TW: Mention of electric shocks
Jiang Min never managed to voice her lingering doubts. Her temperament was gentle, leading her to habitually consider others’ feelings, whether it was towards her husband or her son. She felt it wasn’t right to rashly raise these questions.
Li Qingcheng believed in Dr. Gao’s authority and trusted his words, but Jiang Min couldn’t shake the feeling that family was still the most reliable.
She decided to wait a little longer.
When she returned to the bedroom, Li Qingcheng was lying there, flipping through a book under the dim light of the bedside lamp. After seeing her enter, he lowered his voice and asked, “Did he say anything?”
Jiang Min shook her head, struggling to find the words.
Li Qingcheng grew impatient. He wasn’t particularly focused on reading in the first place, and now he tossed the book aside, glaring at her with dissatisfaction. “Did he or did he not say anything? If there’s really an illness, then we should seek treatment quickly. We can’t afford to wait for years, letting everyone around us know and becoming the subject of ridicule. I can’t afford to lose face!”
Jiang Min felt anxious as she listened to his repeated insistence on taking him to the clinic. Subconsciously, she denied, “No, Xiaozhou wouldn’t.”
Li Qingcheng looked skeptical. “Did he tell you himself?”
Jiang Min braced herself and nodded. “Yes.”
After a moment of silence, Li Qingcheng inquired further, “How did you approach the topic with him?”
“I just asked if he liked anyone at school, if he was dating anyone…”
Jiang Min made up the first sentence, leaving the rest to her own discretion. Fortunately, Li Qingcheng didn’t probe further into the matter. Furrowing his brows, he listened and then said, “Keep an eye on him. Didn’t Dr. Gao mention today that he’s developed a habit of lying?”
Jiang Min felt wronged for his son and interjected, “Don’t just take the doctor’s word for it. Xiaozhou is your son. You should also listen to what he has to say.”
Li Qingcheng impatiently retorted, “I won’t just listen to the doctor, but am I supposed to heed a child’s words? Alright, alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s late, let’s sleep. I have to go to work tomorrow.”
Jiang Min fell silent, but she spent the night tossing and turning, unable to sleep well.
The next day, Li Qingcheng didn’t head straight to the office. Instead, he had breakfast at home and then said Li Tongzhou, “I’m not busy today. I’ll have the driver come over later to give you a ride to school.”
Li Tongzhou replied, “I can go by myself.”
Li Qingcheng ignored him in response.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ol Kbcuhtbe ifoa tbwf akfcas wlceafr fjgilfg atjc ereji jcv jgglnfv ja rmtbbi jtfjv bo alwf. Ol Hlcumtfcu kjcafv ab mtja klat tlw bc atf kjs, yea Ol Kbcuhtbe bcis gfrqbcvfv klat cbvr bg rtjxfr bo tlr tfjv, rtbklcu ilaaif lcafgfra lc mbcnfgrjalbc. Mffilcu vlrtfjgafcfv, Ol Hlcumtfcu ofii rlifca, oeggbklcu tlr ygbkr.
After seeing Li Tongzhou off, Li Qingcheng lingered at the school gate for a moment longer. He watched his son walk in alone, blending into the crowd of students in their uniforms, making it difficult to pick him out.
After a brief moment of observation, he turned and left.
Li Tongzhou had been doing morning reading in the classroom for half an hour when Guo Jingyu arrived.
As soon as Guo Jingyu sat down, he asked, “How did you get here this morning?”
Li Tongzhou replied, “My dad gave me a ride on his way to work.”
“No wonder I waited for two buses and didn’t see you. I thought you overslept. I almost went to your house to check on you,” Guo Jingyu looked at him carefully and said. Then he asked, “Nothing happened yesterday, right?”
Li Tongzhou shook his head and looked at him. “Nothing happened. Have you finished those few tricky questions I wrote for you yesterday? Let me take a look.”
Guo Jingyu was used to him checking homework and handed it over for inspection. He listened as Li Tongzhou explained the questions.
The two of them were close. Guo Jingyu couldn’t help but glance at Li Tongzhou from time to time. When his gaze landed on the neck area, he hesitated for a moment before suddenly asking, “Li Tongzhou, that… where’s that necklace?”
