A Fragile Bond Forged in the Fires of Betrayal Chapter 3

For the next year, Liam Tang thought he would never see Ethan Yang again.

For a 5-year-old child, a year is a long time, enough to forget everything that happened a year ago. But a year later, Liam Tang still remembered Ethan Yang.

In the summer when he was 6 years old, Liam Tang met Ethan Yang again.

The black car stopped downstairs, and Liam Tang was led downstairs by Grace Tang. He didn't cry that time, he obediently climbed to the back seat of the car, sat upright and said goodbye to Grace Tang.

Grace Tang bought him some very nice clothes: a gray plaid vest over a white shirt and a small bow tie around his neck. He looked like a little prince.

When Alexander Yang took him upstairs, a neighbor saw him and said in surprise: "Wow, where did such a good-looking little boy come from?"

Alexander Yang just smiled and said perfunctorily: "My colleague is on a business trip, so my child is staying here with me for a few days."

Ethan Yang went out to play, and when Alexander Yang called him back, he was dirty. Liam Tang was sitting on the sofa looking at him awkwardly, afraid that he would not remember him.

As soon as Ethan Yang saw Liam Tang, he rushed over and pinched his face with his two dirty hands. Liam Tang did not dodge and let him pinch him with a smile.

Ethan Yang was already in elementary school and had to do his summer homework, one piece of paper per day. He didn't like to write, so he pushed it to Jun He, who was still in kindergarten, and even called it teaching him to read. Tang Jun He didn't resist, and held the pencil tightly in his little hand, writing carefully for him stroke by stroke.

Ethan Yang tilted his head to watch him write, and suddenly said as if he had discovered a new world: "So you also use your left hand!"

Jun He clenched the pencil tighter and looked at Ethan Yang anxiously: "Is this not okay?"

"Who said I can't? I use my left hand too," Ethan Yang said nonchalantly, "The teacher insisted that I change, but I won't."

Jun He was relieved, and said with a firm face: "Then I won't change it either."

The next day, Ethan Yang called his friends and a group of his friends and went to the river to play.

When he reached the shallows of the river, he carried a small bucket in his left hand and a fishing net in his right hand. He rolled up his trouser legs and was about to go into the water to catch fish. Before going into the water, he turned around and asked Liam Tang if he wanted to join him.

Liam Tang shook his head and refused. He was a little afraid of water. He squatted on the shore and lifted a stone to look at the crabs. When the stone was lifted, the small crabs hiding underneath waved their eight legs and ran very fast. He found it interesting and wanted to catch one to show Ethan Yang. He spotted a small crab and reached out to catch it. The small crab waved its claws to scratch him. He retracted his hand and looked at the little creature with bared teeth and claws. He didn't dare to do it for a while, and followed the small crab to the river.

An older boy looked at Jun He running towards him with a crouched back, bent down with malicious intent to pick up the little river crab, and refused to give it to him no matter what.

Jun He hurriedly tried to grab it, but the boy deliberately refused to give it to him. Relying on his height advantage, he raised his arms high and pretended to crush the little crab to death.

Jun He jumped to pull his arm, but the boy reached out to push him and accidentally used too much force, causing Jun He to fall onto the beach.

The shallow beach extending into the sea was slightly inclined, and as soon as Jun He's B*tt touched the ground, he rolled down the slope. His forehead hit the sharp stones protruding from the seashore, and his body was submerged by the rushing river water, and he disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Help, help ---" the boy who got into trouble shouted in panic, "Someone fell into the water!"

Fortunately, there was an adult who was fishing nearby. He quickly jumped into the water and pulled Liam Tang out of the water, thus preventing anyone from being killed.

Thanks to being fished out in time, Liam Tang only choked on the water twice, and the rest of his body was fine.

After being rescued, he did not burst into tears immediately. Instead, he curled up into a small ball as if he was frightened. He stared blankly at the water surface which had returned to calm again, and cried silently.

"It's okay, it's okay," the uncle who pulled him out of the water touched his wet head and comforted him. He turned to look at the boy who got into trouble and said, "It's dangerous for such a young child to play by the river. Don't you have an adult with you?"

