It was a cold rainy day when Zhan was coming back from school one day that he saw his front gate opened. There were drag marks on the muddy ground, stained with blood that stretched in the water out the gate to the side walk outside the gate. He stopped as fear struck his weak bones to the core, preventing him from going any further.
He didn't want to go further, but he had to, it was his home afterall. The closer he walked towards the door, the more blood was in the ground. By the time he reached the door, a strong smell of blood hit his senses, 8t was then he knew...he wasn't going to take what was waiting for him inside the rooms of the three times house.
He slowly and carefully took a step by step inside the kitchen. There were dishes and pots which looked to be scattered around the kitchen while they had food inside. The gas stove was not on but there was a strong smell of gas, which indicated that it was not tightly switched off, but he didn't care about that. It was more likely that all the throwing if the dishes was done while some food was being cooked. He stopped in his tracks and he felt his whole body shiver when he saw a hand in one of the two bedrooms, sticking out towards the door.
Zhan began to cry, he felt weak on his knees and felt like life had been sucked out of his body. That was because he knew who the hand belonged to, even though he hated to admit it, he knew very well that his life was never going to be the same again. His feet dragged themselves to his room, where he saw the hand sticking out, and there he found a horror that he only saw in movies and never knew existed in real life.
His mother was laying there, her hand cut off from her body and sticking out from inside Zhan's bedroom. Her lifeless body was laying across the floor with the head under Zhan's bed. Her one leg seemed to be twisted and broken while the other one had markings engraved on them. The markings looked to be done by her own arm bone which looked like her hand was broken into two pieces and by which weapon he didn't know. It was physically impossible for a bone to be broken like that by any human.
In he walked towards her mother to read the engravings and he couldn't make out what they really meant. It was they were the initials of something, he decided to take out his phone and take a photo of it. He went to the other room, which was his parents room and there he found his father's lifeless body laying in the bloodied carpet with no engravings or torn limbs like his mother's body.
The only thing in the bedroom was the blood and the lifeless bodies, but other than that, the rooms looked still intact from the books in the nightstand and the hanged towel on the end of the bed. Zhan was brave as he saw his parents like that, he didn't cry nor hesitate to take out his phone to take a shot of the engraving engraved on his mother's thigh. He walked out and went to switch off and carefully and tightly shut the gas from the gas cylinder before he walked out of the house and called the police.
Three days later, Zhan finally arrived at his grandmother's house. The police has asked where his other relative lived so that he could live there while they would be busy taking evidence and making sure the place was free if blood since he was still young to see. What they didn't know was that Zhan had already walked in and say the worst there was to see, even managed to take a few pictures. So...the house was going to be cleaned spotless by the people who were incharge of cleaning the crime scenes so that Zhan doesnt face the traumatic experience of cleaning his parent's blood.
When they arrived, his grandmother had already been called and given the heads up about what had happened. They found her waiting outside the house with her hands on her head, mourning what had happened to his son and her wife. Yes, she was Zhan's paternal grandmother and she was still strong to walk around and do chores in the house. She had raised Zhan when he was little before they moved away when her son found a job in the city and they rented and three roomed house to live in.
They lived a simple life, which was why it was a shock for Zhan's grandmother to hear what had happened to them. When the police opened the door for Zhan to get out, she moved closer and waited for him to step out of the car. When Zhan saw finally saw her, he got out and hugged her tight and cried. He cried so much and so painfully that even the police couldn't help but take off their police caps and place them on the chest and lowered their heads.
They were giving him the platform t finally mourn his parents deaths for the first time. They had been with his for three days, driving through the plains, towns, cities and villages with Zhan not even shedding a tear. He didn't want to eat no matter what the two police bought for him, he also didn't sleep at all. They drive for three days and Zhan was awake for those three days without even blinking sleep away. Sleep didn't want to engulf his tired body and he let his body do all it wanted with his brain being the lead.
