Chapter 3 — Summer Bearing Fruit

6. It was almost time for class, Tham Noan's deskmate - Hua Oanh - finally discovered that the food package in her desk drawer had disappeared. She stood up with a loud "bang", her chair dragged on the floor with a sharp sound, her face was angry, and she staggered up to the podium. She shouted loudly: "Who stole my food?! I left it clearly in the desk drawer!" Hua Oanh is famous for being a hot-tempered girl, and is also the "big sister" in the grade. The whole class immediately fell silent. At this moment, Tham Noan's close friend spoke softly, her voice a bit cautious: "I... seemed to see Ha Boi Qua stopping near you... But I'm not sure, who would really steal snacks..." Hua Oanh's anger rose to the top of her head, rushed straight towards me, grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up. Just as I stood up, a package of snacks fell from the desk drawer to the ground. She stared at me, her eyes full of surprise and indignation: "Is it really you?! People say you're malicious and evil-minded, I still don't believe it! I thought you were probably just the quiet type. Who would have thought you would do petty theft like this?!" At that moment, Luc Tinh Da sitting in front of me turned his head, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. He said coldly: "Don't rush to slander others. Even if the things are in the desk drawer, it can't prove anything. Furthermore, Ha Boi Qua has absolutely no reason to take your things." Having finished speaking, Luc Tinh Da turned to look at me, his eyes very serious: "Don't be afraid, just tell the truth. It's just a packet of snacks, no need to make a big deal of it, but finding someone who intentionally slandered you... is not impossible." I lowered my head, my fingers unconsciously tightening the hem of my uniform. In a very small voice, almost inaudible, I said: "Sorry... Hua Oanh... I did it. I... I'm too greedy." As soon as the words ended, a round of whispers broke out around him. The sounds of pointing stabbed straight into my ears like sharp needles — I heard each sentence clearly. “As expected of her… look at the uniform she wears all the time and has become faded.” “It's like that without parents to manage it, hands and feet are really dirty.” "If you're poor, you can steal? How disgusting." “Stay away from her, it feels like she smells on you…” I still bowed my head and said nothing, only weakly repeating in criticism: “…I did it.” Hua Oanh crossed her arms, coldly sneered, her voice rising: "Ha Boi Qua, I really misread you. I know your family's situation is not good, every day you live by collecting plastic bottles with the school's support money. But you stole my things, so that's wrong, okay?" She deliberately stopped for a moment, her eyes scanning the whole class: "Forget it, it's just packing food, I don't want to make things difficult for you." At that moment, the homeroom teacher entered the classroom. After hearing what happened, she frowned, didn't ask me a single question, just said with an expressionless face: "Ha Boi Qua, go out and stand as punishment." She glanced at me from head to toe, then nonchalantly added another sentence: "If you're poor, don't be poor in your will. Don't use poverty as an excuse." I still bowed my head, didn't say a word, quietly walked past the cold and contemptuous eyes of the whole class, and headed towards the door. The moment I opened the door — I met Luc Tinh Da's eyes. In his eyes were layers of overlapping emotions: shock, suspicion, mixed with something... disappointment hope. He was probably thinking: “I didn't know you were really this kind of person.” It's okay to be disappointed. Anyway... between us, there was originally nothing. 7. At lunch time, everyone invited each other to the cafeteria or home to eat. I was the only one left in the whole class. I quietly opened my bag and took out a piece of dry, rock-hard bread. The crust is dull brown and has almost no taste. There is no other way. Because in order to keep the "pot bearer" character, the system insists on not giving money. The real world is poor, but even in the story... it's still miserable. Thinking of that, I bit the cake harder, as if venting my anger on it. At this moment, the classroom door was pushed open. Luc Tinh Da walked in and walked straight to me. He placed a large bag on my table, inside were: • Soft bread, • Boxed milk, • Cup noodles, • All kinds of snacks... Then, he gave me another lunch box. I looked at him, somewhat confused. He turned away again, his ears were red, his voice was noticeably softer: "I know your situation is not easy. Although I don't believe you actually stole other people's food, but thinking about it... it must have been because you were so hungry that you did that, right? Next time, don't try to endure it alone. If you're hungry, just tell me. I have a lot of money." I was momentarily speechless: “……” He turned to look at me, his eyes were clear and sincere like sunlight in the middle of winter. I was stunned and suddenly whispered: "But... I really took someone else's things." He nodded, his voice still gentle: "I understand." “???” “I intentionally found out about your family's situation... I didn't expect you to live so hard.” At that moment, I really saw in his eyes a very clear emotion — sadness. Luc Tinh Da gently stroked my head, his voice was low and gentle like a spring breeze: "Eat quickly, fill your stomach first and then say whatever you want." In the end, I still couldn't overcome my cravings. I opened the lid of the lunch box - the aroma immediately rushed in, the inside was still hot and steaming. The tip of my nose suddenly stings. Because… even in the real world, I haven't eaten a hot meal like this for a long time. To save money, I often wait until food is on sale to buy. But by that time, the rice and soup had long gone cold. Even so, I'm still proud to have saved some extra money. Thinking of this, my tears suddenly fell uncontrollably. Luc Tinh Da was stunned, then frantically used a tissue to wipe my tears. "Why are you crying? I don't think you're ugly, really — not even a little bit." I bowed my head, didn't say a word, just quietly ate each bite of rice, as if afraid that if I stopped, more tears would fall. 8. But I always feel... things are definitely not that simple. Sure enough, halfway through the meal, Luc Tinh Da suddenly spoke up seriously: "Hey Ha, I used to know a senior. When I was little, he used to take other people's things very easily. It was just trivial things so my parents didn't care. Guess the result? As soon as he was an adult, he was arrested for theft." He paused for a moment, his voice suddenly becoming more serious: "So I'll say, good habits really have to be nurtured slowly." I almost choked on my rice during the battle, coughing non-stop. Luc Tinh Da quickly opened the water bottle and handed it to me. I took a sip, gasping for air raised his head and asked: "...Are you lecturing me?" He scratched his nose confusedly, trying to justify: "Cough... that's not it. I just... hope you don't do that again. Of course I don't mean to blame you at all, I just want to say... if you're hungry, just tell me." I looked at him, my heart suddenly warmed a bit. I couldn't help but feel: "You are really a good person."