Chapter 5 — Childhood Only Has Leftovers

Many people who had similar experiences to me began actively promoting the short film. They said they had only one goal: Help me not have to bear any economic pressure when developing the next interactive movie. What surprised me the most was that a girl gave me four million yuan. Everyone was crying under her account, begging to be taken care of. But after she posted a comment, everyone went silent. An unloved childhood is a dampness that lasts a lifetime, she said. Many people are silent. Because they realize that a child who is treated unfairly in his family, even if he later stands in a high position, will still suffer because of his original family. I realized the game was really popular beyond its original scope when my parents appeared in front of me. After a long time of not seeing each other, they didn't ask me if I was doing well or not. Don't ask me how I lived alone in a strange city without living expenses. They just looked at me with tired eyes: "How long do you want to cause trouble?" I didn't say anything, just wanted to walk past them. But my father stopped me, with irrepressible anger in his voice: "Is this something you did? If it wasn't for your brother to find out, we wouldn't even know you were talking nonsense online." I suddenly burst out laughing. Not a soft laugh, but a crazy laugh like I was driven crazy. "Are you talking nonsense?" My eyes were filled with tears, frustration was like a floodwater breaking a dike, completely unstoppable. "Is there something I'm slandering you two about? Is the story of giving away meals not true?" Mom cried and said: "Even if it's true, you can't say it out loud! Do you know how the neighbors and colleagues around you look at me and your father now?" Dad angrily turned his head away, as if just looking at me one more time would make him feel dirty. As for me, I stood there, just feeling that everything was so absurd. Even if it's true, it can't be said. Because it's a bad thing in the family and shouldn't be spread out. But if they knew it was a bad thing, they would still do it. If you did, why are you afraid of what others will say? I looked at my mother coldly: "So I had to break my teeth and swallow them, to obediently play the role of a good daughter for the sake of family harmony." "But mom and dad, didn't you two also suffer for your original family?" Dad often said, being the oldest brother will definitely suffer, you have to take care of your younger siblings, you have to give in in everything. That's why my father loves my brother, and gives him priority when it comes to anything good. My mother also often said that being the youngest daughter would be considered a burden, and neither brother nor sister would like it. That's why my mother loves my sister, she just wishes she couldn't pick the stars and moon from the sky to give her. And my brother and sister are both smart people. They are very good at observing facial expressions and know clearly who has the lowest status in the family. So they both agreed to deal with me, throwing all the dirty and hard work to me. Anyway, parents won't blame them. So I became the sacrifice of this harmonious family. No one noticed, no one cared. They left the food for me not because they wanted to save food for me, but because they needed someone to wash the dirty dishes. Hearing my words, my parents felt like they were struck by lightning. Their eyes looking at me were no longer just reproach and resentment, but also showed an indescribable awakening. It was like one of my words woke them up. The person most similar to them in the family is not their brother or sister. It's the second daughter who is always ignored. Mother's voice was dry.

She reached out to grab me: "Tinh Tinh..." I leaned away from her hand: "So please consider it a virtue for yourselves to let me go!" My parents were stunned. They never thought that one day I would hate them so much. They didn't want their children to repeat their tragedy, so they used what they thought was a good way to treat them. But in the end, they still made a child suffer, letting me experience the pain they once endured. Yet they still naively think that they are different from their parents, that they are fair, unbiased parents. But my words today have torn away the false shell of harmony. I looked at them standing there dumbfounded. My heart no longer rains for this family, only a numb area remains. Looking at my determined eyes, my father's back bent down, as if he had grown ten years older in the blink of an eye. In the end, they didn't say anything more and ran away home, not continuing to bother me and forcing me to delete the game. I just didn't expect Luc Nhien and Luc An to find a way to contact me. "Why haven't you deleted that short film?" Luc Nhien's voice was gritting her teeth, as if she just wished she couldn't eat me. I said nothing. Luc Nhien's voice immediately rose: "Do you know that because of your short film, my girlfriend broke up with me?"