Hence, Li Lei went on, “Not too long after Ah Xiang’s passing, my dad went back to the Aegean Sea to look for my mum and proposed to her. She had left my dad by then but still loved him deeply. When she found out that he was single then, she naively agreed to it right away and went to announce this joyous occasion to Granduncle and the rest.

“My Granduncle conducted an investigation on my dad and did not find anything amiss regarding the death of his wife, and hence agreed to the marriage. The two families held a grand wedding that rocked the world that year.”

Not too long after she married in, Jennifer got pregnant with Li Lei.

Li Lei was a healthy and adorable baby that everybody liked. He was a young boy, and his mother was a woman of status; hence, everybody showered him with tender and loving care. On the contrary, Li Feng, who had lost his mum, did not appear so likable anymore. Some people even spoke about him behind his back. “He’s a prostitute’s son indeed, he doesn’t even smile or greet when he sees his uncles. Uncultured! How could he compare to the son of the Missy from a mafia family?”

“Shush, don’t say such stuff. Ah Xiang died to save Li Zheng, after all.”

“You believe such a lie?” The other person snorted. “I say, Li Zheng murdered Ah Xiang so he could marry Jennifer. The story we heard was simply made up by Old Master!”

Many speculations were going around.

Many of them were speaking in hushed voices but pointing around as they gossiped.

Li Feng hid outside the nursery room as he watched Jennifer carry the infant in her arms. Her gentleness and love for the child emanated all around her, and her sweet demeanor attracted glances. Meanwhile, Li Feng’s biological father was right beside her, with a look so gentle he had never seen before.

Li Feng clenched his small fists.

He did not know why he made it a point to hide outside the nursery room each day to watch the hustle and bustle over the baby. On one day, he noticed that the door and windows of the nursery room were left open, probably because the nanny had forgotten to shut it.

Without much thought, he walked in.

That was his very first time going so close to the baby.

The little infant was sleeping in the crib, his hands and feet so tiny, and he was drooling a little.

Li Feng thought: What an ugly and detestable lad this is . If only he were dead, if only he did not exist, everybody would pay more attention to me. This way, that adulterous pair would surely be upset?

Li Feng smiled slyly as he reached his hand out and grabbed Li Lei’s neck.

The infant felt some discomfort and starting fidgeting before slowly opening his eyes. He was still drooling, but when he saw the foreign and fierce little boy standing right over him, he gave him a wide smile.

Li Feng was stunned for a moment and was frustrated by that smile. “I’ll strangle you to death! I’ll see if you’ll still smile!”

He grabbed the infant’s neck with more force and Li Lei pouted as if he were about to cry.

Li Feng looked at those watery eyes and involuntarily loosened his grip.

Li Lei thought that this boy was playing around with him and looked at him with curiosity in his eyes. He flailed his arms playfully and started making cheeky noises. Li Feng bared his teeth and gave him the fiercest look he could to scare him.

But Li Lei still smiled at him, and he started drooling again.

“Silly child!” Li Feng felt that the baby before him was foolish beyond measure. Who cared if he was the flesh and blood of a Missy from a mafia family if he was just an idiot? He finally felt a sense of superiority as a Young Master and condescendingly bared his teeth at the silly baby once again before leaving.

The baby in the crib started crying all of a sudden.

Li Feng turned back to check on him.

It could be the connection between brothers at play, but Li Lei started smiling again — with tears still on his cheeks — the moment he saw his brother’s face.

Li Feng frowned a little and walked off again.

Right as he did, the baby began crying behind him.

He stopped in his tracks for a while but proceeded to leave the room and shut the door, just so that nobody would hear the baby cry.

That night, Li Lei ran a high fever and was having muscle spasms. The entire Li family was worried sick about him and gathered just outside the nursery room in the middle of the night. Jennifer was weeping uncontrollably as Li Zheng gently rubbed her shoulders and whispered words of comfort, all the while trying to mask his own anxiousness. Even the Old Master was out of his room and asking what was happening.

The family doctor said, “It looks like he was exposed to the wind and caught a cold.”

“Weren’t the doors and windows shut properly?!” Old Master Li was fuming. “Get the nanny out here! Ask her what she was doing!” Coming face to face with the Old Master’s rage, the nanny continually sobbed and refused to admit her mistake. At this point, a child in the crowd stood out and said—

“This afternoon, I saw Cousin Feng walking out of the nursery room.”

Li Feng did not know about Li Lei’s fever.

He was sleeping soundly in his room and was even dreaming about the baby laughing and smiling at him. The baby reached his chubby arm out, wanting to hold onto Li Feng and not let him leave.

“Brother will come and see you another time…” In his dream, he was speaking to the baby gently, with no hint of hatred. Ever since his mother passed away years back, Li Lei was the first person to smile at him. His smile was like the radiant glow of the sun, its warmth melting the wall of ice around his heart.

But the beautiful dream was cut short.

Somebody forcefully tugged at him and dragged him out of bed. “Beast! You actually tried to harm your biological brother! I’ll beat you to death!”

Before he even had the time to process what was going on, somebody was already throwing punches and kicks at him. Meanwhile, hypocritical words were in the background, going “Xiao Feng is still a child,””Xiao Feng did that in a moment of folly, forgive him” and the like.

Li Feng curled up on the cold hard ground and covered his head instinctively. He did not know where exactly he got hurt, but he was bleeding, and the blood blurred his vision. He tried to see who it was that hit him over and over again and realized that it was Li Zheng, his so-called biological father.

“Shoot! Why did you harm Xiao Lei?!” Li Zheng held him by the collar and interrogated him harshly.

He did not say a word.

The punches landed on him again.

“Stop!” Old Master shouted.

Everybody went silent, and even Li Zheng had stopped hitting Li Feng, who was now injured.

“There are laws in the court and rules at home. If Xiao Feng did do wrong, then we should punish him appropriately! How could you beat him up so badly?!” Old Master Li told Li Zheng off before turning around to face Li Feng. “Did you or did you not go to Xiao Lei’s nursery room this afternoon?”

Li Feng remained quiet.

“He did!” It was the same child who mentioned Li Feng previously. At only about four years old, this child was a daring lad. “I saw him walk out of the nursery room!”