Chapter 4 — It's You Who I Wrote In My Youth

10 Must be Ta Du An's adoptive mother. She held a photo and glared at him: "You're already in 12th grade. I spent a lot of money to feed and clothe you. I transferred you to this school not to make you associate with bad kids!" My heart suddenly tightened. Even though I couldn't see clearly who it was in the photo, I could guess it was probably us. The woman waved her hand and whipped the photo straight into Ta Du An's face. The sharp edge of the photo cut a long line on his cheek. Ta Du An did not move, his eyes were lowered, his face was hidden in darkness, his expression was unclear. But I suddenly felt that he was definitely... very heartbroken. My chest felt like someone was squeezing it, it was so tight that I couldn't breathe. The more the woman saw Ta Du An's indifference, the angrier she became, her voice shrilling: "Kneel down!" Ta Du An still stood still without moving. Her finger trembled, almost poking him in the face: "Good, now you won't listen to anything I say, right? I'm really stupid to adopt an ungrateful person like you! Just wait, I will find each person in this photo in turn, so that their parents know who their child is hanging out with!" “Don't go.” – Ta Du An suddenly spoke. Without hesitation, he slowly... knelt down. The old street lamp blinked a few times. Under that pale light, Ta Du An knelt with his back straight, looking as steady as a pine tree in the snow. He said: "From now on I won't hang out with anyone anymore." 11 My brother gritted his teeth and cursed silently, his fist clenched and made a cracking sound. He pulled me back and was about to rush up to settle the matter: "What is that woman?! Tue Tue, you hide here, let me come up and talk to her with my fists!" I raised my hand to stop, trying to stay calm: "Don't be rash!" My brother also realized the problem and stopped. This matter cannot be resolved by being aggressive. If he can't really help Ta Du An escape that situation, then every impulsive action today... will only turn into a knife that stabs him in the future. In the distance, the woman seemed to be tired of scolding, so she quietly turned and left, Ta Du An following behind. I turned my head and said, thinking: "We have to discuss carefully and come up with a thorough plan—" As soon as I turned around, I saw my brother's face pale, his forehead drenched in cold sweat. I was startled. What's so terrible?! Don't tell me you're so angry that you have a brain hemorrhage?! My brother curled his lips and smiled miserably: "Tue Tue, I was so angry just now... I stepped on the wrong foot." Me: “…” And so, amid my brother's groans, the chaotic day officially ended. In the middle of the night, I was sleeping soundly when— “NO RIGHT!!” My brother suddenly stood up, rushed to my door and banged: "That's not true! How did you know that Ta Du An was an orphan?! When did you say he was a comet?! Tham Tue! Come and explain clearly!!" I turned over and buried my face in the pillow, sleeping even better. 12 As expected, Ta Du An started to become much colder towards us. Even though my face was still expressionless, I could feel subtle differences: For example, my lips were pursed a little tighter. His eyes also seemed to try to restrain themselves a bit more. I looked at him intently for a long time, to the point of confusing him, so I immediately wrote a few C answers on the exercise sheet. I signaled to my brother. My brother immediately approached Ta Du An's table, knocked on the table and pointed out the window: "See that building?" My brother raised his eyebrows arrogantly: "In 10th grade, I got into a fight with a bully who collected protection money—that building my mother donated to build.” He turned his hand and pointed in the other direction: "Over there, when I was in 11th grade, I punched a grumpy old man who was trying to play tricks on someone else's daughter. And then there's the other side..." My brother narrated his exploits like a rolling dragon, ending with a wild laugh: "Do you know how formidable I am? Ha ha ha ha ha!” I remained silent, slowly raising my hand to cover my face. My brother's acting... was exactly like when he entered showbiz, he was attacked by antifans on the first day. But... even though the acting was bad, it worked. Ta Du An is clearly much more relaxed, no longer as tense as a guitar string. I was just relieved when Ta Du An asked: "Last night... did you two see anything?" I shot up like a spring: “No—no! Absolutely not!” …That's it. My acting is just like my brother's. “Okay, we saw it.” – I groaned, bowed my head and played with my fingers. “Sorry, we didn't mean to snoop. And you can rest assured, we absolutely have no intention of laughing at you. Actually... we just wanted to know if there was anything we could do to help you..." Ta Du An's face flashed with confusion, he was stunned, a bit confused and didn't know how to react. In the end, he just said softly: "It's okay." My eyes lit up and I immediately held his hand tightly: "So do you want to leave that house?" We came up with an extremely tight plan! Can definitely help you!” Maybe the light in my eyes is too hot. Perhaps it was the warmth from that clenched hand that crept into my heart. Ta Du An suddenly... wanted to believe unconditionally. He replied: “Okay.” 13 That afternoon, my brother and Giang Ninh waited outside the school gate, hiding in the dark like spies. I sat next to Ta Du An, seriously writing down in my notebook: "Tell me again, what does she hate you the most?" "Low grades, coming home late, locking the door, talking for more than ten minutes, and..." Ta Du An hesitated, then added: "Love early." I had no doubts, nodded, took a pen and circled "early love": "Okay, decided!" I immediately took Ta Du An's arm, pretended to be a girly girl, and walked side by side with him out of the school gate. Ta Du An was clearly stiff. I also stopped, realizing what I was doing. The night was dark and quiet, without a sound. There was only the sound of two breaths overlapping each other, soft but... obscure. The more I walked, the more uncomfortable I felt. The slower your steps, the faster your heart beats. As soon as he stepped out of the gate— From the darkness, my brother shouted: “That's not right!!” This idiot, threatening people like that is a failure! As soon as I turned around, I saw... Ta Du An's adoptive mother quietly walking towards me. It didn't seem to be influenced by my brother at all. It's successful!! Without thinking, I immediately pulled Ta Du An and ran away. As soon as I turned into the alley, my brother and Giang Ninh chased after me. My brother even shouted loudly: "You guy, let go of my sister's hand! Let go! Right!!" I smiled wryly: "Ha ha... actually I held his hand." My brother shouted even louder. If it weren't for Giang Ninh's impatient silence, I'm afraid the whole residential area would have taken to the streets thinking there was a big fire.