Chapter 303
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Chapter 303: Anger
The large bus swayed as it finally arrived in Shikoku Town.
Rokuro Shimura, having just finished watching all the films with famous stars, was boiling with anger. His fists were clenched tightly, as if he could knock out a bull at any given moment.
Before Bai Wei could get off the bus, Kokonohana Nori stood behind him and whispered, “5 o’clock in the afternoon, at the bus stop.”
They both stepped off the bus as if they were complete strangers, quickly separating upon entering the small town.
“We’re almost at my house up ahead, but no one lives there. It hasn’t been cleaned in years.”
Rokuro Shimura opened the door to the single-story house in the village. He dropped his luggage and glanced around at the dusty, disorganized home, making no move to tidy it up.
Instead, he turned on the faucet, washed his hands, and then picked up the nearby hoe.
Bai Wei looked at the object in his hands and said, “Are you sure we won’t talk about it?”
“I know my daughter well. She would never lie to me,” said Rokuro Shimura, setting the hoe aside, leaving only the slender stick in his hand. “There’s nothing more to say. Today, I’ll have a clear conversation with my brother. Mr. Bai, I kindly ask you to protect my daughter.”
Bai Wei nodded.
Rokuro Shimura felt a surge of confidence in his chest. He walked towards his brother Hachiro Shimura’s house in the village, dragging the stick along. Despite being brothers, their homes were separated by three or four kilometers.
In the past, when visiting his brother, Rokuro had always been filled with excitement. He had never felt the heavy-hearted feeling that gripped him today.
The villagers were mostly simple and humble. They knew each other well, with familiar faces at every turn. Neighbors were like family, having grown up together. There were no deep resentments or grudges, especially between brothers with the same surname.
The Shimura family wasn’t very prosperous. Of their eight siblings, only Rokuro and Hachiro made it to adulthood. Their mother passed away early, and their father, a gambler, was found dead drunk on the road. Rokuro Shimura married a virtuous wife and always looked after his younger brother, who was three years younger. He acted like a father to him, even arranging his marriage. Rokuro trusted his brother completely and never thought twice about asking the elderly couple from the neighboring Inoue family to care for his daughter.
He never imagined that, after being close brothers for decades, their bond would be severed today.
So be it. For this person, with a heart as cruel as a beast, breaking ties might actually be for the best. It would clear the guilt that had haunted him for all these years.
Meanwhile, inside Hachiro Shimura’s home, a woman with a sour face and thin lips was pouring cold water over a little girl, washing her while scolding her.
“Letting you watch her, watch her, making her roll in the mud all day long. She can’t get clean no matter how much I wash her!”
“This torn outfit isn’t suitable anymore.”
On the side, the bearded man who was smoking responded irritably, “Her father sent clothes for her. Let her put on a new set.”
“You’re dreaming! That outfit looks so nice. Let her wear it!” The woman slammed the basin down, causing the icy water to splash onto her legs, making her shiver.
“That was a gift from her dad, clothes for little children. Why keep them?”
“I can sell them and get some money!” the woman retorted with a cold smirk. “Anyway, her dad isn’t short of money, strutting around like he’s someone important. He left this worthless burden for us to take care of.”
The middle-aged man with the beard took a puff of his cigarette and said, “I’ve never missed a child support payment for you.”
“Just a few coins? Is she getting all her meals and clothes for free?” The woman scowled at the tattered clothes on the floor.
“Hachiro Shimura, don’t pretend to be innocent. You took half of the child support money and gambled it all away!”
“Go away!” the man yelled in pain as his foot was poked.
“Hmph!” The woman turned her head to glare at Hitomi Shimura, who was trembling with her hands tightly clasped. Her eyes filled with even more resentment. This little girl resembled her mother in every way, just like that woman. That woman had taken everything from her, even the man she loved. She lived a life of comfort while waiting for her to die, just so she could torment her by leaving behind a daughter.
She grabbed the girl’s wrist and rubbed the dirt off with anger, scolding, “Your father will eventually abandon you. He’s living in Edo, probably with other women, having children of his own. When you turn fifteen, he’ll immediately marry you off.”
“I-I’m sure my father won’t… won’t abandon me,” Hitomi Shimura said softly, tears welling up in her eyes as her arm turned red from the harsh rubbing, trying to counter the woman’s cruel words.
“He doesn’t want you anymore!” The woman grabbed her hand, her face twisted with anger as she shouted, “Listen to me carefully, he doesn’t want you anymore!”
Hitomi Shimura, frail and weak, trembled and shivered uncontrollably as the cold water poured over her. She squatted in the icy basin, coughing softly.
The girl was very young, but not completely unaware. She knew her uncle and aunt didn’t like her, even despised her.
She longed for her father to return soon. Only in his arms could she sleep peacefully, have enough to eat, and be warm.
Biting her lip, she fought back tears.
