Difficult To Raise Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Storm

During dinner, Jiang Jin picked at the rice in his bowl and suddenly asked quietly, “Brother, do we still have money?”

Jiang Ran looked at his younger brother’s innocent face, his throat tightening. He managed a smile. “You don’t need to worry about money. Your Grandpa Chen still has some savings. You just focus on your studies, understand?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his head, not daring to look into Jiang Jin’s eyes. He didn’t even know if that sentence was meant to comfort his brother or himself.

Deep into the night, Jiang Jin was fast asleep. Jiang Ran sat on the Living Room sofa, using the moonlight filtering through the window to open the bankbook again.

He sighed softly. In this moment, Jiang Ran understood better than anyone. He couldn’t blame anyone; he could only blame fate for being too cruel to them.

*

That day, when Jiang Ran returned from High School, he saw Old Man Chen sitting alone, holding a family photo and silently weeping. He had never seen Old Man Chen cry before; in his eyes, the old man had always been stubborn, persistent, and resolute.

Jiang Ran froze instantly, standing at the doorway for a long time without making a sound.

Old Man Chen heard the footsteps and looked up, seeing Jiang Ran. He opened his mouth and finally called out with profound sadness, “Little Ran.”

Jiang Ran forced a smile, took a few steps forward, and sat beside Old Man Chen, asking, “Grandpa Chen, are you missing your family?”

Old Man Chen nodded and touched the photo again, seemingly pulled into distant memories. His cloudy eyes blurred, and faint tears shimmered within them. After a long while, he spoke in a hoarse voice, “Little Ran, I know I’ve wronged you. This child of mine has had it too hard. I originally thought I should just leave and not burden you, but… but looking at these photos, I regretted it. I promised them I would live well. I… I… I truly am useless.”

Jiang Ran lowered his gaze, his heart aching as if pricked by needles. “It’s not your fault. Living well is how you make it up to me. I… I’ll be fine. I can get through this.”

“Little Ran…” Old Man Chen hugged him, crying like a child despite his age, repeatedly muttering, “I’ve wronged you, I’ve wronged you. What will become of you, child? What will you do?”

Jiang Ran was also deeply distressed. He couldn’t speak anymore, but he absolutely couldn’t cry, because crying wouldn’t solve anything—a lesson he had fully grasped recently.

After helping Old Man Chen eat, Jiang Ran returned to his own home. He thought it over. Given Old Man Chen’s condition, someone had to take care of him, but he couldn’t afford a caregiver. Running between school and home all day wasn’t sustainable either. Finally, after much deliberation, he decided to take a leave of absence from school.

He accepted his fate; he wouldn’t pursue his studies for now.

Fate was so cruel to him, and he wanted to see just how many more terrible things awaited him. He was turning eighteen soon, an adult, and he refused to believe he couldn’t handle it.

I accept my fate, but I won’t admit defeat, Jiang Ran thought, gritting his teeth. Let the fiercest storm come. Nothing in this world is more terrifying than death.

A surge of defiance swelled in the young man’s heart. He felt that nothing could defeat him, and he could accept any misfortune.

He found time to process his leave of absence. His teacher was regretful and talked to him for a long time, but his mind was made up. He insisted on taking time off to care for his family. The teacher, unable to sway him, processed the paperwork.

As he was leaving the school, the kind-hearted teacher couldn’t help but repeatedly urge him not to give up and to return to school to finish his studies when he had the chance.

Finally, even after Jiang Ran had walked out of the office, she chased after him and said earnestly, “I’ll be waiting for you at school. If the day comes when you want to return to your studies, come find me. I will definitely find a way to help you.”

Jiang Ran nodded in agreement. He felt both gratitude and respect for this teacher.

The weather that day was beautiful, sunny and bright. The campus was filled with the noisy chatter of students; everything felt so familiar and wonderful. Jiang Ran walked out slowly, his heart filled with an unidentifiable mix of regret and relief.

When he reached the school gate, Jiang Ran turned to take one last look at the school, only to see a figure rushing towards him. He was startled, and when he recognized the person, it was He Qian.

“Jiang Ran,” He Qian called out, panting heavily. “Wait a minute, I… I need to talk to you.”

Jiang Ran stood still, feeling a little lost.

“Why are you dropping out?” He Qian stared at him, asking directly.

Jiang Ran pursed his lips and spoke with difficulty. “Qianzi, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“Don’t change the subject. Tell me why.”

He Qian’s face was slightly flushed, either from running too fast or from anger. “We’re friends. Is there anything you can’t tell me? At worst… at worst, we can figure something out together. If all else fails, I can go back and beg my dad. Is it really necessary to drop out?”

Jiang Ran remained silent. He didn’t know how to answer He Qian’s question. He hadn’t revealed anything about his situation to his former good friend. Out of youthful pride, he hadn’t even invited him over to his house once.

He knew that with his family’s situation, others couldn’t help him, and He Qian certainly couldn’t. After all, he was just an ordinary High School student. Jiang Ran didn’t want to trouble him, nor did he want him to worry.

