7
After I started middle school, I could occasionally learn how Trình Vân was doing from the comments.
By coincidence, the rich couple who adopted her also had the surname Trần, so they simply changed Trình Vân to Trần Vân.
Trần Vân was now a proper young lady, busy all day studying foreign languages and learning various musical instruments. The Trần couple intended to groom her into a refined young woman.
The comments never stopped comparing her life now with mine.
They said my adoptive parents were dirt-poor and couldn't afford to pay for extra lessons, and that I'd end up at the bottom of society. But I thought they were wrong.
My aunt and uncle didn't sign me up for extra classes, but they taught me a lot. Uncle Trịnh Nghị taught me to be honest and keep my word, and showed me a few basic self-defense moves.
Aunt Vương Thư oversaw my studies. She taught me to make my learning count and to always hold on to my ideals.
Little by little, it seemed I could start resisting those wicked impulses deep inside me, because I knew I no longer had to fight anyone for anything.
When I was in eighth grade, our class had to collect money for the class fund.
The entire fund was kept in the desk of the class president, who sat next to me.
It was a sizable amount, bundled into a thick wad. For middle schoolers, it was a lot of money.
I couldn't help glancing at it, then reminded my classmate:
“You're so careless. Aren't you worried it'll get stolen if you leave it here?”
The class president didn't seem concerned. He turned and went to play soccer with his friends. Just then, the comments appeared again.
[I remember in the original story, she got sent back to the orphanage for stealing a gemstone necklace from her adoptive mother.]
[Once a thief, always a thief. Is she planning to steal the class fund too?]
[Haha, no necklace to steal, so now she's stealing the class fund. A dog always goes back to its old ways.]
I thought the comments were ridiculous, because I'd never even considered doing that.
But right away, my hand started moving on its own, sneaking toward my seatmate's desk.
8
“The class fund is gone!”
My seatmate came back from playing soccer, opened his desk, and shouted in alarm. Everyone's eyes immediately turned to him.
I had just returned to class after asking the teacher a question when he pointed at me:
“Trịnh Hảo! You're the only one who knew the money was in here. Did you take it? Give it back!”
I frowned. “Are you crazy? I didn't take it.”
“It was you. It had to be! Before I put the money away, you said it could easily get stolen. So you were planning to steal it!”
He was furious. He turned and rummaged through my desk, then grabbed my backpack and shook it wildly. My things scattered all over the floor.
But no matter how much he searched, he couldn't find the class fund. He was so upset he started crying, growing more and more agitated.
“I'm begging you, please give the class money back! If it's gone, I'll have to pay for it myself, and my mom will kill me when she finds out!”
I rolled my eyes. “What does that have to do with me? I didn't take it. If you didn't keep it safe, who else can you blame?”
At that, he wiped his tears and rushed over to me, trying to feel around my body to search me.
“It was definitely you! You took it!”
Startled, I instinctively dodged. Thinking I was up to something, he lunged at me and we started wrestling.
He and I were about the same height, and Uncle Trịnh had taught me how to defend myself. In a real fight, he didn't stand a chance.
By the time our homeroom teacher arrived, we were both a mess, but he was clearly worse off—his nose was bleeding.
Crying as he complained, he said, “Trịnh Hảo not only stole the money, she hit me too!”
After hearing him out, our homeroom teacher glanced at me and said:
“Trịnh Hảo, either you give the money back or we call your parents.”
9
When Uncle Trịnh hurried to the school.
The comments were practically celebrating:
[Her true colors are showing. No matter how good Trịnh Nghị is, he can't accept having a thief for a daughter.]
[Let's all welcome Tiểu Ngũ back to the orphanage.]
I hung my head and curled up in the corner of the office. Catching sight of that tall, composed figure, I hid my injured hand against myself in embarrassment.
“Are you Trịnh Hảo's father? What kind of parenting is this? Your daughter beat up my son like this! Is she even a girl?”
“She steals and she's vicious, too! What a disgrace!”
The class president's parent had a shrill voice and had been pointing at Uncle Trịnh and berating him from the moment he arrived.
