Redeeming Love

I was seventeen years old, a high school sophomore, when my parents, who had broken up for several years, finally decided to divorce. Neither of them wanted me, yet they both pointed fingers at each other and cursed each other for being unfit parents. After several arguments and even fights, they finally reached an agreement: my mother would raise me until eighteen, and then I would live with my father. A few months later, I moved in with my mother to my stepfather's house. My stepfather was her high school classmate, very wealthy, and polite, but distant towards me. On the day Tang Hai came to our house, the final exam scores had just been released. I still hadn't passed physics... I was worrying about how to explain my physics grade to my mother when the front door opened from the inside.   One of my stepfather's cousins from his family was leaving to buy fireworks when she saw me and pulled me inside. "Let me introduce. This is Mu Yi, the daughter of the aunt," she said to a handsome man. "Mu Yi, this is our youngest uncle named Tang He, studying physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Do you remember? I told you about this uncle?" I vaguely remembered hearing about him before, that he was very smart but had a bad temper. But seeing him in person was the first time for me. I stared blankly at the unfamiliar man who was surrounded by many cousins. He was tall and thin, wearing a silk shirt that accentuated his good-looking eyes and nose. He looked a little lazy and indifferent. Perhaps because the temperature in the room was too high, he unbuttoned two buttons, revealing a nicely shaped collarbone that was different from the physics teachers at school who wore sports shoes with their suits. He looked like a refined and elegant villain in a TV drama. I was speechless, but he raised his eyebrows and spoke first, "Hello, Mu Yi. I am Tang Hai." I realized that I had been distracted and quickly replied, "Hello, uncle." His cousin noticed the exam paper in my hand and grabbed it before I could stop her. "What's this?" she asked. It was too late to grab it back. The bright red 47 was now shining at the family gathering, and it was at my stepfather's house. My mother had warned me repeatedly not to embarrass her in front of him. Tang Hai's cousin also felt a little embarrassed and coughed before handing the paper back to me. "Haha, why is it a physics test?" My mother's face was not looking good, and she gave me a stern look. I was so embarrassed that I couldn't even lift my head. But then Tang Hai spoke up, "I also got this score before." I was surprised and raised my head, and everyone around me was amazed. Tang Hai was very calm as he recalled, "When I first entered high school, I also got a 47 on a political science test." One of his younger cousins exclaimed, "Uncle, you have this kind of history!" He shrugged and said, "So, isn't it fair to say that God is always fair?" The topic quickly turned to "Which is better, arts or sciences?" and no one paid attention to my terrible grades anymore, and my mom's face also softened. I quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Tang Hai never looked over at us again, but for some reason, I thought of my cousin's evaluation of him in the past. It seems that he isn't really that bad-tempered.