Chapter 1 — Lam Du Van

On the day the university entrance exam scores came out, my parents exchanged each of us with the newest computer, but I was the only one who didn't have one. I went to ask, but my mother didn't even raise her head: "My sister has to write a thesis, my brother has to study online." "It only takes ten minutes for me to fill out my wishes, and at that point I'll tell them to let me use it." I didn't argue anymore, thinking that if I just understood the situation a little better, I would be able to exchange a sentence of recognition. An hour before the application deadline, looking at the door locked by my sister and younger brother, I was so nervous that I trembled. I knocked on her door. She was using the computer to play doubles with her boyfriend. I knocked on my brother's door. He was wearing noise-canceling headphones to watch football. Mom curled up on the sofa watching TV, impatiently waving her hand: "Wait a minute, your sister's game is almost over, don't always be so impatient." I called my dad, he was choosing a mechanical keyboard for my younger brother. "Can't I wait until your sister finishes watching the soccer game and then fill it in?" I have no other choice. I ran two kilometers in the heavy rain. At the last minute, I pressed the submit button at the internet cafe. Returning home, completely soaked, in the living room, the two sisters were watching TV laughing in unison. Mom brought dinner to the table, glanced at me: "You're covered in mud, quickly clean the floor." No one asked where I went, no one asked if my wishes were filled out. That night, I pulled the suitcase out from under the bed. Outside the door was a warm sound of laughter, like a wall without gaps. No one knew, the university I attended was three thousand kilometers from home. …… “Du Van, can you finally fulfill that wish of yours?” Mom sat at the other end of the dining table, picking up a piece of ribs and putting it in her brother's bowl. Her eyes never glanced towards me. It's been two days. Two days ago, in that heavy rain, I got soaked all over and ran two kilometers. At the last minute at the internet cafe, I pressed the submit button. It's been two days, and now she suddenly remembered to ask a question. "It's done." "Yes, that's okay." She nodded, reaching out with her chopsticks to pick up the food again. "What school?" "In another province." "Far away?" "It's okay." She said "yes" and her attention flew to her younger brother. "Du Chau, eat two more ribs, you've gotten thinner lately playing football." Even the name of the school was too lazy to ask another question. Lam Du Chau's younger brother bowed his head to eat, the newly purchased keyboard placed right next to him. Dad intentionally made a trip to the shopping center to choose it for him, which cost nearly a thousand. Lam Du An's older sister sat across from me, holding her phone and texting with her boyfriend, occasionally bowing her head and smiling. Her computer is placed in the living room. The computer wallpaper is a photo of her and her boyfriend together. Computer used to write thesis. The background image is a double photo. "Du Van, do you want to drink soup? If you don't drink, I'll serve." Mom stood up and started to arrange the bowls. "Drink." "Then hurry up, I still have to wash the pot." I picked up the bowl and took the last sip of soup. There were only a few green vegetables in the bowl, and a piece of ribs had never been my turn. When it was my turn, every disc was almost at the bottom. "Dad, the day I filled out my wishes, do you know how I filled them in?" Dad was curled up on the sofa surfing a short video. "Hmm? Didn't I fill them out using my sister's computer?" "I was playing a game, you were watching football, no one let me touch it." "Oh." "I ran two kilometers to the internet cafe to fill it out, it was raining heavily outside." "Yes." "Can't you still fill it in? The results are the same." “The results are the same. He didn't want to know that his daughter ran in the heavy rain until her shoes were filled with water. I don't want to know that she sat in the internet cafe, her whole body trembling, and pressed the submit button in the last two minutes. One sentence "same results", this matter is over. "Du Van, please clean up the dishes." Mom threw the rag on the table and walked towards the living room. On the table there are many bowls

