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墨書 Inktalez
In the brief moments when he encountered Lu Zhiqiu, all the humiliation and grievances surged to his heart. The scenes of disgrace, with his girlfriend kneeling on the ground and crying helplessly, were etched in Rob's mind like a movie. At that moment, he felt that his downfall was entirely Lu Zhiqiu's fault; he didn't even consider what he would do after killing her.
Rob had never thought that taking a life could be so easy. With just one blow from a brick, Lu Zhiqiu was dead. Instinctively, Rob took the brick with him, and even he didn't understand why he did it. Xu Man saw the object wrapped in Rob's clothing—it was the very brick used for murder.
Finally, the truth came to light. The posts online slandering Rob for abusing his dog were not written by Lu Zhiqiu; they were created by Wang Xin, who wanted to regain her face in front of her colleagues. Wang Xin proudly told everyone that it didn't take long for Rob to be fired.
But Wang Xin didn't realize what Rob had endured behind those few short words.
Perhaps in the afterlife, Wang Xin would come to understand that her malicious slander ultimately harmed others as well as herself.
Lu Zhiqiu treated the world with kindness from the bottom of her heart, yet what she received in return was deep suspicion and malice. Whether it was those who had received help from her or those who had not, they all believed that her kindness had ulterior motives—like creating a good person image, seeking favor from teachers, or attracting attention from potential partners.
I don't know when it started, but when someone shows you kindness, you begin to think, "They must have an agenda." Is this not the greatest irony regarding kindness in this world? Lu Zhiqiu sought nothing in return; she simply wanted to spread kindness to those around her. Yet everything turned out contrary to her wishes.
In the end, when she died, others cheered in their hearts.
If kindness is expressed poorly, can it also be met with resentment?
In that moment, I suddenly recalled my own middle school story. Back then, I had no friends; only my deskmate was willing to play with me. Every school day, my adoptive father would pack an apple in my backpack. Each time I took out the apple, my deskmate would look at me longingly, pretending not to care.
Eventually, I began asking my adoptive father for an extra apple each day and would give the surplus one to my deskmate. But one day, he got angry and threw the apple on the ground, shouting, "Get lost! Do you think I can't afford to eat?"
At that moment, shock and grievance flooded over me. Later on, I learned that his family was very poor and couldn't afford fruit most of the time. For a long time, I believed my deskmate was in the wrong; eventually, I understood that everyone has a sensitive spot within them that shouldn't be intruded upon just because one believes they are being kind.
Human nature is such that forcing one's way in under the guise of kindness can lead to a fate like Lu Zhiqiu's. Kindness may need to be tailored to individuals and situations. The most exhausting and helpless kind of life I can imagine is being someone who is unconditionally kind.
Unfortunately, Lu Zhiqiu never understood this; she couldn't feel the love around her. She thought that if she was kind to others, they would love her back—perhaps she was too sincere.
Afterward, Gu Chen accompanied local police as they took Rob back to his hometown.
After seven long years, Rob finally reunited with his mother. But by the time he saw her again, he had transformed from a twenty-six-year-old lad into a middle-aged man. He was supposed to be the pillar of this family, and in reality, he was indeed that pillar.
Rob knew that it was only a matter of time before he would be arrested, so he had sent most of the money he earned back home. Over those seven years, he had managed to send a total of one hundred thousand dollars—enough for a woman in her sixties to live comfortably for the rest of her days. Yet, without her son, what joy would there be left in her life?
When he finally saw his mother, Rob's reaction was quite different from what I had anticipated based on Gu Chen's description.
I expected Rob to kneel down and weep uncontrollably, but instead, he smiled and greeted her warmly. He embraced his mother tightly, and she held him just as fiercely.
The prodigal son had finally returned home, but in an instant, he would have to leave again.
Rob did not shed a tear. Under the watchful eyes of the police, he diligently cleaned up the yard, trimmed the branches of their old jujube tree, and pulled out the dead grass. He insisted on emptying the water from the cistern and replacing it with fresh water, even though the villagers had already changed it recently.
