RRMGEH Chapter 44

Then came the sound of his aunt smashing the dishes and chopsticks to the floor.

“Li Cang, what do you mean? Do you regret marrying me? If you can’t stand it anymore, just get a f*cking divorce! Whoever doesn’t want to divorce is a coward!”

Zhou Li stood at the door, listening to the intense argument between his aunt and uncle, the loud crashing sounds making his eyes dim.

He thought that the idea of going to high school seemed utterly ridiculous now.

After the fierce quarrel, the house fell into a suffocating silence, with only his sister Li Yan softly sobbing.

Zhou Li walked through the messy living room and entered the kitchen, where his aunt and uncle were both fuming. His aunt was sitting at the dining table, and his uncle was standing in the middle of the kitchen.

Seeing Zhou Li enter, his aunt quickly wiped her tears and said, “Zhou Li, don’t think too much about it. Your uncle just lost his job and is having a hard time finding a new one, so he’s taking it out on you. How about this? You can stay at your uncle’s house for a couple of weeks. Once your uncle finds a job, you can come back.”

Zhou Li remembered his time at his uncle’s house, where they always ate potatoes. Once when he returned home early from school, he opened the door and found their family enjoying stewed meat.

It was very awkward at that time.

But from beginning to end, no one offered Zhou Li to take a bite.

Zhou Li then went out for a walk with his schoolbag on his back, and when he returned to his uncle’s house in the evening, no one mentioned this matter again.

Later when Zhou Li lived at his uncle’s house, he could only be home at specific times. The rest of the time, he would wander in the park or walk aimlessly around the streets.

Compared to other relatives, his aunt had treated him the best.

Zhou Li looked up and opened his mouth to say, “Aunt, my grades aren’t good, and I’m not a good student. I don’t want to continue school. It feels pointless. The repair shop where I went to help repair cars said that they will provide food and housing and pay me 800 yuan a month. I was planning to tell you and Uncle about it after school today.”

Zhou Li had previously gone to that repair shop when he needed money. On weekends, he would work there. In a month, the owner of the repair shop would give him 100 yuan. This small amount of money allowed him not to ask others for pocket money.

Of course, that was also why his clothes often looked dirty.

This time with the third year of junior high school starting, Gu Changheng kept looking for him. Zhou Li didn’t want to appear dirty in front of Gu Changheng, so he hadn’t visited the repair shop and had always maintained a relatively clean image.

His aunt’s eyes reddened.

She felt that Zhou Li was a very pitiful child.

Compared to other kids his age, he was already quite mature.

But the family’s financial situation didn’t allow her to do much more. Li Yan’s schooling had already drained most of the family’s money. Even if she helped take care of her brother’s child[mfn]Zhou Li[/mfn], it couldn’t compare to their own child.

His aunt asked, “Have you thought this through?”

“Yeah!” Zhou Li nodded. “My grades aren’t good in the first place, and I probably can’t get into high school anyway. It’s better for me to start earning money early.”

…

That night, Zhou Li sat on his aunt’s balcony, looking at the starry sky. He felt that the distance between him and Gu Changheng was even greater than that between him and the stars.

Suddenly, he laughed. He must have been under a spell before to believe that someone like him deserved to be friends with Gu Changheng.

Zhou Li had seen Gu Changheng with all sorts of people before—rich second-generation kids dressed in famous brands, always with drivers to pick them up, easily entering and exiting high-end venues.

After standing on the balcony and letting the cool breeze calm his emotions, Zhou Li quietly returned indoors. When everything was silent, he grabbed a broom and carefully cleaned up the mess in the kitchen before starting to pack his things.

Having moved so many times meant he owned very little. After a quick tidying up, he managed to fill just one cardboard box.

Zhou Li took out a piece of paper and wrote a note:

Aunt, Uncle:

The master at the repair shop called and asked me to come help out. They’ll provide food and housing, so I’ll be going there now. Thank you both for taking care of me these days.

He placed the note on the dining table, hugged the box containing his things, and quietly left his aunt’s house.

Wandering the streets alone, Zhou Li didn’t have anywhere to go.

By this time, the repair shop was already closed.

In the end, he sat on a bench in the park all night. Fortunately, it was summer, and the weather wasn’t too cold, making the long night bearable. The only annoying thing was the mosquitoes, which bit him all over. It was really itchy.