Rebirth: Once Again With You

Li Junjie stepped into his Father's room and closed the door behind him. There was a sound of the shower running from the bathroom inside the room, so Li Junjie took it upon himself to sit down on the small couch in the middle of the room.

It had been years since his father and mother slept in a separate room. The reason for that was because Li Jirong often came home late, and he didn't want to disturb Su Suyin, who was sleeping. Anyone could tell that was just an excuse, but no one said anything against it.

He waited for several minutes until Li Jirong got out of the bathroom in a topless state and with a towel around his neck.

From an objective perspective, Li Jirong indeed looked attractive for a middle-aged man. Most middle-aged men would have a potbelly, but Li Jirong had a flat stomach and well-body build since he frequently went to the gym in his spare time.

It wasn't strange if a man like him could swoon the heart of many women. Especially the younger ones with ambition. However, that wasn't important anymore right now.

Because they would have no reason to care about it after today.

"Father, what do you want to talk to me about?" Li Junjie asked first.

Li Jirong sat on the edge of his bed while drying his hair with the towel. "Yeah, let's talk about your plan for the future then. How is the preparation to enter Meiho University coming up?"

"It has been going well."

"I see. You still remember our promise, right? Once you get admitted to Meiho, you will only present me with success to prove your worth. If not, then I won't bother with your sisters anymore."

Li Junjie lowered his head. He thought back to the day he made the promise to his father. At that time, he asked him to not mistreat his mother. In exchange, he will bring nothing but glory to the family.

At that time, the younger him only thought about how to save his mother from her predicament, and as a result, her sisters became the victim.

When Li Junjie confronted his father about it, Li Junjie received a beating for the first time in his life. Perhaps it was then that the father figure in Li Jirong ultimately died in his heart. He was just another adult for Li Junjie now.

***

"Ugh..." Li Junjie groaned in pain, feeling the burning and stinging sensation on his calf, which was currently ridden with many bloody line marks.

Behind him, a person who was supposed to be his father said coldly. "You cheeky brat. I tolerated you once, but you have gone overboard. The nerve of you to tell me what to do. Do you think you can do anything just because you are a genius? If I don't beat you today, you won't learn anything."

Li Junjie clenched his fist on both sides of his body. His nails dug deeply into his palm, but the pain was pale compared to his legs. Beads of sweat rolled down his temple as he tried his best to keep standing straight.

"Stand properly!" Li Jirong berated while snapping the hanger in his hand to his son's calf again, causing a new red streak of line to be formed on his fair skin, on top of his fresh wound.

"Ugh!" Li Junjie couldn't help but let out a sound while shutting his eyes tight. The stinging pain caused tears to well up in his eyes, even if he didn't want to cry in front of his father.

"Have you learned your lesson now? Don't waste your time thinking about your sisters, and focus on your study instead. Remember what you have promised me? If you can prove you are worthy of being called the Li family's successor, I won't lay a single finger on your mother anymore."

Li Jirong paused before continuing in a severely colder tone. "However, this promise doesn't include your sisters. They will grow into fine women, then be married off to some powerful family. Their role has been decided from their birth. Not even you can change that."

Li Junjie's small body trembled so hard. Not only because of the pain but also because he was dreadful. He realized then that his father was a horrible person who regarded his family as a tool. Regardless of their gender, if they were useless to him, he wouldn't care what happened to them.

Li Junjie learned how vile an adult's heart could be at his most tender age. He promised himself he wouldn't be such a man in the future and gritted his teeth hard, stubbornly refusing to shed tears in front of his father.

"You look like you still have something to say. Let's hear it first." Li Jirong walked around so he could stand in front of his son. Using the hanger in his hand, he lifted Li Junjie's chin.

"Father, this is wrong." Li Junjie said weakly. It sounded like he exerted all his energy just to say that. His body swayed back and forward in the next second until he fell onto his knee while panting hard.

Li Jirong only silently watched as his son sat on the floor. His gaze was cold and unforgiving, even towards his only son.

"Don't think you have some special privilege just because you are the only boy in the house. Precisely because of that, you have to work harder to live up to the name of the Li. I will decide what your sister's path would be. Are we clear?"

Li Junjie's body shivered, and his vision started to get blurry. He vaguely sensed that his body couldn't take it much longer, so he quickly said, "Father, if you really want to work someone to death, I will do it. I'll do anything you say, so please let those two go."

"It seems you still don't understand. Very well. We can continue this as much as you want later. The longer you try to defy me, the longer you will suffer. Let the pain be your best teacher. You will need more discipline, Jie."

Those were his father's last words he heard before everything turned black in front of him.

The floor felt cold. It seeped into his heart slowly with each passing day spent with Li Jirong in the same room, receiving his 'disciplinary' teaching.