Chapter 1 — Little Fish Swimming Towards Freedom

"You know, I'm actually really bothered by the fact that you're always trying to get ahead, always wanting to be one level better than your sister. Aren't you tired?" Half an hour before checking the scores for the university entrance exam, my mother looked at me as I was stressed and then suddenly spoke up. Seeing me stunned, my mother covered her mouth and smiled: "Actually, before you entered the exam room, I secretly stuffed the documents into your bag. You were determined to be a cheater a long time ago." During my twelve years of studying, my parents forced me to go to an electronics factory. "You know, I'm actually very bothered by the fact that you always try to get better, always wanting to be one level better than your sister. Aren't you tired?" Half an hour before checking the university entrance exam scores, my mother looked at me tense and suddenly spoke up. Seeing me stunned, my mother covered her mouth and laughed: "Actually, before you entered the exam room, I secretly stuffed the documents into your pocket. You have been identified as a cheater for a long time." "I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to accept it, so I also signed the cheating penalty paper on your behalf." "Don't you like to compete for the top position? While other people's scores haven't been announced yet, how about you go to the electronics factory to compete for a spot first?" I looked at her in disbelief. When it's hot, heat rashes appear, when it's cold, hair grows. I've been diligently reading lamps for twelve years. She told me to go to the electronics factory again. 1 I tried to pull out a smile that was even more ugly than crying: "Mom, you're kidding, right... You know how hard I worked for the university entrance exam..." I woke up at five in the morning and went to bed at eleven at night. The enormous pressure caused me to have a nervous breakdown. More than ten bottles of sleeping pills placed at the head of the bed were empty. I suffered miserably for three years. The day I estimated myself 730 points, I really thought I had passed... Mom smiled even more happily: "I'm not lying to you! The investigator even wanted to ask you directly, but I lied to you." "Ah yes, the money you earned when working at the factory, remember to send it back every month. Later on, your sister's college education will cost a lot of money!" "Don't be dissatisfied. Just consider it as repaying us for raising you! Is that right? Raising children for nothing?” I smiled sadly. Gratitude for nurturing? Right after I was born, I was sent back to my hometown to live with my grandmother, and I didn't see my parents for several years. The day they drove back, I stood in front of the door, suspiciously asking two strangers: "Who are you looking for?" My parents were stunned, then hugged me and cried loudly. They said they would compensate me. So they gave birth to their second child. They kept their sister by their side, but said it was to make up for me. Looking at my mother's mocking face, I was not satisfied, I almost rushed to the computer and pressed the search button. My hands shook violently, praying that my mother was just tricking me. Very quickly, the results appeared. 0 points. The blood in my body seemed to flow backwards. I couldn't control myself, screaming at her: "Why did you do that! Mom! You know exactly how I've had to live these past three years!" Thinking of the past three years, I almost squatted to the ground, breaking down and crying loudly. She knows exactly how much I spent on this exam. Looking at me crying until I broke down, my mother was not moved at all, she even smiled gently and fondly: "Are you ashamed to cry just because of this little thing? Are you ashamed?" As if the unreasonable person causing trouble was me. I suddenly felt an extremely strong feeling of helplessness in my heart. They never looked directly at my feelings. I was angry, they laughed. I cried loudly, they laughed. I was devastated, depressed, but they still laughed. Gradually, it was like I became a puppet, all my emotions were eroded. "Ha ha! Mom and Dad lost! I told her she was useless! When something happens, I can only cry!" "I won! The money she earned from going to the factory must let me go to the concert!" My sister happily skipped forward. I raised my head, tears and snot streaming down my face