It's not like he didn't try to sleep, he did, a couple of times. But whenever he did, the images of how his parents lifeless bodies were laying in a pool of blood filled his thoughts and he would quickly open his eyes and to never fall asleep again. The police left after talking to them and promising that they will call once they find some evidence of who might have some those devious acts. They drive back, leaving Zhan with his grandmother.
Zhan was in college and it meant he had to miss out on school for a couple of days before his grandmother decided to go to a college nearby and explain to them what had happened to Zhan. She wanted him to have something to do and to be able to mingle with other students of his age. Lucky enough, Zhan got in and he was able to continue where he left off from the previous college. It was the same college he attended just that the branch was different.
So they were able to find everything about him and what studies he was taking. He started attending a week after he arrived and all the professors seemed to like him very much. Mayne it was because of what he went through, or because of his smart brain or...that he was too beautiful and too handsome, no one knew. There were students who wanted to be his friend while others wanted to date him, both male and female, but he was friendly with everyone even those who looked at him like he was disgusting.
He was a simple student living a simple village life with his grandmother. There were students from all kinds of background in that college, most of them who were rich but chose that college because it was closer to their home. The other college was in the city, where Zhan attended and it meant they had to travel three hours to reach there. He got admitted in that college by scholarship, which meant he had to do more than enough in his studies to keep it. Many student could afford and they would slack off in their studies just because they could afford to enroll again if they ever wanted to.
Friends in his circle were those that saw his potential as well as those who lived studying just like he did. But none of those friends knew where he lived, it was enough for him to study at school with them even when they had projects or assignments to finish up, they had to do it at school and he didn't even want to know where they lived. His grandmother was used to him coming home late where he would ask all sorts of questions if he were to come home early.
Even though many liked him, and many of those who liked him wanted to have a romantic relationship with him, he had sweetly and kindly turned them down to a point where they wouldn't stay mad at him. He was a good and kind should who would help them with their school work if ever they didn't understand something. He would go out of his way to tutor they after classes and that was one of the reasons he came home late. But there was a more concerning reason for him coming home late.
There was this boy who seemed his age who would always do things to Zhan, and by things I mean... hide his backpack and Zhan would be looking for it throughout the whole school. He would tell him to do things for him and if he refused he would always bully him to a point he would even want to quit school. But the knew what he wanted to archive in life so he just put up with it. The worst they ever did was to strip him and he would go home with the clothes he was given by the security guy or they would piss on him and he would go home sticking.
Even after all those things being down to him, he would come to school and give the same smile he gave yesterday like it was nothing. That really got his bullies so angry. Well...it was more like one bully who led a group of others to do things he forced then into doing for him. Yes, there were levels in that college like any other college. Those who were rich were at the top of the school and they expected those who didn't have a rich background like them to do things for them in favour of having a normal college experience, as if that was even possible...that's because they would still treat them bad even after doing the things they wanted done for them.
One being Yeong, who was a Korean student whose family had moved from Korea to China. His family was very wealthy and he was the wealthiest amongst the rich in that college. He was practically worshiped by teachers but most by the head master because his family contributed a lot financially. So he was basically the Lord of the school and no matter what he did, both the professors and the principal would look away and pretend to not know or saw. This was also the case with Zhan, they saw how he was treated even through security cameras how he was humiliated infront of student sometimes but they did nothing even when other students reported to them.
This had been going on for almost three months and nothing was being done, all the other students ouod do was to comfort Zhan as best as he could. No one knew exactly why Yeong did all those things to Zhan, not even his group of so called school bodyguards what it was about. They just did what they were told to do without asking any questions. They would whisper amongst themselves, trying to help each other come up with ideas as to why but they found none whatsoever. Yeong was very handsome in his own was, and so was Zhan who was not only better than him, but he was kinder too.
He wanted to always cause trouble to Zhan to a point where he had called his group one time in a weekend and specifically instructed then to go with him to go and find out where Zhan lived. They did so a cording to rumours they had heard at school. One would say "I heard he lives at xxx village" and the other would be like "no man it's KKK village and they would go back and forth talking different villages until Yeong would be upset and drop them whenever they might be. It didn't matter how far he chased them out of his car from their homes, if he didn't like something, he would act on it. Just like how he did that very weekend.
