"My son works a lot. Don't know when he would be free from everything, and we will bring a lovely daughter-in-law in this house," said the woman who was Xiao Dong's wife and Xiao Min's mother.
"Hmm!" Not saying much, Xiao Dong went to his room.
Xiao Min laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, the memories from the past surfaced in front of his eyes.
When Xiao Min was in the sixth grade, his parents bought their own home, which was on the other side of the city where they lived to be a tenant.
Xiao Min was not happy as he had to leave his friend and his school behind and had to go to another school where he had to make new friends again. He cried and protested, but there was no use as his parents had decided already. They tried to push him to understand, but he didn't wish to.
On the first day of the new school, when his parents personally took Xiao Min to school, he looked at this new school, which gave him a feeling of being a stranger, and he cried again.
"I don't want to go."
Even before his parents could say anything, Xiao Min ran away that led him out of the school premises. He ended up running on the road in front of the school without realizing he might end up hit by the vehicle.
He heard the loud beep from the car as he stopped in the middle of the road, feeling scared and unable to move at all as he was startled by it. The car was at full speed, and the driver stepped on the break, but it ended up heating the person.
SCREECH!!
THUD!!
Xiao Min's parents came running towards him. Their son was fine, but there was someone who was injured and saved Xiao Min. The boy pushed Xiao Min away from the road, but the car's side hit him before it stopped altogether. If it were not for the boy, Xiao Min would have hit by the vehicle, which might put his life in danger.
"Are you okay, Boy?" Xiao Dong asked worriedly to the boy lying on the road on his one side holding his hand tightly to his chest. The boy sat up as Xiao Dong helped him to sit and checked if he was severely hurt.
"I am so sorry," the driver of the car stepped out in a hurry and came to them as he added, "My wife is in labor pain, and I need to take her to the hospital....."
"Ahhh..."
The heard the screaming sound of a woman from inside the car, and Xiao Dong instructed the man who looked apologetic.
"Take your wife to the hospital first."
The man ran back to the car and left.
"Let's go to the hospital," Xiao Dong offered.
"No, I am fine," said the boy wearing the same school uniform as Xiao Min and looked a few years senior.
"How come you are fine? Please come to the hospital with us." Xiao Dong insisted, and his wife, who was holding her scared son, added, "Listen to us, son. Let's go to the hospital first."
Both husband and wife owed him their son's life.
The boy couldn't say no to the woman who just called him a son. He looked at her and the way she was holding her son and felt envious. The boy nodded while little Xiao Min's eyes continued staring at him calmly.
Xiao Min's parents took the boy to the hospital and got to know he had just fractured his left hand. They proceeded for further treatment first as the boy looked in pain though he tried not to show it on his face.
Once everything was done, Xiao Dong spoke, "Thank you so much for saving our son, but my apology that you had to go through it."
"It's fine," said the boy as he tried to get up from the hospital bed he was resting on.
"Don't get up. You have hurt your leg too," Xiao Dong instructed as he added, "We need to call your parents so that I can thank them and apologize personally."
"There is no need. I need to go to school," said the boy as he got up from the bed, ready to leave. He looked strangely calm and not interested in anything around as if he had nothing to do with others.
"How can you go to school in this condition? Let me send you home," Xiao Dong offered once again, but the reply was the same. "No need."
"Let me send you to school then as we need to go back there too," informed Xiao Dong, and the boy nodded.
When they went to the school, and the boy parted away from them, Xiao Min ran behind the boy and offered him the chocolate bar that he had in his hands. The boy looked at Xiao Min, his sight devoid of any emotion.
Xiao Min said nothing and put forward his hand as if insisting the boy to accept the chocolate. The boy accepted it and left as Xiao Min continued looking at him.
His mother came to him and took Xiao Min away with her. They went to see the principal, and since that day, Xiao Min's life in the new school started. After that, he never said he didn't want to go into school.
Daily Xiao Min used to search for that boy who saved him and used to follow him before the start of classes or even in the breaks during the lessons.
So many days, the boy avoided it, but one day he felt annoyed and asked, "Why do you follow me every day? Don't you have anything to do?"
"Will you be my friend?" asked the little guy.
"I am your senior, so we can't be friends, and I don't like to make friends," saying the boy left while Xiao Min followed him.
"Senior, will you be my friend? I, too, don't have any friends here," Xiao Min offered as he was not bothered by if the boy was annoyed by him.