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墨書 Inktalez
"Bro, where is your home?"
Kim Seongmin and Li Minho sat by the lake. Recently, after Li Minho started attending classes at the academy, they had less time to spend together. Finally, when the holiday came, after finishing their chores at home, they came to play here.
"In City A, it's not just my home, it's our home," said the 16-year-old Li Minho earnestly and longingly, as his features gradually opened up. His sharply defined facial contours were hard to ignore, and his words were deeply moving to Kim Seongmin, shining brightly in his eyes.
Li Minho has always told Kim Seongmin that their home is outside. Now Kim Seongmin knows that home is in City A.
"The scenery there is beautiful. By the way, Mom is also from City A. In the future, you will also be from City A."
Li Minho's smile appeared with City A, gently talking about the future with Kim Seongmin.
It was only then that Kim Seongmin realized that Xia Zhiruo was also from City A, and understood why they and their mother all felt out of place in this house, because the three of them were outsiders and never belonged to this family.
At that time, Kim Seongmin developed a fondness and expectation for City A, a city he had never met before. He believed that a city that could produce such good people as his mother and Li Minho must be a wonderful place.
"Will Mom go with us?"
Kim Seongmin thought of Xia Zhiruo and asked Li Minho with some difficulty.
The last time Li Minho secretly planned to climb over the mountain and escape with Kim Seongmin, the consequences were vividly remembered. Li Minho skipped class and started running with Kim Seongmin from the afternoon, the first attempt in six years. For this escape, Li Minho had prepared for a long time. Later, Kim Seongmin found a piece of paper under the bed, covered with various routes.
Maybe it's too simple to think about leaving here. By the time they crossed the mountain and reached the road, it was already evening.
Before Li Minho could find a way out with Kim Seongmin, they were caught by that man.
The result was that they were beaten up by that man, and their mother was also implicated.
The man blamed the mother and physically assaulted her.
"Can't survive or take care of them? You don't even know when the child runs away! How can you be a mother!"
Then, that person crippled the mother's leg, claiming it would allow her to stay at home and take care of the child.
The cruel scene with sharp pain emerged in front of Kim Seongmin, reminding him that they were the ones who harmed their mother.
Li Minho also showed a self-reproachful expression. He felt a closer connection to their mother than Kim Seongmin because they were both from City A, and his sense of guilt was also multiplied.
"Yes, Mom also really wants to go to City A..."
Li Minho patted Kim Seongmin's head, comforting him.
Kim Seongmin nodded, he had complete trust in Li Minho.
As time passed, they grew up. Every day, Li Minho would share the knowledge he learned in school with Kim Seongmin, and then they would plan together how to leave, and how to take their mother with them since she had trouble walking.
They are all waiting, waiting for an opportunity, waiting for the opportunity of without a hitch in a planned way.
However, accidents and tomorrow are eternal unknown challenges.
Kim Seongmin At the age of fifteen, when a young man was pulled out of the lake with his head covered, Kim Seongmin couldn't recognize him, but recognized the red string on his left wrist.
His mother held him, covering Kim Seongmin's eyes as if they were sleeping in separate rooms that year. His mother cried, which was the last time Kim Seongmin remembered her crying, and the last time he heard her call out Li Minho's name.
"That's not Minhao..... Minhao has returned to City A......"
The Red string bracelet was brought by Li Minho from City A, the first time Kim Seongmin met him, he was wearing it, with a bead on it, engraved with the word "min".
Li Minho also put the extra Red string bracelet on Kim Seongmin.
"Our names both have 'min' in them, so from now on, you are my little brother, and I will protect you."
Kim Seongmin's tears flowed down, allowing his mother to lead him home limping, from then on, they only had each other's home.
Li Minho did it, at the cost of never being able to return to City A.
"Seongmin, I heard you've been getting close to that Teacher Han recently?"
During dinner, Xia Zhiruo took the initiative to bring up a topic, maintaining a calm and casual demeanor as if discussing everyday matters.
Kim Seongmin paused in the middle of picking up food, then resumed without any apparent concern, responding as if nothing had happened.
"I've met a few times."
In this village, there is nothing that can be kept secret. Whatever you want to know, you will know, and whatever you want people to know, someone will naturally say it out loud.
"Don't get too close to him, he is a City residents."
Xia Zhiruo also didn't expose Kim Seongmin, just calmly reminded him.
Kim Seongmin looked up at Xia Zhiruo and the latter seemed completely indifferent to the outside world.
"Mom, he is from City A."
After some thought, Kim Seongmin decided to speak out this sentence. Xia Zhiruo's expression changed for a moment, then she just stuffed food into her mouth.
"It's none of my business."
Xia Zhiruo After swallowing her food, her tone was still as calm as usual. Five years had passed, and time had smoothed out her rough edges. She had learned how to survive here, as if she had already resigned herself to it.