It was Sunday and Zhan was helping his grandmother with the chores around the house before he went to study. It was still early before lunchtime and he was in the kitchen preparing vegetables as per instructed by his grandmother. She had told him she had an old friend coming by later from the big city far from wherethey lived and she wanted to be a good host. Zhan was happy to do so because of how he was always in college and he would come home late, he would eat and freshen up and go to bed next.
He felt as like his grandmother was doing a lot for him and he didn't even do anything to repay her kindness for looking after him and doing all the chores herself. He tried to make up for it everytime on weekends, even though his grandmother didn't complain, he knew she was older and needed assistance around the house. There would be sounds from singing and laughter around the house on weekends. The neighbours really loved weekends cause them they would hear Zhan's sweet voice singing with his grandmother.
It was three hours later when they finished cooking and preparing and setting the table. Zhan was singing and his grandmother was listening while he was finishing setting up the table when a knock was heard at the door. When they asked who it was, no one answered, so...Zhan went back to singing his favourite song until he saw a shadow from outside. It was a little after one PM so the shadow was pretty much visible to him from the window. He stopped singing and went to open the door, there he saw a middle aged woman who was wearing very fancy clothes for her age, standing right outside the door with a phone on his ear.
Zhan smiled and greeted her respectfully with his hands clasped together and bent his head a little. The woman did the same and Zhan stepped aside to let her in. She was still holding the phone to his ear until she found it rude to do so and out it down. She didn't say hang up but rather kept it on while the one on the other end if the call just listened. Zhan thought maybe she was finished with his call when she brought a glass of water and handed it to her. She smiled at him and they way the woman and his grandmother were so excited to see each other, he could swear they were childhood or maybe even school friends. But his grandmother looked olde than her so he dismissed the idea.
After the woman and his grandmother sat down, he excused himself and said he's going to study upstairs. He was about to turn away when the lady looked at her phone and quickly shut the closed the screen while the phone was still on call and asked Zhan to take it with him upstairs and charge it for her. Zhan looked at it and didn't take it the same time. That was because the phone was pretty much expensive and he was afraid of maybe dropping it or something. Besides....he did t have a the charger for that phone, when the woman saw his hasitating, she looked at her phone and back at Zhan and she understood what he was concerned about.
"Ah..! Don't worry about it son, you can never break it, I trust you won't. Besides... it's unbreakable, trust me, I tried because the advert said it doesn't. Anyway...here's the charger, just listen to it when it rings cause I'm pretty sure I will not be able to hear it here with all the noise were making."
The woman smiled and Zhan smiled as well before taking the charger anf turned around. He was about to take the first step up the stairs when the woman spoke again and said...
"Oh..! If it rings...please answer it for me, I don't want the person to hang up before I talk to them. You can just say you're bringing the phone to me and theu should wait a moment okay... Thank you son."
Zhan be and too nervous about what he was instructed to do, he did t say anything other than "yes mam" when the woman laughed kindly d said...
"Oh please don't call me mama, I would rather you call me mom than mam."
Zhan smiled again nervously and went upstairs in his room. There were a total of three rooms upstairs, his room and the guest room which was between Zhan and his grandmother's room. Downstairs was just a kitchen area with a wood stove, which is basically used in any rural areas in China, a dining area and a lounge area. The roms were small but they were more than enough for Zhan and his grandmother.
When he reached upstairs,all he could hear were laughters coming from downstairs, he smiled thinkimg how great it was for his grandmother to have a chat with her friend other than always taking care of him. He closed the door to his room and the first thing he did was to charge the phone which was only fifteen percent battery and he thought she thought well by asking for it to be charged. He put in in his nightstand and sat on his bed and for a few moments before standing up and sat behind his small desk and took out his books to study.
