Chapter 10

Chu Xiaoyi truly hadn’t expected Chu Jiadong’s basketball skills to be so good.

At first, Chu Jiadong hadn’t been able to fully loosen up, but gradually he became increasingly at ease. He repeatedly sank three-pointers, causing Chu Xiaoxiao to cheer excitedly. His style was different from Chu Xiaoyi’s. He didn’t constantly sprint around or force aggressive attacks. Instead, he relied on precise shooting skills to score points.

Chu Xiaoyi was a little stunned. He suddenly felt that his family was full of hidden talents. Chu Xiaoxiao’s Russian was one thing, but now even Chu Jiadong had turned out to be a basketball expert?

In Chu Xiaoyi’s eyes, his father Chu Jiadong had always been a boring, stubbornly self-righteous person. He seemed to have no hobbies or specialties of his own, yet occasionally liked to boast about himself while belittling other people’s interests to display his own wisdom and insight. Chu Xiaoyi used to enjoy playing the guitar, but Chu Jiadong had dismissed it as completely worthless, causing Chu Xiaoyi to lose all desire to share that part of himself with his father ever again.

“All pursuits are inferior; only studying is noble.”

That was Chu Jiadong’s philosophy. Most of Chu Xiaoyi’s flashy hobbies were useless in his father’s eyes, merely accomplices that interfered with academic performance.

As a result, Chu Xiaoyi had never played basketball with his father before. After all, basketball offered no direct benefit to studying.

Standing beside the court, Chu Xiaoxiao shouted excitedly, “Go Dad! Go Dad!”

The score between the two unexpectedly remained extremely close. Chu Xiaoyi launched attack after attack without success, while Chu Jiadong calmly maneuvered and evaded him. Both of them were fully immersed in the game, constantly running back and forth and jumping with all their strength. It was an exhilarating match.

The daylight gradually faded, and the surroundings became increasingly difficult to see. Night was clearly approaching.

Chu Xiaoyi desperately wanted to determine a winner, but Chu Jiadong smiled and waved his hand.

“No more. I’m too tired. I’ve run out of energy…”

Seeing the two stop in the middle of the court, Chu Xiaoxiao immediately trotted over. She even cast a proud glance at Chu Xiaoyi.

Chu Xiaoyi had no idea where her little face found so many expressions. She could even look down at people with the whites of her eyes.

Neither father nor son emerged victorious. The match ended only because Chu Jiadong’s stamina was exhausted.

However, in Chu Xiaoxiao’s eyes, Dad had achieved a complete victory.

Just look at Dad’s bearing. Even though he was good at basketball, he didn’t show off recklessly. Then look at that smug older brother of hers. Just because he could play basketball, he acted like he was the greatest thing on earth!

The streetlights had already come on as the three of them headed home together.

After their intense competition, the atmosphere between father and son was no longer quite so tense. At the very least, they could exchange a few words.

Dribbling the ball as they walked, Chu Xiaoyi muttered, “I never knew you could play basketball.”

Chu Jiadong replied, “I liked playing basketball in college.”

Chu Xiaoyi felt somewhat conflicted. He had always thought his father belonged entirely to the studying-only camp and never pursued sports.

Having borrowed her father’s success to suppress her brother, Chu Xiaoxiao proudly raised her chin.

“There’s always someone better and a sky beyond the sky. There are still plenty of things you don’t know.”

Seeing her triumphant expression, Chu Xiaoyi wanted to ruffle her hair but refrained because his hands were dirty. He could only respond, half annoyed and half amused,

“It’s not like you’re the one who can play basketball. What are you so proud of? You can’t even dribble properly. Wait until you can play before acting arrogant.”

Chu Xiaoxiao shot him a disdainful glance and recited while swaying her head:

“Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored.”

She then added the Chinese translation herself:

“卓越的天才不屑走旁人走过的路，而去寻找迄今未开拓的地区。”

Chu Xiaoyi: “???”

Chu Xiaoxiao said, “That was English this time. You should be able to understand it, right?”

Chu Xiaoyi: “…”

Nowadays, if your foreign languages weren’t good enough, you couldn’t even argue with your younger sister!

Seeing the aggrieved look on his eldest son’s face, Chu Jiadong smiled and tried to mediate.

“Alright, alright. Xiaoxiao has Xiaoxiao’s path, and Brother has Brother’s path. Both of you have your own good paths…”

As someone practically illiterate in English listening comprehension, Chu Xiaoyi felt isolated and unable to continue the conversation. He simply changed the subject and muttered,

“We could’ve played a little longer.”

