Endless Debt Chapter 688 - 196: Young and Foolish Days_2

"A bedtime story?"

Ewen chuckled, "Maybe we’ll sleep and never wake up."

Taking a deep breath, Ewen felt dizzy, possibly from the aftermath of the impact, or perhaps from blood loss, he felt drunk, and in such a state, the story he told carried a layer of elusive color.

"I’ve never met my father."

Ewen spoke, "People say he was an interesting poet, who came from afar."

"My mother was a beauty, every man liked her and wanted her. She enjoyed the praise and desirous gazes of others, meeting different men every day, reveling in the vanity they brought.

She was always high above, feeling she could control everyone."

Cinderella listened quietly, this was different from the version of the story Ewen initially told her, but this time both were quite patient.

"One day, my mother met my father, all her tricks were useless on him, and soon my mother fell for him. They fell in love, but it was a one-sided love; the poet is like a bird, he may admire a certain flower, but would never stop for it.

Weeks after they fell in love, he left without a trace. My mother was downcast for a while, but she was a master in love, such things couldn’t affect her."

Ewen shifted his position, sprawling out on the sofa, as if all the disasters and crises had disappeared, now it was just an afternoon storytelling session.

"But this time was different, my mother had me..."

Ewen laughed at himself, "My mother has always hated me, she thought I ruined her carefree life, she often cursed me and yelled at me."

He mimicked his mother’s words, his tone flat, "If it weren’t for you, Ewen, if it weren’t for you, everything would be different."

"One day, I could no longer endure such a life, I left home. I suppose when my mother awoke and found the empty bed, she must have been delighted, I had finally disappeared from her life.

I actually hoped she would come looking for me..."

There was no need to elaborate on what happened next; Ewen began talking about the story with Red Nose.

"My mother saved all her love for herself, not giving me any, and then one day I met another extreme."

Cinderella whispered, "Red Nose."

"Red Nose was a good man, an absolute fool, under his care, I lived like a normal person for the first time, but he was too kind, so much so that he was weak, people in the town bullied him, treating him like a slave."

He died, and only I attended his funeral; none of the others came because the foolish man had no more value."

A rare ferocity flashed in Ewen’s eyes as he gritted his teeth, "I burned down that town and fled in the burning night."

"Then there’s the story of Free Port."

Mentioning Free Port made Ewen unable to stop smiling; he had too many wonderful experiences there, like heartless factories, human trafficking; unfortunate things seemed to have happened to him."

"I became a sailor, following the ship on voyages, the captain said once we leave the port, we’ll be at sea for at least half a year, without sight of land. So before leaving, I took a stone, and whenever I missed the land, I would stroke it, and within a few months, it became polished from my touch."

Ewen extended his hand, as if there really was a stone being stroked by him.

"I suffered much hardship, but it was the first time I encountered such a cruel captain who treated us like slaves. I thought I could endure it, since I am quite resilient, but one day, he threw a sickly crew member into the sea."

Ewen fell silent, an oppressive silence lasted for a while, outside the porthole lightning flashed and thunder boomed.

"I’ve never had much luck, years of ups and downs and hardships made me somewhat numb, but certain qualities and persistence cannot be changed by time and experience, they are like imprints deeply engraved in my soul."

Ewen smiled at Cinderella, his smile was heartless and cruel.

"As a child, my peers feared me because I was stubborn, like a rough stone, and whenever they banded together to bully me, I wouldn’t just cover my head and take the hits, I would single out the leader, pounce on him, ride him, and pound his head, no matter how others hit me, I wouldn’t fight back, my eyes only focused on the leader."

"Even when I was knocked down, I wouldn’t give up easily, I’d pretend to cry, wait until they left, then secretly follow the leader home, holding a stone, giving him a beating on his way back."

Ewen recounted his glorious days, he felt proud of the self he was during that period.

"They all called me a stone, a stubborn stone, only later did I realize these were excellent qualities: endurance, persistence, relentlessness. Later I also realized there’s an animal called the jackal."

"They’re not mysterious and aloof like wolves, rather like dingy stray dogs, but they share similar traits: endurance, persistence, relentlessness."

A streak of lightning struck down, it was close to Paradise; the pale light easily lit up the room, illuminating their faces.