He went to the police station and happened to run into an officer, whom he asked about the questions troubling him.
The officer did not brush him off, but explained it in simple terms. Yu Nian understood the gist: he needed evidence, and the beating Wu Dexin had given him that time had not been severe enough. Wu Dexin could explain it away as disciplining his child.
Yu Nian still did not understand where the line between disciplining a child and domestic violence lay, or just how badly he had to be beaten for it to count as "severe."
It hurt so much every time.
But he thought that as long as it was worse than before, that should be enough, right?
So during one of their arguments, he deliberately provoked Wu Dexin. That was the closest Yu Nian had ever felt to death. He was afraid that if he really died, he would never get to see Wu Dexin sent to prison.
He had no idea where he found the courage, but he picked up a stick and brought it down hard on Wu Dexin's head. Perhaps years of heavy drinking had already damaged the man's brain; the blow knocked him unconscious.
His memories of that time were hazy. He only remembered that he kept bleeding, and his leg felt as though it were broken. Every step hurt so badly that he wanted to cry.
When he woke up, he was already in the hospital, and Wu Dexin had finally been sent to prison.
Later, because no one adopted him, Yu Nian was sent to the Welfare Home, where he grew up healthy under Auntie Liu's loving care.
After hearing his story, Qin Yuheng's eyes filled with heartache. But instead of offering words of pity, he gently kissed Yu