The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise-Chapter 589 - A Dysfunctional Family - 1

All of them then bid Xu Wei farewell and walked away. Then, when they saw Zhou Zihuai's mother, who was standing not far away, they came to a sudden stop. Song Fang and Wang Yu shared a glance, and both of them could sense a storm was coming. That said, they still bit the bullet and greeted her, "Good evening, Mrs. Zhou."

However, Mrs. Zhou did not say anything in return. She held tightly to her bag and stared fixedly at Zhou Zihuai, who was walking beside Song Fang.

This was something that Wang Yu and Song Fang had expected. They waved at Zhou Zihuai and said, "We'll go first. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Zhou Zihuai replied.

The Lu Family's car slowly drove away from the crowd. However, they could still vaguely hear Xu Wei's voice from the car.

"Yumo's friend… that boy that I likes a lot. What's his name again? Song Fang? Or Song Fangfang? Anyway, that's not important. Didn't his family also prefer girls to boys? I heard that his parents have always wanted to have a daughter. You can always invite your classmates to our house. You shouldn't always play with your games. It's not good…"

As the car slowly drove away, Xu Wei's voice gradually dissipated into the air.

"Is Fu Zhi rich?" Mrs. Zhou asked as she handed a cup to Zhou Zihuai.

"Yeah," Zhou Zihuai replied as he looked at the car that was getting further and further away in his vision.

Mrs. Zhou then said, "Well, it's rare to see a rich kid who likes to study nowadays. But isn't her surname Fu? How come she goes into the same car with Yubai? If my memories serve me well, isn't Yubai one of the Fu Family?"

She waited for a long while, yet she did not receive any response from her son. She frowned and moved on to the next topic, "By the way, did she do as I told her to and guide you on your studies? Did she share her study skills with you? You're 16 years old this year, and you're going to participate in the college entrance examination. The most important thing for you to do right now is study, and you should mingle with an outstanding student like Fu Zhi more often. After all, it's only by following them that you can broaden your horizon."

"Yeah, she did," Zhou Zihuai replied, his voice low.

Mrs. Zhou heaved out a sigh of relief after she heard what Zhou Zihuai had said. However, her relief was short-lived. She soon became worried again as she said, "Zihuai, it's good that she's willing to teach you. After all, you guys are friends, and friends should be helping each other. However, I have a feeling that she's calculative. I can see that from her eyes. I'm sure she doesn't teach you everything, so you have to be wary of her."

"Mom! Can you stop saying my friend like this?" Zhou Zihuai couldn't help himself and shouted, "Fu Zhi isn't that kind of person. She's a nice girl and she doesn't really pay attention inside the class. Also, she won't secretly scheme against other people!"

"You should never judge a book by its cover, Zihuai. Tsinghua University would only accept a few students from your school, so as one of your competitors, how do you know if she doesn't have an ace up her sleeve. You're too young and too trusting. She just shows you some kindness, and you trust her wholeheartedly. Can't you see that she's actually making a cat's paw of you?"

She paused for a moment before continuing, "I know you don't like me nagging around, but I still have to say this. When you're in Class 1, you're better than anyone, and even those rich kids can't do anything to you, but look at you now. Ever since you went to Class 21, your grades plummeted from third in the school to fifth."

"You said that Fu Zhi doesn't pay attention in class, but how do you know that she doesn't study after she goes home? Look at her eyes. I'm sure she's lying to you guys when she said she plays games through the night. I've seen more people than you do, so I can see right through a cunning person like her. Zihuai, you're my only hope. I've spent so much money on you since you're young. Didn't you say you're going to take me to live in a big villa? How can you repay your mother this way?"

"I'll keep my promise, mom."

Mrs. Zhou opened up the door to their house. It was a building that would sway along with the wind during a severe storm, and it seemed so dilapidated that even the slightest push could bring the entire building down.

The light in the kitchen was blinking sporadically.

Mrs. Zhou walked into the kitchen and cleaned out the table. "I don't think you're going to learn anything from your tutorial class, so I've talked to Mr. Wang. He told me that you can go to his class every night for free."

As she was talking, she scooped the fish soup out of the pot. "Have some fish soup. After that, we're going to pay a visit to Mr. Wang. After all, we have to show some gratitude to him since he's helped us."

After that, she went to check Zhou Zihuai's bag. She pulled everything out of his bag, and began browsing through his exercise books. Then, when she saw Song Fang's test paper, she frowned, "What is this?"

"My classmate's test paper."

"I'm asking you, did he ask you to teach him?"

"Nope. I volunteered to teach him. Since I've finished my part."

"You've finished your part? How about your revision? Have you finished your own revision?"

"…"

Mrs. Zhou rubbed the center of her eyebrows and said, "See, this is why I told you you shouldn't waste your time on those underachievers. You can't even manage your own time. Zihuai, I can't always keep my eyes on you, but my future, our family's future... All of us are depending on you. If you do one thing wrong and you get one point less in the exams, it will bring devastation to our family…"

"I know, mom. I know."

Yes, he knew everything.

He knew his family's condition. His father passed away when he was still a kid, and it was his mother who raised him.

It went without saying that he understood everything.

His mother had lost a lot of things throughout her life. Her husband, her family… So right now, she could only put all her hopes on him.

Even though Zhou Zihuai was just 17 years old, he understood everything.

