As soon as Han Yi walked in, Lin Wan could feel Han Yi’s chaotic breathing; he must have been running in a hurry.
"Hmph, what can I do to her?"
"My family doesn’t welcome you, you should leave." Han Yi held Lin Wan’s hand, fixing a cold gaze on Mei Shuping’s eyes.
"Mei Langyi, whether you like it or not, you can’t get rid of the fact that I’m your biological father. Whether you want to return to the Mei Family or not, you have to come back." Perhaps because this kind of situation happened often, Mei Shuping didn’t waste time with him and, throwing down this line, left directly.
"My surname is Han. On the household registration, on the birth certificate, there’s only this one name. Even in the future, it will remain Han. I am not Shen, and I am not Mei. I have my own surname, my own name, and it has nothing to do with any of you."
Han Yi’s words made Mei Shuping, who had already stepped out, pause for a moment: "What about those things, let alone the fate that you can’t escape being my son. Your temperament is a lot like mine, trying to act as if there’s no relation between us, but that’s impossible."
During dinner, the only sounds in their room aside from eating were the chopsticks clashing against the bowls.
Lin Wan could tell that Han Yi’s appetite wasn’t good. Usually, Han Yi could eat two bowls of rice, but today he didn’t even finish one.
Lying in bed at night, Han Yi turned his back to her and didn’t make a sound. Lin Wan opened her mouth several times, unable to hold back her concern, "Han Yi, are you okay...?"
His voice came in from the side of her ear, and listening to it felt like heavy snow was falling outside while she was savoring a steaming cup of Blue Mountain coffee alone, with the rich aroma wafting through, making her whole body warm. Lin Wan just liked listening to his voice. "Do you know why I became a soldier?"
Lin Wan shook her head, knowing he needed to vent, quietly watching him, waiting for him to speak.
"Since I can remember, whether they were my age or a bit older, kids always called me a bastard behind the adults’ backs. I grew up in their disdain and abuse, and every time I was bullied and insulted, treated with contempt, when there was no one to love or care for me, I really wanted to go find my mom. In fact, I did go, but as soon as I reached their house..." Han Yi stopped here, seemingly thinking of something unpleasant, and refused to continue, "When I got a bit older, I understood more. So I stopped looking for my mom. I shifted my focus to my dad and used various methods to ask Grandma a lot about him. But every time Grandma answered, she said she didn’t know. In the year I graduated high school, I overheard my aunt complaining and only then knew my real dad was a married man. He had played with my mom, and I was indeed the bastard they called me. From that time on, I started hating him. I resented them for giving birth to me and then not wanting me... Since they didn’t want me, I had to live well to show them. Without them, I lived well. When others went to the countryside, I chose to enlist. Grandma was very opposed at the time, but I secretly ran off to sign up... In the army for eight years, the first two years were spent training in the hardest places at the border, later I went to the front lines a few times and made many achievements... They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and after coming back, I got appreciated by the leaders and entered a special program, studied for two years. Then, Mei Shuping discovered my identity and kept trying to have me recognize my heritage over the years. I didn’t acknowledge him. When he got nowhere with me, he went several times to Grandma and my mom.