╔═══ Author's note ════╗

Edited by dymens.

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The couple arrived at Xuan Mu's birthplace early in the morning and as soon as they landed, they drove to a local restaurant to meet his parents.

Xuan Mu's parents were quite the opposite of Bing Shi's – they weren't as busy, which meant they were able to give their son all the attention and care in the world. Their early excitement of having a firstborn son slowly changed into one disappointment after another. 

His slow development made them think that they gave birth to a defective child. It continued like this until he turned four years old and began to learn how to speak, giving everyone a shocker. Even then, his parents were too ashamed to show their son before others. 

Nobody could understand from whom this child inherited this unexplainable rebelliousness. It was as if he was born just to piss off everyone around him! 

Praises, sweet-talking, toys, and other similar things never worked in persuading him into doing their bidding. Not to mention, they weren't the most patient people in the world and would always look for a quick fix. Going into extreme measures seemed to work the best.

Xuan Mu angered his father. Let the six-year-old boy sleep outside. Imagine a tiny Xuan Mu in his pajamas, walking around the garden like a lost puppy. He would end up falling asleep on the cold, concrete tiles, in front of the main entrance, every time he angered his parents...which was a lot.

Xuan Mu didn't want to learn a musical instrument? Starve him until he agrees.

Xuan Mu dared to talk back? They tried to fix him with ... violence.

It worked magically.

He finally turned into an obedient kid... but not for long.

Because Xuan Mu started to fear nothing. Not even death. The hatred he began to feel towards everything, including himself, was so much that he tried to get rid of himself in all possible ways. 

Xuan Mu ended up in the hospital again and the only thing which went through his parent's minds was how to let him stay there forever. Their wish was granted, and their son was admitted into a psychiatric ward, where he would stay until he was stable and ready for discharge.

As soon as his parents conceived another child, a second son, they forgot about their eldest son altogether. Their second son wasn't strange like Xuan Mu; he became their pride. They never let the two brothers meet each other, lest the weird Xuan Mu taint their treasure.

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A second unexpected shocker was thrown at his parents when they got a notice from the doctors that their son was a gifted child, who could solve problems and learn new things at an inhuman speed.

How was that possible?! A thirteen-year-old Xuan Mu was immediately brought back home. 

After some observation, Xuan Mu indeed became normal! That's if playing games all day, even during classes was considered normal. His school results were beyond poor, but the doctors wouldn't be lying, would they?

When they saw how well he behaved in his little sister's presence, they decided to take advantage of it. They told their daughter to 'persuade' her brother to try out other activities, like attending a school for children like him or playing fewer video games, but what a wrong move it was.

Knowing Xuan Mu's condition, his doctors prescribed him some antidepressants and sleeping pills. If his 'well-being' wasn't checked periodically, he could have succeeded in killing himself. After his stomach was pumped out, they sent him home again after he promised to never do it again, which was an obvious lie.

They didn't know how Xuan Mu was ready for a second attempt, but a miracle stopped him from doing so.

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Who would have thought that their useless, good-for-nothing son would one day offer himself to help his father? Xuan Mu was so good at the job that his position in the family company soon surpassed his father's.

When his father began to think of retiring early and letting his son take care of him, that ungrateful bastard ran away from home without telling them a single word, only for them to know later that he joined his uncle in expanding the very same company overseas! 

He never shared anything with them, nor did he listen to them, his blood-related parents! The only few times he came back home were to check on his little sister.

Today, their son wanted to share some news with them. Great, they also had something to tell him.

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Xuan Mu's parents arrived at the private room of the restaurant first, still a bit surprised by the prestige of this meeting place. Their son's relationship with Guan Lin had to be more than great to be able to get a reservation here.

Instead of a restaurant, it was more like a semi-private club. Reservations had to be paid a year in advance, and one needed to know someone on the inside to get a taste of the chef's cuisine. Common guests dining at this restaurant would include top celebrities and politicians.

Hearing the creak of the doors, they lifted their heads at the appearance of his son. Xuan Mu had grown taller since the last time they saw him. But that wasn't the important part. The sight of the girl behind him and the way he looked at her was what they couldn't swallow. 

Standing next to Xuan Mu, Bing Shi waited for him to introduce her, but he didn't even look at his parents. While she was showing all the enthusiasm in the world to meet them, he was showing pure disrespect. 

The silence was deafening, nobody greeted each other, and the prejudice in the air was so thick that it could have been cut with a knife. She could feel it at the tip of her tongue.

The frown on his father's forehead dug deeply into his skin,  "Who is she?"

His mother checked Bing Shi up and down at the same time, not hiding the accusing glint in her eyes. She attempted to lower the girl's confidence.

Xuan Mu couldn't look at them, just their voices were making him go nuts, "My girlfriend."

"Break up! This instant," So their previous assumptions were right, "We have a better candidate for you."

"Great," Xuan Mu cracked up in laughter as if hearing a bad joke, then stopped abruptly midway, "Let's cut family ties. This instant!"

"You dare!?" Both of his parents yelled out, unable to believe they gave birth to such an ungrateful child, and started to criticize and insult his whole being, "This is how you repay us for putting up with your bad behavior all these years?! It's about time you learn some filial piety instead of getting manipulated by each whore you meet on the internet! Don't think we don't know the reason why you've always refused to get away from your computer! It was because everybody hated you in real life–!"

Looking up at the ceiling, Xuan Mu put a deaf ear to everything they said, letting them go with their lecture as he was leisurely accumulating new pity points from Bing Shi.