“Thank you, brother. This is the first time I’ve said the word thank you to you in so many years, and probably the last time. Our father died early. Mother worked from dawn to dusk for the sake of us. Although she worked hard to earn money, she was still a woman and had to take care of us both, so our living conditions were not good.”
“I’ll always remember, when I was about five years old, when I saw the other people buy ice cream in the grocery store in our building, I asked you to buy me an ice cream, crying, but, you didn’t have a penny, then, you secretly waited in the store doorway. Finally the store owner left, you ran into the store and stole an ice cream for me, but you was caught before you had gone out, so you were beat hard by the owner and locked in the store, until mom came back in the evening, mom paid the money and took you back. When you came back, mother beat you with a stick, and you were covered in blood. I remember from the beginning to the end you never said a word in defence, only that you wanted it for yourself.”
“I know you would never have done that for yourself. If you hadn’t loved me and wanted me to eat ice cream, you wouldn’t have stolen it.”
“You were thirteen years old. I was seven. On the first day I went to school, you and mom sent me to the new school together, others were wearing a new bag. Only I was wearing a sewing bag made with rags that cannot be used anymore. After Mother sent me, she went to work, only you a person was at home. And I ran back only after a class, you asked me why I came back. I said the other people all had a new schoolbag, only I carried an ugly bag, they all laughed at me. I told you, if I didn’t have a new schoolbag I won’t go to school.”
“After that, you told me to stay at home by myself and don’t go anywhere until you come back. I had been at home and waited until dark, when you came back your body was smelly and black, but you carried a new schoolbag in hand. I later learned that you collected waste in a garbage lump for a whole day, and then sold the wasted for money to buy me a bag.”
“When I was eight years old, you were 16 years old and graduated from junior high school. We were getting poorer and poorer, mom was sick, she asked to stop one year in school, saved money for you to study in high school, because you had good exam achievement, and good enough to study in the best high school. But you didn’t want me to drop out of school, and you didn’t want mom to be so tired. No matter how she beat you, you said you hated school and didn’t want to go to school. In fact, I knew that you had always loved to read and enjoyed school, but you just didn’t want me to drop out.”
“When I continued to go to school, you worked in a construction site in the east of the City. I’ll always remember, every Friday night, when you came home, you would carry in your hand a few of my favorite fruit mango and some pork. Mango was for me and pork was for mother, because so many years, mother had never had a meal of meat. And you always left when you gave us everything and money, and every time you came back you got hurt. ”
“Then, when you were eighteen, you went into the army and never came back, but you sent your salary home every month. I can’t imagine how mother and I would have lived without your salary. Without your salary, I couldn’t have gone to school until College.”
“I remember when I was in college you wrote to mother and me that you had become a colonel. I asked someone and looked it up myself on the Internet. The colonel was a very big official, they said, it was as big as a county magistrate. A few months ago, you came back, you said retired because of your age. Then I checked on the Internet and I knew you are lying, you are a leader in your troops and you would not get retired. You were not a volunteer, I know you left the army because you worried about me, so you forgave up your own future and came back to take care of me.”
“I knew that you were doing security work, I saw your security suit once, and then I specially called a car to follow you to the warehouse where you were. You don’t want me to know the fact, so I pretended that I didn’t know about it, but I really was depressed. Brother, why do you do so much for me? Don’t you know you’ve ruined your whole life for me?”
“I kept telling myself that I would study hard and then work hard. Someday, when I was rich, I would support you. I would let you live in a big house and drive a nice car, and then you would marry a beautiful wife and have a cute son. But I don’t know if I can wait till then.”
“Brother, in fact, you and mother felt sorry for me that you let me be born in such a family. You felt guilty to me, in fact you are wrong. I never felt wronged but happy, because I had you and mother. If there was an afterlife, I want me to be your brother, you to be my sister, I will take care of you, raise you, repay your kindness to me in this life. Brother, I love you. If I do die this time, I hope you will not be sad. I hope you will be happy. I hope I will be able to see you get married. I hope I will be able to see you have a son, but I do not know now if I can see it.”
“Brother, if I really die, you must be good to yourself, find a good woman to get married and have children. Your happiness is my biggest wish, is also the biggest wish before mother died. She said to me personally that her biggest regret is that she cannot see you get married and have children before she die.”
“Brother, promise me, after I did, you must not live for others, but to live for yourself, ok? You promise me that you will be happy.” Frost said while crying and looking at Carl firmly.