Guardian Chapter 2: The Previous Life

 

Chapter 2 The Previous Life

Once the dust-covered, dim memories are stirred, they unleash a suffocating despair that engulfs everything.

In his previous life, the innocent youth Yu Shulin harboured resentment. And when Yu Xiu described the father who had been absent for over a decade as a greedy, despicable, hypocritical, and irresponsible villain, His heart brimmed with disappointment and rage then. He thought only this: since the role of father had remained vacant for over a decade, then after his mother's death, that role might as well stay empty. It was precisely this mindset that allowed him to ruthlessly extinguish the last shred of hope he harboured for his father. With a decisive signature, he granted custody to his uncle Yu Xiu – the ‘only person in the world who would treat him with genuine kindness’.

The grief of losing his mother, the starkly different image of his father, Yu Xiu's relentless brainwashing, the closed, gloomy room—all this weighed heavily on fifteen-year-old Yu Shulin's heart, making him grow more silent and oppressed with each passing day.

So what should one do when it becomes unbearable?

Forget it.

If he couldn't remember, the pain would fade.

And so he forgot. Whenever he recalled that period, the memories remained hazy. He only remembered that his guardianship had naturally fallen to the uncle who ‘truly cared for him.’

Looking back now, Yu Xiu probably never intended for him to meet the people sent by his father's side at all. The signing was scheduled for the afternoon, yet he brought up the other party in such a negative manner at midday—and did so while Yu Shulin was still dazed and confused after finishing his high school entrance exams... What a way to play mind games... Ugh.

Now, reliving it all, those unwillingly recalled past events were replaying themselves upon him, leaving him no escape. The memories grew vivid once more, the oppressive, gloomy emotions of that time churning within him, gradually settling and twisting into cold indifference. He clenched his fists, yet a faint smile touched his lips.

Better to remember. Only by remembering could the situation avoid becoming a dead end.

Baiwei Xuan Restaurant, second-floor private room.

Zhou Mei saw her husband enter with Yu Shulin and hurriedly rose with a smile to greet them. She affectionately ruffled his hair and asked warmly, “Are you hungry? Auntie ordered lots of your favourite dishes. Come and try them.”

Yu Shulin obediently let her lead him to sit beside Yu Bo, who was slumped over the table.

Zhou Mei, Yu Xiu's wife, had originally taught at the Municipal No. 1 Primary School. Later, Yu Xiu had used his connections and money to secure her a position at Chenghan High School. Chenghan was the very high school Yu Xiu had recommended Yu Shulin to attend.

Chenghan... He chewed on the syllables, his mind drifting into a daze.

Having spent three years at Chenghan, Zhou Mei had been his form teacher for all that time. Her verbal attacks and emotional neglect had made his high school years unbearably miserable. Yet Yu Xiu’s brainwashing had been so effective that the seventeen- or eighteen-year-old Yu Shulin didn’t perceive this as psychological abuse at all. He simply believed he wasn’t trying hard enough, wasn’t good enough, wasn’t obedient enough – which was why his teachers, classmates, and aunt disliked him.

With such a toxic learning environment and his own mental state in tatters, it was no surprise his academic performance was utterly abysmal. Just when he thought things couldn't get any more wretched, as the university entrance exams approached, his form teacher Zhou Mei ‘accidentally misplaced’ his examination admission ticket.

Without the admission ticket, his university entrance exams were naturally ruined. Yu Xiu was ‘consumed with self-reproach’ over this incident. He pulled Zhou Mei to her knees, begging her forgiveness and pleading for him not to pursue the matter, lest she lose her teaching position.

However obedient and compliant he had been, even he had reached his limit. What Zhou Mei had lost was not merely his exam admission slip; she had destroyed his future, his dreams. Yet what good was anger? What good was resentment? Faced with the pleas of his sole remaining relative, he relented. He made one demand after moving in with his uncle: to be sent abroad to study.

He was not unaware of Zhou Mei's dislike, Yu Bo's hostility, or his uncle's occasional indifference and distaste. But he refused to lose this last shred of family connection.

He was nearing eighteen, the age at which he could freely dispose of the inheritance left by his mother. High school life felt so stifling that he thought perhaps by travelling far and broadening his horizons, he might find life a little easier.

Yu Xiu agreed to his request, and the incident with the exam admission ticket was resolved satisfactorily after he explained to the school that he had carelessly misplaced it.

His plans seemed sound. His mother had left him over six hundred thousand yuan in savings and a two-hundred-square-metre property, supplemented by compensation from the accident years ago – more than sufficient for overseas studies. To repay his uncle for years of care, he’d even secretly resolved to set aside funds for Yu Bo’s future university education.

Dreams were beautiful, but reality dealt him a brutal blow.

Yu Xiu informed him the funds were insufficient and that the property would need to be sold to finance his overseas studies. He agreed, and the house was sold without issue. Yet the proceeds found their way into Yu Xiu's pocket. As for the savings and accident compensation, Yu Xiu had long since squandered them. Only because the property deed bore his name did it remain in his grasp, spared from premature sale.

How did Zhou Mei, an unregistered primary school teacher, become a form tutor at Chenghan High School? Where did Yu Xiu find the money to buy his luxury car? And how were Yu Bo's private elite school fees covered?

Yu Xiu was merely a lowly civil servant in the education department. How could he possibly afford such extravagant spending for the entire family? Moreover, Yu Xiu needed to spend money to climb the ladder. Where did that money come from?

How laughable that back then, he had been so foolish, so trusting of this so-called relative, that he hadn't suspected anything was amiss.

After squeezing out the last bit of value him, the once warm and kind uncle tore off his mask of falsehood, revealing his savage fangs. When he inquired about studying abroad once more, Yu Xiu finally lost patience. No longer masking his cold contempt, he lashed out at him.

He was locked away by Yu Xiu, who told the world he'd failed his university entrance exams and gone travelling to clear his head.

Yu Bo, who had always harboured hostility towards him, gloated as he revealed the entire truth. Shocked and enraged, Yu Shulin couldn't help but grapple with Yu Bo. Hearing the commotion, Yu Xiu rushed over. Seeing the two men wrestling, he grabbed a baseball bat and swung it viciously at his head.

The last shred of hope he had clung to for familial affection was finally extinguished.

Money lost could be earned again, no matter... Education denied, no matter... He was still alive. Though everything his mother had left him was gone, the life she had given him remained. There was still hope in this world.

Later... What happened later?

Yu Shulin endured Yu Bo’s hostile glare as he slowly sipped the soup Zhou Mei had diligently served, squinting as he pondered.

“Little Bo, what are you staring at? Eat up.”

At his mother’s prompting, the chubby twelve- or thirteen-year-old snorted, shot Yu Shulin a glare, and took a vicious bite out of his chicken drumstick.

“What manner is this towards your elder brother! How have I brought you up?” Yu Xiu frowned and scolded, yet when he turned to Yu Shulin, his expression softened completely. He murmured gently, “Shulin, don't take it to heart. Your brother's been spoiled rotten by your aunt. Don't mind him.”

Yu Shulin glanced sideways at Yu Bo, who was buried in his chicken drumstick, then turned his head to meet Yu Xiu’s eyes with a faint smile. “No, of course I don’t mind.” A future murderer, nothing more. He’d be damned if he didn’t see how Yu Xiu would protect this only precious son of his without him to take the fall this time around.

The meal concluded in a generally convivial atmosphere. Yu Xiu and Zhou Mei went out of their way to express goodwill at the table, while Yu Shulin obliged by flashing an expression of trust and dependence.

 

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