The boy was also frightened and tried to get rid of his responsibility by saying, "He insisted on snatching the crab from me!"

A boy nearby rushed to say, "He has an older brother with him. He is Ethan Yang's younger brother. I'll go call Brother Ethan Yang over!" After saying that, he ran in another direction, calling Ethan Yang loudly as he ran.

Ethan Yang was concentrating on fishing with his trouser legs rolled up, and was completely unaware of the turmoil happening fifty meters away.

"Brother Ethan Yang! Brother Ethan Yang!" The child who ran over breathlessly called his name repeatedly, and when he got closer, he shouted in panic, "Brother Ethan Yang, your brother fell into the water!"

"Ah?" Ethan Yang didn't hear clearly, he straightened up and looked at the boy running towards him.

"Your brother..." the boy shouted breathlessly, "Your brother just fell into the water!"

Ethan Yang was stunned for a moment. His head buzzed. The hand holding the red bucket loosened its grip. With a thud, all the small fish, shrimps and crabs he had just caught fell back into the water. He didn't care about that and asked loudly, "Did you rescue them? How did they fall into the water?"

"Hurry up and take a look!" The boy who ran closer bent over and supported his knees to look at him, gasping for breath, and said anxiously.

Ethan Yang hurriedly stepped on the water and got ashore, not even bothering to put on his shoes, and ran back.

"Brother!" Before Ethan Yang ran close, his voice came from far away, "Are you okay?"

Liam Tang was lowering his head and wiping his tears silently. When he heard Ethan Yang's voice, he raised his tearful face and looked at Ethan Yang who was running towards him from a distance. It was as if a switch in his body was suddenly triggered, and he burst into tears.

There was a small cut on his forehead, and blood was oozing out, flowing down his fair and tender face, looking a little scary.

Ethan Yang knew at a glance that his brother was being bullied. He clenched his fists, stared at the group of little boys who were watching the fun, and shouted loudly, "Who bullied him?!"

Someone immediately pointed at the boy and said, "He pushed your brother down."

"It wasn't me!" the boy protested. "He insisted--"

Before he could finish his words, Ethan Yang had already gathered all his strength and rushed forward, pushing him back two steps. Before he could stand firm, Ethan Yang bent his arm again and swung it hard at his chest, knocking him to the ground. He raised his foot and was about to kick the boy, but the adults next to him quickly pulled him away and said, "Don't hit him, he didn't mean it."

"He did it on purpose," Ethan Yang struggled to get rid of the adult's hand, "I must beat him to death!"

"Your brother's forehead is bleeding. You should take him to the hospital," the adult advised calmly. "Otherwise, the wound will get infected, which will be terrible. Stop the beating."

Ethan Yang reluctantly stopped, took Liam Tang's hand, pointed at the boy sitting on the ground and said, "Wait for Nathan Zhang."

The child was a little bit older, but his tone was vicious, and his chest heaved with anger, which made the adult next to him want to laugh but didn't dare to, for fear that the child would jump over and fight with him. The child's fists were not big, but his desperate posture looked very serious.

Ethan Yang held his brother's hand, thanked the man, asked for the direction of the hospital, and led Liam Tang to the hospital. Before leaving, he did not forget to glare at the boy fiercely.

Jun He took the tissue given by the adult, covered the wound on his forehead with it, and sobbed quietly behind him.

"Does it hurt?" After walking for a while, Ethan Yang stopped, took Jun He's hand away, looked down at the small cut and asked.

"A little bit." Jun He said.

Ethan Yang blew twice on the small wound: "It will stop hurting if you blow on it. We'll be at the hospital soon."

It was almost dusk and the wind was blowing. Liam Tang had just rolled in the water and was soaked from head to toe. When the wind blew, he shivered violently.

"Are you cold?" Ethan Yang turned and looked at him and asked.

"A little bit," Liam Tang stopped crying and said sensibly, "Let's walk quickly. If we walk faster, we won't feel cold anymore."

"Take off your clothes." Ethan Yang said, pulling the wet T-shirt on Liam Tang.