“Qianzi, thank you,” Jiang Ran smiled at him, without a trace of gloom. “I know you genuinely want to help me, but everyone has their own path to walk. You can help me for a while, but you can’t help me for a lifetime.”

“Go back to class,” Jiang Ran said. “Even if I’m not at school, we’re still friends.”

“Will you trust me? When we meet again, I won’t be doing any worse than you.”

After saying this, Jiang Ran smiled, turned around, waved his hand, and walked away without looking back.

He Qian stood frozen, watching Jiang Ran’s retreating figure, a thousand words stuck in his throat. On the way here, he had planned to corner Jiang Ran and demand the reason for dropping out, to loudly question if Jiang Ran didn’t consider him a friend.

But at this moment, looking at Jiang Ran’s stubborn and upright figure, he couldn’t say anything.

Precisely because they were friends, He Qian couldn’t forcefully tear open his friend’s wounds. He had to respect Jiang Ran, and respect the choice he had made.

“Jiang Ran!” He Qian shouted at the retreating back. “We are friends forever! If you need me, I’ll be there. The next time we meet, you will definitely be doing better!”

Jiang Ran paused his steps but didn’t turn around. He simply raised one hand and gently waved it behind him.

*

After returning home, Jiang Ran was only disheartened for half a day before immediately starting to look for work.

He was good-looking, young, and strong. Although he lacked qualifications, he managed to find a job as a waiter at a small restaurant near his home. The pay was low, but meals were included.

The small restaurant was run by a couple, and business was booming. They didn’t close until one or two in the morning, so the few staff members worked rotating shifts, with four days off a month.

Working at the restaurant wasn’t easy. Although he only did miscellaneous tasks like taking orders, serving food, and clearing dishes, he barely had time to sit down and rest all day. After work, Jiang Ran still had to take care of Old Man Chen. His life became rushed and numb.

Initially, Jiang Ran struggled to adapt. He came home exhausted every night. Jiang Jin was heartbroken when he saw his condition. Not only did he take over all the chores, but he also thoughtfully massaged his brother’s shoulders and back before bed. The two of them huddled together like small animals, warming each other and licking their wounds.

Only at these moments did Jiang Ran feel some relief.

He was starting to drift off under Jiang Jin’s massage, his eyes nearly closed, when he suddenly heard Jiang Jin whisper in his ear, “Brother, let me help you. You’re too tired doing this alone. If you keep going like this, your body won’t hold up.”

Jiang Ran instantly snapped awake. He frowned at Jiang Jin for two seconds, then yawned and said, “You’re too young. You don’t need to worry about adult matters. Just study hard at school and bring home high scores at the end of the semester. That would make me happier than anything.”

Jiang Jin bit his lip, looking very unhappy, and tried to say something more.

Jiang Ran’s tone grew serious. “Don’t let me hear that a second time.”

His cold expression was intimidating. Jiang Jin looked down at him for a long time before finally saying, “Understood.”

The next day, neither of them mentioned the matter. They went to work and school as usual. As time passed, Jiang Ran stopped worrying about it.

But Jiang Jin was serious. Although the restaurant where Jiang Ran worked provided meals, lunchtime, when the foot traffic was heavy, was their busiest period, leaving them no time to eat.

They usually had to wait until the customers were gone and the leftover food was cleared from the tables before they could sit down for a few bites. By then, the mealtime had long passed, and Jiang Ran often got past the point of hunger.

After persisting for about a month, his stomach finally gave out. That day, he returned home in so much pain that he was drenched in sweat, terrifying Jiang Jin, who quickly rushed him to the hospital.

After that, every day at noon, Jiang Jin would use his lunch break to run over from school, help him with his tasks, and urge him to eat quickly.

Although Jiang Ran’s colleagues were somewhat displeased, with Jiang Jin helping, the work wasn’t delayed, so they had little to complain about, only occasionally resorting to passive-aggressive sarcasm.

Jiang Ran tried several times to persuade him not to come again, but Jiang Jin would agree verbally and then show up at the restaurant on time the next day, completely ignoring the looks of others.

As time went on, even the manager sighed at him, “You truly have a good younger brother. He cares about you.”

Jiang Ran felt a mix of anger and deep emotion. Later, seeing that he couldn’t dissuade him, he stopped saying anything.

At the end of the month, when he got paid, Jiang Ran was in a good mood. On his way home, he bought a roasted duck and a fish, planning to cook a nice meal for Old Man Chen and Jiang Jin that evening, when the phone in his pocket rang.

He took it out and saw it was an unfamiliar number. After a moment of hesitation, he pressed the talk button.

“Hello, is this Jiang Jin’s brother?” A man’s voice came through the phone, sounding quite magnetic.

Jiang Ran paused, then replied, “Yes.”

The person introduced himself: “I am Jiang Jin’s teacher. My surname is Li.”

Jiang Ran’s heart immediately sank, sensing something bad had happened, but he didn’t show it on his face. He said in a normal tone, “Hello, Teacher Li. May I ask… is something the matter?”

The other party was silent for a moment, then said seriously, “Jiang Jin’s brother, I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to Jiang Jin lately, but his behavior at school recently… has been very poor.”