I was born in a secluded village on a mountain. Day by day, my parents
plowed the yellow dry soil with their backs towards the sky.
I have a brother who is 3 years younger than me. I wanted to buy a
handkerchief, which all girls around me seemed to have. So, one day I
stole 50 cents from my father's drawer. Father had discoveredabout the stolen
money right away.
He made me and my younger brother kneel against the wall as he held a
bamboo stick in his hand. "Who stole the money?" he asked. I was stunned,
too afraid to talk. Neither of us admitted to the fault, so he said, "Fine,
if nobody wants to admit, you two should be beaten!"
He lifted up the bamboo stick. Suddenly, my younger brother gripped
father's hand and
said," Dad, I was the one who did it!" The long stick smacked my brother's
back repeatedly. Father was so angry that he kept on whipping my brother
until he lost his breath. After that, he sat down on our stone bed and
scolded my brother, "You have learned to steal from your own house now.
What other embarrassing things will you be
possibly doing in the future? You should be beaten to death, you shameless
thief!"
That night, my mother and I hugged my brother. His body was full of wounds
from the beating but he never shed a single tear. In the middle of the
night, all of sudden, I cried out loudly. My brother covered my mouth with
his little hand and said, " Sis, now don't cry anymore. Everything has
happened."
i still hate myself for not having enough courage to admit what I did
Yearsgone by, but the incident still seemed like it just happened yesterday. I
will never forget my brother's __expression when he protected me.
That year, my brother was 8 years old and I was 11 years old. When my
brother was in his last year of secondary school, he was accepted in an
upper secondary school in the central. At the same time, I was accepted
into a university in the province. That night, father squatted in the yard,
smoking, packet by packet.
I could hear him ask my mother, "Both of our children, they have good
results? very good results?" Mother wiped off her tears and sighed," What
is the use? How can we possibly finance both of them?" At that time, my
brother walked out, he stood in front
of father and said,"Dad, I don't want to continue my study anymore, I have
read enough books."
Father swung his hand and slapped my brother on his face. "Why do you have a
spirit so damn weak? Even if it means I have to beg for money on the
streets, I will send you two to school until you have both finished yourstudy!"
And then, he started to knock on every house in the village to borrow
money. I stuck out my hand as gently as I can to my brother's swollen
face, and told him, "A boy has to continue his study; If not, he will not
be able to overcome this poverty we are experiencing."
I, on the other hand, had decided not to further my study at the
university. Nobody knew that on the next day, before dawn, my brother left
the house with a few pieces of worn-out clothes and a few dry beans. He
sneaked to my side of the bed and left a note on my pillow; "Sis, getting
into a university is not easy. I will go find a joband I will send money to you."
I held the note while sitting on my bed, and cried until I lost my voice.
Thatyear, my brother was 17 years old; I was 20 years old. With the money father
borrowed from the whole village, and the money my brother earned from
carrying cement on his back at a construction site,finally, I managed to
get to the third year of my study in the university.
One day, while I was studying in my room, my roommate came in and told
me,"There's a villager waiting for you outside!" Why would there be a
villager looking for me? I walked out, and I saw my brother from afar. His
whole body was covered with dirt, dust, cement and sand. I asked him, "Why
did you not tell my roommate that you are mybrother?"
He replied with a smile," Look at my appearance. What will they think if
they would know that I am your brother? Won't they laugh at you?" I felt
so touched, and tears filled my eyes. I swept away dirt and dust from my
brother's body. And told him with a lump in my throat, " I don't care
what peoplewould say! You are my brother no matter what your appearance is?"
From his pocket, he took out a butterfly hair clip. He put it on my hair
and said, "I saw all the girls in town are wearing it. So, I think you
should also have one." I could not hold back myself anymore. I pulled my
brother into my arms and cried.
That year, my brother was 20 years old; I was 23 years old. I noticed that
the broken window was repaired the first time I brought my boyfriend home.
The house wasscrubbed cleaned. After my boyfriend left, I danced like a little girl in
front of my mother, "Mom, you didn't have to spend so much time cleaning
the house!" But she told me with a smile,"
It was your brother who went home early to clean the house. Didn't you see
the wound on his hand? He hurt his hand while he was replacing the window."
I went into my brother's bedroom. Looking at his thin face, I felt like
there are hundreds of needle pricked in my heart.
I applied some ointment on his wound and put a bandage on it, "Does it
hurt? " I asked him. "No, it doesn't hurt. You know, when at the
construction site, stones keep falling on my feet . Even that could not
stop me from working." In the middle of the sentence, he stopped. I turned
my back on him and tears rolled down my face.
