all! That child... that child is not normal, he’s a monster, my real son must have been devoured by him... my son... my son... this monster is occupying my son’s flesh! He’s a monster!..."
"......"
Patients and nurses passing by the door looked at Han Yi with pity in their eyes.
Han Yi sat expressionless on the waiting chairs outside the door, letting them look, feeling not the slightest ripple in his heart.
He couldn’t remember when it had started, it might have been at five, maybe six, when he slowly realized he was different from others. He could always hear things that others couldn’t.
At lunchtime, he stated he didn’t want to eat beef tongue, and the servant took the dish away saying, "Very well, young master." But he heard the servant think, Not eating duck gizzards yesterday, not eating beef tongue today, such a nuisance to serve...
At night, the bodyguard came in and said to his mom, "Madam Han, Mr. Han will be late tonight due to some business." His mother nodded without speaking, but he heard her think, It would be better if he doesn’t come back at all, with or without him, there’s no difference to this house...
Han Yi’s world suddenly became different. People’s dark, secretive, and shameful thoughts were laid bare in front of him without reserve.
Even his mother was not as wonderful as he had thought.
Latter, he began to learn how to control this special ability. If he didn’t want to hear, he wouldn’t. But by then, it seemed to be too late.
Because his mother had completely and utterly given up on him.
