My Alleged Husband

Zhang Ni had never imagined today’s incident would turn out like this; it was entirely beyond his expectations. The result he had wanted was not like this at all, yet the actual outcome was causing him such distress. Why exactly was this? Could it be that he had really made a mistake? His father had flown into a rage and grounded him, forbidding him from going out and making him reflect at home. But could he really stay put at home? He was not someone who could be confined at home by nature. Now, being locked inside, the turmoil in his heart was immense. But after all, he was still just a child; how could he possibly defy his father? Even when he grew up, he couldn’t defy him—his father was his own flesh and blood!

”Dad, please don’t lock me in here. Let me out to at least look around, okay? I know I was wrong. I won’t dare to enter your bedroom without knocking on the door again. I won’t dare to hide in the corner and eavesdrop on the conversations of adults anymore. Just consider this time as me, the child, being naive and accidentally committing a major taboo, making an unintentional mistake. Can’t you let me off this once? Dad, you know I’m intrinsically a mischievous person who enjoys going out. But now that you’ve locked me up, what am I supposed to do? I don’t have any freedom left, and it’s really painful for me. Dad, just let me out, I promise I’ll never dare to do it again. Please spare me this one time, I beg of you!”

Zhang Yichen, though his heart had already softened at his son’s repeated calls of ”Dad,” he couldn’t give in. If he acquiesced to his son’s pleas and spared him for this unintentional mistake, then his son would surely make the same error again in the future. He couldn’t let his son think that as long as he begged, his father would forgive him. This would cultivate a bad habit in the child. As a father, he should be a role model, demonstrating to his child how to study well, not someone who breaks promises and prevents his child from learning the right way.

”I am really sorry, but even if you are my own son, I can’t forgive you today. I will make it clear to you what mistake you have made and how much pain it has brought to your heart. Just think about it and don’t consider how to get out anymore. Even if you beg me, it’s useless. Even if you beg your grandfather, I will absolutely not let you out. If you make a mistake, you must accept the punishment—that’s the rule I have set, and I won’t allow anyone to break this rule. I won’t make an exception for anyone. I hope you clearly remember to do things properly in the future. If I find out you’ve acted rashly like today again, it won’t just be a matter of locking you in to reflect. If there is a next time, I might just directly banish you from the Zhang Family, so you can never return to this house for the rest of your life. Then you’ll slowly regret it. You know that in ancient times there was the saying, ’An emperor’s word is final,’ and now, I’m telling you that what I say is as irrevocable as an emperor’s words. An emperor’s word is final, and I will never go back on it!”

Zhang Ni felt helpless. It seemed this time he really couldn’t blame anyone else. If anyone was to be blamed, it was himself. Why did he secretly eavesdrop on his parents’ conversation? Why, after loitering outside for so long, did he choose to barge in when his father was at his angriest and on top of that, without even knocking? Wasn’t all of this his own fault? If he hadn’t been so impulsive and had calmly handled every situation, things wouldn’t have gotten to this point. It seemed he had become deeply stuck in a quagmire, unable to extricate himself. He didn’t understand whether his father had planned all this from the start or whether he had just blundered into the line of fire by sheer bad luck. Why did it happen to be at the moment his father’s anger peaked? And he hadn’t pushed the door, but just walked in, and his father caught him red-handed. Could all this really just be a simple coincidence rather than an intentional setup? How unlucky did he have to be to stumble upon such misfortune time and again? Now, he was not only locked up here, but he also had no idea when his father might let him out. If he really sneaked out this time, he would definitely believe every word his father had said; he would really be kicked out of the house, and then he really would have nothing left. Although he stayed at home not for the family wealth but for other reasons, to prove to everyone that he was the most formidable one, never to lose to his own father, that’s why he had come to this point. But it seemed that all of this really left him confused, failing to penetrate why such coincidences had just happened to fall upon him. It appeared that for now, he truly had to reflect at home on where exactly he went wrong. Perhaps if he realized his mistakes earlier, his father might release him sooner. If he couldn’t figure it out, he would be confined here for another day. It seemed he really should write a sincere self-critique, wondering why he was so impulsive, not thinking things through before rushing in. If there had been something else going on inside, what he had witnessed, then how would he save face, and how would his parents save face? It turned out that the mistake he had committed was not just minor; he had made a grave error. No wonder his father was so infuriated with him. It was all his fault. Who wouldn’t be angry?

”Dad, I understand now. I will reflect properly on where I went wrong, and I will also write a self-critique. I hope by then you won’t be so angry anymore. Dad, if you have other things to do, please go ahead. I definitely won’t run away. I can’t let my parents be sad and angry over me again. I will be a good child, a good son belonging to my mom and dad. I want you to know that I really didn’t do it on purpose. Although anything I say now is of no use, I still want to say I didn’t expect any of this to happen today; it was completely unforeseen. I’m sorry, Dad!”