Uncle Trịnh, unusually, didn't reply. He strode toward me, his expression stern.
I'd caused such a huge mess and let them yell at him. He must hate me now, right?
I swallowed and lifted my head stubbornly.
“I didn't do anything wrong.”
Before he arrived, I'd rehearsed it ten thousand times. Even if he abandoned me, just as the comments said he would, I wouldn't act like a kicked dog!
I'd act like I didn't care at all.
I'd be a cold, mean girl!
I bravely raised my head and looked Uncle Trịnh straight in the eye.
He stared at me intently.
In that instant, all the defenses I'd worked so hard to build crumbled, as if some string had snapped, and tears poured down my face.
“I'm sorry.”
“I won't fight anymore.”
“I didn't steal the money. I know doing bad things would make you and Auntie sad, so I wouldn't do that.”
“Please don't leave me, okay?”
10
[Does she really think an adoptive father would care so much about her?]
[I love watching a vicious villain get slapped down like this.]
[She's about to lose everything again~]
Reading the comments in front of me, my nose stung. I reached out, wanting to tug on Uncle Trịnh's sleeve.
Uncle Trịnh suddenly turned around and shielded me behind him.
“Trịnh Hảo is my daughter. I believe she isn't a thief!”
His resonant voice moved me deeply.
Looking at his back, I couldn't say a word.
“Meanwhile, we have a teacher who rushed to judge a child as good or bad without investigating, and a parent who can't show any understanding, yet you're here bullying someone else's child.”
“I'm ashamed on your behalf!”
Though he wasn't wearing his police uniform, Uncle Trịnh's righteous presence was imposing.
At once, the class president's parent fell silent. The homeroom teacher's eyes darted around before they softened their voice.
“Trịnh Hảo's father, we didn't mean it that way. We just need to get to the bottom of this student conflict.”
Uncle Trịnh sat down beside me.
“All right, then let's get to the bottom of it together.”
“You're the one who said my daughter stole the money, right?”
“Name and age. State them.”
The class president stammered, “Trương Chí Soái, fourteen.”
“Trương, what evidence do you have that Trịnh Hảo took the money?”
“I don’t have any, but Trịnh Hảo knew I’d left the money there and said it was easy to steal from that spot. Not long after she said that, my money disappeared. If it wasn’t her, who was it?”
“So the place you left your money was unsafe to begin with, and when my daughter warned you, you turned around and accused her?”
“No, I didn’t…”
Trương Chí Soái didn’t know how to argue back. All he could do was keep repeating, “It wasn’t me.”
Uncle Trịnh pressed on:
“I got the general idea over the phone. My daughter said she was in the office asking for help with her schoolwork when the money went missing. She had no time to steal it. How could she have taken your money?”
“As class president, you’re responsible for looking after the class funds. You lost the money through carelessness, so either take responsibility or investigate properly. But instead, you chose to blame an innocent classmate? That’s quite a shortcut you took.”
Caught out, Trương Chí Soái panicked:
“But she’s the only orphan in our class! People say orphans are bad inside, and that’s why their parents abandoned them! If it wasn’t her, who was it?!”
11
The words had barely left his mouth.
Trương Chí Soái’s parents immediately looked at me as if they understood. “Well, that explains it.”
Uncle Trịnh glared right back without holding back, then turned and said:
“My daughter has parents, good health, and a healthy mind. She’s no less than any other child in the world!”
“Trương, you need to apologize to my daughter right now!”
Uncle Trịnh stood up.
He was very tall, with a solid build from exercising regularly.
At 6 feet 2 inches, standing before a middle school boy who hadn’t finished growing, he looked like a giant.
He lowered his head, his gaze sharp and commanding. Trương Chí Soái was so frightened he burst into tears.
His parents hurried to pull him into their arms. They looked ready to lash out, but when they saw Uncle Trịnh’s gaze, all they dared do was mutter:
“My son wasn’t wrong. If we’d known his deskmate was an orphan, we would’ve asked the school to move them.”
