Chapter 25
Habit… What is habit?
Of course, it is being accustomed to a miserable life.
Dad Cheng died unexpectedly, and Mom Cheng remarried with the young Cheng Youran, moving together into her stepfather’s home.
At first, Cheng Youran was happy. She was happy for her mother, thinking her mom finally had someone to rely on.
She was happy for herself, thinking she would no longer have to wander from place to place with her mother.
At last, she had a father, and a home.
But the truth is often more cruel than imagined.
The stepfather liked to drink, and when he drank too much, he would start beating Mom Cheng.
But he was very fond of Cheng Youran and never laid a hand on her.
Mom Cheng, with a daughter in tow, had finally found a man who could earn money and didn’t want a divorce.
To avoid being beaten herself, Mom Cheng told the young Cheng Youran to please her stepfather.
Mom Cheng thought that as long as the stepfather was happy, both she and her daughter would have good days ahead.
But she didn’t know she was pushing her little daughter into an abyss.
Molested, violated, unspeakable things happened openly at home.
So many times, while Mom Cheng was cooking outside, the stepfather would slip directly into little Youran’s room.
Cheng Youran was in despair. She cried and screamed, but her mother never came in.
Was the old three-bedroom apartment really that soundproof?
Did her mother truly not notice anything wrong with the usual touching and groping?
No, definitely not.
But Cheng Youran refused to believe it.
After the college entrance exam, she tried to bring it up to her mother in a roundabout way.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she started, her mother’s slap landed hard on her face.
“You’re lying! Your father would never do such a thing! Don’t you dare say that!”
“You ungrateful brat, you eat your father’s food, use his money, and now you dare to talk nonsense! Your little brother is still so young-do you want him to end up like you, growing up without a father?”
Her babbling little brother echoed, “Daddy… not possible…”
In that moment, Cheng Youran suddenly understood.
She was a gift, a surplus, and an abandoned piece.