Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Shen Yijun could not think straight when she started to panic. She tilted her head down and thought of an idea as she glanced over to her daughter. She grabbed Xia Ruoxin’s small hand in haste and put it in front of the doctor.
“Xuanxuan, look. It won’t hurt. Even your sister is doing it.” She pulled at Xia Ruoxin’s arm as she said it while the little girl, on the other hand, struggled out of her grasp.
“This child is not sick. Why do you want me to draw her blood?” The doctor gave the little girl a strange look. But Shen Yijun had sent her some stern look and warnings, and so he held Xia Ruoxin’s thin elbow against the table.
“Mummy, can I not do this, too? I’m scared…” She started pulling on Shen Yijun’s blouse. She squeezed her tiny frame in fear.
“Yijun, you don’t have to do this. Right?” Even Xia Mingzheng couldn’t bear to look at her.
“Draw…” Shen Yijun hardened herself. She went over and took over Xia Yixuan, “Look, your sister has already done it.”
The doctor gave a sigh of frustration. Even the mother did not feel sorry about putting her daughter through such stress, so why should he?
Xia Ruoxin bit her tiny lips as she looked at the syringe. For the little girl, the needle seemed thicker than her arm. She managed to stifle a cry of pain when it finally pricked her tiny elbow. Tears only started to flow down her eyes when she lowered her head.
“Mummy, It’s painful for me… .”
She stole a peek at her mother. All she saw was her mother coaxing Xia Yixuan. She had not even looked in her direction.
“Xuanxuan, did you see that? She doesn’t feel the pain. Drawing blood is not painful at all.” Shen Yijun kept talking to her and reassurred her in a soothing voice.
Not painful. Not painful?
“That was not right. Mummy… it really hurts.”
She was not sick but she had to let the doctor draw a huge tube of blood. Because she was older, she had to set an example for her little sister.
It was Xia Yixuan’s turn. When the needle from the syringe pierced her blood vessel, she wailed in pain. Daddy was comforting her and mummy was crying.
All the while, Xia Ruoxin stood there alone. For the first time, she really felt she was unwanted.
That year, Xia Yixuan was five and Xia Ruoxin was six.
“I don’t want a bald head. No.” Xia Yixuan looked at her shiny ball of a head. She hit Shen Yijun hard. “Mummy, I hate this look. It is so ugly. I don’t want to see anyone.”
Because she was sick, she needed to shave her head bald and it made her look ugly. She was raging in jealousy as she glared at Xia Ruoxin who stood at the side as if flaunting her shiny dark hair that reached her waist.
Shen Yijun closed her eyes. Her eyes dimmed as if she had made a decision.
“Mummy… ” As they stood in front of the mirror, Xia Ruoxin pulled at her mother’s blouse and she refused to let go. She used so much force that her blood vessels could be seen protruding on her hand. “Mummy, please don’t cut my hair. Please? I’ll be good. I won’t show myself in front of sister.”
Shen Yijun picked up a pair of scissors from the table. She hardened herself mentally and cut her daughter’s hair off without an ounce of sympathy for her.
“Mummy… why?” Xia Ruoxin looked at all of her hair that had fallen on the floor. Her eyes were a blur as it was brimmed with tears. And as she lowered her head, she allowed the tears to flow. One after the other the tears fell as if they were raindrops hitting the ground. As far as she could remember, she never once cut her hair and had it ever since. But just like that, it was gone.
And her mother had shaved her bald just so her sister had company.
Now bald, she stood in front of Xia Mingzheng and his daughter. Xia Yixuan laughed happily while Xia Mingzheng pulled his wife aside with guilt. It was on that day that he also decided to treat Xia Ruoxin even better in the future.
Xia Ruoxin’s eyes reddened as she walked out. She did not even dare to look at herself in the mirror. Any little girl at aged six would have wanted to look beautiful. Moreover, she had already started school at that age.