Liam Tang's eyes were wet from crying. He looked at his brother like a puppy and asked in confusion: "Why?"

Ethan Yang didn't say anything, but just pulled his clothes and urged him to take them off quickly.

Liam Tang didn't take it off because he didn't want to walk naked on the street.

Ethan Yang was a little anxious. He grabbed Jun He's arm roughly and helped him take off his clothes without saying anything. Then he pulled his T-shirt off his head and put it on Jun He's head, saying, "Wear mine."

"Then what are you wearing?" Jun He grabbed Ethan Yang's clothes, put them around his neck, and asked him.

"I'll wear yours. I'm hot." Ethan Yang said, and in the blink of an eye he put Jun He's clothes on himself.

Liam Tang was a head shorter than him, so the clothes were naturally more than one size smaller. Ethan Yang put them on with great difficulty, and the T-shirt became a belly-baring top, revealing a portion of his white belly.

Liam Tang was amused by his appearance and watched him giggle endlessly.

"Hurry up and put on yours," Ethan Yang grabbed his arm and stuffed him into his T-shirt. He then reached out and hit him on the head, saying fiercely, "Don't laugh."

"Brother, why are you so good to me?" Liam Tang put on Ethan Yang's clothes and said from the bottom of his heart, "I wish you were my real brother."

Ethan Yang took his hand and said casually: "I am your brother."

After arriving at the hospital, Ethan Yang led Liam Tang into the lobby and looked around in confusion.

A young nurse noticed the two children in strange clothes and walked over to ask, "What's wrong with you kids? Are you looking for someone?"

"My brother is injured," Ethan Yang took away Liam Tang's hand that was covering his forehead, "his forehead was broken."

"Oh, so much blood has been lost," the nurse said distressedly when she saw the blood-stained tissue in Jun He's hand, "Come, come, sister will find a doctor to bandage you."

Ethan Yang accompanied Liam Tang to the children's ward and watched the doctor start to treat his wound. He quietly pulled the corner of the nurse's clothes and whispered, "Sister, I didn't bring any money. I'm going back to get it. Can you help me look after my brother?"

He spoke like a little adult, and the nurse found it interesting. She nodded and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I will take care of your brother."

The hospital was two kilometers away from home. Ethan Yang ran back quickly without daring to rest for even a second. When he got home, he took out his little bear piggy bank, held it in his arms and ran back without even having time to change his clothes.

When he ran back to the hospital panting, his clothes were almost dry. Jun He bandaged his wound and sat in the seat assigned to him by the nurse to wait for his brother. He was a little sleepy and was dozing off against the wall.

When the nurse saw Ethan Yang coming back, she came over to tease him: "Why are you wearing such small clothes?"

"These are his clothes," Ethan Yang pointed at Liam Tang in the corner, "He fell into the water and his clothes are wet. Sister, how much do I have to pay?" He unscrewed the head of the piggy bear bank and took out a stack of money from it.

"Why do you carry so much money?" The nurse looked at the rolled-up 100-yuan bill in his hand and quickly pulled Ethan Yang aside. "Hide it quickly, or someone will snatch it away if they see it."

"No one dares to rob me." Ethan Yang said fearlessly.

Seeing that he was young but had a rather arrogant tone, the nurse asked with a suppressed smile, "Is that your brother?"

Ethan Yang nodded.

The nurse took him to pay the money and teased him on the way: "Your brother just lost a lot of blood and needs a blood transfusion. We are out of blood here. What do you think we should do?"

Ethan Yang looked back at Jun He with doubt: "Hasn't he been bandaged?"

"Even after the bandage is done, you still need a blood transfusion," the nurse said to him seriously, "You see he is listless and dozing off. Are you willing to donate your blood to your brother?"

Ethan Yang raised his arm without hesitation and said, "Lose. I have a lot of blood. I can give him half."

"I was kidding." The nurse covered her mouth and laughed, "Why are you so cute?"

Ethan Yang was not angry and corrected her: "I am not cute, I am handsome, my brother is cute."

