Chapter Five: The Meaning of Despair

My fists clenched tightly as I glared at them, a nameless rage surging in my chest.

In the next moment, a group of gaudily dressed young people poured into the private room. At their head was a blond with tattoos of dragons and phoenixes, who charged straight at Su Li. “Sister Li? What’s going on? Who’s looking for trouble?”

Su Li cast a cold glance at me, then pointed at Xiao Mi. “I was teaching a bitch a lesson, and this guy here decided to stick up for her!”

“Cousin, you’d better watch your mouth!” I forced down my anger and reminded her.

“Cousin?” The blond looked at Su Li in confusion.

I’d called her that deliberately, hoping to deescalate things. After all, no one wants unnecessary trouble, and this was my workplace. If I could turn a big issue into a small one, or a small one into nothing, that would be best. Besides, they had numbers on their side. No matter how shameless Su Li was, she was still my cousin. The situation forced me to swallow my pride for the moment.

“Su Li… No matter what, you’re my uncle’s daughter. There’s no need to go so far.”

Hearing this, the blond seemed to pick up on something. He just stood there, sizing up the situation, while the other lackeys behind him shifted restlessly but were held back by his hand.

Su Li sneered, her face full of contempt. “You keep calling him uncle, but that’s just you. Your parents are dead—who cares about whose relatives anymore? During the holidays, have you ever handed me a single red envelope as family?”

“So now you remember we’re related? Where were you before?”

Su Li was all too familiar with my family circumstances. She knew perfectly well I couldn’t afford to give out red envelopes! But I could say with a clear conscience that whenever my uncle’s family needed help, I’d never let them down.

I never imagined Su Li would say something like that.

Afterward, she turned to the crowd with a mocking smile. “What do you all think? A cousin like this—do you want him? If you do, I’ll give him to you!”

With that, she shot the blond a signal. His gaze shifted to Xiao Mi, and he leered, “If your cousin lets your girlfriend spend a couple days with me, I’ll accept him as family. And I won’t give a damn about you, Su Li!”

Su Li laughed heartily. “Not bad, not bad! Good idea! Monkey, who’d have thought we’d end up family?”

At her words, the thugs closed in around Xiao Mi and me.

I took off my work jacket and put it on Xiao Mi, then looked at Su Li. “Su Li, must you force things this far?”

Su Li sneered, “I never cared much about you… but your woman provoked my boyfriend. Sorry, you’ll have to pay the price!”

“I don’t care who you are. Even if the king of heaven showed up, it wouldn’t matter!”

As soon as Su Li finished, the gangsters swarmed in, crowding around Xiao Mi with arrogant grins. The blond’s smile turned even more lecherous as he advanced on her, calling out to me, “Cousin, just let your girlfriend have some fun with me for a couple of days. I’ll talk to Su Li for you! You know, I’m pretty persuasive!”

I stared at these scum, teeth clenched, and spat out a single word, cold as ice: “Get out!”

That one word enraged them.

“Ha, interesting! The rabbit’s going to bite!” the blond jeered, his face twisting with malice. “Calling you a rabbit flatters you. Crushing you would be like squashing an ant!”

“Kid, tonight we’ll show you what real despair is,” he gloated, reaching out to grab at Xiao Mi’s clothes.

My heart was pounding so hard it might burst from my chest. In one desperate jerk, I tried to lunge forward, but the thugs behind me pinned me down.

I had no choice but to abandon all reason and ruthlessly drive my foot into one thug’s groin. With a grunt of pain, he loosened his grip.

Without hesitation, I charged straight at the blond who was about to violate Xiao Mi.

“Xiao Mi, don’t be afraid!”

I reached her in an instant, pulled her away, and shoved her toward the door. Grabbing an empty bottle from the table, I swung it with all my might at the blond’s head.

There was a sharp crack as the bottle shattered. The thug collapsed, blood streaming from his forehead, instantly unconscious.

The air in the room froze, and everyone was stunned.

My act had shocked not only all the gangsters present, but also left Su Li’s face ashen.

Clearly, none of them had expected I would actually fight back.

“Wang Hu, you’re finished!” Su Li shrieked, frantically dialing her phone, her fingers trembling with rage and disbelief.

Looking back after life had beaten me down time and again, I realized that those I faced were nothing but street punks—the lowest of the low. These young thugs had no real strength. At the sight of blood, they all lost their nerve.

That’s why, when Su Li saw that no one dared move, she called the police.

To this day, I still wonder why I didn’t run. Thinking back, it was probably because I knew I still needed this job to pay for tomorrow’s meal.

Life is full of such helplessness.

The police arrived quickly. I didn’t flee—I knew what consequences my punch would bring. I simply stood there, silently guarding the still-shaken Xiao Mi, until they put me in the patrol car.

The next day, I sat in the cold, hard interrogation room, the world beyond the iron bars seeming distant and unreachable. Sunlight slanted through the window, falling across my face. At that moment, the door creaked open and a familiar, somewhat aged figure appeared—it was my uncle.

“Huzi… look at the trouble you’ve gotten yourself into!” His voice was thick with complicated emotions—reproach, helplessness. “This time you’ve really messed up.”

I hung my head in silence.

I wondered if I told him this whole mess was caused by Su Li, what would he think? But after considering, I said nothing. Family should not air their dirty laundry. I lived in his house; I owed his family too much in this life.

All I could do was bow my head and say nothing.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you too ashamed to speak?”

His expression was full of disdain. I remember it vividly even now.

At last, I looked up and faced him. “If you’re here just to lecture me, I’m sorry, please leave. The police are much more professional at that than you are.”

I didn’t know why, but I had never looked my uncle so directly in the eye before. This time, though, a nameless anger made me stare at him, as if trying to read his guilt and hypocrisy.

His throat worked as he shifted uncomfortably, then turned to the officer at the door. “Officer, if I want to bail him out, what do I need to do?”

The officer, who had already gotten the gist of things yesterday, replied, “Usually, you negotiate, get forgiveness, and pay compensation.”

At the mention of compensation, my uncle shook his head. “The kid’s got no parents and not a penny to his name. Is there any other way?”

The officer glanced at him in puzzlement. “Aren’t you his uncle? Why are you asking me?”

In that moment, I could clearly see a flicker of contempt in the policeman’s eyes—faint, but undeniable.

My uncle fell silent, then turned back to me. “See? I’ve done all I can. You got yourself into this; you’ll have to bear the consequences. Take this time to reflect here.”

“Oh, and it’s not that I don’t want to pay for you, but you’re an adult. You have to be responsible for your actions.”

The officer shook his head helplessly at that, then stepped away.

“The person you offended has some connections,” my uncle sighed. “Staying here is for your own good. Once they cool off, maybe everything will blow over. They won’t let you off easily, but I’ll see if I can find a legal way to lessen your sentence.”

I sneered and said nothing.

My uncle’s so-called legal route probably meant sitting outside the apartment complex, bragging with the security guards about finding a way out. Like father, like daughter.

Detention was inevitable. But Su Li… this grudge, I’ll remember for a lifetime.