At noon, the scorching sun hung high in the sky, casting its unblinking glare down onto the streets of the county town. Dragging his feet as if they were filled with lead, Zhao Fugui returned home and pushed open the door. His mother's reproachful voice, laced with anger and heartache, struck him straight in the ears: "Fugui, all you know how to do day in and day out is sell your soul to those devils! Are you even Chinese?"
"Ma, I don't want this either, but that bastard Zhao Changli had you brought into the city just to suck up to the Japanese! If I don't obey them, who knows what methods they'd use to torture you!" Tears welled up in Zhao Fugui's voice as his legs went limp, and he dropped heavily to his knees before his mother, a flood of helplessness and despair breaking through his defenses.
Sighing deeply, his mother looked at him with eyes full of anguish. She slowly crouched down and gently stroked his head. "Fugui, I know you're having a hard time, but if you keep going like this, it'll be the death of you sooner or later! When your father was alive, he always told me that a person must have backbone and never act as a running dog for outsiders. If you keep this up, I truly don't know how I'll be able to face your father."
Chapter 398