Chapter Text
Yunmeng Jiang Family Mansion
Jiang Cheng honestly doesn't feel good suddenly being called out by his parents just right after he came home. His siblings weren't allowed to come with him and were instead relegated to their respective rooms by his mother's maids Jinzhu and Yinzhu.
Nothing ever good happened whenever he was called out by either one of his parents alone. He was always left with bruises all over his unconscious body whenever he was dragged out of his mother's room to be locked up in the dusty attic which had become his new room since his father decided to give his adoptive brother his old room at the tender age of 6. His father told him how misfortunate his older brother had been since the death of his parents. He explained to him the cruel long winters the poor orphan boy had to suffer all alone out in the cruel world that refused to even raise a single finger for him. By the time Jiang Fengmian had finally managed to locate and find him he was on the brink of death.
He had almost flatlined them during their ride to the hospital where his father had spared no expenses in getting the young child the best treatment there possibly is. He even got a private hospital bedroom equipped with everything that a child would love. Then he brought the poor orphan boy home after filling out all the adoption papers without consulting anyone including his own wife. He sat his two children down talking them down a bit before introducing them to their new brother.
Jiang Cheng was excited at first to have a friend around his age to play with. He hardly had any with his scary mother standing behind him looking at all the children with judgemental looks before deeming them worthy enough for the Heir of the Yunmeng Jiang Corporation to become friends with. The only friend she barely approved of was his childhood friend Nie Huaisang who was the second son of the CEO of the Qinghe Nie Corporation.
Nie Huaisang later switched over to Wei Wuxian fairly early on in their childhood. They were barely on speaking terms as the young master preferred talking with his more charismatic charming fun-loving brother instead. Jiang Cheng had gotten used to being the third wheel of the group being content with his place as according to his father and everyone else he was undeserving of them in the first place.
Anyhow, Jiang Cheng was eager to show his new brother the ropes of the house just like a good friend was supposed to do like all the books his sister read to him said. His father for once praised his eagerness to help the young boy adjust right into the household. The young child gleed under the rare genuine smile his father gave ever so often to his sister which was finally directed towards him for once.
Luckily, during that time his mother was out of town along with her two maids busy visiting her parent's house for the weekend. Jiang Cheng was determined to win over the boy to not only hopefully gain a new friend but also to earn his father's praise.
Things were working out rather well with little Wei Ying trailing right behind him like a little chick that was until they went to the backyard. All the young boy wanted to do was introduce his new friend to his three loyal well-trained partners Jasmine, Princess, and Love. His new friend looked questioningly at his rather curious naming sense but decided to keep his mouth shut in fear of being kicked out by his new adoptive family much to the ignorance of the Jiang Heir at the time.
He only understood that his new friend was feeling sad and as a good friend he wanted to cheer him up. His puppies always made him happy, especially after his lessons with his mother. They always knew where the bruises he hid under his clothes and licked them better each time! Maybe Wei Ying would feel better after having his bruises licked by the puppies too!
The next thing he knew though just as he was about to introduce his three partners to his friend, he could hear a loud wailing gut-wrenching scream in the air. By the time he could look around to find the source of it Wei Ying was nowhere in sight along with his three partners. He found him being chased by the three dogs who simply wanted the boy to play with them with the toys they had in their mouths.
Jiang Cheng quickly whistled his fingers just as he had been taught by the dog trainer calling them back to him. However, by then the damage was done with Wei Ying being in the arms of his father who came over as soon as he had heard his screams. He was then harshly scolded by his father and had his three dogs taken away from him as punishment for having bullied his new brother as such.
The young boy tried to explain himself however, his father refused to spare him a glance being obviously far too busy comforting his new friend through his tears...
Obviously, after having his three partners taken away from him he was rather upset at his new friend and said words he really didn't mean after locking him out of their shared room. Luckily, Wei Ying was a kind and gentle boy and with the help of their angelic sister understood that Jiang Cheng really had meant no harm. The young boy promised right then and there that he would always chase away all the dogs that chased after his dear brother. He also vowed to protect him from all harm so Wei Ying would never have anything to fear from now on with him at his side.
Now that he thinks about it that must have been telling of his fate from then on.
His father forced him to sacrifice everything from his room to all of his possessions to even his friends over to his new brother. Every time his father took something away he would receive the harsh ends of his mother's favorite whip that she liked to call Zidian. Being whipped by Zidian was nothing compared to the usual punishments he went through each time he either failed to live up to his mother's expectations or acted in a manner that was disapproving in her mind.