Kim Seongmin Burying his head in his meal, his mother had given up everything from the past. As an orphan with nowhere to call home, he had nothing to hold onto.
If the mother stays here, then Kim Seongmin will stay here.
Five years ago, Kim Seongmin burned all the escape plans that were made. His mother couldn't leave, so he couldn't leave either.
"Seongmin, did I see the shoes you're wearing on Teacher Han's feet today?"
Returning to the silent dining table, Xia Zhiruo's murmured words sent a shiver through Kim Seongmin.
"Han Zhicheng came this morning?"
This afternoon, Han Zhicheng was with himself, so he must have come in the morning. But doesn't Han Zhicheng have class in the morning? Kim Seongmin looked at Xia Zhiruo in confusion.
"He brought a few books and I put them in your room," Xia Zhiruo said, setting down her chopsticks and looking at Kim Seongmin.
Kim Seongmin was stunned. Han Zhicheng actually went to great lengths to come and deliver the book. How much did he find out about himself?
Kim Seongmin didn't go to school. Back then, only one person in the family could afford to go to school, and that man sent Li Minho to study. But Kim Seongmin didn't miss out on anything. Li Minho would teach him every day when he came home. Perhaps this is the place where they are most grateful to him, and also the place where they hate him the most.
Li Minho left, and Xia Zhiruo spontaneously began teaching Kim Seongmin, spending money to buy books from the village until Kim Seongmin reached adulthood.
When Kim Seongmin grew up, he felt that being able to read was enough, and that it was useless to learn too much in this place, so he stopped his mother from spending money.
Kim Seongmin nodded, thinking about thanking Han Zhicheng tomorrow.
As for the pair of shoes mentioned by his mother, Kim Seongmin naturally noticed them.
"When your brother first came, he was wearing shoes similar to the ones he's wearing now."
Xia Zhiruo's mouth lifted into a smile, recalling the past with a calm and peaceful heart, without using "that kid" to refer to Li Minho.
Kim Seongmin was somewhat surprised as he looked at Xia Zhiruo. It had been so many years, yet his mother still remembered what kind of shoes Li Minho had worn for the first time.
For the past five years, his mother had avoided mentioning Li Minho and that man's affairs. It wasn't until today, when she saw Han Zhicheng wearing a pair of shoes similar to those in her memories, that she actively brought up the past, leaving Kim Seongmin with only a partial understanding of what had happened.
"Do you know? When your brother first arrived, those shoes were very eye-catching. Even people from the countryside could tell they were expensive. They all praised that idiot for finding your brother and you two boys..."
"Kim Seongmin also remembers Li Minho's shoes, they looked like a famous brand. Seeing Han Zhicheng's shoes made it even more certain. After so many years, the logo hasn't changed at all."
The first time Kim Seongmin met Li Minho, he could tell that Li Minho came from a well-off family, just by looking at his attire and demeanor.
And those shoes that Li Minho seemed to cherish, spotless and shiny. But they disappeared on the second day, and Li Minho kept asking about their whereabouts, only to be beaten by that man for the first time.
"That pair of shoes was sold by that scoundrel, and he came back proudly to tell me that he sold the seemingly worthless shoes for a hundred in town. In fact, those shoes are worth more than a hundred. He thinks everyone is ignorant, selling shoes that originally cost over a thousand for a hundred, and later he even sold your and your brother's clothes. At that time, I realized that a person's character doesn't change no matter how long it's been, especially for someone uneducated."
Xia Zhiruo sneered at the man's misdeeds, shook her head, and ended with a sarcastic laugh.
Kim Seongmin I understand why my mother was so hands-on with his studies. After all, my mother was originally a university student from the city, and her knowledge naturally surpasses that of the man who never went to school, knowing what can determine a person's life.
"Your brother was always stubborn back then, with a temper as tough as a bull's. He wouldn't cry out in pain even when beaten, only when it came to you, would he soften. Every time I went to apply medicine for him, he always said to me..."
Xia Zhiruo choked up at this point, took a deep breath, and continued, "He said, 'Mom, don't worry. I'm not in pain. I will protect you and Xiaomin.'"
Thinking of the heavily wounded Li Minho, he held himself tightly in his arms, and Kim Seongmin's heart began to ache as if it were being twisted. Time has passed, but the pain still remains.
"I still remember the day he came home, smiling happily, and told me, 'Mom, I got first place in the exam...'"
Xia Zhiruo's eyes turned red and she stopped speaking. Kim Seongmin helped her back to her room.
If only that experience could be stopped and remembered like it is now, then Li Minho could continue to accompany Kim Seongmin, and Mom wouldn't feel as hopeless, with no expectations left.
Kim Seongmin leaned against the sealed wall, touching the Red string bracelet, tears dropping onto the beads.
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