He still hadn’t had enough. Deep down, he felt a trace of regret and wistfulness. He had no idea when he would play basketball again next, and it would probably be difficult for his opponent to be his father again.

Chu Jiadong shook his head.

“No, no. I really didn’t have any strength left today.”

“Your stamina used to be pretty good. Back when you beat me, that was really—”

Chu Xiaoyi’s voice abruptly stopped.

The moment he realized what had slipped out of his mouth, he wanted to slap himself on the spot.

He felt that He Xin’s concerns had been entirely justified. He truly couldn’t control himself and constantly said inappropriate things.

Since returning home, Chu Xiaoyi had deliberately restrained himself, trying his best to maintain a positive and upbeat image in front of his family. Yet the joy after exercising had relaxed him somewhat, causing him to lose his usual vigilance.

He hadn’t intended to mock or sneer at all.

The words had simply come out naturally before he could stop them.

Sure enough, Chu Jiadong had clearly heard him.

A panicked and shaken look appeared in his eyes. He seemed somewhat lost and helpless. His lips parted slightly and moved as though he wanted to say something, but no sound emerged.

Under the streetlights, Chu Xiaoyi suddenly noticed strands of gray in his father’s hair.

His chest tightened.

An inexplicable bitterness welled up inside him.

He had always hoped his father would remain as spirited and confident as before. Then he could openly and justifiably rebel against him, just as he had wanted to do throughout his childhood.

But he couldn’t.

Before he had managed to prove anything, Chu Jiadong had already begun growing old.

Chu Xiaoyi had waited passionately for a fair battle.

Yet his father had already lost the strength to fight.

Before Chu Xiaoyi could win, the other side had already raised the white flag and surrendered, leaving him with nothing but endless frustration.

He could no longer strike back at his father.

But then what was all of his past suffering supposed to mean?

As time passed, all the grievances and resentments he had carried for years no longer had any chance to be spoken aloud.

Once the right moment passes, there is no longer any meaning in telling the story.

Knowing he had misspoken, Chu Xiaoyi could only hope Chu Xiaoxiao hadn’t heard clearly. He hurriedly covered it up and said casually,

“I haven’t exercised enough yet. I’ll run a couple more laps with the ball before going back!”

Having shifted the topic, he pretended nothing had happened and broke into a run, shattering the brief stalemate.

He didn’t dare look back.

He was afraid of meeting Chu Jiadong’s cautious eyes.

Under the dim glow of the streetlights, the father and daughter watched Chu Xiaoyi gradually run farther away and fell silent.

A moment later, Chu Xiaoxiao was the first to look up.

Looking at her quiet father, she asked,

“Dad, did you hit Brother before?”

Her eyes were like bright gemstones, shimmering with gentle light.

A trace of hesitation and hope showed in them, as though she wished he would deny it.

Chu Jiadong gave a bitter smile and admitted,

“Yes.”

Chu Xiaoxiao had originally thought Chu Xiaoyi had simply misspoken.

Who would have expected her gentle and kind father to actually admit it?

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“Why!?”

In Chu Xiaoxiao’s eyes, aside from certain special professions and extreme situations, any use of violence against another person was unjust.

She simply couldn’t understand why Dad would hit Brother.

Especially when they belonged to the same family.

How could they possibly resort to violence?

Chu Xiaoxiao was deeply hurt.

Looking at her father with disappointment, she wore an expression of strong disapproval.

Chu Jiadong could only crouch down so that he was at eye level with his youngest daughter.

Helplessly, he said,

“Because when your brother was born, it was also my first time being a father. So I ended up doing many things wrong…”

Chu Xiaoxiao asked in surprise, “Didn’t Dad’s dad teach you how to be a dad?” Chu Xiaoxiao had never met her grandfather. By the time she was born, only Grandma remained in the family.

Chu Jiadong smiled awkwardly. “The way Grandpa taught Dad back then probably wasn’t suitable for your brother.”

Chu Jiadong really didn’t know how to explain it to his youngest daughter. His own father had beaten him even more severely. In an era that believed “filial sons come from under the rod,” nobody thought adults shouldn’t hit children. Now he could understand the good intentions behind his father’s actions, but if he told the whole truth, it would probably only tarnish Grandpa’s image in Chu Xiaoxiao’s eyes.

Crossing her arms, Chu Xiaoxiao listened to her father’s admission and thoughtfully analyzed the situation for him.

“Then you really made a huge mistake. Did you apologize to Brother?”

Chu Xiaoxiao felt that although her bargain-bin brother was indeed mischievous and unsuccessful, Dad hitting him had gone too far. It was genuinely a mistake.