Both of his siblings were completely oblivious to the cruel abuse he silently endured all on his own hiding it behind his harsh exterior to prevent everyone from finding out just how much a failure he actually was.
He didn't even think it was abuse only that it was justified punishment for being a complete disgrace of a son to his parents...
Even so, his hands couldn't stop trembling as it turned open the door knob right into his father's office. Although he has barely yet stepped foot inside the room, he could already feel the cold gaze of his mother drilling right through him.
He expected his father to gaze upon his pathetic form with his usual indifferent unempathetic gaze before telling him to sit down in a tired exasperated tone... However, contrary to his expectations the Jiang Patriarch welcomes him inside his office warmly even going as far as to guide him over to his chair.
Jiang Cheng felt genuinely confused by the situation. Maybe if he had been a small child he would have been overjoyed by the fact his father had finally paid some attention to him. However, years of hardship and abuse made him feel nothing but frightened by his father's small gesture of kindness to him. However, he didn't have it inside to go against his father especially not with his mother watching every one of his moves like a predator ready to go in for the kill at any time.
For a short time, the room is veiled under an awkward air of silence until his mother clicks her finger ordering his father's secretary Jiang Xing to hand over the files of paper in his hand over to him. The young teenager immidiatly freezes when he sees the title of the papers.
[Investigation File Report Regarding the premeditated switching of the deceased Jiang Heir]
"Huh, what switch, deceased?" Jiang Cheng tightly grabs onto paper crumpling it beyond saving. He looks at his parents about to ask them whether or not they were throwing some sort of prank at him. However, one look in their eyes and he already knows that they were being entirely serious...
It was then his father deems that an explanation was necessary "Jiang Cheng I can see and understand that you are confused. If I were in your situation I would be just as confused as you are. To be honest, even now I am still pretty shocked. I even doubted the truth myself thinking they mistook it with your brother's test result so I sent in a new sample one of which I was certain was truly yours. But even so, the test result came back the same. When I called your mother she didn't believe me either and sent all of our samples to another lab she trusted. However, even then the test results came back the same."
"What are you saying Fuqin? I don't understand." Jiang Cheng's voice trembled unable to grasp the situation before him
His mother finally having lost her patience stood up from her chair and banged harshly on the boy "What he's saying is you are neither my husband's nor my biological son you damn disgusting imposter!"
"My lady!" His father speaks up for him probably for the first time in his miserable pathetic excuse of an existence
"What! all I said was the truth!" The Yu Matriarch bit back with every bit of poison dripping out of her tongue
The Jiang Patriarch doesn't easily stand down "While it may be true you have no right to take your anger out on the boy like this! It isn't his fault! The sin of a parent is not the..."
Madam Yu snorts cutting him off there "You honestly don't expect me to believe that bullshit do you? Especially after everything you did. You of all people have no right to say this Jiang Fengmian when we've all seen how you've..." The purple spider starts sliding off there making a serious face as though she were contemplating something
Yu Ziyuan suddenly stood up from where she was sitting to approach the young teenager. Jiang Cheng doesn't dare to resist when she roughly grabs his face to lift it up and down then left and right. She observes his face intensely for a good while before finally releasing him. "Well, perhaps you weren't entirely at fault for not being able to love this child. After all, he is no son of mine or yours. It's no wonder you favored that whore's son over this filthy criminal's brat. If he were truly our son then I am certain you would have cared for him to at least the extent you do for our daughter."
Jiang Cheng could fear tears welling up in his eyes which the Madam immediately takes notice of and yells at him "Oh you think you deserve to cry!? After everything, you put me through all these years! Deceiving me and our family for so many years! Making me waste all my time, money, and effort on you a criminal's child all for nothing! Give me my son back you son of a bitch" The Madam raises her hand high in the air and slaps it down to his face making him fall to the ground from his chair
The Jiang Patriarch does his best to placate his wife stating how there was no use in blaming an innocent child who had been mixed up in his supposedly biological mother's resentment toward the upper higher class society.
It wasn't his fault that his biological mother was battling through a list of mental illnesses after being dumped by his playboy of a biological father who had abandoned his pregnant girlfriend in favor of another much well pedigreed refined woman.
It wasn't his fault that the mentally battered woman was way past the term to safely terminate the pregnancy forcing her to carry the child to term.
