funbook-pk Chapter 1039 From now on, we are strangers.
Chapter 1039 From now on, we are strangers.
He was taken to Yusuke's office again.
The office remained tidy, but cold.
"Sir, I have done as you requested..." Li Shouren's voice was extremely hoarse, as if it had been sanded by sandpaper, and every word he uttered was filled with tearing pain.
"Yosh, very good. I promise you, as long as you forget you have a daughter, you'll definitely receive preferential treatment from our military police! Don't worry," Yusuke Ichijo said with satisfaction.
"Sir... I have one last request!"
That...that pocket watch...it was left to me by my wife, Xiu'e. Could...could you return it to me?
"I want to leave this for Xiaojuan... as a keepsake..." This was the only thing Li Shouren could think of at that moment, something he could still do to try and secure something for his daughter.
If we could leave that old pocket watch to Xiaojuan, at least... at least her daughter would remember that she had a mother and a home for the long years to come.
This was perhaps the last, insignificant comfort that this incompetent father could offer.
Upon hearing this, Yusuke Ichijo raised his eyebrows almost imperceptibly, as if he had actually thought about it for a moment.
He himself had no interest in an old pocket watch, and even thought it was worthless junk.
But he needs to consider whether this "longing" that represents the "past" will become a potential problem in the future, and whether it will affect Xiao Juan's identification with her new "belonging".
However, in an instant, a more thorough and vicious idea formed in his mind.
Giving the pocket watch to Xiaojuan and clearly telling her that it was her mother's keepsake would be a more effective way to sever all her attachment to the past.
He made her believe that her mother was dead and that she had been sold by her father, becoming a helpless orphan, so that she had no choice but to wholeheartedly depend on her new "master," relying on Miss Huizi.
Thinking of this, a barely perceptible, cold smile even flickered across Yusuke's lips.
He nodded, his tone unusually reasonable, as if making a generous concession. However, the content of his words was like an ice-cold dagger, precisely piercing Li Shouren's last line of defense: "Fine. I'll send someone to retrieve the pocket watch."
He paused deliberately and emphasized, "Furthermore, I will personally hand it over to Xiaojuan."
“I will tell her,” Yusuke’s gaze was deep and cold, as if he had pierced through and completely crushed all of Li Shouren’s remaining hopes and thoughts: “This is a keepsake left to her by her mother. Tell her to cherish it.”
boom!
Li Shouren felt as if his brain had been struck hard by a heavy hammer, instantly going blank and buzzing!
Give it to Xiaojuan? Tell her it's her mother's keepsake?
Wouldn't that be a clear indication to Xiaojuan that her mother, Xiu'e, is dead?!
Yusuke's ruthlessness far exceeded his imagination! This man not only wanted to coldly sever all ties between father and daughter, both now and in the future, but also to completely erase, from the root of their memories and emotions, Xiaojuan's last attachment and longing for this family and her parents!
That's too cruel! Cruel to the extreme!
It even deprived Li Shouren of the last bit of self-deception he could find—the faint, spark-like fantasy that "perhaps Xiu'e is still alive, and one day they can reunite as mother and daughter."
Now, even this spark will be mercilessly extinguished.
He opened his mouth, wanting to argue, to correct, to scream and tell the other party that "Xiu'e may still be alive!"
But reason, like a cold hand, gripped his throat tightly.
What right does he have to resist? And what ability does he have to change this established fact?
Li Shouren turned around in a daze, even forgetting the most basic etiquette, and staggered towards the door like a sleepwalker.
Under Yusuke's indifferent gaze, his back was hunched over like that of an old man on his deathbed. Every step he took seemed to be walking on cotton, or like dragging a heavy burden. His whole being exuded an emptiness and hopelessness that had been completely drained, as if even his soul had been drained.
Just as his left foot was about to step out of the office door, Yusuke's cold, emotionless voice came from behind him again, echoing clearly in the empty office.
"Remember what you said. From now on, her life and death are none of your business, and your life and death are none of her business. Take care of yourself."
The phrase "Take care of yourself" carries a sarcastic, condescending "concern," and feels more like a final curse.
Li Shouren's body swayed violently at these words, as if being whipped by an invisible whip.
But he didn't turn around, or even pause.
He used all the remaining strength in his body to barely steady his almost collapsing body, and then made a move that surprised even Yusuke Ichijo. He stopped, bent down deeply, almost at a ninety-degree angle, and bowed to the direction where Yusuke Ichijo was inside the door.
This bow was filled with extremely complex emotions.
There was an unspeakable, bone-deep humiliation, a twisted, yet unavoidable gratitude for saving her daughter's life, despair at her own powerlessness and the manipulation of fate, and even more so, a heart-wrenching farewell to her daughter and everything in the past.
This is the most humble and tragic gesture a father can make after being crushed into dust in the face of power and violence.
Then, he straightened up and, without further hesitation, stepped into the dark, unknown, and perilous future outside.
Once you've placed your order, you're done.
The money and goods were settled.
From then on, we were strangers.
. . . . . . .
Dejected, Li Shouren followed a small squad of military police back into the ruins of the refugee zone, a place soaked with his blood, tears, and despair.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment, or perhaps it flowed back to that bloody afternoon that was too painful to recall.
The cold wind continued to howl tirelessly, swirling up the gray-black ashes, pale snowflakes, and bloodstains that were not yet completely dried and had turned a dark reddish-brown color, creating a suffocating vortex in the air.
Widow Sun and her dozen or so children were huddled together in the corner of the half-collapsed courtyard wall, trembling with fear.
They huddled together like a group of frightened young animals, seeking a meager amount of warmth.
When they saw Li Shouren's figure appear at the end of the ruins, almost everyone's eyes instantly lit up with an indescribable light of joy, as if they had survived a catastrophe!
The leading sergeant of the military police quickly gave a few instructions to the military police officers beside him in Japanese that sounded as stiff as the friction of iron.
The military police bowed and said "Yes, sir," then stepped forward to help Li Shouren pack up his few remaining broken belongings.
Li Shouren silently walked to the bodies of Mr. Chen and the old steward, squatted down, and together with Widow Sun, carefully wrapped the straw mats around their cold bodies, one layer at a time, with trembling hands.
The movements were mechanical and numb, as if dealing with two objects that had nothing to do with them.
There were no cries, no mourning, only the rustling sound of straw mats rubbing against the ground and the mournful howl of the cold wind sweeping through the ruins.
The air was thick with the stench of death, so heavy it was almost suffocating.