Hundred-day metamorphosis

Chapter 16: Not Going Back

During class hours, the teachers were all in their classrooms, leaving the office deserted. Zhang Zhiyuan escorted Zhuang Ziang to the door. "Your father doesn't look happy. I'll be right outside. Call me if you need anything," he said quietly.

Zhuang Ziang nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Teacher Zhang." He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

Zhuang Wenzhao sat in Zhang Zhiyuan's chair, his face dark with anger. Qin Shulan stood nearby, her arms crossed tightly.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Zhuang Ziang asked, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Ziang, stop this nonsense. I'm taking you home," Zhuang Wenzhao stated, his tone equally hard. He'd spoken to his ex-wife. Zhuang Ziang had a heavy workload; living alone outside with no one to take care of him was simply impractical.

"Dad, I'm fine. I don't want to go home." Zhuang Ziang remained unnervingly calm. He had run away. He had given them their perfect little family of three. Wasn't that what everyone wanted? Why drag him back just to make everyone uncomfortable?

Qin Shulan stepped in, her voice attempting conciliation but falling flat. "Zi'ang, I talked to Yuhang. He admitted he said things he shouldn't have. As his older brother, you should be more magnanimous. Don't take it to heart." It sounded like an apology, but the bias was clear. She dismissed her son's faults easily, always defaulting to telling Zhuang Ziang to be the bigger person. Zhuang Ziang had heard variations of this speech countless times since childhood. What else could he expect? She wasn't his mother. They were only a family on paper, forced together by Zhuang Wenzhao, barely maintaining a surface harmony for over a decade.

"Aunt Qin," Zhuang Ziang said, the words he'd held back finally spilling out freely, "if you have time, maybe focus on disciplining Yuhang more. I hear his grades at school are terrible, and his personality... well, let's say he's rather spoiled." Zhuang Yuhang had been born into privilege, drowning in endless parental love. It was inevitable he'd turn out willful. Every time Zhuang Ziang witnessed his younger brother's carefree existence, a wave of bitter injustice threatened to overwhelm him.

"I know that," Qin Shulan replied stiffly, a flash of displeasure in her eyes. How dare he criticize her precious son to her face?

Zhuang Wenzhao, picking up on his wife's mood, turned harsher. "Worry about yourself. Yuhang's affairs are none of your concern." His voice rose, a barrage of reproach. "You shouldn't speak to Aunt Qin like that! Apologize to her, now! Is this how you respect your elders? Where did you learn such disrespect?"

The air in the office crackled with tension. Zhuang Ziang felt the cold seep deeper into his heart.

Why could his father bring a woman home and force him to call her 'aunt', force her to be his 'elder'? She had nothing to do with him. He was here first in this family, yet he was the one pushed out, the outsider.

For over a decade, he had swallowed it down, endured. Were three months of freedom, three months to just be, really too much to ask?

"Dad," Zhuang Ziang’s voice was icy, his gaze steady, "if you came here today just to argue, you can leave. This is a school. It's not the place for you to throw your authority around."

"You are coming home with me today!" Zhuang Wenzhao’s voice boomed. "Your grandfather heard you planned to stay away for three months! He was so angry his old illness came back! Look at the trouble you're causing this family!"

The disappointment cut deeper. "Ah, so it was Grandpa who made you come get me. Otherwise, you’d probably have forgotten where my school even is."

"Enough! Are you coming back or not?" Zhuang Wenzhao shouted.

"No." The word was final, absolute. He’d fought his way out of that suffocating house. He wasn't going back. He knew Qin Shulan and Zhuang Yuhang didn't want him there. They probably wished he’d vanish forever, stop being an inconvenience.

Zhuang Ziang’s defiance stripped away Zhuang Wenzhao’s control. He looked around wildly, searching for something to regain his footing. "You think you're untouchable? You think I won't deal with this?" he snarled.

"Dad," Zhuang Ziang met his father’s fury with unnerving calm, "just go. You're making a scene. It's undignified."

A sharp memory surfaced: he was five. Zhuang Wenzhao, newly divorced from Xu Hui, drowning his misery in drink. Coming home reeking, dragging a sleeping Zhuang Ziang from bed, hitting him, cursing him for looking like his mother, for eating too much... Later, Zhuang Wenzhao dated Qin Shulan and hid his son's existence. Zhuang Ziang was sent away to the countryside, to his grandparents, attending the village kindergarten for half a year. Only when his grandfather, Zhuang Jianguo, insisted he return to the city for a proper education did Zhuang Wenzhao reluctantly agree. Stepmother Qin Shulan said nothing overt, but her occasional glances held disdain. Why should she play loving mother to a child with no blood ties? Then Zhuang Yuhang was born, and Zhuang Ziang's place became even more precarious. Thankfully, with his happy new family, Zhuang Wenzhao’s temper had mellowed; he didn't hit anymore. But the chasm between father and son only widened. Zhuang Wenzhao was the guardian on paper, but it was the grandparents in the countryside who truly raised him. They’d transfer living expenses to Zhuang Wenzhao’s card on time, and he’d pass them on to Zhuang Ziang. As the middleman, Zhuang Wenzhao often skimmed a little money off the top – pocket money for Zhuang Yuhang’s snacks and toys.

Zhuang Ziang had always been compliant. Today's rebellion was a direct challenge to Zhuang Wenzhao’s authority. Rage consumed him. Even here, in a school office, he lunged forward, fist raised.

"Stop!" Zhang Zhiyuan burst through the door, stepping swiftly between them.

Zhuang Wenzhao glared at the teacher, incensed. "Is this how you educate students here? I see you've fostered nothing but rebellion in him!"

"You haven't even bothered to attend a single parent-teacher meeting. Of course you wouldn't know what kind of student your son actually is!" Zhang Zhiyuan shot back, his own anger rising. He'd been standing outside. Eavesdropping wasn't polite, but the shouting match was impossible to ignore. He was stunned Zhuang Ziang hadn't told his own father about the terminal diagnosis. How deep did the despair run?

"I think you're failing him!" Zhuang Wenzhao roared.

"Fine! Then let me show you exactly what we've 'fostered' in your child!" Zhang Zhiyuan snapped. He pulled open a drawer and hauled out a thick stack of papers – transcripts from every major and minor exam over the past two years.

"See for yourself!"

He slammed the pile onto the desk in front of Zhuang Wenzhao. Dust motes danced in the sudden movement. Zhuang Wenzhao waved a hand irritably, then picked up the top transcript. It was from the placement exam two years ago. The first name leaped out:

Zhuang Ziang

Total Score: 689

Class Rank: 1

Grade Rank: 1

He grabbed the next one. First monthly exam. Zhuang Ziang: 1st.

The third: Midterms. 1st.

The fourth: Monthly. 1st.

The fifth: Finals...

Zhuang Wenzhao’s eyes widened with each page he turned, disbelief warring with shock. Without exception, Zhuang Ziang's name was fixed at the top, unshakeable, month after month, exam after exam. He’d known his son did well, that he was the low-maintenance child. But this level of consistent excellence was staggering.

Qin Shulan peered over his shoulder at the evidence. "Is... is being top of the class here really that difficult?" she murmured, a hint of something sour in her tone.

Zhang Zhiyuan looked at her incredulously. "There are twenty-two classes in this grade level. Over a thousand students. What do you think?"

Zhuang Ziang, you are truly remarkable, Zhang Zhiyuan thought. To achieve this despite the stifling environment you were given... The world has been far too unjust to you.