plate of five people. My brother's bowl had rice everywhere. Her napkin was crumpled into balls and thrown next to the bowl. Dad's tea cup was placed on the corner of the table and he still hadn't taken it away. I folded them up one by one and brought them to the kitchen. The faucet was running loudly, and the TV in the living room was playing loudly. The younger brother was removing the new keycap of the keyboard, excitedly pressing the button: "Mom, listen to this sound! It's too much!" "Don't play anymore, I told you it was for online learning!" Mom smiled and said, without the slightest intention of stopping in her voice. Study online. I once saw his summer schedule, not a single word was written on it. On the contrary, he used a marker to circle "League of Legends climb to Diamond rank" into a large red circle. I finished washing the last bowl. When I got back to my room, my phone lit up. In the class group, someone sent a screenshot of the successful application submission page. "Come on Zhe Dai! Wish me luck!" Below are a bunch of comments, full of exclamation points and fighting stickers. I also have a screenshot, saved from two days ago. Desire one: Hai Thanh University. Three thousand kilometers away. I send screenshots to the family group. No one answered. Fifteen minutes later, my younger brother sent a voice to the group: "Mom, my keycap is removed and can't be installed anymore, so what happens?" Mom immediately replied with a sixty-second voice, explaining in detail from how to remove to how to install. I closed my eyes and exited the group chat. Surf to your circle of friends. At the bottom there is a hidden line, which is a line I wrote when I was thirteen years old. That year, she took the art talent competition and ranked fifth in the district. Mom posted three consecutive posts to her circle of friends, all nine photos. That same week, I won first prize in a citywide writing contest. I brought the certificate home and gave it to my mother. She conveniently pressed it on the tea table. "Leave it there, I'll look at it later." That would last two months. Two months later, my younger brother spilled instant noodles on that certificate. The oil stain was half wet, and the letters of my name were often soaked until they were blurred. Mom said it was okay, just ask the teacher to reprint one sheet. At that time, I wrote this sentence on my friends circle: "If one day I am no longer here, how long will it take them to realize?" When I was thirteen, I thought the answer was one day. At eighteen years old, I feel like they won't recognize me anymore. "Du Van, come here for a moment." Mom stood at the main bedroom door, her face not very good. I thought she discovered that my wish to send to the group was too far. I go. She turned around and closed the door. Dad sat on the edge of the bed, the phone screen was open to a bank statement page. "Our account is missing one thousand two, do you know what's going on?" Mom crossed her arms across her chest, staring at me. I was stunned for a moment. "One thousand two?" "Last week I checked and it was still there, but today I looked back and it was missing." She paused. "Did you take it?" "You didn't take it." "So money can grow legs and run away?" "You really didn't take it." Dad raised his head and looked at me, his eyes full of doubt. "Think again, have you forgotten? Did you have to spend money to go to an internet cafe that day?" Internet cafe. That day, I was soaked all over by the pouring rain and ran two kilometers to the internet shop to fill out my wishes. The fee to use the machine is six yuan, a few coins I took out of my pocket. Six yuan. Now they're asking me if I stole one thousand two. "It cost me six yuan to go to the internet cafe, I paid for it myself." Mom clearly didn't believe it, the corner of her mouth drooped. "You ran out alone for so long that day, who knows what you did." "I went to fill out the application." "Does it take that long to fill out the application?" Need. Because of the heavy rain, we had to run two kilometers. Because no one would let me use any of the three computers in the house. But she doesn't remember these things. Or to be more precise, she had never taken it to heart before. “So you talk about money

Where are you?" Mom asked for another question. I didn't answer, my eyes moved to Dad's phone screen. Scroll down to the bottom of the transaction details, there was a consumption item: An e-commerce platform, one thousand one hundred and eighty yuan, three days ago. Three days ago. That day my younger brother took a delivery package home, before opening it, he hugged it into the room. "You received a package three days ago, right?" Mom frowned: "It was a birthday gift from a classmate. "Her birthday is in November." The atmosphere quieted a bit. Mom's expression changed. "What do you mean? Does your younger brother know how to steal money?" "I didn't say it was a thief, I told you to check who the recipient of that purchase was." "Lin Yu Van!" Mother's voice rose halfway. "I can't explain my story clearly, so why are you blaming your brother?" Dad put his hand on mother's shoulder, motioning for her to calm down, then turned to me. "Okay, let's leave this matter for now, if you use it then you'll use it, go out first." Leave it there for now. If you use it, use it too. roi. Cho du co bang chung, cho du toi noi toi khong co. Ho van kien quyet cho rang la toi. Toi di ra khoi phong ngu chinh, cua dong lai sau lung. Phong em trai doi dien hanh lang, cua dang mo, no dang dua vao ghe choi game. Ben chan co mot hop chuyen phat da boc. Toi liec mot cai. Tren phieu giao hang viet nguoi nhan la “Lam Du Chau”. Cho du thoi gian khop, cho du hop chuyen phat van con vut ben chan no. Nguoi bi nghi ngo van la toi. Buoi chieu me told me to go to the supermarket to buy food. "Du Van, by the way, take your brother's basketball shoes to wash." I carried the basketball shoes to the gate of the apartment complex. She walked down from the taxi, carrying two shopping bags in her hand. "Sister, aren't you writing a thesis?" She shook the bag. "I'm tired of writing, let's go out for a walk." The person who wrote the thesis went out for a walk all afternoon. People studying online were in the room playing games all day. Only I was carrying my dirty basketball shoes My brother was on his way to the shoe cleaner. The owner of the shoe cleaner took the shoes and looked at them: "Are these yours?" The size is not the same." "My little brother's." "Oh." He laughed a little. "My little brother is really happy." I didn't answer. As I carried the shopping bag and washed vegetables home, the plastic bag squeezed two red streaks on my arm. As soon as I entered the door, I heard my little brother talking to his mother in the living room. "Mom, my classmate has a pair of code-share shoes, only two thousand three." "Two thousand three? Haven't you just bought your basketball shoes?" "Those shoes are for playing soccer, the JV pair are for wearing every day, they're not the same." "Okay, buy it." The pair of two thousand three shoes just said a few words and bought it. As for my one thousand six hundred yuan of last month's summer overtime salary, it's still far away with no pay date in sight. Lying in bed at night, the game's sound effects came from my younger brother's room next to me. She was in the room calling with her boyfriend, laughing until her voice shook. In the living room, my mother was discussing. with my dad to see if I should sign up my younger brother for a basketball class. "There's nothing to do over the summer break, so sign him up for a class." "Okay, how much does it cost?" "It's a bit expensive." "It's expensive, everyone else's kids sign up." Three thousand eight. I've never regretted the three hundred and twenty yuan consulting fee for my wishes, asked twice. Once "say later", once "no Can I check it myself?" In the end, I used the pocket money I had saved to pay. I took out my phone and opened the banking app. Balance: four hundred and thirty yuan. One thousand six hundred yuan for part-time work that summer. Mom said she borrowed it to pay for a summer camp for her younger brother. It's been a month, I haven't paid it back, and I haven't mentioned it again. Four hundred and thirty yuan.