Exposure

'I'm so weak,' Fang Xuan muttered, despising his own powerlessness. 

He lay on his hard bed, consumed by his own negative emotions. 

'If only I had some talent, maybe she wouldn't look at me like that. Maybe we would still be friends,' he added, thinking of Ma Lifen's performance. 

She looked stunning back then, and just remembering it made him blush a little. 

'What the hell is wrong with me?' he cursed inwardly.

Standing up, he intentionally hit his head against the wall, trying to pull himself together. 

"Ouch," he winced, realizing how weak he was when even a small bump like that caused him too much pain.

He laid on his bed again, staring at the ceiling. 

'I should forget about her. I'm sure she'll marry someone talented, given her beauty , while I'll be stuck in this town forever as a loser.' 

With nothing to do until dinner, he closed his eyes and began to daydream, the activity he enjoyed most to pass the time.

Finally deciding to move, he stretched his body to fight of the tiredness. He could move better at nighttime, so he decided to check on his mother.

However— 

"Where is she?" he asked aloud, noticing the house was empty. 

He checked the kitchen and even the storage room, but found no one. It was already late, and going outside was dangerous. 

"Mother, where are you?" he called out, his voice echoing through the empty house.

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<Inside the Forest>

Liu Ming gasped for air as a punch landed in her stomach, forcing her to kneel down in pain. 

"W— Why are you doing this?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the four men who suddenly ambushed her and dragged her down to this place

She recognized one of them, Dong Huiqing, who was quite popular in the town, but appeared to be drunk.

"You're really beautiful. Are you sure that trash Xuan is your son?" he asked, enjoying the power he had over the mother of person he bullied .

"Don't call my son trash!," Liu Ming spat out in anger, but she was silenced by a hard slap that sent her tumbling to the ground.

"Whore, do you know who I am? I'm the most talented person in the town. You owe me respect," he warned sadistically, pulling her hair up. 

"You won't get away with this," she protested, her face almost tearing up. 

She had no experience with men and genuinely feared what he might do to her. 

"And what can you do?" he asked in a cold tone, his lewd eyes fixed on her. He eyed her soft neck, tempted to nibble on it. 

"I wont let you!" she spit on his face, and this warrant another series of attacks. 

SLAP!

SLAP!

"Whore, how dare you talk back to me?" he roared, his voice filled with rage. He grabbed her robe and tore it open, exposing her bare chest to the cold night air. 

She gasped, her eyes wide with fear and humiliation, as she desperately tried to cover herself with trembling hands. 

"N— No, please no…"