Boyfriend Always Thinks I’m a Little Pitiful Chapter 22

Zhang Ruochuan and Jiang Chenyu followed Xiang Haibin over, and seeing the situation, they also went with Gu Yufeng to Xie Ci's side.

Xie Ci took out his phone, wanting to contact a lawyer he knew in his past life. But then he thought, he's just a high school student now, and maybe a big-shot lawyer wouldn't bother with him. Fighting such a small case probably wouldn't interest them either. Before he could decide on a lawyer, the cigarette at his lips was snatched away by Gu Yufeng.

"How old are you, learning to smoke already?" The cigarette twirled between Gu Yufeng's fingers. He glanced at the brand and frowned disdainfully, "And it's a cheap one. Are you trying to kill yourself?"

Xie Ci wasn't heavily addicted to smoking; he only lit one up when he was feeling agitated. Things like smoking, drinking, clubbing, and even gambling were bad habits he picked up after starting work. For others, they might be interests, but for him, they were just social tools. He could smoke to achieve a goal, and he could quit smoking for the same reason, nothing more.

Gu Yufeng looked towards the living room and asked in a low voice, "Have you made up your mind? You won't go soft halfway?"

Xie Ci looked at Xie Qian's back, his eyes cold, "If I go soft again, my dad will be ruined by them."

Maybe people in the arts are naturally emotional and sensitive, otherwise, they wouldn't suffer from depression. This was undoubtedly influenced by Ye Yurou and her husband. He originally didn't want to alarm his dad. First, because his dad was sick, and second, he wasn't interested in seeking revenge for past events. He didn't want to waste time on people who weren't worth it. But now that things have come to this, he might as well end it decisively. Being wishy-washy wasn't his style.

Gu Yufeng, lost in thought, habitually moved to put the cigarette between his fingers to his lips, but caught sight of Xiang Haibin glaring at him fiercely. That deadpan face paired with that death stare was practically a smoking deterrent. Gu Yufeng remembered the thousand "解" characters he had just written and silently told himself not to stoop to the old man's level. He suppressed his temper, extinguished the cigarette, and sat by the dining table, listening to the conversation from the other side.

He had watched this family drama unfold from the beginning, and his disgust for these so-called "relatives" had reached its peak. He also had relatives, and most of the time, he deliberately kept his distance. There were only interests involved, and once they violated his principles, he could turn his back on them without hesitation. But Xie Ci's situation was different; there was a mix of interest and the gratitude of being raised. Young Xie Ci had no choice but to passively accept. From Xie Ci's previous attitude towards this family, Gu Yufeng was sure he had feelings for them. Otherwise, with Xie Ci's style, he would have already taken drastic measures.

But Ye Yurou and her husband didn't. They exploited this gratitude for profit, stirring up trouble between Xie Ci and his father, completely disregarding others' lives, treating it all as a business. Gu Yufeng suddenly understood why Xie Ci only cared about himself. Because when he was a boy needing protection from the outside world, he was deeply betrayed and hurt by his so-called family, making him no longer trust anyone.

"Old Xie, are you looking for a lawyer?" Zhang Ruochuan asked quietly, sitting by the dining table.

Xie Ci: "Yeah."

Zhang Ruochuan said excitedly, "My dad's a lawyer, the best in their firm! I'll call him tonight and have him take your case, free of charge!"

"You really are a filial son, getting your dad to take on free work."

Jiang Chenyu leaned over to Xie Ci, whispering, "Old Zhang provides the effort, and I'll provide the money. I'll cover the costs of this lawsuit!"

Xie Ci: "Thanks, but someone else will cover the costs, don't worry."

"Eh? So many people here." A middle-aged uncle suddenly walked in from the door, and everyone in the living room, including Xie Ci and his friends, looked over.

"Who is he?" Jiang Chenyu saw the uncle's somewhat shabby clothes and thought, could he be here to collect junk?

Xie Ci: "My maternal uncle."

The uncle felt a bit uneasy being stared at by everyone and explained, "I saw the door open, so I came in." Saying this, he looked at Ye Yurou and raised the bag in his hand, "Yurou, these are the vegetables I just picked. I'll leave them in the kitchen for you."

Ye Yurou kept a stern face and didn't respond. The uncle came out of the kitchen, glanced at Xie Ci, and instinctively felt that today's occasion was off, so he quietly went to the living room to sit and listen.

Ye Yurou's face didn't look good, "We're discussing serious matters, you should go back."

"I just heard you mention Xiao Ci at the door. Why can't I listen to his matters?" Saying this, the uncle took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to Chen Xinhong, only to notice the injuries on his face, "What happened to you? Who beat you up?"

Chen Xinhong sat there with a sullen face, ignoring him. The uncle offered another cigarette to Xie Qian, "Long time no see."

