Free Web NovelChapter 274: Chapter 235: The Lonely Elderly
Old Man Song’s saliva flowed more and more, quickly accumulating into a small puddle on the dirty ground. Wang Longhui knew he couldn’t wait any longer, so he brought the prepared food to the table, pot and all, "Old Man, you must be starving. Come to the table and eat."
"Great, time to eat, time to eat, I love eating the most." Old Man Song looked at the large pot of jumbled food, his eyes shining.
Old Man Song had difficulty moving, so he had to rely on Wang Longhui to support him over to the high-backed chair to sit down. During this process, Wang Longhui noticed something off about the elderly man’s legs. His right leg was thick and strong, while his left leg, wrapped in thick cotton pants, was noticeably shorter and much thinner, resembling some innate disability.
With food in sight, Old Man Song nearly ignored Wang Longhui’s presence, burying his head and eating voraciously. At first, he used chopsticks, but soon he was grabbing food with his hands.
Even though he was mentally prepared, Wang Longhui was still terrified by the old man’s way of eating. His hand, emerging from his sleeve, dived directly into the scalding pot to fish for food, crushing everything in his path, whether it was chicken, duck, fish, or meaty bones, and the sound of bones being crunched filled the room.
"Old Man Song, you... you should eat slowly. It wouldn’t be good if you choked." Wang Longhui had cooked all the food in the fridge, whether steamed, boiled, or roasted. Of course, many dishes were at best half-cooked, but this didn’t affect Old Man Song’s appetite at all.
Wang Longhui knew that if the food ran out, then Old Man Song would start eating him, so he tried to stretch out the time as much as possible.
Fortunately, after consuming more than half of the food in front of him, Old Man Song finally stopped. While licking his fingers, he looked at Wang Longhui contentedly, "Young man, your cooking really suits this old fellow’s taste. Why aren’t you eating?"
"Old Man, I’ve already had dinner," replied Wang Longhui obediently.
"That won’t do, you have to eat. If you don’t, this old man will feel uneasy. Besides, how can my children eat if you don’t?" Old Man Song said sternly.
"Your children..." These words left Wang Longhui somewhat confused; the letter of commission clearly indicated that Old Man Song was a pitiful, lonely old man.
Speaking of his children, Old Man Song noticeably deflated. He sighed, waving his hand to signal Wang Longhui to eat as well, and began to share his past with him.
According to Old Man Song, it was true that he was a lonely old man, but over the years, he had taken in four foster children, three foster sons and one foster daughter.
These bargain children had all come to him on their own initiative, at first treating Old Man Song even more dearly than their own fathers, promising to care for his livelihood for the rest of his life. However, their motives were impure—all were after his property.
But Old Man Song had a pure heart. Even when he saw through the true nature of these foster children, he pretended not to know and used his savings to feed them, hoping that one day they would come to their senses.
Looking at the food on the table and the four remaining chairs beside it, Wang Longhui realized that the rest of the chairs were set out for Old Man Song’s four children, and the leftover food hadn’t been left uneaten by Old Man Song, but was intentionally saved for those ungrateful children. His invitation for Wang Longhui to come and cook was simply to gather his children for a family reunion meal.
"Old Man, your heart is truly too kind," Wang Longhui thought, as flattery never gets old. Having navigated through most of the night’s crisis, he wanted to get on good terms with Old Man Song and coax more clues about the apartment from him.
"Eat, go ahead and eat, don’t just listen to this old fool talk. The more you eat, the more my children can eat," Old Man Song urged, looking more and more kindly at Wang Longhui.
Now having been urged for the third time by Old Man Song, Wang Longhui truly couldn’t bring himself to eat the food before him. The large chunk of beef on the table even had blood streaks in it—it wasn’t cooked through due to the lack of time.
"Old Man Song, when are your children coming? Do you want me to head back first, so I don’t delay your family reunion dinner?" Wang Longhui tried to take the opportunity to slip away.
Unexpectedly, Old Man Song suddenly laughed, "You’re asking about those unfilial children of mine? They’ve been waiting since they knew there was a meal today, they must be starving by now... wait here, I’ll call them out to eat."
Upon hearing this, Wang Longhui’s brain buzzed, and he even forgot to help Old Man Song get up. Struggling, Old Man Song stood up on his own, grabbed his walking stick, and using his sturdy right leg, hobbled towards the closed bedroom door. When he got close, he pushed the door open with a shove.
The scene inside the bedroom stunned Wang Longhui. There was no bed; instead, there were four ragged cotton quilts spread out on the floor, and on each quilt lay a person.
Three men, and a petite young woman—all of them had twisted mouths and had completely lost the ability to care for themselves. They spasmodically twitched from time to time, with a mix of snot, tears, vomit, and all sorts of excreta forming a nasty mixture beneath them, emitting a foul stench. It was clear they had been imprisoned here for a long time.
What was even more horrifying was that all these people had missing limbs. Two of the men each lacked an arm, one the left, the other the right, and the third man, who was the strongest of them all, had his right leg sawn off at the root. The last woman had lost her left leg.
"Kids, come out to eat. Let me introduce you to this kind-hearted man who came to take care of your father," said Old Man Song, his voice filled with contentment, "He will help your father feed you in a while, so don’t be impatient."
After speaking, he ignored the foul stench coming from their bodies and dragged all four children to the dining table, where he used wide, thick yellow duct tape to brutally secure them to their chairs.
Wang Longhui was so scared he dared not move. He saw Old Man Song’s left foot, which had been hidden in the leg of his trousers, accidentally revealed. The foot was already rotten, but it was still obvious that the foot was small, the bones delicate, and most crucially, the toes were painted with bright red nail polish.
And the young woman tied up beside him just happened to be missing her left leg, her right foot, which dragged on the ground, was painted with the same red nail polish.
These people weren’t dead, but they had been beaten stupid. From Wang Longhui’s angle, it was very clear to see that the backs of all four people’s heads had been smashed with a hammer or some other blunt object.
Seeing his children all sitting at the dining table, Old Man Song revealed a contented smile, "Young man, thank you for reuniting my family. These unfilial children of mine are always saying they will take care of me, yet they were unwilling to donate even an arm or a leg, forcing me to take it by myself... really embarrassing."
After a pause, Old Man Song stared straight at Wang Longhui, "I’m about to feed my children, you wouldn’t mind helping out, would you?"
"Of course... of course not." Wang Longhui was terrified out of his wits, he didn’t dare utter a word of refusal.
Seeing this, Old Man Song smiled contentedly. There was no need for prompting, as Wang Longhui immediately picked up the rice bowl, shaking as he tried to help Old Man Song feed the others, but he was stopped, "It’s not like that, they have bad stomachs and can’t digest this food, they can only eat liquid meals."
Old Man Song stroked the face of one of the young men, tenderly wiping away the filth from his mouth, his eyes filled with the love of an elder for a younger relative. Then, under the shocked gaze of Wang Longhui, he forcefully pried the man’s mouth open, bent down, and with a stretch of his neck, vomited into the man’s mouth.
"Ugh~~" fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Wang Longhui: "!!!"