Rob put up posters around the house to prevent dust and peeling paint from falling into his mother's food. It was a time-consuming task that took him an entire afternoon to complete. During that time, local police attempted five times to stop him, but each time Gu Chen intervened.
Gu Chen shook his head gently, signaling for Rob to finish what he started.
Finally came dinner. Just like Rob's stubbornness, Aunt Wu insisted on cooking one last meal herself. The dutiful Rob did not stop her from doing so. Thus, Aunt Wu prepared the final meal for Rob while remaining silent throughout the process, quietly watching her son work.
Later, Gu Chen told me that seven years ago, when Rob hurriedly left home, Aunt Wu already knew this day would come. She understood what her son had been involved in. The saying "A parent knows their child best" applies just as well to mothers.
Rob had been on the run for seven years; Aunt Wu knew this all along. She understood what her child was going through.
So she watched him bustle about without intervening because she knew this was Rob's way of showing his last filial piety—delayed by seven years. Aunt Wu insisted on making this final meal for her son because she realized that even if Rob were not sentenced to death, by the time he got out, she might no longer be alive. Regardless of how things turned out legally, this would be the last meal she could prepare for him.
The simple fare tasted like any ordinary meal; no one spoke during dinner—not even the police who came to arrest him—making it a strangely lively gathering. Aunt Wu's eyes were red and glistening with unshed tears, yet Rob wore a smile.
After dinner came the moment of parting. Rob did not shy away from outsiders; after embracing his mother, he slowly uttered a few words: "Mom, I might not be able to come back and see you anymore. This is just how it is for me now. You eat whatever you want; don’t hold back for me. Otherwise, all my hard-earned money will be for nothing."
Aunt Wu was, after all, a woman. After holding back her tears for so long, they finally flowed freely.
Rob, however, did not shed a tear.
"Your mother didn't raise you right; she lacks education, she didn't teach you well!" Aunt Wu cried out loudly.
"I'm leaving," Rob said casually.
As he stepped out of the courtyard, everything turned dark.
Gu Chen turned to look at the jujube tree, its branches in the darkness resembling a devil with claws outstretched.
In the police car, Rob recounted to Gu Chen why he had dropped out of high school in his second year.
"Back then, I was in my second year of high school, but I wasn't cut out for studying. At that time, I was a rebellious teenager who resented my mother for not being capable. Everything I wanted seemed out of reach. All I did was waste my mother's hard-earned money while doing nothing in class."
"One day, my mother came to school looking for me because I had left a book at home. She saw me studying hard every night with that book and thought it was one I needed for school, so she brought it to me. Guess what? It was an adult book that I had hidden away to read secretly. You know what? My mom can't read... Haha!"
Gu Chen told me that what followed was several minutes of Rob's wild laughter. He laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world and couldn't stop. But no one around him joined in; no one could find anything to laugh about. His laughter echoed in the car, and everyone thought Rob had lost his mind.
Rob continued, "At that time, everyone thought I should be embarrassed, but I had a different thought. I just felt that I needed to treat my mother well. She was a rural woman who knew nothing; she didn't even know her own name."
Rob shook his head and continued, "But even so, despite being just my mother, she raised me on her own. She wanted me to study so that I wouldn't end up like her. But I wasn't cut out for studying, so I dropped out. I wanted to work and earn money to give her a better life."
The others still ignored Rob.
Yet Rob showed no signs of stopping; he continued, "You know, why didn't we think about our mothers back then? If we had just been a little calmer at that time, wouldn't we have been able to get through anything?"
"Yes," Rob murmured, "why didn't I think of my mother? What is the reason for all of this?"
"Indeed," Gu Chen replied. "Why must we resort to killing?"
After a moment, Rob said, "You all must have heard that song, right?"
Then, Rob began to hum slowly:
The wandering person misses you
Dear mother
Wandering footsteps roam far and wide
Without a home
The winter wind carries the snowflakes
Blowing down my tears
Rob closed his eyes and continued to hum softly.
Gu Chen noticed that a tear eventually fell down.
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