Chapter 1 — Let Me Watch Tiananmen

The day the university entrance exam results came out, my biological mother locked me in the firewood storage room. "What about Do Thanh Hoa? The bride price is three hundred thousand yuan, you have to get married tomorrow!" I desperately knocked on the door: "It's my life! I'm not getting married!" My younger brother kicked the door hard, laughing with a careless look. "Sister, what's the use of studying so much? Get married and earn money to buy a house and get married for me." My biological father threw my admission notice into the basin. fire. "Do you hear me? Even your younger brother sees that you're losing face, just obediently wait for marriage." I watched the admission notice turn into ash and closed my eyes in despair. Three years of staying up late to study, in the end I still couldn't overcome their saying "giving birth to a girl will only cost you money". "Okay, I'll take it." I bit my lip until it bled. In the middle of the night, the lock on the firewood room was suddenly broken. My younger brother stuffed a bulging parchment bag into my arms and a brand new train ticket. "Do you really think I want that little bride price? Go to Beijing, never come back again." "Sister, hurry!" In the darkness, the lock of the firewood room was smashed by a hammer blow. Lam Dieu yanked me to my feet, tightly stuffing the bulging parchment bag and the brand new blue train ticket into my arms. "Do you really think I want that little bride price? Go away to Beijing, never come back." I was stunned on the spot, using the white moonlight pouring in from outside the window to look at my younger brother who was usually always promiscuous and scolded me if he didn't hit me or scold me. "You... what are you saying?" I trembled non-stop, the heavy paper bag in my hand was so hot that it made my palms ache. "Don't you understand human language?" Lam Dieu gritted his teeth, his eyes were red as if they were about to bleed. "Your Thanh Hoa admission notice was swapped by me a long time ago! The burned paper is fake! These three hundred thousand are the money I secretly saved over the past few years, plus the deposit I cheated from the blind Vuong. Take the money and get out!" My brain exploded! "What about you?" I grabbed his arm tightly. "If you give me money, your parents will beat you to death!" "I'm the only son in the family, what can they do to me?" Lam Dieu forcefully pushed my hand away, pushing me towards the door. "Lam Niem, tell me, I've studied for so many years, if today I can't even walk out of this yard, I'm really at fault. with the word 'sister' that I've been calling for over ten years!" At that moment, the lights in the main house suddenly turned on. "In the middle of the night, what is that damn brat doing in the yard?" The high-pitched voice of his biological mother pierced the darkness, followed immediately by the sound of clothes being put on and slippers being pulled. "It's broken." Lam Dieu's face immediately changed. It suddenly turned around, grabbed the rusty bone knife on the chopping board. "Lin Dieu, what are you going to do?" I lowered my voice, exclaiming in horror. "Run!" Lam Dieu suddenly roared like a wild animal. He raised his shiny machete and without hesitation blocked the front door of the main house. As soon as Mom pushed the door open, she was faced with the knife in Lam Dieu's hand. "Oh my god!" Mom was so scared that she fell down and sat down on the ground, screaming as if she was angry. "Come out quickly! This beast wants to kill people!" Dad crawled and ran out, still holding a shoulder pole in his hand. "Lam Dieu, are you crazy? Put the knife down!" Dad roared angrily, his eyes surpassing Lam Dieu's. Dieu, staring at the cowhide paper bag in my hand. "You damn brat, what's in your hand? How dare you steal my money?" "That's your sister's tuition!" Lam Dieu's eyes reddened, like a lone wolf protecting her cub. "Whoever dares to touch her today, I'll be the same person as that person!" "You traitor! I'll beat you to death!" Dad raised his whip and hit her. Lam Dieu's side. "Run away!" Lam Dieu took the entire blow, his body staggered but still defended himself in front of the door frame, his voice hoarse.