Chu Jiadong said, “I did. But Xiaoxiao also needs to understand that apologizing and being forgiven are two different things. Not every apology will be accepted.”

Confusion appeared on Chu Xiaoxiao’s little face. She half understood and half didn’t.

Chu Jiadong gently continued, “So Xiaoxiao shouldn’t blame your brother, and you shouldn’t dislike him. Because your brother exists, Dad was able to gain more experience and learn how to interact with Xiaoxiao as an equal. And because Xiaoxiao exists, Dad has finally begun to understand your brother’s way of thinking and realize just how wrong he was.”

“You are both irreplaceable treasures to Dad. But Dad will never be a perfect father. All I can do is keep trying to become a better and better father.”

Chu Jiadong had once fallen out with his eldest son. Therefore, when raising his youngest daughter, he carefully avoided many past mistakes. Since childhood, his daughter had displayed extraordinary talent. She always expressed her opinions openly and confidently, which only made Chu Jiadong feel even more guilty when thinking about his eldest son.

Chu Xiaoxiao was a smart child, even more capable than many adults. She never felt there was any difference between herself and her elders.

But Chu Xiaoyi had once been an ordinary child.

In the short term, he had been unable to prove anything. Facing constant suppression must have been very painful.

When Chu Xiaoxiao felt dissatisfied, she cited examples and reasoned her way through arguments.

But the young Chu Xiaoyi had not yet distinguished himself. He could only silently and aggrievedly swallow everything.

As an adult, Chu Jiadong lacked the ability to defeat his brilliant youngest daughter in debate. Through that realization, however, he truly came to understand how heavily he had once crushed his eldest son.

Chu Xiaoxiao had never used her exceptional talents to suppress her family members.

Yet he himself had once used an adult’s power to suppress the young Chu Xiaoyi.

Chu Xiaoxiao didn’t understand why things had become so complicated. Unable to think of a solution, she could only follow her father home for the time being.

Back at home, Chu Xiaoxiao hugged her iPad but had no interest in it. Thinking about Dad and Brother’s situation, she helplessly sighed.

Great-Uncle, sitting nearby, noticed her distraction and said, “Xiaoxiao, if you don’t want to watch pigs, then don’t watch them. Come eat some fruit with Great-Uncle!”

Great-Uncle was cutting oranges into juicy little pieces. Chu Xiaoxiao sat beside the table watching him and suddenly asked,

“Great-Uncle, did your dad hit you?”

Unaware of her concerns, Great-Uncle casually replied, “Of course.”

Chu Xiaoxiao was greatly shocked. She had never expected Great-Uncle to have been beaten too.

“Why did he hit you?”

Great-Uncle had grown up in the countryside. The question caught him completely off guard, and it took him a long moment to respond.

“Uh… there wasn’t really a reason? One time I was starving and secretly ate some dried radish that a neighbor had hung out to dry. Then your Great-Grandpa beat me.”

In truth, Great-Uncle couldn’t clearly explain all the reasons either. He had been beaten too many times when he was young and only remembered some of them.

Chu Xiaoxiao asked in surprise, “Why didn’t he reason things out with you instead?”

“Sometimes kids won’t remember a lesson unless they’re beaten. Besides, what’s the big deal about older people hitting younger people?” Great-Uncle replied casually. After all, he was already a man in his sixties. Why would he still care about the beatings he’d received as a child?

Chu Xiaoxiao immediately applied the logic to herself and protested unhappily.

“Of course it’s a big deal. Why are you allowed to hit younger people?”

Chu Xiaoxiao: As the youngest person in the family, I object first!

Great-Uncle hurriedly said, “But Xiaoxiao is so well-behaved. You’d definitely never get beaten. Only children who aren’t well-behaved get beaten…”

Chu Xiaoxiao argued reasonably, “That’s not right. Grandma isn’t well-behaved now either, but she can’t be beaten.”

Great-Uncle: “…”

That sounded strangely reasonable.

Great-Uncle had no idea how cutting oranges had somehow turned into a philosophical dilemma of the century. He had only wanted to eat fruit in peace, yet somehow he had been dragged into this mess.

He spent quite a while seriously debating with the family’s youngest member, unable to explain why “Great-Grandpa beating Great-Uncle was fine,” while “Great-Uncle beating Xiaoxiao would be wrong.”

By the end, he was completely dizzy.

Faced with the little thing’s relentless questioning, Great-Uncle finally had to call for outside assistance.

In a humble tone, he shouted toward the other room,

“Chun’er, Chun’er! Come explain it to Xiaoxiao. I can’t explain it clearly anymore…”