“Children from broken homes are usually more emotionally troubled.”
I clenched my fists, my eyes fixed on the two faces that looked exactly like Trương Chí Soái’s.
I wanted to rush over and rip their mouths open.
Just as I was about to lose control, Uncle Trịnh spoke first:
“No wonder the kid turned out so rotten. His parents are even worse.”
“This is how you raise a kid? You’re wasting your tuition money! You might as well send him to a dog-training school to learn to sit and shake hands. Why bother teaching him to be a person?”
12
His thick Northeastern accent rang out, leaving me stunned. Uncle Trịnh was always serious and proper around outsiders.
He always said there was no need to swear when you could reason with someone. This was the first time I’d seen him insult anyone so bluntly.
“You…!” Trương Chí Soái’s parents were so furious they could barely breathe.
People naturally prey on the weak. When I was alone, they’d berate me even if I didn’t say a word.
But now they were facing a man who completely overpowered them. Even though Uncle Trịnh was provoking them, they didn’t dare say a thing.
Only after a long while did they stammer:
“Whatever happened, what right do you have as a parent to make someone else’s child apologize to yours?”
“Your girl beat up my son like this, and we haven’t even asked for compensation!”
At the mention of that, I felt a little guilty. After all, I really had hit him.
I stood still, waiting to be scolded, but to my surprise…
Uncle Trịnh simply pulled Trương Chí Soái over, looked him up and down, then smiled with satisfaction.
“Not bad, honey. You landed that hit just right.”
Then he bragged to everyone:
“You’ve got talent, huh? Your dad taught you!”
“In a few years, I’ll teach you Sanda. You’ll beat him up in style.”
Me: Huh?
The Trương family: …...
Even the comments went strangely silent.
By the time Uncle Trịnh led me out of the office, the sun was low in the sky, and the sunset blazed like a sea of fire.
I looked up, still unable to believe I hadn’t been scolded.
“Uncle Trịnh, aren’t you going to scold me?”
Uncle Trịnh froze, then laughed.
“What, do you need me to yell at you before you’re satisfied, silly girl?”
“Why would I scold you? What’s wrong with defending yourself? That short kid only has superficial injuries. If he said something wrong, he deserved a beating, didn’t he?”
“When we get home, tell your aunt to give me some credit. She didn’t like me teaching you martial arts, but now she knows how useful it is, right?”
He rubbed his chin smugly, then suddenly remembered something and stopped to look at me.
“Wait, I just remembered something.”
Me: “Huh?”
Uncle Trịnh squatted down to meet my eyes. Nothing like his carefree manner just now, he asked me seriously:
“Honey, why did you ask earlier whether we’d abandon you?”
I lowered my head and nervously twisted the hem of my shirt.
Before I could say anything, Uncle Trịnh hugged me and sighed.
“Is it because your aunt and I haven’t made you feel safe enough?”
My whole body shuddered, and tears suddenly streamed down my face.
His warm voice sounded by my ear again:
“A child who’s always had enough to eat doesn’t worry about going hungry the next day. The fact that you asked that means you’re still afraid.”
“Don’t be scared. It’s okay.”
“Your aunt and I already think of you as our own daughter.”
“Whatever trouble you get into, I’ll have your back and your aunt will protect you. We’re a family. None of us will abandon the others.”
My tears soaked his shoulder, and Uncle Trịnh hurried to wipe them away.
“Good grief, crying again? I’m not even scolding you.”
I laughed through my tears and wrapped my arms tightly around his neck.
On the sleepless nights before, I’d always stared at the comments, where people bet on when this family would abandon me.
Day after day, season after season, the Northeastern dishes on the table stayed delicious, and my aunt and uncle’s love for me never diminished.
I hugged him.
Choking back tears, I managed to say:
“Dad, I want pork braised with rice noodles for dinner tonight.”
He tried to keep his composure.
But his trembling hands gave away how moved he was. All I heard were two words: “All right, all right.”
His big hand clasped mine, and he led me home beneath the evening sky.