Please Like Her 29 – No one can get past those twenty years (of living with Brother)
Shang Lu placed her phone aside, rarely not directly replying to Lin Yanyan but instead acting as if she hadn’t seen it.
She held a sweet potato and ate it, the sweet and sticky taste permeating her mouth. She took one bite after another, from nibbling at first to almost swallowing without chewing.
It was an indescribable sense of annoyance.
She thought she would be numb after hearing things related to Shang Mu, but she couldn’t help thinking about the message Lin Yanyan sent her.
—Stop thinking about it, it has nothing to do with me.
Shang Lu told herself this way. With a big piece of roasted sweet potato in her stomach, she felt uncomfortable from forcing so much food into her stomach.
She stopped eating and poured herself a sip of warm water, drinking it in small sips.
No, she needed to find something to do.
After tossing the newly changed bedsheets into the washing machine, Shang Lu sat back at the table, picked up her phone.
She told herself that she didn’t care about Shang Mu’s situation; his life and death had nothing to do with her.
She was just watching the excitement, adding insult to injury.
So Shang Lu replied to Lin Yanyan’s message.
[ Shang An has never hurt me. Is he in serious condition? ]
This ‘he’ naturally referred to Shang Mu.
Seeing Shang Lu’s denial, Lin Yanyan thought that she had seen a lot of Shang Lu’s skin, which was indeed fair and flawless. She breathed a sigh of relief.
[ That’s good ]
[ I don’t know, after all, I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, but the nurse said it was like he had been abused, it was terrifying. My Sad also said that your brother was in the hospital a few years ago because of a love affair that your family didn’t agree with, and his ribs were kicked and broken… so scary. Why does he always suffer so much? It seems like your choice to stay away from this family is right! What a violent maniac! ]
Because of a love affair that your family didn’t agree with, his ribs were kicked and broken.
This statement left Shang Lu slightly stunned.
She desperately searched her memory for any related scenes but came up empty-handed. At that time, the few times she and Shang Mu had met were spent arguing, and aside from that, she had never really looked at him.
Shang Lu flipped through the information.
All kinds of old scars all over his body, not a single good spot.
These two simple sentences kept appearing in her mind. After a while, she finally replied.
[ Is Shang Mu still in your hospital? ]
Lin Yanyan replied.
[ He went back a long time ago; it seems like a regular fracture, nothing serious. ]
Shang Lu’s fingers slid on the screen, finding the profile that had long been put on the blacklist, and sent a message.
[ Where are you? I want to meet you; I have something to ask you. ]
Shang Mu almost instantly replied to her message.
[ I’m at home. ]
[ I can go out, anywhere you want, you choose the location. ]
When Shang Lu moved out of the Shang’s mansion, Shang Mu came to see her for the first time. At that time, she had said she wanted to return to that home, and the only possible reason would be if Shang An had died, or she had died.
Shang Lu also understood Shang Mu’s meaning and replied to him.
[ Doesn’t he want to die? It’s almost the same, don’t trouble yourself. ]
One hour later.
At the entrance of the Shang’s mansion.
This was the place where she had lived for more than twenty years, every blade of grass and every tree was familiar to her.
When she left last time, she hadn’t expected to return voluntarily.
The moment he saw Shang Lu, the old butler’s voice was filled with joy : “Miss? Miss, you’ve really come back!”
The butler had always been decent to Shang Lu, so she asked in a gentle tone, “Where is Shang Mu?”
The butler replied, “Young Master is waiting for you. He said you were coming back and was so happy that he had the servants prepare many of your favorite dishes for you.”
Shang Lu hummed in acknowledgment and walked into the house.
Even before entering the room, she could smell the sweet aroma of cake.
The coffee table was filled with a variety of desserts, and some of her favorite fruits were neatly cut. Shang Mu had a cast on his leg and looked somewhat disheveled as he sat on the side.
They haven’t seen each other for a long time.
For Shang Lu, the person in front of her is familiar, but he looks somewhat unfamiliar.
His eyes no longer show the cold indifference she remembers; instead, they carry a hint of anticipation and even caution.
Shang Mu looked at her, wanting to say something, but he only managed to say two words, “Please sit.”
Shang Lu placed her bag on the side of the sofa and sat down. She looked at Shang Mu, her gaze falling on his leg encased in a cast, and said, “The bond between a father and son is truly deep.”
As they are blood relatives, just like he used to do to her, she also know how to use the most indifferent words to hurt him.
But Shang Mu wasn’t offended. He even smiled faintly in response, “Dying would be too easy for him.”
Shang Lu pursed her lips and asked, “How is he doing now?”