"I don't smoke." Xie Qian declined politely, his expression heavy. The uncle observed everyone's reactions and then looked at Xiang Haibin with a smile, deliberately probing, "This must be Xiao Ci's teacher, right? Did our Xiao Ci get into trouble again?"

"No, he's doing well." Xiang Haibin looked at Ye Yurou and continued, "Since we're all relatives, let's continue. You should know that abusing minors is illegal, right?"

"I didn't!" Chen Xinhong suddenly erupted.

Xiang Haibin's face was serious, "I learned from an insider that Xie Ci was beaten by you at fifteen, forced to flee home in the middle of the night for refuge. Since then, his academic performance plummeted from first in the grade to the bottom! My good student was tormented by you like this, how do you explain it?!"

Xie Qian's hand on his leg tightened suddenly, looking at Chen Xinhong in disbelief.

Chen Xinhong was so nervous his throat went dry, he shouted, "Who said that? This is slander!"

Xiang Haibin: "More than one person saw Xie Ci injured at the time. Denying it won't help."

Chen Xinhong: "Just because they say it, it's true? Show me the evidence!"

Xiang Haibin: "Let's not talk about the past, just recently, your son Chen Zhanpeng borrowed money to fight and got caught. In front of the police and the school, you dared to blame Xie Ci. I saw it clearly, nothing you and your wife say is credible!"

Chen Xinhong: "What we said is the truth!"

The two argued back and forth for a long time.

Xie Ci was really tired of listening and casually added, "Central Hospital has my medical records from when I was eight. That time, Chen Xinhong hit me on the head with a stool, almost killing me. The scar on my temple hasn't fully faded even now. After that, every time I got beaten, I went to Dr. Li's clinic. He took photos and would testify if necessary."

Xie Ci looked at the pale-faced Chen Xinhong, "Are these enough evidence?"

When he was young, he didn't have the awareness to protect his rights. It was Dr. Li who taught him to always keep a backup plan.

"You beat Xiao Ci to the point of hospitalization?!" Xie Qian suddenly stood up, grabbing Chen Xinhong's collar, "What did he do wrong to deserve such a heavy hand? Speak!"

Chen Xinhong broke free from his grip, "I didn't!"

"I knew Xiao Ci wouldn't want to kick you out for no reason." The uncle threw his cigarette to the ground in anger, grinding it with his toe, and grabbed Chen Xinhong, cursing, "You bastard, how could you lay hands on a child! And you dare to pretend to be a good person in front of us all these years!"

The uncle, used to hard labor, was muscular and much stronger than Xie Qian. Chen Xinhong couldn't shake him off and became even more verbally abusive.

The uncle loudly questioned the silent Ye Yurou, "You're Xiao Ci's real aunt! You just stood by and watched your husband beat the child?! All these years, you never mentioned it to us, always saying Xiao Ci was naughty and disobedient, taking so much money from Xie Qian but always crying poor, not even willing to buy him clothes. Are you even human?!"

Ye Yurou cried in grievance, "Am I really that bad?"

The uncle pointed at her, furious, "I must have been blind to deliver vegetables to you heartless bastards for so many years!"

Chen Xinhong: "Who are you cursing?!"

The two went from cursing to shoving, quickly escalating into a brawl. The uncle dragged Chen Xinhong into the yard, cursing and fighting.

At this time, many people in the community had finished dinner and were out for a walk. Hearing the commotion, they gathered outside the yard to watch.

Ye Yurou, seeing so many people outside, felt extremely embarrassed and went out to try to stop them. But the uncle wouldn't listen to her, his loud voice like a megaphone, broadcasting the couple's misdeeds to the neighbors.

Xie Ci checked the time and called the moving company on his phone. In less than half an hour, three large trucks arrived, parking at the yard entrance. The workers entered the yard and loudly asked, "Who called the moving company? What needs to be moved?"

"What moving?!" Ye Yurou panicked, no longer caring about her image, "No one's moving, get out!"

"I called them." Xie Ci walked to the entrance, standing on the steps, glanced at Ye Yurou and her husband in the yard, and told the workers, "Everything in this house, move it all out."

Ye Yurou shouted, "Xie Ci! What are you doing?!"

Xie Ci gestured to the workers to start. Ye Yurou's face changed drastically, finally starting to feel scared, and she hurried to find Xie Qian, "Brother-in-law, are you just going to let him do this?! If there's a misunderstanding, let's sit down and talk it out. How can you just move everything out?!"

Xie Qian pulled his hand back from Ye Yurou's grip, his face stern, and said to Xie Ci at the door, "The furniture in this house was bought by me."

Xie Ci: "Even if we keep it, it'll just be treated as garbage. Consider it a farewell gift for them."