Three hours later, there was knock on his door and he just answered "please come inside " thinking it was his grandmother. He had then completely forgotten Abit the visitor and the phone until he saw that beautiful woman with a great smile and expensive clothes open his door. She stepped inside and Zhan quickly stood up and put his pen on his desk and bent a little to her. He did that out of manners, he very much knew his manners since he was raised by his grandmother before he moved away, but he came back older and still those manners were still stuck with him cause his parents made sure he did.
When she came inside, she looked around Zhan's room, there was nothing much in there. Just a single bed and a small worm out dest with a broken lamp which Zhan had taped together and a small wardrobe for his little clothes and the small bathroom which for only a shower and a toilet and basin. She saw how it was neat and his neatly his books were categorised on the small desk. Her eyes moved all around and lastly at Zhan, she still kept her smile when looked back at him and he played with his fingers out of nervousness. He was used to people telling him how poor he was and how he wore rags that he didn't want to bring someone to his home to insult his grandmother's hard work.
Her house was her hard work because she had built it and took care of it since she was a inner twenties. Her husband had died while renting a house in the city and she decided to move to the village and raise her then four months old son, his father. She never married and she still had her husband's, who was his grandfather's ashes in the house. He would hear how she would talk with the ashes as if she was really talking to his grandfather and that broke him. So...the present time, the woman sat down on the small bed and started talking to Zhan about his studies.
"Zhan it is right..?"
"Yes mam- I mean, yes aunty"
"(Chuckle) so you don't want to call me mom huh..? Well..no.worries, I know you will soon call me mom. (Giggle) so tell me...what are you studying ..? Do you have a company in particular which you want to intern it..? I mean with business studies you have to do practicals in big companies where they allow students to work as interns to gain a working experience. So... Do you have one in mind..?"
"Not yet aunty, I still have a long way to go before that. I still have to keep my grades so I can keep my scholarship, I can't think of anything else right now other than to increase my marks. My GPA score is now 3.7 and I need it to be 4.0, I need to archive those marks before the next semester."
"If only my grandson was as deligent as you are (clears throat) anyway...3.7 is already too high, why do you need to go higher than that...? I mean, you can get anywhere you want with that score."
"I just want to do better,I want to be able to do for my grandmother what I couldn't so for my parents. I want her to live her life freely without worrying about not having food for me to eat like or having to have run out of money. I just...want her to live a better life."
"Son...with your goals being that high, I have no doubt that she will soon have a worry free life. My grandson is in university and I can't say he doesn't do good, he has his struggle like you do and sometimes I think he just needs a breaks from all that. I try by all means to give him all the luxury he never asks for but he didn't want it. He always says he's fine and doesn't need all those expensive things and sometimes I wonder what it is I can do to make him forget all his pain."
She was so sad and Zhan didn't understand k kW what to do to make her not to worry. He looked at her and remembered something she said.
"Aunty said he's just like me, what does aunty mean by that..?"
"He...he lost his parents in a horrible way and he was the first to witness the horrible scene. He was sent to me after it all happened, he was seven years old at the time. Sometimes I just wonder if he still has nightmares about it."
She looked to be spacing out a little until Zhan brought her attention back and said...
"I don't think aunty needs to worry about him that much. I know what he saw is still in his mind even though it happened many years ago, but aunty doesn't need to help him forget, he doesn't want to because it would mean he will have to forget about his parents. The only images and memories of them might be the last image of them, but he will get through it in his own time. As long as aunty is there to support him and make him smile with the little things that aunty might think are not important, because to him...they mean a lot. Aunty doesn't have to throw money at him and throw as much happiness and support as aunty could and he will eventually remember how their faces were, without blood and how they used to be happy together without that very last scene popping up. "
"Wow..! Zhan ...son...whinysugut you those wise words..? Was it your philosopher of a grandmother or your parents...? I think they all did a great job raising such a kind and smart boy like you. Thank you son, if my son wasn't on his last year in university, I would send him to.live with you here to learn a thing or two. "
"He's finishing his studies this year..? So he's older than me. I hope he does best in school, aunty must tell him to take a deep breath and remember their smiles, he will see them right infront of him, cheering for him to go through the finish line."
