Because of the topic of this article, I placed it on my space but not many people read it. I hope that by putting it here, many people will see it.
㈠\ Mom left because she gave birth to my little brother. So at first, she really hated that big-headed little guy. She called him Little Tadpole. But no matter how much she hated him, he still became her little shadow.\ When Little Tadpole was five, Dad remarried. The woman who came was flamboyant, entering the house with her nose wrinkled. By then, she was already ten and had made up her mind early: if you want to bully me and Little Tadpole, forget it. Ever since the stepmom came in, Dad became a hands-off householder. He would scare her by saying, "Xiao Jing, get along with your mom. She is kind-hearted. If you make things hard for her, beware of me hitting you."\ The neighbor granny was right; with a step comes a stepfather. She held her neck stiff, tears flowing down line by line. Stepmom said: "Look, look, it's as if someone let out her anger."\ Little Tadpole, carefree, ate the food made by the stepmom, which made her so mad that she slapped him, saying, "Eat, eat, eat, you'll only know how to eat!" Little Tadpole cried out loud.\ She also cried. Facing two people singing Qin opera at home, Dad got anxious: "Cry, cry, cry, if you cry more, even your short-lived mom won't care for you two."\ She wiped her tears, picked up her bowl, and stuffed food into her mouth, mixing the rice with her tears, which tasted salty.\ Little Tadpole glanced at her with his eyes, his little face like fish scales, cracked by the wind from crying. She took a piece of vegetable for him and, for the first time, whispered: "Eat!"\ Little Tadpole, as if he had received a treat, smiled tightly and buried his head in eating.\ Over there, Dad sighed, and Stepmom put the bowl on the table, her voice loud.\ That night, the moon was not bright, and she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Little Tadpole kicked the blanket again, and she helped cover him. He turned to her, arms tightly around hers, and her tears flowed at once.\ In her heart, she thought of Mom's promise: she wouldn't bully him anymore. She said: "Mom, you must have sent Little Tadpole to keep me company."\ ㈡ Full QQ: 504 678 724\ She came back from school and, from a distance, could hear Little Tadpole crying. She hurried home, fell, got up and ran again, bursting into the house. Stepmom was holding a broom to hit Little Tadpole. She pounced as if insane.The stepmother stopped, her face beaming, and said: Kids are troublemakers, throwing a perfectly good glass on the ground.\
Little Tadpole sobbed and tugged at her hand. She stiffened her neck and argued unreasonably: So what if it broke? He's the only son of the Qin family; everything in the Qin family belongs to him. What business is it of yours?\
Little Tadpole's body was covered in red marks. When dad came home, she lifted her clothes to show him: My mom didn't have my brother so that you could hit him. I'm telling you, if it happens again, I won't let her off.\
At night when going to bed, Little Tadpole said: Sister, you're like a great hero. When you speak, the bad guys lose power instantly. She said: Brother, in the future, if she hits you, just run, don't resist stubbornly.\
Outside, she praised her stepmother. Going out, if someone said: Xiaojing, this outfit looks so pretty. She would quickly say: My mom bought it for me. She's really nice. Just a little biased toward my brother.\
The stepmother's face blossomed into a smile and she said: You little girl, Jiang is picky; he's young, he can't help it. Actually, she secretly hoped the stepmother would treat Little Tadpole well.\
She never played alone outside; wherever she went, she took Little Tadpole with her. When she was fifteen, the whole family moved to the county town. Dad was busy outside all day, and the stepmother went out flamboyantly to dance and play mahjong. Only she and Little Tadpole were left at home. She became the family head. When it was hot, she would take out a yuan, saved from breakfast, to buy him an ice pop. Little Tadpole ate it, and she watched. It was really hot.\
She took care of all of Little Tadpole's studies. She said: Little Tadpole, we don't have a mom, we need to study well, so we can all go to Beijing in the future. Little Tadpole didn't understand what not having a mom had to do with studying well. He turned his pinyin into a mess. She corrected him again and again, but he could never fix it. She got frustrated and slapped him, saying: Why are you so disappointing? Who are you doing this to satisfy?\
She cried first. Little Tadpole said: Sister, don't cry. I'll write neatly. He lowered his head, erased all the messy pinyin, and wrote it again.\
She attended Little Tadpole's parent-teacher meetings. The teacher glanced at her and asked: Where are your parents? She said briskly: I am my family's adult. Little Tadpole, oh no, Qin Ling is my brother; I raised him since he was little. The teacher immediately changed the gaze: Qin Ling's grades are never satisfactory…\