It wasn't his fault he managed to survive through the series of attempts his biological mother made to miscarry him
It wasn't his fault he was born very meek and fragile as if mocking her for her low birth and prestige
It wasn't his fault that his biological mother came back to her work as a nurse early just to avoid him
It wasn't his fault that she started harboring resentment toward all the happy mothers who had their loving husbands at their side carrying their oh-so-precious bundle of joy with great big smiles on their faces
It wasn't his fault that his biological mother who had been in charge of the section where all the infants born into the hospital were stationed where she would happen to see the Jiang family name on the couple's son's crib taking an unusual interest in him after remembering the gossips she heard the other nurses were talking about him being some son of a rich tycoon and his equally rich wealthy elite blooded wife
lt wasn't his fault that in her mentally unstable state she came up with the ingenious plan to kidnap the Yunmeng Jiang Corporation Heir and replace him with her disgusting child whom she always had half the mind to smother for failing to tie his biological father down to her leading him to abandon them both
It wasn't his fault that no one noticed the change and was taken back to the Jiang Household whilst the couple's real child had perished not long after under the mentally unstable woman's care
It wasn't his fault that it took everyone so long to notice the switch as his biological mother committed suicide a couple of years ago in the mental facility she was held after being arrested for infanticide of her own child...
Hearing all this and confirming them side by side with the investigation reports all Jiang Cheng could do was sit there blankly in a chair that he had stolen from the real child of his parents... or people he had considered his parents until now...
Here he was the nameless son of a lunatic-crazed woman swaddled in garments, possessions, wealth, and prestige that he had absolutely no right donning much less claim ownership of anything even his own name... Everything he had been was just one huge bit fat lie built upon the stolen identity of some stranger he held no connections with. Something inside his fragile mind snapped leaving him completely broken...
He could barely hear his mother huffing out "Honestly if it weren't for the fact that the bitch was dead I would have sent you right back at her and sued the entire damn lot of you. Seriously for a miserable son of a bitch you sure are a damn lucky one."
"Anyhow" Jiang Fengmian cleared his throat "After many delegations seeing as your biological mother had no living next of kin we've decided to let you live with us for the time being at the very least until..."
"You finish paying off all of the damn debts both you and that bitch owe us." Madam Yu finishes
"San Niang! We talked about this! The boy doesn't owe us anything!" The older man attempts to chastise his wife for her brash decision that he had thought they talked over about
Madam Yu simply rolls her eyes over "You mean you talked and agreed that he doesn't owe the Jiang Family anything. However, that doesn't liquid the fact that he doesn't owe my family for all the generosity we poured onto him these past 13 years. You have no idea how much I invested in this boy and to learn that it was wasted for nothing. No, I refuse to be humiliated and ridiculed any more than this. I will have this bastard here pay off everything back to me down to the last dime!"
"Then what do you intend for him to do? He's just a child" Jiang Fengmian tries to helpfully point out in his defense
"He has two working hands and feet. He can work as a servant in our household. He will be treated no differently from every other servant which is something is far deserving of. The only privilege he will be allowed is to attend and finish school. After all, as the servant of our household, he can't afford to be an uneducated fool. However, he will be commuting to a public school from henceforth. It's bad enough that I had to send that gremlin to the school that I spent years researching and picking out all for our children." The Madam hissed emphasizing the word greatly making his father... no CEO Jiang turns his head away to avoid his mother... no Madam Yu's heated glare
The woman simply sighs not in the mood to deal with her husband for now at the very least. She has many more important matters to attend to like this bastard sitting in what should have been her son's chair "Anyhow whether that gremlin will or won't attend Gusu will remain a topic for discussion. But for now, I will not add the son of a criminal to that list. I've been embarrassed enough. I've already handed in the letter of withdrawal and had the servants dispose of all of your school belongings into the trash. Also, the attic is far too dignified for the means of like you. You will live in the basement cupboard from now on."
The Madam then lists all the things pertaining to his new position as the household servant and all the rules he would have to follow from now on. CEO Jiang doesn't even attempt to talk back to his wife anymore not wanting to create any more tensions in this room than there already are.
He is to bid farewell to his friends and siblings stating the excuse that they had decided to send him abroad to broaden his horizons and hone his skills as the heir to their company. Once he reaches high school they will make a random story as to how he was unable to tolerate all the pressures of his position and ran away from home becoming independent on his own.
He will then keep his face hidden down in the dingy basement for a while at the very least until his hair grows out to hide his face. Jinzhu no he means Lady Jinzhu and Yinzhu will then teach him how to disguise his appearance to make him look more suited to his true role and position in life. He will also be taught sign language to prevent him from irritating the ears of anyone who had the misfortune to hear his screeching voice.
