Su Yutan's problem caused Zhou Feng to painfully reminisce.

He straightened his back slightly and leaned his back on the chair while coldly exclaimed, “My mother was a temptress. She hooked up with men everywhere. Once my father found it, he brutally beat her up…” He had a long face as his eyes depicted orbs of sorrow. It was if he could see the exact same moments of his parent's spat.

Su Yutan thought to herself,

Was his mother really a temptress? Or is it because his father was just possessive, which evoked him to be domestically violent?

Unable to contain herself, she gently asked with caution, “What happened afterward?”

“Afterwards…” Zhou Feng meeked, “She left my father and me for a wild man…She was gone from my life as if I had no mother to begin with.”

The silence between them left Su Yutan with her thoughts. Regardless of the truth of Zhou Feng's mother being accused of a “Temptress”, she was still irresponsible. She left her young son in the hands of her husband, who had a domestic violence record.

The rational approach of a normal mother was to call the police, accusing her husband of domestic violence, prosecute divorce, and take custody of her child to start a new life.

Even if she did not have a stable job, she did have to fret about living as a single parent.

In her case of divorce, the court would order her husband to pay a high amount of monetary maintenance each month. The maximum amount of monetary support could even reach up to 60% of the father's total income.

The court would enforce it and automatically transfer money from her ex-husband's account to hers monthly.

If the ex-husband were unemployed or had no income, she could've applied for social a.s.sistance, which would've been more than enough for her and her son's basic expenses.

She would then need not worry about her ex-husband's entanglement with their lives.

Additionally, the father would be deprived of Zhou Feng's custody, and a court injunction would be ordered to prohibit him from approaching Zhou Feng and his mother.

If the man were to ever violate the prohibition in any way, they could arrest him on sight, and then the mother and child are open for an ident.i.ty change and government protection, keeping them as far and away from the father after he is released from prison.

Under such a perfect social system, unfortunately, Zhou Feng's mother still chose to leave her son and endanger him to the monstrosity that caused her to flee.

It just could not be forgiven.

Su Yutan sighed from all her brainstorming and inferring which made her wonder secretly,

Did Zhou Feng's mother also suffer from subconscious trauma syndrome just like him?

The most painful and worrying part of this disease was that it could be intergenerational and can be pa.s.sed on, which is highly possible.

People with this disease at critical moments, often make choices that ordinary people would not emotionally understand, which leads to greater tragedies for themselves and their next generation.

It then clicked. “When your mom ran away, did your father express anger?” Su Yutan asked Zhou Feng.

“Of course! And boy was he furious! He got drunk every day, and as he went home, he used me as his own personal punching bag. He punched me and kicked me senseless, and even hung me up to whip me sore. Many times, I felt like I was going to die…”

As he spoke, reliving the moments that scarred him for life, Zhou Feng's body s.h.i.+vered slightly. His memories alone could chill him to the bones.

As for Su Yutan, his words resurfaced her memories that she already had buried deep into the darkest corners of her mind. The memories of the whip of her that horrid woman called mother sent a s.h.i.+ver down her spine.

“Didn't anyone find out that he treated you like that? Anyone at all?” Su Yutan said quickly, diverting Zhou Feng's as well as her own attention from the past.

Zhou Feng, feeling her sympathy and apathy, reluctantly answered, “My father had a farm. Aside from the emotionless robots on the farm, it was only him and me. He often had a bad temper; hence he had no friends or even relatives. He also did not allow me to go to residential schools. He did allow me to finish online schooling and used the excuse of the inconvenience of transportation. No one noticed his fury directed at me for years. It felt like time ticked slowly at his custody.”

Su Yutan sighed again.

Of course, she thought.

Although the online school was convenient, everyone's image in the school was only virtually generated.

Getting your education in an online school would merely allow you to select the “fixed avatar”, and the actual physical condition would not be reflected. There was no need to be physically present anywhere, nor show proof of your physical presence. Thus, his injuries were not discovered by teachers and cla.s.smates. He was concealed from prying eyes or help.

Zhou Feng hugged the gun tightly. He did so since he wanted to find a sense of security to control his body's tremor. As if it was his only comfort from the vicious world he experienced.

He continued, blankly stated, “I have no one to talk to. I only desperately pleased him with the hope of stopping his beatings…” He choked a little, which prevented him from continuing his story.

Su Yutan was afraid that he would indulge in negative emotions, which would lead to grave consequences for not only himself but for Su Yutan too. She diverted his thoughts and concluded, “It is not easy to please him, is it?”

After several seconds, Zhou Feng said, composed, “It is definitely not. I don't think he ever was since his demands were just too much for me to handle.”

Gladly, to Su Yutan's relief, the choking sensation evident in his voice had disappeared.

“I even studied well and hard, coming up as the top of my cla.s.s every time, yet he never was satisfied. It was just not good enough…” His voice changed into something darker. More gruff and sinister.

“He said that getting first place in the online school results only amounts to nothing. He made it seem like all my efforts were all for nothing. He even a.s.serted that everyone thinks of striving for a better future to stand out. He still wanted me to stand out non-academically, which is wrong! Right?!” He frantically asked Su Yutan, not wanting an answer but just for someone to agree. To confirm he was not crazy and it's not his fault that he's like this.

Su Yutan, prepared for such situations, smiled gently, preparing to set the facts straight. “Not necessarily. Everyone has different pursuits and viewpoints. Your philosophy just clashed with your father's philosophy.”

“But he didn't think so. He wanted me to stand out. It was probably because he failed and lost the chance to stand out once. Why would I want to stand out for him?” There was a wave of repressed anger in Zhou Feng's tone.

“Some parents like to impose their dreams on their children.” Su Yutan stated, as a matter of fact.

“But, is that morally right?” Zhou Feng asked, seeming both puzzled yet mocking.

Su Yutan knew couldn't say anything against him; however, she could only truthfully answer, “No, of course, that is absolutely wrong. From the moment of birth, a child is an independent individual. One's life that should be and must be respected. Parents don't need nor should be responsible for other individual's dreams and aspirations.”

Zhou Feng, feeling relieved and open to Su Yutan, immediately added, “Yet my father didn't think so! In order to make me stand out, he downloaded various papers from the internet and let me do it. If I made a mistake, I would get a las.h.i.+ng. Do you know how many lashes I have suffered? 2786!”