Chapter 7 — The Daughter No One Chose

After taking graduation photos, the university entrance exam day is approaching. "Do you have enough exam cards, ID cards, and pen bags?" Outside the noisy exam room, I was helping Tran Le check everything. He looked at me and smiled, reluctantly saying: "I brought it, little housekeeper." Waiting for his shadow to completely disappear, I got in the car to go home. In the living room, three cousins were chirping and chatting. “Tieu Khe, are you looking for Tran Le again?” Giang Khai asked me. “Yes, what's wrong?” Giang Khai looked serious: "Tieu Khe, Giang Hang said his family is very complicated, you should stay away." I was just about to refute, when Giang Duy Nhat suddenly said: "Tieu Khe, a few days ago I saw Tran Le beat a student. He's really not a good person." Everyone says Tran Le is not good, but does anyone really want to understand him? “What kind of person he is, you know for yourself, everyone should mind their own business.” Having said that, I don't bother paying attention to them anymore. At this time, Giang Hang lazily said: "Eldest brother, do you see? Even outsiders like Tran Le are more important than us." Because I refused to accept his apology, Giang Hang started to mock me again. He can't be saved anymore, I don't bother to accept it. Seeing that I didn't answer, Giang Hang was both nervous and angry and scolded loudly: "Giang Khe, you are really uneducated!" “I'm really uneducated, after all I'm just a kid from the countryside.” As soon as the words ended, the three of them's faces darkened. Giang Duy Nhat still cried and ran back to his room. Giang Hang glared at me and quickly ran to comfort her. "Tieu Khe and Duy Nhat are also innocent, it's all just fate teasing them." Giang Khai blamed me for not saying that. Actually, I don't want to hurt Giang Duy Nhat, it's just that Giang Hang always causes trouble. After the university entrance exam, Tran Le went to work again. I don't want to bother you, so I stay home and study all day. When filling out his application, he chose the right university that I always wanted. The day he received the admission notice, he promised me: "Giang Khe, I will wait for you." After Tran Le left, I officially entered grade 12. For some unknown reason, Giang Hang - who was repeating the class - was in the same class as me. As soon as the school bell rang, Giang Hang awkwardly came to me and asked if I wanted to go home with him. “No need, I have to go to the bookstore to buy documents later, you go home first.” I packed my bag and quickly left. Everyone thought Tran Le had disappeared from my life, but the truth is that we still write to each other every month, he sends me candy, helps me review. Because I was so busy, the first semester of grade 12 passed very quickly. Even though this place used to be his pain, Tran Le still came back to celebrate Tet with me. “How is college life?” I breathed into my palm and quietly walked beside Tran Le. He looked at me and said seriously: "Not happy, no one goes to the library with me, no one gives me candy anymore." I secretly glanced at him and asked in a low voice: "Are you coming back this summer?" "What's up?" He looked at me with deep eyes. “Nothing, just asking casually.” The atmosphere was a bit awkward. I pointed at the cart in front and changed the subject: "Tran Le, I want to eat baked potatoes." “Giang Khe, I will come back this summer, come back to take the university entrance exam with you.” He said seriously. Hearing what I wanted to hear, I couldn't help but laugh. After Tet, I buried myself in studying day and night. Giang Duy Nhat received an invitation Admission from a dance academy abroad, no university entrance exam required. Giang Hang still teases me, but no longer as maliciously as before. “Giang Khe, where are you planning to go to college?” Giang Hang kept chirping in my ear. “Beijing.” “Beijing is too far from home, mom definitely won't agree.” “Giang Khe, why don't you pay attention to me?” He snatched my assignment and smiled smugly. Actually, Giang Hang makes me feel even more uncomfortable now. I'd rather he remained the same unpleasant person as before. On the day of the university entrance exam, I saw Tran Le in the crowd. He didn't say anything, just quietly said to me, "Do your best." The two days of the exam passed very quickly. I remember every time I finished a subject, Tran Le was impatient to help me find the answers. After a year of effort, the promise between you and I is finally about to come true. Tran Le confessed his love to me the next day, we officially became lovers. Right when I was actively filling out my application, Giang's parents suddenly told me to study abroad. After dinner, they said frankly: "Tieu Khe, Duy Nhat and your brother are going to study abroad, and your parents also plan to go with you, so they have found a university for you there." It turned out that in their eyes, I was just a kitten and dog they conveniently raised. “I won't go, whoever wants to go can go.” Maybe my attitude was too bad, Giang's mother's face darkened and she was no longer as patient as before. She sternly asked me: "Tieu Khe, you refuse to go, is it because of Tran Le?"

"It's nothing to do with him, I just don't want to study abroad." At this moment, Giang's father's face darkened, "You still dare to lie, Duy Nhat has already seen you two dating." "Yes, I'm with him, but I don't want to go because of my parents, not because of him. On the surface, I say I'm thinking about me, but in reality, isn't it still because of her?" I pointed at Giang Duy Nhat who was standing still next to me. “Because she was accepted by a foreign university, her parents were worried, so they were eager to go with her.” Giang's mother was furious, "What nonsense are you talking about?" "I'm not talking nonsense. In fact, I've kept these words in my heart for a long time. Today I'm saying them all." "It's clear that you are our biological daughter, but we would rather lose you than let Giang Duy Nhat go. We always favor her, thinking we can balance the relationship between you and her, but in reality, our hearts are completely skewed to one side." I don't know when tears fell. I wiped my face with my sleeve and continued: "Don't your parents want you to go abroad? Okay, but the condition is to take Giang Duy Nhat back to your adoptive parents' house." As soon as I finished speaking, everyone looked at me with unbelievable eyes, as if I was intentionally making things difficult. "Why, can't you bear it? Then stop interfering in my life." As soon as he finished speaking, Giang's father immediately raised his hand and slapped me hard in the face. “Pop”—a sound echoed throughout the living room, and my right cheek burned like fire. “Giang Khe, it's because everyone pampers you so much that they make you speak so unreservedly.” Just because of these words, in their eyes, I became a selfish and stubborn child.