Ye Yurou, seeing Xie Qian's attitude, panicked and ran to Xie Ci, crying and pleading, "Xiao Ci, I'm begging you, stop this. Where are you going to move our things?"

Xie Ci: "Haven't you been in Blue Sea City for so many years without buying a house? If not, then it can only be sent back to your husband's hometown."

Chen Xinhong blocked the door, not letting the workers in. The neighbors, thinking Xie Ci and his father were trying to kick out the rightful owners, started discussing.

The uncle, hearing this, loudly explained to them, "This house originally belongs to Xiao Ci! They're just staying here temporarily!"

As the workers started moving things, the neighbors understood the situation.

"Living in someone else's house, taking their money, and abusing their child, what heartless people!"

"They seemed nice enough usually, who knew they were like this."

"Just look at their son, you can tell what kind of people they are!"

"She always badmouthed her adopted son. I never liked dealing with her, not sincere at all."

Ye Yurou, hearing the neighbors' comments, sat on the ground, feeling defeated. The house was gone, the money was gone, and her reputation was ruined. What would they do now?

Chen Xinhong couldn't stop it, only watching as the house was emptied bit by bit. He wanted to confront Xie Qian but was blocked by the uncle and took several more punches.

Xie Ci and Gu Yufeng watched coldly. When Yang Le arrived, Xie Ci signaled for Xie Qian to go back.

Xie Qian hesitated to speak. Xie Ci noticed his hand trembling slightly again and said softly, "The past isn't just your fault. I'll come home over the weekend, and we can sit down and talk. For now, focus on your health, and remember to check in with Brother Yang when you go out. I don't want to worry about your safety while I'm in class."

Now wasn't the time to talk, but Xie Qian couldn't just leave this mess to Xie Ci, so he waited with Yang Le.

Gu Yufeng: "The stuff's moved out, aren't you going to change the lock?"

Xie Ci thought for a moment and had Jiang Chenyu and Zhang Ruochuan help buy two chain locks.

As night fell, the moving was done. The wailing Ye Yurou and her husband had no choice but to leave after the trucks drove off. Before leaving, Chen Xinhong threatened that this wouldn't be the end, chased by the uncle's curses all the way.

Xie Qian was sent back to the studio by Yang Le, and the neighbors dispersed.

Xie Ci stood in the empty living room, looking around at this familiar yet strange home. By driving out that couple, he also freed the young self trapped here. But the freedom he gained after so many years didn't bring the joy he imagined, instead leaving him feeling empty.

Gu Yufeng watched Xie Ci for a long time from the door, then slowly walked over, brushing aside his bangs, "Is this the scar he gave you?"

Xie Ci: "Yeah."

The scar was along the hairline, hard to notice unless you looked closely.

Outside, Xiang Haibin's voice urged them to return to school.

Just as Xie Ci was about to turn, Gu Yufeng suddenly leaned in, wrapped his arm around his head, and kissed the scar, as assertive as ever.

Xie Ci was slightly stunned, and when he realized what the kid had done, he pushed him away, "Behave, don't get handsy."

"Now it's a scar I kissed."

Xie Ci looked at the boy standing in front of him, backlit, with eyes so serious and focused. For a moment, he saw the shadow of the familiar Gu Yufeng in those eyes. It made him feel a bit nostalgic.

"Old Xie..." Jiang Chenyu's abrupt voice broke the subtle atmosphere.

Xie Ci snapped back to reality, seeing Jiang Chenyu with teary eyes coming over, hugging his head, "I want to kiss too, so when you remember, it's not just the chair that hit you, but also our love—"

"Get lost." Xie Ci pushed his face away and walked off without looking back.

Jiang Chenyu: "..."

Did he have to be so dismissive?

On the way back to school, Xiang Haibin pushed his electric scooter, talking a lot to Xie Ci walking beside him.

"If you're really going to court, I'll help, and the school leaders will assist too. Don't worry too much, no matter what, it shouldn't affect your studies."

Xie Ci responded absentmindedly.

Xiang Haibin: "But one thing at a time, I can't ignore the fact that you were smoking."

Xie Ci's eyelid twitched.

Xiang Haibin: "Smoking right in front of me, do you think I'm dead?!"

Xie Ci: "..."

Xiang Haibin got more and more upset, "Don't think just because you scored full marks you can do whatever you want! Write a thousand-word reflection and hand it to me tomorrow!"

Xie Ci: "..."

Was that cigarette really worth it?

Gu Yufeng laughed heartily in the evening breeze, "What goes around comes around, right Captain Xie?"

Xie Ci: "You're also writing that thousand-word reflection."

Gu Yufeng: "We're just classmates, don't make it sound so ambiguous."

Xie Ci: "..."