Li Tongzhou subconsciously touched his collar and replied, “I took it off when I showered last night and put it away.”
Frowning, Guo Jingyu said, “But weren’t you wearing it all the time before?”
Li Tongzhou explained, “I’m not wearing it these days because I have exams outside, and it’s not very convenient to wear it.”
“You’re going out for exams again? Your dad hasn’t given up yet. Why are you so stubborn…” Guo Jingyu remarked.
As Li Tongzhou corrected his homework, he said, “Yeah, it’ll be fine after a while. Jingyu, look here, the steps in this question are wrong. Let me correct it for you.”
Guo Jingyu leaned in seriously to study the question, but his mind couldn’t quite focus here. After Li Tongzhou finished explaining the question and he practiced it twice, he whispered, “There really wasn’t anything wrong yesterday, was there?”
Li Tongzhou asked, “Why do you ask?”
“I texted you, but you didn’t reply,” Guo Jingyu said.
Li Tongzhou paused for a moment and replied, “I meant to tell you, my phone seems to have some issues, so I took it for repairs. It might be hard to reach me these days. If you need to find me, you can call my home phone, but my parents will be there, so it might be a bit inconvenient.”
Guo Jingyu nodded and said nothing. He took out his exercise book and flipped through it as usual. If you didn’t pay attention to the grip he had on the corners, one might not notice his current mood unless.
There was definitely something wrong with Li Tongzhou.
The necklace was off, his phone temporarily unreachable, and surprisingly, both his parents would be at home… Guo Jingyu considered a possibility, but it seemed unlikely. If their relationship had been discovered, the parents’ reaction wouldn’t have been so calm. And based on his previous memories, their communication had decreased gradually after he entered university, not now…
Guo Jingyu’s mind was in turmoil as he furrowed his brows, lost in thought.
By the time morning arrived, Guo Jingyu found an excuse to talk to Teacher Jin and got permission from the class teacher to skip the last self-study session.
Finding a quiet place, he made a call to the private detective he had contacted before and confirmed Li Tongzhou’s whereabouts from yesterday.
The other party was quite experienced in this line of work and also checked the psychological counseling center. When reporting back to Guo Jingyu, they said, “I’ve checked out that psychological therapy center. Li Tongzhou went to see Dr. Gao there. I also found out that Dr. Gao collaborates with the Lincheng Fourth Hospital. It seems they’re sending patients to some kind of rehabilitation clinic. Over the past two years, it has expanded quite a bit. The rehabilitation clinic under the Fourth Hospital has admitted many patients, most of whom have psychological disorders. Some are sent there for internet addiction treatment. It’s said that the treatment there is very effective, and many parents trust the doctors there.”
Guo Jingyu’s head buzzed as he listened. The name of that clinic sounded familiar to him, but when he heard “internet addiction treatment,” it all clicked. More than a decade ago, when online shopping platforms like Taobao were just emerging, and the internet was initially becoming widespread, it had been stigmatized as an “addiction” and a “cancer.” The clinic under the Fourth Hospital was later exposed for electric shock abuse against adolescents—not just adolescents, but many others were sent there for various reasons, including smoking, drinking, slacking off at work, premarital sex, marital discord, and even homosexuality.
In 1996, “homosexuality” was finally legally decriminalized.
But even now, less than ten years later, in the minds of most older generations, it was still considered indecent and synonymous with “mental illness.”
…
Countless possibilities flashed through Guo Jingyu’s mind, even reminding him of the cause of death he had been unable to uncover all those years ago.
He remembered when he first found Jiang Min, how she would only cry and blame herself, saying she was useless and had harmed her son. He remembered Li Qingcheng’s vehement avoidance and reluctance to discuss the matter. He also recalled Li Qingcheng’s attitude in their newly established home, only opening the door a crack to peer at him, refusing to let him in. Li Qingcheng had coldly stated that he now had a normal family and didn’t want to mention his deceased son.