She told herself, “If I can just be a good girl, Daddy will come back soon.”
“Enough, enough!” The man kicked over the chair in frustration, shouting, “Hurry up and clean up! It’s getting late, her father will be back soon! If he sees her like this, how can I explain it?”
The woman threw the cloth into the water, turning around to scold, “Then you do it!”
A boy walked out of the house and said, “Mother, I’m here to help.”
Hitomi Shimura immediately shrank into the corner of the bathtub when she heard the noise.
The man shouted, “Go back inside!”
The boy wanted to speak, but he pouted, turned around, and went back inside. However, he hid by the window, watching the man from afar.
Hachiro Shimura looked at his dilapidated home, feeling agitated. He reached into his pocket and touched the remaining money, wondering if going out to gamble again would offer him some comfort, even if it meant losing everything.
The woman scolded, “You want to gamble! We’re almost out of food, and you still want to gamble!”
Ignoring her words, the man opened the door and started to step outside.
The woman dropped what she was holding and angrily chased after him, shouting.
Suddenly, Hachiro Shimura stopped, gripping the doorknob tightly. His face froze in place, as if he wanted to step outside but couldn’t move further.
With an awkward smile, he said, “Brother, you… you’re back! I… I was just about to go and pick up…”
A stick pressed against his chest, pushing him back into the room. Rokuro Shimura, with a dark expression on his face and veins bulging in his arms, was seething with anger.
“Brother, you… you calm down, I can explain…” Hachiro Shimura stuttered, suddenly unable to speak properly.
“I heard everything,” Rokuro Shimura said, cutting him off with a single sentence.
“Brother, I was wrong!” Hachiro Shimura immediately dropped to his knees, pleading.
Rokuro Shimura’s face was expressionless as he softly said, “Excuse me, Mr. Bai.”
“Um.”
No one noticed when a figure appeared in the courtyard. As footsteps echoed, the person reached the edge of the pond.
Bai Wei crouched down, watching the trembling little girl with her hands tightly clasped. He looked at the towel in his hand, sighed, then removed his coat and draped it over her shoulders.
“You’re safe now,” he said softly.
Hitomi Shimura looked at the young man, then slowly turned her head to look at the middle-aged man with the stick. In a hoarse voice, she called out, “Father.”
Rokuro Shimura suppressed the urge to look over, his voice strained, “Hitomi, go home with Uncle Bai first. Father will be back soon.”
Bai Wei gently lifted the girl into his arms. She kept glancing at Rokuro Shimura but eventually lowered her head.
Bai Wei checked her condition, and several status indicators appeared.
[Hypothermia]
[Low blood pressure]
[Low blood sugar]
[Malnutrition]
[Blood Moon Disease], among others.
He lifted Hitomi Shimura in his arms and was about to leave when suddenly the woman angrily shouted, “You can’t leave! You can’t take her away! She’s been eating and drinking what’s mine. I’ve been taking care of her for so long. How dare you…”
Bai Wei ignored her, paying no attention to her words. He knew they were meaningless.
But unexpectedly, the woman lunged at him, attempting to grab his clothes and tear his face apart.
Bai Wei acted swiftly. He believed in equality, so when someone initiated a physical altercation, he simply returned a light slap in response—though perhaps with a little too much force.
Smack!
The spiteful woman spun through the air three and a half times before crashing to the ground, unconscious. The phrase “consumed by jealousy” above her head disappeared as her consciousness faded.
Bai Wei gently tapped the ground before leaping up with swift motion. He soared over the walls, becoming a blur.
To the residents of Yingzhou, this was like encountering a real-life immortal.
Hachiro Shimura had no intention of seeking revenge. All he wanted was to reconcile with his brother and let bygones be bygones. But in the next moment, a stick struck his shoulder with great force. His arm went numb, and he cried out in pain, clutching his sore limb.
“Brother, I was wrong! Please spare me…”
Rokuro Shimura raised his stick high, bringing it crashing down with a mighty thud.
“You are not my brother! I don’t have a brother like you!”
His roars echoed with each strike, fury coursing through him. With every blow, he put all his strength into it. Because it was his trusted brother, the betrayal only fueled an extraordinary rage.
At first, Hachiro pleaded for mercy and cried out in pain, but eventually, the sounds faded away.
The boy, hiding inside the house, held his head, and slowly noticed that there was no more noise outside. Cautiously, he opened the door a little to peek, wondering if they had already left.
But as soon as the door opened, a stick got stuck in the door frame. The door was kicked open immediately after.
Rokuro Shimura stared at his ten-year-old nephew, eyes blazing with fury.
“It was you who bumped into my daughter!”
The boy’s scream of terror echoed through the house.
The enraged man could not calm himself for a moment. Returning what was due was far from enough. Angering a true father like this had consequences that were inevitable.
But in this world, there will always be idiots who judge others based on themselves, trying to challenge someone’s sensitive spot. They deserved it.