“He’s almost gone mad. He’s awake less and less every day. I begged him to take care of his health and consume fewer hallucinogenic drugs, but he wouldn’t listen,” Shang Mu explained casually. “I don’t know where he heard that using drugs can create hallucinations. If it weren’t for me stopping him, he might have overdosed long ago. But I’m busy too, and if I ever neglect to control him, it might be troublesome.”
“That’s his choice,” Shang Lu replied, unconcerned.
Suddenly, Shang Mu asked her, “Do you want to see him? He’s like a dog, not quite human, not quite a ghost, crawling on the ground.”
Thinking about that image made Shang Lu shiver. It wasn’t out of sympathy; she just didn’t want to witness it, as it wouldn’t bring her any pleasure.
Call it avoidance or weakness, but she cared less about how Shang An was doing. What she hoped for was to not hear any news related to him.
Her visit today wasn’t about Shang An; the conversation had veered off track.
Shang Lu looked at Shang Mu and got straight to the point, “Did he used to hit you often?”
This abrupt change of topic made Shang Mu instinctively deny, “No.”
“If you lie, there’s no need to continue this conversation,” Shang Lu said, her tone clear and her attitude evident.
Her expression was calm and indifferent, but it concealed an undeniable sense of anger.
Shang Mu was unsure how to interpret her gaze; she seemed to be genuinely concerned about him.
Shang Mu lowered his head and slowly rolled up his sleeve, revealing several shocking scars on his arm.
The longest one among them, almost ten centimeters in length, looks uneven.
Indeed, it’s true.
Shang Lu closed his eyes and asked, “Does he often hit you?”
“Yes,” Shang Mu rolled down his sleeve and said, “It’s been like this for years. Whenever I make a mistake, I get beaten, and I’ve long been used to it.”
A brief silence.
However, Shang Lu stared into his eyes and said, “Tell me the truth, Shang Mu. Apart from your first love, I can hardly recall any of your actions that would displease him.”
If getting beaten is a consequence of making mistakes, then he wouldn’t have so many scars on his body.
Shang Mu avoided Shang Lu’s gaze and said, “When he’s in a bad mood, he takes it out on me as well.”
Shang Lu was half-believing, but she didn’t press further. Instead, she muttered, “So, is this his retribution now?”
“Yes, it’s retribution. Maybe it’s punishment from Mom in heaven.”
Shang Mu didn’t choose to tell the truth because he knew that no matter what, Shang An was their biological father, and the less Shang Lu knew, the easier she could live.
Shang Lu accepted this explanation, or perhaps she also hoped for it.
And at this moment, a private doctor arrived to give Shang Mu another check-up.
Two servants hurried over to support Shang Mu.
However, Shang Mu refused to go upstairs and instead looked at Shang Lu, asking her, “Will you still be here when I come down?”
Shang Lu’s intention to leave was seen through, but she still took a step back and said, “I’ll wait for you to come down before I leave.”
Shang Mu only agreed to go upstairs after this.
In the past, SA abused his two children. When SM belittled SL’s confinement (psychological torment) and envied her for not being beaten, SL–with all she claimed that she liked SM the most in her childhood–didn’t care enough for him to realize the physical torment he’d suffered under.
While there’s some comments talk about how SM was a trashy brother, no one talk about how SL also failed as his sibling. Perhaps, it’s because SL had reached out to him first and she’s the younger between the two. SM’s hostile attitude in the past was because of envy and misplaced hatred, while SL’s indifference is because SM’s past hostile attitude.
i was thinking this too! honestly he didn’t treat her well and she’s valid not to want to reconcile bc from her pov he and father shang are on the same ‘side’, but it’s not right to act like SM didn’t care about her at all. if he truly hated her, she would have known about his own abuse bc he would have been rubbing it in her face that it’s because of her.
also to be fair i think children have a hard time seeing outside of themselves, and if SL was always being locked in the dark room while SM was being beaten it’s not surprising that she never noticed it too.
Idk. But, people say that when you love or care about someone, you would take more attention to them. SM was just a child himself at that time, no matter how “flawless” his act was, there should be some observable telltales that he was heavily injured. For SL to claim that she liked him the most while missing all of those signs… Is that possible? Unless, she’s locked up all the time since the time he’s beaten until he’s fully recovered (which was not the cases based on the narration).
I kinda want her to know that their dad used to hit him instead of her but at the same time I think him not telling her is the right thing. Soo can someone else tell her please?
*cries*
Thank you for updating!!!!
My Sad also said that your brother was in the hospital a few years ago because of a love affair that your family didn’t agree with,