3

There has always been a large and bright room upstairs that has been empty. My parents once said that it was prepared for guests. It was not until now that I realized that it was actually reserved for my unborn younger brother.

When I returned to my small room, I couldn't hold back my tears.

I have lived a life of humiliation for so many years, endured severe pain and went through so many operations, but they still think this is what I should do.

Whenever I wanted to slow down because I was afraid of the pain, I hoped my mother could give me some comfort.

She would only accuse me of not being sensible enough, and even scold me:

"If you hadn't said you wanted a younger brother, why would I have given birth to a second child? Now that your younger brother is born, why do you not care about him?"

I clenched my fists, determined to escape from this den of pain.

After careful consideration, I finally realized a cruel fact: my parents don’t actually love me.

From the moment I was born, I have never received special care. My mother's teachings to me always revolve around being sensible, thrifty, and obedient, requiring me not to be naughty and to be like a lady.

Therefore, I never dared to express my true needs, except when I was three years old and cried for a rabbit doll.

My mother slapped me in the street and threw me directly in front of the stall, leaving me crying there for the whole morning.

It was not until my father showed up that he bought me the rabbit doll and said to me earnestly:

" Mom didn't go to work to take care of you, and Dad worked hard to support the family alone. The price of this rabbit is enough for us to buy a pound of braised pork. Don't blame mom. Mom just hopes you can be more sensible."

I was three years old and didn’t understand anything. When I heard this, I thought my family was so poor that we couldn’t even make ends meet. So I cried and apologized to my mother, and promised that I would never ask for any toys again.

However, in fact, one of my mother's skirts is worth thousands of dollars, the cigarettes my father smokes every day are also high-end products, and after my little brother was born, he bought new toys every month.

My family would not be in trouble just because of a little rabbit doll worth a dozen dollars that I wanted.

They just don't want to spend money on me, nor do they want to give me love.