Chapter 91: Who Did This?

The thin, frail child’s body before them was covered with shocking scars. His arms and neck bore twisted burn marks, and even on his back, arms, and visibly on his ribs, red swollen scars snaked and coiled like fierce little snakes.

Some of the marks had already formed scabs, showing a darkened color; others were still unhealed, bluish-purple—clear signs of deliberate beating. His slender, fleshless thighs were covered with large patches of bruises, so dark they looked like land ravaged by a storm…

Li Fenlan’s hand holding the hot towel trembled involuntarily. She carefully wiped over the small body with the warm cloth, nearly in tears: “Such a little child, who could be so cruel to hurt him? How old is he?”

No matter how naughty a child is, no one beats them like this! Moreover, these scars were obviously the result of years of abuse.

Xie Yunshu took a deep breath, unable to bear looking any longer. The little child’s small body seemed like a vessel carrying pain, and these scars were cruel witnesses to the brutal past he had endured.

Zhou Xinyue was his biological mother, yet she must have known about these wounds on her child. For over a year, Lu Zhixing had pitied Xiao Wei so much that he gave his entire salary to Zhou Xinyue, neglecting Xie Yunshu and favoring Zhou Xinyue instead.

If he cared so much about the child, how could the child suffer such inhuman abuse?

The warm towel passed over Xiao Wei’s back wiped off a layer of dirt — it was clear the boy hadn’t bathed in a long time; only his exposed little face and hands were clean. She dared not imagine what this child had gone through during the past year.

Surrounded by warmth and heat, Xiao Wei moved his eyelashes and finally woke up, eyes full of confusion and fear. He had run away from the family compound, with no direction, and only wanted to return to the place where his mother once took him to kowtow.

That day when he kowtowed there, someone had pulled him up; after returning, he wasn’t beaten or starved. He didn’t understand adult feelings and entanglements and instinctively thought this was a safe place — he just wanted to try it.

Because he couldn’t find his way home anymore and didn’t even know where his home truly was…

Since the family had no children’s clothes, Li Fenlan could only wrap him in a blanket first, then softly asked, “Child, where is your home? Who are your parents?”

Xie Yunshu sighed, “Mom, he’s Zhou Xinyue’s son, and now he’s probably considered Lu Zhixing’s son too.”

She hated Zhou Xinyue, but children shouldn’t suffer for the adults’ faults. Besides, this little boy didn’t understand much yet, and he looked so pitiful. No matter how hard-hearted she was, she couldn’t throw him out in such cold weather.

Li Fenlan’s face suddenly changed, even Xie Mingcheng’s eyes darkened: “Why is that woman’s child here?”

She didn’t know!

Xie Yunshu sat down, looking at the trembling child wrapped in the blanket, frowning: “Forget that for now. Let’s make him some ginger soup to drink. It’s so cold — even adults can get sick, let alone such a little kid.”

Li Fenlan’s expression was complicated. Looking at the small body full of scars just now, she couldn’t help but ask, “Child, who beat you?”

Any normal mother would see these fresh and old wounds, yet Zhou Xinyue never mentioned them, even boasting about being a loving mother.

So who beat him? The answer was obvious.

Xiao Wei timidly shook his head: “I was obedient.”

He was obedient, so couldn’t they stop beating him? Maybe wanting to say something, Xiao Wei suddenly loosened the blanket and struggled to kneel on the bed, kowtowing to Xie Yunshu: “I was wrong, I’m obedient…”

This was probably the only phrase he could say; the rest was whatever Zhou Xinyue told him to say.

Xie Yunshu bit her teeth and wrapped the blanket tighter around him, her voice a little harsh: “Are you stupid? Why kowtow to me? You just got warm, and you dare to move around? Don’t you want to live?”

Xiao Wei was frightened but didn’t cry like other children. He just bit his lip and quietly said, “Don’t hit me, I’m obedient.”

“This is truly cruel!” Li Fenlan turned away, not daring to look again. She lit the stove to boil the ginger soup: “Forget whose child he is for now. We need to warm him up first, then we can send him back tomorrow.”

In such cold weather with rain outside, the child had no clothes to wear and was close to freezing.

Xie Mingcheng’s face darkened. He glanced at Xiao Wei coldly: “The bad example at the top leads to bad behavior below. What kind of good child can come from that woman?”

He was disgusted with Zhou Xinyue and Lu Zhixing. Thinking the child was theirs, he wanted to throw him out right away! But it was just talk — he frowned and wrapped the blanket tighter: “If you don’t want to die, then listen well, or I’ll throw you out right now.”

Xiao Wei seemed to have a natural fear of obedience, tightly closing his mouth and only nodding.

The ginger soup was almost ready, with no sugar added. Li Fenlan patiently coaxed him, “Drink this, it’s good for your health.”

Xiao Wei obediently held the bowl and drank it all in one go, not even frowning once.

Xie Yunshu felt something was wrong with this child. She frowned and looked at the bruises on his arm: “Who hit you? Your mom? Or Lu Zhixing?”

Lu Zhixing, though stupid and arrogant, was not a cruel man. On the contrary, he liked the superior role of ‘saving others.’ Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given his salary to Zhou Xinyue out of pity.

Honestly, if it were Lu Zhixing who hit the child, Xie Yunshu found it hard to believe. But if it was Zhou Xinyue, that was even scarier — what kind of mother would be so cruel to her child?

Feeling some warmth on his body, Xiao Wei slowly felt a faint sense of safety. He bit his lip and quietly said, “My mom wouldn’t hit me.”

Zhou Xinyue was not really his mother; he just dared not call her that, fearing beatings and starvation. He dared not resist, nor would he.

“Not Zhou Xinyue?” Xie Yunshu frowned even more: “Then does she know about all these wounds on you? Could it be your school’s teachers or principal who hit you?”

If it wasn’t Zhou Xinyue, then whoever caused so many wounds must have committed a crime. Anyone beating Xiao Wei should be jailed! And with Lu Zhixing’s character, he wouldn’t just stand by…

When she mentioned Zhou Xinyue’s name, Xiao Wei fearfully shrank further under the blanket: “Not mom, mom don’t hit me anymore.”

“What?” Xie Yunshu heard the child’s words mixed and unclear, not fully understanding: “Who exactly hit you? Doesn’t Zhou Xinyue see this? Is she even your real mother?”

How could a biological mother not know when her child is beaten like this?