A Promising Youth novel Chapter 2

During the holidays after my entrance exams, even though my parents were still cold to me, I had a fervent desire to live, because I was finally getting out of here, and going to college was the turning point in my life.

But it happened that my brother who failed in the college entrance exams and spent a year outside came back. He came with his girlfriend, and the two were ready to get engaged, and the woman asked for a bride price of 100,000 yuan.

I was terrified at the time because my family only had 20,000 yuan in savings, and that was my tuition for school and my only chance to get out of my family and change my fate.

My pampered brother, who got into a heated verbal argument with Mom and Dad and ended up turning over the table and smashing the TV. I didn't expect my father, for the first time, to stand up for me and say.

“There's only 20,000 yuan in the house, and that's for your brother his college tuition, you can’t have it!”

Hearing this, my brother, without saying a word, grabbed me by the collar into the yard, and pinned me down on the well pad and beat me hard!

I wanted to fight back, but I really didn't dare. The sense of fear that my parents and brother, over the years, had created in me, had long since taken away my ability to fight back.

I held my head and cowered on the floor. I had long used to this kind of domestic violence, and even though the pain in my body, this time, was greater than any I'd ever felt before, I pushed through it and kept telling myself.

“It will be fine. Get it through and I'll go to college and get out of here and see the pretty girl.”

I didn't know how long the fight went on, with blood coming out of my head and mouth, but my father, who was cowering in the room, finally came forward and said.

“Even if you beat him to death, we don’t have 100,000 yuan.”

I didn't take that as my father's defense of me. They paid me go to college only because I could give the Chan family honor, and besides, the family did not have that much money.

My brother, who had never been rejected by parents, became even angrier!

He took a lighter and set the family kitchen on fire. Though the yard went up in flames, my father didn't stop it. I didn't think he could have beaten his tall son.

“I'll give you 10 days to prepare. If you don't get the bride price, I'll kill you all!”

My brother's red eyes stared at my parents grimly, like demons from hell.

“We don’t have that much money even if you kill us!”

My mother crouched against the doorframe, crying at the top of her lungs.

“I don't care! Other parents have them, and you should have too!”

He dragged his girlfriend away after that.

Pain, fear and powerlessness were always on my mind during that time. I was beaten by my brother hard that I couldn't get out of bed. I spent every day shivering under the covers, afraid that he would come back and take my tuition and ruin my life.

After healing and just being able to get out of bed, my parents were suddenly kind to me. Not only did they count my brother's faults in front of me in various ways, they also bought me new clothes and praised me for my success. Since I was a child, I had never worn new clothes, and all over my body, were old clothes worn by my brother.

At that time, I was so naive as to think that my parents started to care for me. Maybe it was because I got into college, maybe it was because I was sensitive d and obeyed. In contrast to my brother, I became the good boy in my parents' eyes.

Looking at those new clothes, I fell to my knees and kowtowed to my mom and dad. How low I was in this family. As long as they were even the slightest bit nice to me, I could forget all the things they had done before.

“Dad, Mom, when I graduate from college, I'll definitely honor you and bring you to live in the city!”

Between sobs, I said this from the bottom of my heart.

My mother didn't hold back but cried.