I blushed, suddenly realizing they were using my reaction as a bet. Dad looked at me, tried not to laugh and said: "Knowing that, we should bet to see if she cries like Truong Phi or Ly Quy! There's no other girl who cries like this!" My heart hurt so much that it almost went numb: "My little sister just pouted and we were heartbroken, running after us to ask why. As for my university entrance exam score being zero, my parents are still in the mood to judge whether I cry beautifully or not?" "Dad, Mom, why do you know? can be biased to this extent!” Dad's face immediately darkened: “What! As an elder, it's not okay to even joke with you! The older you get, the more you don't know how to be funny!” I slowly straightened up, my eyes gradually becoming firm: “I want to study again.” I must take the exam to a good university, leave this house! Mom was silent for a long time: "Do you have to stand out more than others? Going to an electronics factory and living an ordinary life isn't good?" "We're both biological sisters, do you have to be one step higher than your sister?" "Do you have to make outsiders feel like your sister is not as good as you?" 2 I looked at her in surprise. Why do I risk my life to get into a good school? Because when I was five years old, it was she who told me that as long as I passed the entrance exam to a good university and made her proud, she would love me forever... Did she forget that I was also her pride? Seeing that I didn't react, my mother also got angry: "There's no money! If you want to re-study, go out and sell yourself, high school girls are very valuable!" I smiled bitterly and slowly said: "For the past few years, I've been depositing scholarship money into the card. Withdrawing fifty thousand is enough to cover the cost of re-studying." My sister laughed, holding a card in her hand: "Are you talking about this card? One hundred thousand of it has already been withdrawn by dad to load the game for me!" I opened it loudly, I jumped up, strangled my sister: "On what basis! On what basis do you touch my money! This is all money I worked hard to save!" "The remaining fifty thousand I have something to use!" Seeing my sister being bullied, my father panicked, suddenly kicked me away: "Just for this little money, do you still want to kill someone! Why does a bookworm like you need that money!" A sweet taste rose up in my throat, I spat out two mouthfuls of blood, coldly looking at him, my eyes stinging. He did not know that the remaining fifty thousand was originally to buy him a birthday present. I know he likes graphics cards, so I've worked hard to save money for several years, just wanted to make him happy once... I live in this house, what's the point in the end? My father felt guilty for a few seconds by my eyes, but when he saw the bruise on his sister's neck, he immediately got angry: "What do you call your money! In this house, you eat what I eat, wear what I wear, stay in my house, use my things!" relationship with this family! You choose yourself!” I spat out another mouthful of blood, calmly looking at the “house” I had lived in for two years. I don't want to beg them to love me anymore. My voice was terrifyingly calm: "Then cut off the relationship." My parents were stunned. Mom quickly choked up: "I raised you to this age, yet you want to cut off relations with me?" I thought she was still at least a little unwilling towards me, but the next second, she said: "Now that you've earned money, you want to cut ties with us! So haven't we raised you in vain! Why do we have such a selfish daughter!" I burst out laughing, my smile full of sadness. I turned around and left this place without hesitation. This is not my home... It's pouring rain outside,

I walked for a long time in the rain. While feeling helpless, I called my boyfriend a few times but no one answered the phone. At this moment, the homeroom teacher called, his voice full of expectation: "Tieu Ngu, how are you? How many points did you get on the university entrance exam?" "The percentage of students passing Thanh Hoa and Bac Dai at our school is counting on you! Is it over seven hundred?" I couldn't hold back any longer, burst into tears, and told the homeroom teacher everything. The homeroom teacher was furious: "What kind of motherfucker is this! How can you treat your child's college entrance exam as a joke!" "Don't cry... I will definitely think of a way!" After hanging up, I had nowhere to go. You can only return to that "home". But when my parents saw me, they were not angry at all, on the contrary, they seemed extremely guilty. I narrowed my eyes. Something's not right. At the same time, on the second floor came the cooing voice of my sister: "Mr. Minh is so good!" Vi Minh is a rich boy with some reputation in the city, and is also my boyfriend. I almost rushed straight to the second floor. When I saw the scene before my eyes, my whole body stiffened. The sister's underwear was draped over Vi Minh's arm, the two of them were almost naked facing each other. Seeing me, Vi Minh panicked and tried to stand up. But my sister hugged Vi Minh tightly, stopping his movements, and at the same time threw me a provocative look: "Sister, you haven't even studied at university, how can you be worthy of Vi Minh?" "We are sisters, are we all the same, are we not the same with Vi Minh?" I don't know when my parents have been standing behind me. I blankly asked them: "Mom and Dad know about it, right?" "You are also the child I was born to just ten months ago. When you were born, did you ever think that you would hate me to this extent in the future?" Mom sighed, smiled and asked in return: "When you said you wanted to cut off relations with us, did you ever think you would struggle to return like this?" Grandma and Dad burst into mocking laughter. I'm used to their sarcasm and ignorance. I closed my eyes: "You have nothing left. Next, what do you want to take away?" Mom smiled and said: "Okay, be good. Let's just pretend that nothing ever happened." "Who said you have to find a rich boy to be one step above your sister? As long as you know your fate in the future, we won't do anything to you anymore." 3 Peace. I wanted to improve, wanted to get into a good university, but it turned out to be a mistake! I dreamily returned to my room. The noise in the next room echoed throughout the night. In my room, I completely trampled on the birthday gift I had secretly prepared for my mother. I swear. In this life, she will never receive a birthday gift from me again... The next morning, when it was just dawn, I received a phone call from my homeroom teacher: "Tieu Ngu! Come to school quickly! Today the National Defense University has a private admission, come here quickly!" I immediately woke up, quickly dressed and ran to school. An hour later, I was sitting in the entrance exam room, flying with my pen. Just as he was about to hand in his assignment, suddenly there was a noise outside: "Han Ngu! Where is Han Ngu? Come out!" "We are from the electronics factory. Your parents sold you to us! Quickly follow us to the factory to work!" The parents were also outside screaming: "I want to report to the police! Your school has kidnapped my daughter! I want to report you human traffickers to the police!" "Please help me find my daughter!" People around noticed. Something was wrong, they immediately pointed and discussed: "That's not right, inside is clearly the National Defense University entrance exam! This pair of parents is deliberately causing trouble!"