Guo Jingyu’s ears buzzed loudly, and he struggled to breathe. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
The private detective on the other end of the phone continued speaking, but Guo Jingyu couldn’t make out what they were saying anymore. He could only slowly crouch down, struggling to draw a breath, and grit his teeth as he said, “Say it again. The address of the psychological therapy center you followed yesterday, and everything about the Fourth Hospital. I want to know it all.”
Guo Jingyu finished listening to the information the detective had found on the rooftop. Despite the sunny weather of May, he shivered uncontrollably from the cold.
He went to the bathroom and splashed water on his face, trying hard to keep himself calm.
Many thoughts raced through his mind, each one related to Li Tongzhou. He struggled to compose himself, ensuring that he found the path that would set everything right for the future. It took him quite a while, until the bell for the end of class rang, to come to his senses. He glanced at himself in the mirror, quickly tidied up, and hurried out. But when he returned to the classroom, he realized Li Tongzhou was missing.
Guo Jingyu stood there dumbfounded. A classmate nearby was about to get up to go to the cafeteria when Guo Jingyu grabbed him and asked, “Where’s Li Tongzhou? Wasn’t he in the classroom just now?”
The classmate replied honestly, “The class teacher called for him just now. Maybe something came up. He hasn’t come back yet.”
Guo Jingyu felt a sudden panic surge in his heart for no apparent reason. He rushed to the teachers’ office, where the class teacher of Class 6 was still there, grading assignments. After seeing him, she greeted him warmly, “Jingyu, what’s up?”
Guo Jingyu, slightly out of breath, asked anxiously, “Teacher, where’s Li Tongzhou?”
“Oh, him? His family came to pick him up just now, and said there was something urgent, so he took two days off and left,” the teacher replied.
Guo Jingyu’s pupils slightly contracted. He immediately turned and ran out, ignoring the class teacher’s calls from behind, which couldn’t stop him.
There was no one at the school gate, with vehicles constantly flowing on the road outside. Guo Jingyu didn’t hesitate. He quickly hailed a taxi and gave Li Tongzhou’s home address. Simultaneously, he called Li Tongzhou’s phone. It rang a few times but was quickly hung up. Guo Jingyu continued to dial several times until the phone was switched off.
He clenched his phone tightly, his knuckles turning white. He spoke softly to the driver, “Sir, please change the destination. Drive to Lincheng!”
The taxi driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror, hesitating as he asked, “Young man, are you going alone? It’s not far, but it’s over two hundred kilometers away. Maybe you should check with your family…”
Guo Jingyu pulled out a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket and slapped it on the front seat. “I’ll pay extra. Just drive me there. My family will pick me up!”
The taxi driver was only concerned that he might not have enough money on him. After seeing the bill, he immediately stepped on the gas and drove towards Lincheng.
Guo Jingyu sat in the car, eyes closed, lost in thought. When he opened his eyes again, they were bloodshot. He dialed a number on his phone, and after a few rings, it was answered. “Hello, Jingyu?”
Guo Jingyu spoke hoarsely, “Uncle, I need to ask you for something.”
His uncle replied, “No need to ask. Just tell me!”
Guo Jingyu said, “Could you come to Lincheng to pick me up? I’ll explain the details when we meet. Bring a bank card with you. I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to arrange… No, everything’s fine at home. It’s my own matter.”
Without much hesitation, Uncle Gu agreed, “Alright, I’ll drive over now. It’ll take me about two hours to get there. Let’s keep in touch over the phone.”
“Okay.”
Guo Jingyu hung up the phone, leaning back against the seat with his eyes closed. The roar of the car engine filled his ears, but it was nothing compared to the cacophony in his mind—fuck studies and future. He didn’t want anything else. He just wanted Li Tongzhou.
K: I WANT TO TEAR LTZ’S FATHER APART AAAAAAAH TT TT TT TT TT
I want to destroy the father and this fake doctor. How can a doctor say that kind of thing?
I’m full of anger
Li Tongzhou, be safe! 😰😭
If I could curse out, I would, but this comment section is quite kind when it comes to restraining from cursing, that bastard deserves whatever he’s trying to impose on LZT, I feel like beating him up with a baseball bat