Mrs. Zhou stroked her son's head and went back into the kitchen. She took a piece of fish and put it into a bag. "It's cold out there. Put on a jacket, and let's go visit Mr. Wang."

She took a black cotton jacket from the cupboard and handed it to Zhou Zihuai. before bending down to put on her shoe. Zhou Zihuai put on the black jacket, and just when he went up to open the door, he felt a strong push from the outside.

Immediately after, a strong scent of alcohol and poor quality tobacco assaulted his nostrils.

Then, the world inside of his vision began to spin as a big hand grabbed him by his collar. Before he could do anything, a punch landed on him.

Thump!

A muffled noise sounded out, followed by a scream that rang throughout the entire building.

"What the hell are you doing, Zhao Wu? Have you gone mad?"

Mrs. Zhou hastily went forward to check on her son.

"Zihuai, are you alright?" Mrs. Zhou's face was filled with tears as she cupped Zhou Zihuai's face between her hands. She studied him meticulously, and when she noticed the wound at the corner of his lips, she jerked her head around and glared at the man before her, "Zhao Wu, you're drinking again! Did you go gambling again? Didn't you promise me that you would not gamble anymore? Zihuai is your son! How could you…"

"Shut the f*ck you, you b*tch!" The man snarled as he gave Mrs. Zhou a big slap on her cheek, causing her head to turn sideways as a red welt appeared on her cheek.

"He's not my son, you b*tch!" He shouted.

Then, he staggered two steps forward and saw the fish on top of the cupboard.

"Are you going to the Wang Family again? No way! I'm not going to let you waste my money on him anymore!"

The man grabbed the fish and turned around.

Mrs. Zhou hurriedly rushed up to him and stopped him from leaving, "No! This is my gift to Mr. Wang! You can't take it away!"

"Get lost!" Zhao Wu grabbed Mrs. Zhou's hair and gave her another slap in the face.

"Let go of my mom, you b*stard!" Zhou Zihuai shouted as he sprang up from the ground. He clenched his fist tightly and held it high in the air. However, before he could land a punch on him, the man kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying into the air.

"I know why you want to give this fish to that Mr. Wang! You want him to teach your son, right? No way! There's no way I'm letting him use my money to continue his study! Once he finishes high school, he's going to get a job to take care of me! I'm not going to pay for his university!"

"That's my father's money!" Zhou Zihuai shouted back.

"What did you say?!" Zhao Wu's expression changed. He pushed Mrs. Zhou aside and walked up to Zhou Zihuai, "I'm your father!"

"You're not my father! You're spending the site, the state, the insurance company's pension for my dad!"

"Zihuai, shut up!" Mrs. Zhou couldn't help and yelled.

"You can't talk to your father like this!"

"I'll say this again. He's not my father. Don't worry, mom. You don't have to be afraid of him. We can call the police and tell them that he's physically abusing us!"

"Zihuai!" Mrs. Zhou shouted. She then turned to the man and shook her hand, "Honey, that's not what Zihuai means. You don't have to listen to him!"

"Shut the f*ck up!" Zhao Wu hissed as he delivered another punch on Mrs. Zhou's face. "You're the same as well, b*tch! You're a loose woman, and you still expect me to take care of your child? I really shouldn't have married you!"

As if it was not enough to vent his spleen. The man looked around and his eyes lit up when he saw a glass bottle on the floor. He picked the glass bottle up and walked up to Mrs. Zhou. As Mrs. Zhou watched him in horror, he raised the glass bottle up and smashed it on her head.

The glass bottle was shattered into pieces.

The woman fell to the floor like a ragged doll. She lifted her hand and covered her head as a sharp pain assaulted her.

Tears began to stream down from her eyes.

When Zhou Zihuai saw what Zhao Wu had done to his mother, his eyes went bloodshot and he yelled, "Zhao Wu! How could you do this to my mother? I'm going to kill you!"

The anger that had been building inside of him for years exploded. He could not hold himself back any longer.

Driven by his rage, he punched the man in his cheek, throwing him off balance. By the time Zhao Wu came around to his senses, he reacted by delivering a punch at Zhou Zihuai as well.

"Stop, Zihuai, stop it!" Mrs. Zhou tried to split them apart but to avail.

Blood began to trickle down the young man's head

"Honey, please stop! Please stop beating Zihuai. I'll punish him later, honey, please! You want money, right? I still have some money left in my purse! I'll give it all to you!"

Mrs. Zhou took the remaining 600 yuan out of her bag. Zhao Wu kicked Zhou Zihuai to the floor and snatched the money away from Mrs. Zhou's hand.

"Is this all the money you've got? Useless!" Zhao Wu spatted. "I'm telling you, I want 5,000 yuan tomorrow. I don't care what you do, I want to see the money tomorrow. You got me?"

"5,000 yuan? Where am I supposed to get 5,000 yuan?"

"If you can't get it for me, then I'll sell your son! I've been asking around and I know that now on the black market, a kidney can be sold for hundreds of thousands of yuan. I have raised him for so many years, and it's time for him to pay me back!"

After that, he grabbed the fish and stormed out of the house.

Mrs. Zhou went up to Zhou Zihuai. "Zihuai, how do you feel right now? Are you alright? You can't talk to your father that way."

"He's not my father! Mom, I'm an adult right now.. After I finish my college entrance exams, I can earn money as a private tutor for other students, and many families will choose me as long as I do well in my high school exams."