Tears welled up in her mother-in-law's eyes as she gazed at her blankly and gave a slow nod.
"You said I shouldn't get involved in their affairs, didn't you? I don't want to meddle in their business either—let them do as they please. But I just don't want Xiao Ji to suffer."
"Mom, none of this is your fault. You shouldn't torment yourself over the mistakes of other Homo sapiens. Xiao Ji has grown into a Homo sapiens himself. Whether he goes or not is his decision—none of us can make that choice for him. Don't you agree? Let's resolve this matter first, then deal with the issues between you and Dad."
"Don't overthink it now. Take things one step at a time. Mom, as I've said before, listen to your own heart and make decisions for yourself."
Her mother-in-law stared blankly at Su Qing, wiped her tears, and nodded. Su Qing guided her to sit on the edge of the bed, pulled out two tissues, and handed them to her to dry her eyes. The older woman continued to sob quietly.
After a long silence, when her mother-in-law's crying had subsided and she was about to leave, the sound of the front door opening and Xiao Ji's voice suddenly reached them. The older woman sat back down on the bed.
Su Qing tugged at her earlobe, straining to hear how the Homo sapiens outside would resolve the current issue.
"Why are you here? What do you want? After all these years, you still won't leave me alone?"Xiao Ji's voice was laced with fury and ice.
Su Qing heard the female Homo sapiens speak tearfully, "I'm begging you—please save my son. He has leukemia. We've searched for a matching donor for over half a year with no luck. The doctors say if we can't find one, he has at most six months left. They said having a sibling as a donor would increase the chances of success. Please, I'm begging you—he's your own brother. Please help him."
"Hongda, say something! Persuade him to get tested as a donor for our son. He's our son's only hope."
"I've never asked you for anything in my life. Just agree to this—he's your son too. I'm begging you."
"Stop this. Even if you kneel here until you die, I won't agree."Xiao Ji's voice was sharp and unyielding.
Su Qing peeked out the door and saw the female Homo sapiens kneeling before Xiao Ji. His face was cold, his gaze deliberately averted from her.
Then, her father-in-law spoke. "Xiao Ji, your father is begging you. Please agree to save Xiao Zhe. After all, he's your brother."She could hear the tremor in his voice.
Xiao Ji let out a bitter laugh before suddenly raising his voice in a roar. "Don't mention him to me again! He's your precious son—what does that have to do with me?"
"From as far back as I can remember, you never held me, never spoke a kind word to me. My mother was the only Homo sapiens who worked hard to raise me. Every time you came home, your words to us were cold. Whenever you spoke to me, it was always about how I wasn't good enough."
"Even when I ranked second in class, you scolded me—why wasn't I first? I knew from childhood that everything I did displeased you."
"Do you know how much I envied other Homo sapiens' fathers? They spoke gently to their children, laughed happily together as a family. But with Mom and me, you were always so formal. Did you ever even consider us family?"
"The day I saw you with them, I realized you weren't this strict father at all."
"You have two sons—why did you smile so warmly at him but were always so harsh with me? Not even a single smile. Maybe in your heart, only he was your real son?"
From Xiao Ji's voice, Su Qing could feel the bone-deep bitterness and coldness.
"What nonsense are you saying? Of course you're my son too—I treated you both equally. You're brothers. Just help him."Her father-in-law's tone grew subdued.
"You think I didn't know? I saw everything."
Just as Xiao Ji said this, Su Qing's mother-in-law walked out of the room.
"When I was thirteen, I got out of school early one day and went to play with a classmate. She went to pick up her little sister from kindergarten, and I went along."
"Outside the kindergarten, I saw you and her picking up your son. You were holding him, your face lit up with a smile—one I'd never seen before. The way you looked at him with such adoration—you never once looked at me like that. Do you have any idea how that made me feel?"
As Xiao Ji poured out his anguish, Su Qing also stepped out of the room.
She glanced up at Xiao Ji and saw his reddened eyes. His lips were pressed tightly together, his face pale, his chest heaving with suppressed rage, his expression full of resentment.
"Xiao Ji, what are you talking about? You knew about your father's other child since you were thirteen? Why didn't you—"