Tan Xing's hatred for Tan Ye did not cease at this moment.
As he spoke, he was completely consumed by his past resentment. Tan Xing clenched his fists at his sides, "I will never forget. When that child was a month old, it was also my brother's memorial day. But that man wouldn't even spend a penny to buy some paper to burn for my brother! Yet he was willing to spend almost a year's savings to hold a grand full moon banquet for that child at the largest restaurant in town."
His eyes turned red, "My poor brother, sleeping at the foot of Linshan, lost his life for people and things that were not worth it. He also lost the most precious future he had promised me and mother!"
Such a person truly didn't deserve to be a father!
Song Chaoyu felt her heart clench with pain just thinking about how Mu Changxi would treat her and her child if they were treated in such a manner.
But these were far from the "end."
Tan Xing said that Tan Ye had previously refused to pass on his medical skills to them because he disliked them.
If it hadn't been for being forced by circumstances and fearing that his medical skills would be lost, he probably still wouldn't have been willing to teach Tan Yue his craft.
But after Tan Yue died, Tan Ye still refused to teach Tan Xing.
He always said he would wait for his child with Liu Rumei to grow up and pass on his medical skills to her.
And Tan Xing?
In Tan Ye's heart, it was probably enough for him to just barely survive.
But soon, perhaps due to life's misfortunes or the pain of losing a child.
Yu Mingcui, who had already endured so much hardship, finally fell ill.
At first, it was just a common cold, perhaps curable with some medicine.
But Tan Ye was always with Liu Rumei, and Liu Rumei even refused to let Tan Ye treat Yu Mingcui.
Yu Mingcui's condition worsened day by day due to the constant delays.
Even so, Liu Rumei still wouldn't let Yu Mingcui off the hook.
She piled all the household chores onto Yu Mingcui, even making Yu Mingcui wash their child's diapers. If Yu Mingcui was even slightly slow, Liu Rumei would scold and beat her.
Without Tan Yue, Tan Xing couldn't protect his mother at all.
He pleaded with his father, hoping that even if Tan Ye wouldn't treat Yu Mingcui, he could at least tell him what medicine to get for her and give her a chance to live.
But under Liu Rumei's "instigation," Tan Ye not only didn't give Tan Xing the prescription but also suspected that Tan Xing was trying to steal his medical knowledge under the guise of Yu Mingcui being ill.
He beat Tan Xing severely and then locked him in the woodshed for seven days!
On one of the mornings he was locked in the woodshed, Tan Ye could only watch helplessly as his mother, weakened by illness and pain, could no longer support herself while washing diapers by the well and fell headfirst into it—
"Help! Save me! Save my mother! She fell into the well!"
Tan Ye cried out desperately from the locked woodshed, trying to get someone to come.
But his only response was the empty courtyard and the sound of him banging on the door.
Yu Mingcui also died, dying on that cold morning, in that neglected well.
By the time the neighbors discovered her, her body, like that of her eldest son Tan Yue, had already stiffened.
When Tan Xing was released, the neighbors also noticed that the door of the Tan family's woodshed was covered in Tan Xing's blood.
Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, he couldn't save his mother.
After that day, Tan Xing completely "went mad."
He finally realized that the Tan family was hell for the three of them—mother and sons!
They could not have the slightest hope from Tan Ye.
The day after he was released, Tan Ye, under the cover of the thick night, quietly took a knife and sneaked into Tan Ye and Liu Rumei's room.
He stabbed Liu Rumei, who was asleep, and then, amidst the infant's loud cries, left the Tan family.
At this point, Tan Xing, standing before Song Chaoyu, was sobbing uncontrollably, "After coming out, I had only one thought! That is, I must achieve something and return to the Tan family with honor. I want to let Tan Ye know that he was wrong, terribly wrong! I want them to pay with their lives for my brother and my mother! I want revenge, I must have revenge!"
The boy's pained voice echoed in Song Chaoyu's ears.
His thoughts and demeanor were as she expected.
If it were her, she might have acted even more aggressively than this boy.
But clearly, the boy's dream had not been realized.
His tears also fell, "But I am incapable! With the protection of my mother and brother all these years, I didn't know how to do anything! So after coming out, I couldn't do anything, and I was deceived. It's my own fault that I ended up begging like a beggar! I just hate that I couldn't protect my mother, couldn't protect my brother, and couldn't even avenge them!"
The boy's tears slid down his cheeks, "I am useless, I can't do anything! But one day, I will return to the Tan family. I will let those who hurt my brother and mother know the consequences of their actions! I will make everyone pay!"
In her eyes, only intense anger remained.
After listening to the child's story, Song Chaoyu felt a sense of emotion.
And after his outburst of anger, Tan Xing quickly regained his composure and looked at Song Chaoyu rationally, "So, why are you looking for him?"
Song Chaoyu admired the boy's ability to calm down so quickly.
She said, "Someone is poisoned, and we suspect it's Tan Ye's unique secret medicine. Only he can cure it. That's why we want to find him and ask for details."
"Hmph! He's hurting people again!"
Tan Xing snorted, and Ah Nuan caught the strangeness in his words, "Again? So, he has harmed people before?"
Tan Xing did not hide it from Song Chaoyu and nodded, "As far as I can remember, the family was very poor. He drank every day, and my mother made a living by washing clothes, but even that wasn't enough. So, people often came to him to make drugs that others couldn't, mostly poisons. He made a lot of money, but none of that money was spent on us brothers or our mother."
In fact, Song Chaoyu was becoming increasingly curious about this Tan Ye.
According to the Consort's words, Tan Ye was not like this before; he was once a righteous and loyal person.
Song Chaoyu almost suspected if the Tan Ye that Tan Xing spoke of and the Tan Ye they were looking for were the same person.
Tan Xing did not notice Song Chaoyu's daze, as if he had made up his mind, "I can take you to find Tan Ye."