Zhan smiled afterwards and the room seemed to have brightened up. The aunty mimicked his smile and said...
"Thank you son, I'm sure he will listen to your advice. Anyway....dint hasitate to call me when you need anything or when something happens. Your grandma is my childhood friend and she has helpede countless times, which is why I will never forget her. I just don't have time to visit more often, but I'm sure that will change in the future. Take care of yourself and take care of your grandmother okay...? I need to leave now, I just came to get my phone."
After hearing that, Zhan quickly stood up and took out the charger from the plug before giving it to the woman. She pressed he phone and when the screen came on she smiled and put the phone against her chest and said her goodbyes. That day was very special for Zhan to have talked to his grandmother's childhood friend. She was also happy because her family had gone through similar tragedies and even though her grandson was two years older than him, they shared the same experience.
It was early April and Zhan was sitting in class with his books on his desk, he was waiting for the the English professor to arrive. It was his next class, other students had also not come yet when the wrong crowd came in. It was none other than Yeong and his clown friends again, came to torture him before class, which they have done so many times before. He had gotten used to it to a point where he would bring spare clothes from home and hide them in his locker. Just in case if they decide to humiliate him again by peeing on him.
They surrounded him like always and Yeong sat infront of him, and his feet on the book Zhan was reading. Zhan looked at him and waited to be bullied, but that time, Yeong had a different plan in mind. He spoke to Zhan, for the first time since Zhan had started attending and for the first time in countless bullying, he was talked to Zhan. His friendsnwere also shocked, they had hoped to do what they always did and he would just sit there like a king and signal with his hands and they would beat Zhan up or pee on him. They didn't think that day would be so different, or rather that different.
"Your name is Zhan right..? Well...today I have something different in mind. How about you...become my friend...?"
His friends were startled for a few seconds and looked around at each other, trying to understand what he meant by that. Zhan didn't answer and he didn't even look interested when Yeong got mad. He felt so humiliated infront of his friends to be ignored like that. He poked Zhan a few times but Zhan wouldn't budge, he just kept an uninterested face and looked away and then a minute later he felt his cheek sting followed by a sound like a lighting.
Even at that time, Zhan was still unaware that the sound was a slap and his cheek was stinging because he was slapped. Exclamations escaped Yeong's friends when for the first time, he used his hand to bully someone, especially Zhan who he always said he was disgusted by. Things were changing for his friends and they were changing very fast for their minds to wrap around. Yeong stood up from the desk he was sitting on and pushed the desk with Zhan's books aside and stood right infront of him. He bent to Zhan's eyes level and said...
"In case you forgot, I wasn't asking you to be my friend, I was telling you. But since you do not want to be my friend and you refused me infornt of my boys...I will raise your title from a friend to something else. So from now on, you will always hold my backpack in school, you will buy me water to drink and even buy me my lunch. Don't worry, I'm allergic to peasant money, so your services will only be you going to buy them with my money. You must think of it as an honour that I'm talking to you or even giving you my backpack to carry. Meet me outside after class to carry my backpack or your grandmother will welcome your corpse this time. Don't think I'm fooling around, I don't waste my breath for nothing."
The threat was loud and clear, the rest was for Zhan to either do what he was told, or not. Either way, he knew what was at stake if he didn't . When they left, the English professor was just coming in along with a bunch of other students. For the rest of the class, Zhan felt like he couldn't concentrate, he was torn between doing what Yeong said or just face whatever he will do to him. He was humiliated many times, what was so special about that day..? Was it because he spoke about sending a corpse to his grandmother's house..? Did Yeong open wounds which he was trying to hard to forget everyday since the past happened..or what...?
Hi guys...👋
I really hope you will like this book too and supporre just the way you did before. I hope you stay blessed 💞💞
Stay safe 🤗🤗
And remember
♥️♥️ I love you a Galaxy ♥️♥️