That night, Alexander Yang saw the thick gauze on Liam Tang's forehead. After asking him the reason, he pressed Ethan Yang's neck and his B*tt and beat him without explanation. While beating him, he asked him: "Are you going to play by the river again in the future? You have grown up, and I won't let you go, and you dare to take your brother with you!"

Ethan Yang didn't say anything, and he stiffened his neck and refused to cry. After being beaten, he didn't even eat two bites of dinner, and went back to his room to sulk, and no one knew what he was angry about.

As soon as he left, Jun He lost his mood to eat. He kept looking back, his mind flying from the food to the closed door.

Alexander Yang put some food into Liam Tang's bowl and said, "Don't worry about him. Why should we eat after he made a mistake? Come on Liam Tang, let's eat ours and eat more."

Liam Tang lowered his head and muttered, "It wasn't my brother who wanted to take me to the river. I insisted that he take me there."

Alexander Yang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He didn't expect that these two sons, who had not spent a total of 20 days together since they were born, had learned to blame each other. He patted Jun He's head and said, "Do you like your brother?"

Jun He nodded: "I like it."

Alexander Yang lowered his voice again and asked, "Do you like daddy?"

Jun He looked up at him with a look of resistance. Alexander Yang's heart suddenly turned cold. It turned out that his youngest son knew that he was his father, but he just didn't want to acknowledge him.

He held on to a glimmer of hope and whispered to Jun He, "Call me daddy, and I'll take you to the river to play tomorrow and buy you a Transformer, okay?"

Jun He shook his head without hesitation.

Alexander Yang sighed.

Liam Tang put his chopsticks on the dining table and said, "I'm full." Then he jumped off the chair, walked to the closed door, pushed it open, walked in, and then closed the door again.

Ethan Yang was lying on the wooden floor playing with Lego, looking depressed. He didn't even look up when he heard Jun He walk in.

Liam Tang came over, lay down beside him, called him brother in a low voice, and said sorry.

Ethan Yang pouted and said, "What do you have to be sorry for?"

Liam Tang said: "You got beaten by your father."

"I made you bleed a lot, so we're even now."

Liam Tang had nothing to say and silently accompanied Ethan Yang in building Lego.

"Will your father beat you?" Ethan Yang asked suddenly.

"I don't have a father," Liam Tang said. "I only have a mother, Grace Tang, and she would beat me, too."

His tone was so casual that Ethan Yang didn't realize that not having a father was a serious matter. He just repeated Grace Tang's name and commented: "Grace Tang... your mother's name is easier to remember than yours."

Alexander Yang had a weekend off, so he took his two kids to the amusement park to play for a day. While he was waiting bored, the ticket seller came over and said to him, "Are those your two sons? How old are they?"

Alexander Yang said: "The older one is 7 years old, and the younger one is 6 years old."

"You're really good-looking," the man said with some envy, "You look like a very good-looking person, with good genes, I can't envy you enough."

Alexander Yang was a man of many appearances, but his innermost being was extremely deceptive. He modestly said "No way, no way" when he heard this, but he was actually very happy. When his two sons came running over, he was so proud that he took one of them by the hand and took them to the mall and bought them two identical pieces of clothing.

Wearing a denim jacket with a plaid shirt and baseball bats on their heads, the two little guys all had a H!p-hop style. Alexander Yang followed behind, watching his two sons, one big and one small, running and playing in front, and all the depression in his heart over the past few days was swept away.

Because of these two identical pieces of clothing, Liam Tang never saw Ethan Yang again for the next ten years.

The sky was slightly overcast that afternoon, and cumulonimbus clouds gathered on the horizon, slowly moving westward with the wind direction. It was not difficult to imagine that there would be a torrential rain.

Ethan Yang was teaching Liam Tang how to fold a paper airplane in the living room. At first, Liam Tang didn't want him to teach him, and snatched the paper away, saying he could fold it himself. He quickly folded a paper airplane, using the simplest folding method.

"Look, I can fold it." He put the paper airplane in his palm and took it to Ethan Yang to show off.

"Oh," Ethan Yang said without even looking at it, "I know 12 kinds. I wanted to teach you, but since you can fold them, forget it."

