I was stunned upon hearing this.

  She brushed past me and headed for the door. I rushed to grab her hand, but she shook it off mercilessly. She walked over to the couch and sat down, then picked up the receiver to dial.

  I dropped the diary and ran to her. I knelt in front of her and begged, “Mom, don’t send me abroad! I don’t want to go abroad! I don’t want to go abroad!”


  She looked at me, I could see the struggle in her eyes, but it was mostly pain and hatred. She suddenly put down the receiver and questioned me hysterically, “For how long more are you going to harm Dongyu?!”


  “…”


  I looked at her in shock.

  I hadn’t realize that I was a scourge to Dongyu.

  She continued to yell at me, “Because of you, he almost couldn’t go to university and almost got a lawsuit! Dongyu has been very obedient since he was young. He dotes on you, but there is no reason that his life should be ruined by you!”


  After a pause, she broke down and shouted again, “If word got out that his own sister likes him, what would people think of him? He’d be made a joke?! Are you really going to humiliate him like this?!”


  I lost my ability to make sense of anything, I only wanted to stay at home. I begged, but my mother ignored me and shoved me aside. She hurriedly made a call to my aunt.

  “Hello, Sis, it’s me. Um… I’ve thought about the matter I talked to you about the last time. Um… I’ve considered it… What sort of formalities would be needed to send Xiachun to America to study?… Haha! I’ve thought about it… I’m not reluctant to part with her. It’s good to send her abroad so that she can expand her view of the world… Okay, tell me, I’ll make a note…”


  Her mother took a pen and paper and started writing.

  “Yeah… passport. What else? Uh huh… uh huh…”


  …


  When Dongyu and my father got home, I was in the living room, curled up with my arms around my knees and crying. My mother sat on the couch, her face contorted as she wiped her tears with a tissue.

  Looking surprised, my father asked, “What’s going on?”


  “I’ve discussed it with my sister. The next time she comes back to visit, she’ll take Xiachun over with her to study in America!”


  After a pause, my mother continued, “I’ve already made up my mind.”


  “Are we really sending her overseas?” My father was a little taken aback. He probably had the thought in the past, but perhaps felt a little reluctant. “Why did you suddenly make such a decision?”


  Dongyu stood there, stunned. He looked at me and then at our mother with astonishment on his face.

  “Mom!”


  Dongyu asked, “Why are you sending Sister overseas!”


  “I’ve already decided, so don’t ask anymore!”


  “No!”


  Dongyu said firmly, “You can’t send her overseas!”


  My mother was very persistent. “Dongyu! I really can’t let her hold you back anymore! You… have no idea, she…”


  She pointed at me but said nothing in the end.

  Dong Yu looked at me and then at the diary that had fallen on the ground nearby. He suddenly seemed to understand something.

  He dropped his arm weakly and clenched his fists tightly again. Then, he said in no uncertain terms, “Mom! I beg you, don’t send Sister away! She’s an inseparable part of my life! Don’t you think it’s too cruel to say this?”


  My mother glanced at me, clearly still furious. I didn’t know which page of my diary she’d read that made her think I was so ridiculous, to the extent that she said, “I… I really should have just aborted her back then!”