Her own grades were so good, why were Little Tadpole's so poor?No one ever taught her or disciplined her, yet she still managed to come first in every exam.\ She stopped Little Tadpole from watching TV, and sometimes disciplined him so severely that he would wail like a ghost. When he cried, she cried with him. When their stepmother came back, she said: "Jing, no sister manages in your way. If you discipline Qin Ling like this, people would think I'm a bad stepmother."\ She said: "If you haven't done anything wrong, what is there to be afraid of when a ghost knocks at the door?"\ ㈢\ She went through every stage and got into college. She didn't apply to schools outside the province, only to the provincial capital. That summer, her father's face was shining with pride; their Qin family hadn't had a college student for generations.\ She talked to her father and said she wanted to take Qin Ling to college with her. She couldn't leave him at home; she wouldn't feel at ease. Her dad's face fell; that girl was always causing trouble—who takes a younger sibling along to school?\ She insisted that if he wasn't allowed to go with her, she wouldn't attend college. Also, she would figure out a way to cover both their living expenses.\ Her father sighed, knowing she was afraid the stepmother would harm Qin Ling. He went ahead to the provincial city first, leaving over a thousand yuan of his saved pocket money for them. Her dad said: "Ling, listen to your sister." His eyes were a little wet.\ In her first year, the school didn't allow commuting; she had to live on campus. So she asked the neighbor grandmother to look after Little Tadpole. Little Tadpole was 15 and still performing poorly in school. She was angry, helpless.\ One day, the school held a sports meet. Since she had nothing to do there, she sneaked out and went to Little Tadpole's school. Surprisingly, Little Tadpole didn't even go to class. She panicked and ran home. The neighbor grandmother said the boy hadn't come back last night either.\ Her heart was in her throat—what if something had happened? Little Tadpole's teacher said: "Go to the internet cafe; those kids always go there to play games."\ She went out frantically looking for him. Finally, she found Little Tadpole in an internet cafe, eyes red from staying up too late. She cried first. She grabbed his hand and took him home, locked the door, and hit him while crying. She said: "Do you think anyone wants to take care of you? If mom hadn't died early, who would care about you..."\ ㈣\ She graduated from college and became an accountant at an import-export company.\ Little Tadpole graduated from high school and refused to go to college. When she pressured him, he actually ran away from home.He wrote in the letter he left her: Sis, all these years, I know you mean well for me, but you make all the decisions. Do you think everyone is as outstanding as you? I am a human being, not an object; I have my own thoughts.\ She sat on the edge of the bed, dazed, holding that letter. When would it ever be over—helping him finish college, start a career, settle down? Yet in the end, he resented her. Her hands and feet felt cold.\ Half a month later, the little tadpole came back. She took him back from the police station. He had stolen steel from a construction site; she paid the fine and stood bail for him.\ She cooked half a pot of braised pork, steamed rice, and served it to him. This time, she didn't scold him. His tears fell into the bowl, and he said: Sis, scold me!\ Tears flowed into her mouth. Everyone has their own life, she thought: If he doesn't love studying, let him be!\ She wiped her tears, turned around, smiled, and served him more food. She said: Sister allows you to be an ordinary little tadpole, but not a bad one.\ When she got married, the little tadpole was working as an apprentice in a beauty salon. Her life became stable. But the little tadpole was still struggling. He opened a small salon, and business was poor. She helped him find a new shop and took all the family savings out for him.\ The little tadpole's business improved. With money, he indulged in revelry. She found him in a disco, with whistling around. The little tadpole did not come out with her.\ She couldn't sleep the whole night. She was afraid he might end up like those drug-addicted kids. How could she explain that to her deceased mother?\ Ⅳ\ The little tadpole did not turn bad. He brought things to see her. He said: Sis, you are good at everything, just too worrying. She said: I don't worry, how else could you have grown up?\ After saying this, she laughed first. Whether she worries or not, the little tadpole would grow up.\ The little tadpole brought a mirror close to her and said: Look, what an old woman! She pinched him, daring to say I'm old.\ In the mirror, the little tadpole no longer looked like he had a big head and small brain; he had become very handsome. Also, he really looked like her.\ She said: Little brother, let's go to mom's grave for Qingming Festival!\ Time seemed to drift back to the past. Back then, he cried loudly at birth, and she cried out in grief. He for new life, she for losing a loved one…!
\ I am your forever friend\ Su Nianya
