Rebirth: Once Again With You

"I-I'm sorry, husband. I'll do better next time." Su Suyin said in the middle of her sobs.

Li Jirong snorted. "You should think well about what is best for the kids' future. What's important is power and influence. Sentimental feelings can follow later. If you can't think of anything by yourself, then at least listen obediently to your husband's words."

"I'm sorry. I'll listen to you from now on."

Li Junjie felt inexplicable emotion wash over him, looking at his mother's submissive attitude. Even if he found most of the lessons in school boring, one of the first things he learned in school was that men weren't supposed to raise their hands against women. This wasn't the correct behavior of a husband towards his wife at all.

"Hmph, clean up this mess. I have wasted so much time talking to you." Li Jirong paid no heed to Su Suyin's condition and walked away, more precisely, in the direction where Li Junjie stood.

Li Junjie knew he should hide somewhere, but strangely, his body refused to move. He was so shocked he couldn't do anything.

The sound of his father's footsteps had never sounded so terrifying before. His tiny body shook rhythmically with his heart, which beat so fast at the thought of the same thing his father did to his mother also happening to him.

"Husband, wait!"

Not only Li Jirong but Li Junjie also flinched when Su Suyin suddenly shouted.

"Husband, can't you help me stand? I-I think I twisted my legs somehow." Su Suyin added with a considerably lower voice while avoiding meeting Li Jirong in the eyes.

"Do you even need my help to do something like that?" Li Jirong grumbled.

"Please, I really can't stand, and the kids will be home soon." Su Suyin said pleadingly before raising her head slightly. However, she didn't look at Li Jirong but at the small figure peeking his head out of the wall.

Li Junjie's eyes widened when his gaze met with his mother's. His heart was thumping so deafeningly loud that he couldn't take his eyes off her.

Su Suyin let out a small smile before speaking, "Just help me out a bit, and then you can go. Please don't concern yourself with me. I'm fine."

Li Jirong sighed in exasperation before begrudgingly trudging back and helping his wife to stand.

Meanwhile, Li Junjie had to cover his mouth with his hand, so he wouldn't let out a sound. Because he knew that her mother's last two sentences weren't directed at Li Jirong but at him. She did that so his father wouldn't find out he had been eavesdropping.

Using the chance where his mother kept his father's attention, Li Junjie forced his weakened leg to move and ran away from there. His chest was suffocated with an indescribable feeling, and he just wanted to scream so bad.

He didn't return to his room but went to the garden instead. Not until he found his siblings and Meng Renshu, who were currently playing happily, did he finally understand these uncomfortable nagging feeling in his chest.

It was frustration and self-hate.

Why did he only stand there like an idiot? His mother was doing her best, yet he cowered in front of his father.

Why was he the only one to feel like this? He should have known that something was amiss when he heard those sounds. Meng Renshu also behaved suspiciously towards him after that.

Li Junjie grabbed a handful of his hair and started pulling it harshly. Even now, his legs were still trembling when he recalled his father's terrifying face and loud voice. His mother must have been more scared to the point she was crying, but he ran away like a coward.

Li Jirong said he was different. Although it sounded good and all, Li Junjie knew that the 'difference' between him and other kids wasn't only that. He acted like he knew everything in front of everyone, but he did not know what to do when it came to the actual situation.

His mother noticed that but got beaten up for trying to speak up for him.

What was the use of his cleverness if he couldn't use it when it mattered the most?

"How lame…" Li Junjie laughed in a self-deprecating manner while closing his eyes tightly.

"Brother Jie?"

Li Junjie was snapped out of his reverie when a small hand tugged on his uniform's sleeve. Beside him, Li Caiyi looked up at him with a worried gaze.

"Brother Jie? Are you hurt somewhere? You don't look well."

Compared to him, his sisters were doing so much better. It was so easy for them to laugh and cry. It made Li Junjie feel even more self-conscious of his 'difference' from other people.

Even Li Caiyi, who was deemed as 'unsatisfying' by their father, was more susceptible to her surroundings than him. He felt more miserable thinking about it like that.

Looking at his sister's clear eyes seemed to calm him down. He couldn't show any weakness in front of his sisters.

"I'm fine." Li Junjie replied curtly, but his voice was hoarser than intended.

"You sure?"

This time, it was Meng Renshu who asked him that. He approached them wearing that refreshing smile that always irked Li Junjie, but he felt his smile was tolerable just for this once. At least he didn't look at him with sympathy like before.

"Yeah. It's just too hot here."

"Hmm, I see. Just tell me if you want some water because I got it in my bag."

Again, Li Junjie felt an underlying meaning in his words, but he preferred not to overthink it. Even if their families were close, Meng Renshu was still an outsider. There was no need for him to know everything, although Li Junjie had a feeling that this guy probably already had a rough idea of what was happening.

"No need. I can handle it by myself."

"Good for you." Meng Renshu smiled meaningfully before saying, "Then I'll leave first since it's almost time for my supplementary classes."

"Brother Renshu, you are leaving already? B-but you still haven't met Mother yet." Li Caiyi commented nervously.

"I would love to meet Auntie, but today seems to be bad timing. I'll greet her at Junjie's birthday party tomorrow instead."

Meng Renshu bade his goodbye, and only then did Li Junjie's opinion of him change slightly. He initially thought Meng Renshu was just that spoiled young master who was used to everyone revolving around him, but he was unexpectedly pretty level-headed, at least more than idiots in school.

Only when Li Junjie stood beside Meng Renshu did he look less awkward and 'different'.

Li Junjie took a deep breath as he tried to dismiss the fear crawling beneath his skin whenever he recalled the scene from earlier. After witnessing that, there was no way he could just sit still anymore.

His father was a violent man, and such a man wasn't suitable for his gentle mother. If there was anything Li Jirong liked in this world, it was a pure genius who stood above anyone else, and Li Junjie just happened to fall into that category.

It was time to put his good brain into use. He had to think of something.