shouted at me. Tears immediately blurred my vision. I bit my lip until it bled, tasting the strong fishy taste. I can't stay here. If we stay, we will both die. I hugged the parchment bag tightly in my arms, turned around and rushed into the endless night. In the backyard, the sound of my father scolding me, my mother crying and the painful moans that Lam Dieu tried to suppress, woven into a giant net, tightly squeezing my heart. "Catching that girl will only cost you money! Don't let her run! Three hundred thousand dowry money!" Mother's mournful scream echoed in the night wind. I ran with all my might, my lungs breathing as fiercely as a bellows, tree branches cutting my cheeks, mud splashing all over my pant legs. I didn't dare turn around, not even one step. The train station is right on the edge of town. The train ticket at three thirty in the morning is the only key that opens my path to life. When I finally climbed onto that blue train, the train door slammed shut behind me, my whole body lost all strength, and I fell limply into the connection between the two train cars. The train let out a shrill whistle and then slowly moved. I tremblingly opened the parchment bag. Inside were stacks of old money that smelled of mold, some in large denominations, some small bills, and a Tsinghua University admission notice wrapped in many layers of plastic bags. On the back of the admission notice was a line of crooked words. "Sister, please come see Tiananmen for me." Tears finally burst. I bit the back of my hand, not daring to let myself cry out loud. Suddenly, the phone in my pocket vibrated frantically. The two words "Lam Dieu" flashed on the screen. I quickly pressed the listen button. "Lam Dieu! How are you?" I asked worriedly. There was no voice from Lam Dieu on the other end. Only the sound of heavy breathing and cold laughter made people's hair stand on end. "Run really fast, Lam Niem." Mom's dark voice was like a poisonous snake crawling into my ears. The blood in my body immediately froze. "What did you do to my little brother?" My whole body trembled. "What did you do?" Mother snorted coldly. "This beast only knows how to defend outsiders, as if I had never given birth to him! Listen to this sound." A heavy beating of a stick came from the phone. Right after that, there was a cry to destroy the device that Lam Dieu tried to suppress to the limit. "Sister... don't come back... don't worry about me..." "Lin Dieu!" I screamed into the phone in pain. "Lam Niem, I'm telling you." Mother's voice was filled with undisguised cruelty. "You took three hundred thousand from me. If within three days you don't go back and marry Boss Vuong, I will break each of your brother's legs." You decide for yourself!” The train made a monotonous rumbling sound on the tracks. I crouched in the corner of the hard seat, like a bird afraid of a curved branch. The phone screen lights up and then turns off. I didn't dare to call back, afraid of hearing more of Lam Dieu's desperate cries, and even more afraid that my mother would follow the signal and find my location. Three hundred thousand. This amount of money was paid for by Lam Dieu using his life. Blind Old King is a famous and wealthy coal mine owner in town. His stupid son is Vuong Dai Trang, one meter nine meters tall but only as intelligent as a five year old child. Every time he gets sick, even a dog bites him. For three hundred thousand dowry money, my mother without hesitation sold me to that idiot. I always thought that Lam Dieu was on their side. Every time I was punished by kneeling, Lam Dieu sat next to me, biting melon seeds, mocking me. Every time I hid review materials, Lam Dieu found them exactly, then tore them up in front of my parents. Only now do I understand that if he doesn't tear it up, my parents will burn the documents and beat me to death. The things it tore were just discarded paper that it had copied before. It

used that clumsy acting ability to risk his life to protect me in that cannibal house. "Lam Dieu, wait for me. I will definitely come back to save you." I pressed the admission notice to my chest, tears silently falling to the back of my hand. For more than thirty hours sitting in a hard chair, I did not drink a drop of water. When the loudspeaker finally announced, "Arrived at Beijing West Station," I pulled my numb legs and staggered out of the train car. Beijing in September, the sunlight was so bright that I couldn't open my eyes. I clutched the admission notice, standing in front of the majestic Tsinghua University gate, feeling like I had gone through a lifetime. Complete admission procedures, pay tuition, and receive dormitory keys. Everything went as smoothly as a dream. I sewed the remaining money tightly into the body-hugging bra. That was the money Lam Dieu used his life to get, and it was also the only card that helped me turn the situation around. I used to think that if I just ran far enough, if I just became a Tsinghua student, they wouldn't be able to do anything to me anymore. I was wrong. On the afternoon of the third day after enrolling, I was looking up documents in the library. The academic advisor, Mr. Ly, called me. "Lam Niem, immediately go to the security room at the school gate." Mr. Ly's voice was extremely impatient, even containing a bit of suppressed anger. "Your family has come to find you." My whole body stiffened. The book in my hand fell with a thud onto the table. How could they come here? I took a deep breath, forced myself to calm down, and quickly ran towards the school gate. Before I could even get close, I heard an extremely deafening noise. "Everyone, come and see! Tsinghua University student stole money from this family!" "Unfilial daughter! Stole money to save her brother's life and then ran to the big city to enjoy the blessing, even her own parents wouldn't accept it!" The school gate was surrounded by students and passersby watching. I pushed through the crowd and immediately saw my mother sitting on the ground rolling and throwing a tantrum. She was wearing an old floral shirt, her hair was messy, and she was holding an enlarged photo in her hand. The person in the photo is me. Dad stood next to me, bent over, constantly wiping his tears, pretending to be an honest person who was bullied. Behind them is a man with a fierce face, chewing betel and areca nuts. It's not the blind old Vuong, but Ly Cuong, Mr. Ly's son who works as a pig killer in town, a man with violent tendencies. My head exploded. Why Ly Cuong? Where is Vuong Dai Trang? "Lam Niem! The bastard has finally appeared!" As soon as my mother saw me, she jumped up from the ground, pointed at my nose and screamed loudly. The eyes of everyone around immediately focused on me. Contempt, fear, disgust. "Mom, what are you guys talking about?" I tried to suppress my trembling and protested loudly. "When did you steal money from the house?" "You still dare to argue!" Mom rushed over and raised her hand to slap me. I immediately took a step back, avoiding it. "The white-eyed wolf has lost all conscience!" Mom missed, and decisively sat down on the ground and continued to cry. "Your younger brother has leukemia and urgently needs three hundred thousand for surgery! This is the money Mr. Ly kindly lent us to save his life. Yet you rolled up the money and ran away! You want to force your brother to die!" A series of cold breaths immediately rang out in the crowd. "Oh my god, you stole the money to save my life." younger brother?" "Is she still human? Why did Thanh Hoa recruit this type of student?" "Looking so gentle, but has such a cruel heart?" I was so angry that my whole body trembled. Leukemia? Borrow money? To force me to return, they could make up such a big lie! "Mr. Ly, don't listen to their nonsense!" I turned to look at the academic advisor. "That money is absolutely not a loan, but the bride price they sold me to someone else."

different from being a wife!”