Liam Tang looked at the piece of paper in Ethan Yang's hand, which he folded over and over again until it turned into a very impressive airplane. Ethan Yang took the paper airplane, blew on it twice, raised his arm with confidence, and threw it far away.

The paper plane flew up, very high and far, and flew out of the window.

"Wow---" Liam Tang was stunned, and pulled Ethan Yang's arm and begged him, "Brother, teach me."

"Didn't you say you could?" Ethan Yang raised his chin and looked at him.

"I can't," Liam Tang said honestly, "and those people in the kindergarten can't either."

"I know it," Ethan Yang said with a hint of boasting, "Come on, I'll teach you."

He taught Liam Tang step by step, letting him fold it with his own hands, and was very patient throughout the process. Liam Tang was also very smart, and he learned it after only one teaching. He took the folded paper airplane and imitated Ethan Yang, blowing twice on the tail of the airplane, raising his arms high, and posing.

There was a sudden sound of crackling from the door lock outside. Liam Tang kept moving and turned to ask Ethan Yang: "Who's here?"

"Who else could it be? My dad," Ethan Yang said. "Don't worry, just throw it away."

Liam Tang threw the paper plane out.

The moment it was thrown out, the door of the house was pushed open, and a tall and thin woman walked in.

The paper airplane flew straight forward and hit the woman, who caught it and held it in her hand.

Liam Tang hadn't reacted yet and was staring blankly at the sudden stranger. Ethan Yang shouted "Mom" excitedly, then jumped off the sofa regardless of anything and rushed forward into his mother's arms.

Many years later, Liam Tang's memory of that scene was already very vague. He only remembered that the woman was very tall and beautiful, but her face was sickly and she always looked unhappy.

He remembered that the woman came over and asked him his name, who his father and mother were, how old he was, where his home was, where he went to school, and how many days he had been here.

When she asked these questions, there was no expression on her face and her voice was gentle, but Jun He felt a sense of fear for no reason.

"Mom, please stop asking," Ethan Yang said coquettishly, lying on the sofa with his head resting on her legs, "Why are you asking these questions?"

"Go to the study and do your homework," the woman said, still speaking softly, "Mom has some questions for your brother."

"I don't," Ethan Yang said, "I don't like doing homework." As he said this, the woman grabbed his arm, led him to the study room next door, and locked him in.

Liam Tang remembered that after he answered those questions, the woman took out a cell phone from a bag beside her, walked to the windowsill, and yelled something into the phone excitedly, frequently mentioning Alexander Yang's name.

Liam Tang also remembered that when the woman walked out, her face was full of tears, just like the way his mother Grace Tang cried.

It started raining outside. The raindrops hit the window fiercely, making a crackling sound, as dense as the beats of high-spirited drums, as if foreshadowing the next variation.

Not long after, Alexander Yang hurried back, his whole body was soaked by the rain, his hair on his forehead was wet and tangled, and he looked a little embarrassed. There was a very intense argument between them, or maybe it wasn't an argument, just one person was arguing hysterically, and the other was evasive and evasive.

Liam Tang didn't understand what was going on. He huddled in the corner of the sofa, even breathing carefully.

He heard a fierce knock on the study door. Ethan Yang was shouting "Dad" and "Mom" loudly from inside, his voice breaking. He could imagine Ethan Yang's anxious look at the door, but he didn't dare to go over and open the door for him.

That afternoon, Liam Tang was sent back home. Perhaps because he was frightened, he had a high fever when he was sent to Grace Tang.

He didn't remember Grace Tang's expression at the time, nor did he remember what she said. He just vaguely felt that Grace Tang seemed to be crying, because it seemed that there were cold tears falling on his hot forehead, making him shiver.

Later, when Liam Tang went to primary school and learned idioms, he understood that what happened that afternoon was called "the incident came to light".

The last touch of color that Ethan Yang brought to his childhood was stained with patches by the overwhelming rain that afternoon, and the raging fever added a layer of blurry filter. Looking back, although it was not very clear, it was beautiful and extremely tempting.