Li Feng glared at that child deviously.

Old Master Li frowned upon seeing that, when did this boy become this fierce? “Why did you enter the nursery room while no one was inside?” Old Master Li sounded even harsher now, like he was interrogating a suspect. “Did you leave the door and windows open deliberately so that Xiao Lei would catch a cold?!”

“Xiao Feng, just admit it.” One of the elders advised hypocritically. “We all know that you’re jealous of Xiao Lei, isn’t it just because we give him more gifts? He’s so much younger than you, and your biological brother at that, you should be nicer to him, why are you so calculating? Come on, don’t make Grandpa any angrier. Just admit your mistake and promise never to make it again.”

“Exactly.” Many of them chimed in. “How could you be so scheming at such a young age, even plotting to hurt Xiao Lei?” One of them turned towards Li Lei’s biological mother. “Jennifer, you really have to discipline this child well. His mother was not as civilized and well-brought-up as you were. His mother… sigh…”

They wanted to continue with their hurtful words.

Li Feng had already lifted his head and looked at them, with a hurt that had now turned into hatred. He cut that person off mid-sentence and raised his voice. “Harm him? I wanted to kill him! Isn’t he just the bastard child of an adulterous pair? What right has he to be my brother!”

“Sinner!” Old Master Li was hitting the roof. “Bring the rod here!”

That day, Li Feng suffered three merciless strokes of the rod. He was in great pain but refused to let out even a whimper.

He was then made to kneel before the altar.

Jennifer secretly brought along some food and ointment to see him. She did not know how to face this child who seemed to be prejudiced against her. She carefully placed the food by his side and spoke to him gently. “Don’t hurt Xiao Lei in the future. You don’t have to envy him, I’m your mother too.”

Li Feng spat on her face and laughed hysterically at how confused and hurt she looked. “Mother… Mother?! Bitch, my mother is dead, all because of you! Hahaha…”

If she really was his mother, why didn’t she intervene for him?

Why did she not ask him whether he really was the one who left the door and windows open?

No one… not a single person had asked him!

Nobody in the Li family cared about him! In that case, he had no reason to care for any of them!

Didn’t all of them say that he wanted to harm Li Lei? Well, he was not one to be accused that way. In that case, he would show them what he was capable of!

Since then, he had plotted against Li Lei countless times.

Initially, Li Zheng and Old Master Li would hit him and make him kneel before the altar. Subsequently, even they gave up on punishing him.

Li Lei grew up by the day, and soon was actively running and jumping around. But this child remained innocent and seemed to have his guard down towards anyone — only he would smile at Li Feng cheekily the same way he did when he was almost strangled to death as an infant. Only he would call “Big Brother” repeatedly, and even share his toys with Li Feng.

***

With Xia Ling still in his arms, Li Lei quietly and slowly said, “My mother told me that Brother had such a bad temper only because he lost his mother at a young age. She said that he was a good brother, and wanted me to be nice to him.”

Xia Ling reached her arms out and wrapped them around his neck. “Uh-huh.” She could not imagine such a terrible childhood. Although she was poor and had her own set of problems as a child, she was not in constant danger like he was.

Realizing that he was a little down, she did not fidget around him, but rather, held him quietly. She wanted to offer him some solace and strength.

Li Lei kept silent for a while before going on. “Mother was very good to me, but Brother didn’t like her.”

Every time Jennifer played with little Li Lei and shared each other’s joy and laughter, Li Feng’s eyes would narrow on them. Even Li Feng himself could not explain what he felt — was he jealous that Li Lei had taken away the motherly love he had rightfully deserved? Or was it that Jennifer also got the same kind of radiant smile that Li Lei always gave him?

All he knew was that he wanted to tear them apart.

Then, Jennifer became pregnant again.

Her symptoms were bad, and she was vomiting a lot, sleeping a lot, and losing weight drastically…

She no longer had the energy to look after Li Lei, and the three-year-old got lonely. Even when Li Feng wanted to play a prank on him, he did not react with the same alertness or interest as before.

Li Feng was unhappy.

A while later, on a summer evening, the nine-months-pregnant Jennifer fell into the pool in the backyard. When she was brought to shore, her face had already lost its color, and she was bleeding through her legs, suggesting a premature birth coming along. Despite the doctor’s efforts, both mother and child could not be saved.

***

“Just before she passed on, she kept looking at me, her lips trembling like she had something to say to me.” Li Lei was speaking very quietly. “But she did not say a word at all, and instead, wanted everyone out, except Grandpa.”

“What did she say to Old Master?” Xia Ling asked gently.

“Grandpa said that Mother had left a sum of money for my dowry, but I was too young, and she was afraid Father might remarry, so she handed the dowry to Grandpa for safekeeping. She wanted Grandpa to hand it to me when I’m of age.”

“Your mother was really good to you.” Xia Ling wondered how her mother was like, did she care for her as much as Li Lei’s mother did him?

However, Li Lei shook his head.

He had always suspected that his mother must have told Grandpa something else instead.

He suddenly asked Xia Ling, “If you, I’m just saying if… you were about to leave this world someday, would you specially instruct an elder to safeguard the dowry you left for your son?”

“Me?” Xia Ling was stunned for a while. “I guess not. I’d be so busy crying, I don’t think I’d consider all these complexities, which is why I say that motherly love must be noble.” She paused for a moment as if something just hit her, and added, “But who knows? I don’t have a child yet, maybe I’ll think differently when I become a mother. After all, many women only become selfless after having a child.”

Li Lei smiled and stroked her hair.

Xiao Ling and his mother were similar, they were both rather simple people. If Xiao Ling would not think of something, it was likely that his mother wouldn’t have either. Maybe his mother was really telling Grandpa something else, probably that her falling into the pool was more than just an accident? Was there some secret behind it?

It had bugged him all these years, but there was no way he could trace it back, considering how many years had passed.

Maybe he would just have to wait for Grandpa to reveal the mystery one day. Or maybe, there was no mystery, to begin with, and that his mother’s last words were indeed about the dowry. After all, all he had were speculations, and they could be wrong.