Dai Zhiqiang was the eldest son of the Dai family, an ordinary but happy family. He had loving parents and a cute little brother. Every day was full of happiness and joy as he spent it with them.
He thought that happiness would last forever, but he was proven wrong. What he saw was merely an illusion. A bitter truth hidden in the veil of a smile.
Even now, if he looked up and looked at the blue sky, sometimes a face would appear in his mind. A gentle face of a woman smiling down at him. She would give him the warmest and most comfortable hug whenever he stretched his arms.
But she was gone, without even giving him that last warmth.
***
"I'll remember this, you wild kid!"
"You monster!"
"Don't think you already win with this!"
The group of boys shouted as they ran away from a certain battered figure standing proudly in front of a wailing boy. He snorted when he heard their empty threat, but it caused a slight sting on the corner of his mouth.
"Ah." He grimaced as he touched his torn lips. It seemed he had overdone it once again. The boy dreaded what his mother would say if she saw this.
"Sob…sob…"
Then he heard a small whimper, prompting him to turn his body to the source of the voice. Crouching on the ground was another boy slightly younger than him. His clothes were dirty, but the boy only sat there while crying over his tattered sketchbook on the ground.
"Those bunch of cowards really did it this time."
Dai Zhiqiang sighed helplessly before collecting the pieces of torn paper and putting them on top of his little brother's sketchbook.
"I'm sorry about your book, Shenqiang."
"Brother, why did they keep bullying me? I never do anything to them." Dai Shenqiang said while hiccuping, with a wronged expression on his face. "Is it weird for a boy to draw?"
"No." Dai Zhiqiang patted his brother's head gently, trying to comfort him. "It's not your fault, so you shouldn't stop drawing because some people don't like it."
"I'm scared, Brother. They said I'm like a girl because I don't like to play soccer as much as I enjoy drawing."
"Well, I enjoy burying my head in books, too, rather than playing soccer. Do you think I'm weird?"
Dai Shenqiang automatically raised his tear-streaked face with swollen eyes. "Brother, you are not weird at all! There is no one as cool as my big brother in this world!"
Dai Zhiqiang let out a small smile. "Yes. It doesn't matter what unimportant people think of you. You only need to listen to people who care about you. Don't cry anymore. I'll see if I can fix your sketchbook later."
Dai Shenqiang wiped the remaining tears from his eyes before shaking his head. "It's okay. There is nothing to be done about it. I was just sad because they ruined the sketch of our family I made this afternoon. They said I'm a mommy boy, then wrecked it so I can man up."
"Those people are really…." Dai Zhiqiang muttered in a threateningly low voice. A dark aura emitted from him as he planned how he should deal with those bastards who bullied his younger brother.
Dai Shenqiang sensed that his brother would reveal his scary side, so he quickly added, "No, it's fine, Brother! No need to deal with those kids. I can just make a new sketch, and it will be as if nothing happened."
"Shenqiang, you need to clearly tell those kids off. I can't always be around to save you if anything like this happens again."
"But those kids have a lot of upperclassmen backing them up. If I offended one of them, I would get bullied for the rest of the year. Like that one kid in my class," Dai Shenqiang said timidly while hugging his sketchbook.
The older boy wiped the sweat mixed with blood dripping from his forehead before replying. "It's okay, you have me with you. No need to be afraid of those upperclassmen."
Dai Shenqiang looked up at his brother sadly, then shook his head again. "I don't want to involve my big brother in this anymore. You always get hurt whenever you try to help me. I don't like to see it."
Dai Zhiqiang smiled. "Your brother is strong enough to handle it. Just do whatever you want and if someone bothers you, tell me. I will teach them a lesson for you."
"No, Mom said violence is bad. I don't want you to do bad things, Brother."
"Alright, you can be very stubborn sometimes. Can you stand up? They thrashed you around pretty bad too, huh?"
"No worries, I can stand up by myself." Dai Shenqiang said before clumsily trying to get up on his feet. Dai Zhiqiang patted the dust off his brother's clothes before crouching down and showing his back to him.
"Hop on. I'll carry you."
Dai Shenqiang frowned. "I said I'm fine. I'm already a first-year student and not a little kid anymore."
Dai Zhiqiang laughed at that. "You will forever be a little kid in my eyes. Besides, I'm in my third year, so you have to listen to me."
"Brother, I will get called a spoiled kid again if you treat me like that. And they hurt you badly."
"Don't force yourself. I told you not to listen to what unimportant people said, right? Your leg is wobbling. I doubt you can walk like that."
"I-It's not wobbling." The younger boy stubbornly denied it.
"It will be faster to reach home with my longer legs than wait for you to walk with your short legs. The sun is about to set, and Mom will be worried if we come home late."
At the mention of his mother, Dai Shenqiang's facial line visibly softened. Grumbling about how this will be the last time, he slowly climbed up to his brother's back.
The older boy felt a bit of pain when he lifted himself off from the ground, but he suppressed the painful groan so his brother wouldn't hear him whining.
"Brother, what do you think Mom will make for dinner today? Yesterday, she said she would make hamburg steak for us. You know, the one shown on TV last night?"
"I remember that. Then all the more reason for us to hurry and go home."
He could sense his brother nodding his head enthusiastically from his movement's tremor to his body. "I'm looking forward to it. My mouth watered just by thinking about the taste."
"Don't drool on my clothes, or you'll get a flick on the forehead."
"No! Your flick really hurt! Anything but that!"
Dai Zhiqiang burst out laughing. His body was tired and in pain, but the image of having a pleasant dinner with his family urged his weak leg to take another step forward.
If he could make his little brother happy, then this much pain was worth it. Because he was stronger, he had to protect him.
Basking under the orange light of the dusk, the two brothers went home, only to find no dinner or Mother was waiting for them.
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