Once he joins the workforce he will refer to every and each family member by their formal titles including that gremlin and show them the respect alligated to them as their position demands from them. He is not to meet eyes with anyone and keep his head down when anyone speaks to him including all the servants as they are of higher rank than him.
Last but not least, he was forbidden from using their son's name and henceforth would be referred to as mutt in the household. If anyone else asks his name he is to refer to himself as Li Gou...
What else can Jiang... no Li Gou say other than that he was grateful to the Madam's graciousness with relative practiced ease from all the times he was forced to face the Madam's punishment... He gets off his chair to kotow to them to express his utmost gratitude towards the couple for taking him in despite his lowly standing with the promise that he would work to pay everything back by working for them as long as it pleases them...
Madam Yu smirks before ordering the servants to drag the boy off to what would be his miserable life from now on...
Nightmare
Li Gou wakes up in the middle of the night sweating from head to toe from the nightmare he just had. He was tempted to barf out what little contents he had left in his stomach all in an effort to be relieved by this stuffed clod blocking his airways that were suffocating him. The little mutt knew he was just simply suffering from a panic attack from his overdramatic reaction to the old memory.
He had thought he had gotten over it by now serving as the Jiang Family servant for more than almost five years now. Nobody save except for the Madam even remembered that the person Jiang Cheng had even existed. Master had quickly forgotten about his son only after a few weeks delegating more of his time to his two children most especially his favored adoptive son. He didn't even recognize the small ragged mute boy who had stolen his son's identity for the past 13 years. He simply happily accepted this new diligent dedicated young subservient servant that his wife had picked off from the trash.
Young Master Wei and Young Mistress Jiang took longer to forget about their supposed brother but once they were formally introduced into the social circles they became too busy to pay mind to the missing vacant spot at the family dining table. He remembers silently bawling his tears out in his room when his former siblings had disregarded his existence as nothing of importance.
None of the Yunemeng Jiang Heir's friends asked about his whereabouts including his longtime childhood friend Nie Huaisang who accepted the fabricated story with relative ease before going to play off with Young Master Wei...
Li Gou was now just a pitiful dirty ragged mute servant who could barely perform his usual daily tasks and chores to the Jiang Family standard quota... The other servants mocked and bullied him exploiting any opportunity to harass him whenever they could. The male servants were getting bolder with their advances as according to them he was reaching the ripe age of maturity. He really needs to find ways to avoid them as much as he possibly could unless he wanted to fall even lower than where he was now.
Unfortunately, his chastity was only the last shred of human decency he even had left with everything he has endured over the past 5 years. He wasn't even sure he was human anymore with the way he acted beck on call to his master's foot every time of the day.
But even so, he refused to lose the only thing he had going in his life...
The only thing that proved that he wasn't a complete mutt was that there was still one part of him that was human...
Li Gou could slowly feel himself calming down. Once he did though the heaps of piles of papers land in his eyes making him remember shit!
How could he have let himself sleep when he still hasn't finished Young Master Wei's homework!? As per usual like every summer vacation Young Master Wei, left his summer assignments virtually untouched until the very last second leaving Master to relegate most of them over to him who had according to everyone, had the most free time off of his hand.
Master wasn't necessarily a cruel man, unlike the Madam who struck fear in the hearts of every single servant inside the household. Even now the palms of Li Gou's still stung from the burning pain of the hot tea dumped straight onto his hands after one of the maids had failed to brew the tea according to her mood that day.
Li Gou acted as the main punching bag for all of the Madam's frustration to the point that the old grouchy gardener had even taken pity on him helping him bandage his latest set of wounds and bruises from time to time until he had retired a few years ago. He had offered to bring him along back to his hometown to his son's home but the dumb mutt refused not wanting to trouble and burden the retired senior with all the debts he owed to the Jiang Family for his sinful existence.
The old gardener gave him a piece of paper with his address and phone number on it telling him to call him anytime he needed help. Li Gou accepted the kind gesture which was quickly destroyed at the hands of the other servants who made him helplessly watch as the paper was burned into crisps...
If it had been him a couple of years back no doubt he would have bit, scratched, and punched his way out as hard as he possibly could to save that small piece of kindness granted to him but all the fight inside him had long been beaten out of him years before only leaving a husk of what he once used to be...
All Li Gou felt now was the exhausted aching bones throughout his entire body that were screaming at him to finish the young master's assignments lest he disappoints his masters and face the consequences for it...