Chapter 5 — It's You Who I Wrote In My Youth

14 That night, Ta Du An was arranged by my brother to sleep in the living room as far away from me as possible. The next morning we went to school again. Sure enough, that person was waiting in the teacher's office early. Ta Du An told me, her name is Ta An. As soon as she saw me, Mrs. Ta An's eyes burned and she rushed forward and shouted: "Is it this thick-faced girl who seduced my son?! Come here! He's so young and doesn't know how to keep himself, is your family teaching you like that?!" My brother stood right in front of me without saying a word. Ta An grabbed my brother's collar and pushed him aside. My brother rolled to the ground, hugged his leg and groaned: "Ah! My leg is broken! Pay me back!" I immediately rushed forward, knelt down, my eyes filled with tears, grabbed my brother's shoulders and shook him: "Brother! Brother, please don't die!" It was still early, the office only had Ms. Du - that poor person. Ms. Du knew Ta Du An's situation, but now seeing my two brothers acting like that, suddenly a bright light flashed: "Oh my god, master of the Tham family, why are you injured like this? Let me tell the Tham family to come pick you up right away! But this matter has nothing to do with the school, let classmate Ta's mother be responsible alone!" My brother immediately got angry: "Why is it unrelated?! I tell you, if anything happens to my leg, the buildings my family donated to my school will be reclaimed! As for you, Ta Du An! I will make you so that no high school in the country dares to accept you!" I have a deep suspicion: the last sentence is an opportunity to take private revenge! Ta An, who was raising his hand to slap me, suddenly stopped. "Master? The Tham family? Sponsored the school?" She stammered, her face turned pale, she turned around and smiled wryly: "Misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding. I didn't use force, how could I break my leg?" My brother snorted coldly: "You said it doesn't count." Ta An choked and was so angry that his hands were shaking. “You guys… are the ones who colluded together to harm me!” I immediately covered my mouth with my hand and took a cold breath full of exaggeration: "Auntie, you can eat rice randomly, but don't talk nonsense! The office has a camera, it's obvious you pushed my brother!" Seeing that the situation was not okay, Ta An started shouting: "Call the police! I want to report to the police!" Ta Du An, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke: "Mom, stop." Ta An was stunned. Only then did I realize— Ta Du An had not called her that for a long time. The years that have passed, the times she screamed, and he remained silent and patient... It has been many times longer than the warm and peaceful days between mother and son before. 15 Ta Du An spoke in a voice as light as water, as if recounting an unrelated story: "I have turned 18 years old. Your guardianship over me has ended. Who I am friends with is no longer related to you." Up until now, it has always been Ta An who needed Ta Du An, not Ta Du An who needed Ta An. Silence filled that small space. Ta An's face changed from shock to anger, and finally... turned to helplessness. The woman, who had always been aggressive from the moment she entered, suddenly shrank like a shadow, doubled over, tears flowing down the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, like a small river silently overflowing. "Why do you keep refusing to listen? Mom, don't you do everything because you want to be good for me? Ta Du An, why don't you understand..." Ta Du An quietly looked at her, speaking softly: "I used to be very grateful because she took me out of the orphanage. But now..." "If it's really because child, please forgive me.” Outside, the noise of students entering class began. Ta An seemed to suddenly remember something, stunned for a moment, then turned and left. Ms. Du held the outline book in her hand, her voice was rarely gentle: "Let me watch a long play like this so early in the morning, you guys are really... But come on, you're still young, no matter how much you stumble, sooner or later you will get over it. When I look back, perhaps nothing matters anymore.” She patted Ta Du An on the shoulder, then left the office. There were only us left in the room. I looked at Ta Du An tiredly rubbing his forehead. I know, he must be in a very bad mood right now. Suddenly, Ta Du An walked up to me and asked: "Tue Tue, can... let me lean on you for a moment?" He placed his head on my shoulder, very gently, almost not touching me. I think he just wants a little support. So I gently wrapped my arms around him, tightly. Want to give him a little warmth. My brother immediately got mad. Standing behind Ta Du An, his face distorted as he looked at the clock counting down the seconds: "Thirty seconds already!" It's been hugging for thirty seconds! Hey, that's enough!” Ta Du An politely let go and smiled faintly: "Thank you." I smiled brightly: "No need to be polite, it's just friends!" I still smiled brightly, covered my ears, and let my brother drag me out while babbling. I didn't know at all - behind me, Ta Du An's eyes were still following my shadow, in his dark eyes, there were deep emotions that couldn't be named. After a long time, he softly repeated: "Friends..." "Just friends?" 16 End of midterm exam. My brother—suddenly won first place! I was so shocked that my eyes almost fell out. Although my brother is not bad at studying, according to the story, since Ta Du An transferred to the school, he has never dropped from the number one position. At this time, Ta Du An stood in front of the leaderboard, his eyebrows furrowed, his face unpredictable. I sneaked closer, looking for something to say: "Wow, the weather is so beautiful today." Ta Du An replied: "The weather is still a bit cold these days. Brother—" My heart was pounding, I immediately bowed my head ninety degrees, and said smoothly: "Sorry, sorry, actually my brother copied the lesson, I will go home and teach him more carefully!" Ta Du An paused: "What I was going to say was: Tell everyone to wear more clothes." What if he catches a cold and passes it on to you?" Huh? I froze in place. Turns out... I wasn't preparing to "regain the top spot", but was just worried about... catching the flu?! When I got home, I grabbed my brother's collar and interrogated him: "Say! Why is it ranked first? Whoever you are, get away from me right now!” “Copy cards.” – My brother replied very honestly. My face darkened. It's really copy. “You have to have a certain level of copying! What does it mean to get ranked first in one shot?!” My brother looked serious: "Tue, don't you see that even though Ta Du An has escaped his adoptive mother, there is still a tight rope in his heart? I did it to prove to him: it's okay to not do the best." I was stunned. I didn't expect my brother to have such a deep heart. I was still touched, when I saw him smiling brightly, pulling out a box from behind his back: "And... Dad said if you get first place, you'll be rewarded with the newest game console!" "What?! This is my main purpose!!!”