That year, my brother was 23 years old; I was 26 years old. After I got
married, I lived in the city. Many times my husband invited my parents to
come and live with us, but they didn't want. They said, once they left the
village,they wouldn't know what to do. My brother agreed with them. He
said, "Sis, you just take care of your parents-in-law. I will take care of
mom and dad here."
My husband became the director of his factory. We asked my brother to
accept the offer of being the manager in the maintenance department. But my
brother rejected the offer. He insisted on working as a repairman instead
for a start.
One day, my brother was on the top of a ladder repairing a cable, when he
got electrocuted, and was sent to the hospital. My husband and I visited
him at the hospital. Looking at the white gypsum on his leg, I grumbled,
"Why did you reject the offer of being a manager? Managers won't do
something dangerous like that. Now look at you, You ar suffering a serious
injury. Why didn't you just listen to us?"
With a serious expression on his face, he defended his decision, "Think of
brother-in-law. He just became the director, and I being uneducated, and
would become a manager, what kind of rumors would fly around?" My
husband's eyes filled up with tears, and then I said, "But you lack in
education only because of me!" "Why do you talk about the past?" he said
and then he held my hand.
That year, he was 26 years old and I was 29 years old. My brother was 30
years old when he married a farmer girl from the village. During the
wedding reception, the master of ceremonies asked him, "Who is the one
person you respect and love the most?"
Without even taking a time to think, he answered," My sister." He continued
by telling a story I could not even remember.
"When I was in primary school, the school was in a different village.
Everyday, my sister and I would walk for 2 hours to school and back home.
One day, I lost the other pair of my gloves. My sister gave me one of hers.
She wore only one glove and she had to walk far. When we got home, her
hands were trembling because of the cold weather that she could not even
hold her chopsticks.
From that day on, I swore that as long as I live, I would take care of my
sister and will always be good to her." Applause filled up the room. All
guests turned their attention to me. I found it hard to speak, "In my
whole life, the one I would like to thank most is my brother," And in this
happy occasion,in front of the crowd, tears were rolling down my face
again.-Original article from email-
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I just got back from school, after a presentation,
how is the presentation? hm...not good.
almost all of us kena tembak..haha..
anyway, mr. david is a good conceptual designer,
just a little prattle...
As usual, reached home, sign in for mailbox,
check mails. This is an email sent by auntie catherine,
a nice auntie in australia.
I think it is a good story to share with you all,
maybe it's lame for sharing this kind of article instead of
latest entertainment stuff,
but i really think it worth couple minutes to peruse,
Thanks to god,
i have also sisters who really treat me as nice as the 'brother'
in the article.
My warm, sweet sinn chai and cute little princess b chai,
In my family, we called each other's name followed by "chai" behind it,
"chai" in chinese mean small, young... So i called my dad, ba chai.
my mum, ma chai, my eldest sis, sinn chai (most of the time, my younger
sis called her "fei" -means fat in chinese Sinn), my younger sister called b chai,
hm...i think i'm kinda out of topic edi...ok, let's get back to the track,
Sinn chai is the one whom i will first looking for when i get in trouble,
haha, she is really pretty, since we are kid, my parents always not with us,
as they need to work, my sis will be our guardian,
bring us to eat at food stall near by the house,
when she was only five years old.
Cool, huh?
I always fight with b chai last time,
sinn chai support me most of the time,
I remember one fight with b chai,
we fight for a table lamp,
yea...ok, i know u think we were childish,
kids is like that for usual.
Usually, i will lost in the fight with b chai,
b chai successfully 'rampas' my table lamp,
refuse to give me back with some unknown reasons,
so, i cried. Sinn chai heard my voice, take the lamp back,
and scold b chai until she cried. And then i go pujuk b chai,
and give the table lamp for her. I'm really useless,
fight like crazy, but can't tahan her tears.
Actually when we were kids, we dislike sinn chai,
Why? cause she was our little guardian when parents not around,
and she would report to parents when we were naughty.
But when we growth up, we know, she is a really good and caring sis,
she is smart in everything, but sometimes blur with her own stuff,
my cute sweet sinn chai....
anway, actually my younger sis also a caring gal,
she changed a lot, became more considerate,
everytime if i was angry o sad, she will come to me,
maybe draw some "beautiful" comic to cheer me,
when she made me angry,
sometimes she was the first one whom
will smooth my sadness when my parents scold me,
Thanks to god, for sister like them.
