Spring Mud

After becoming an orphan in a raging fire, my face was ruined, and a slender young man took me home.

He saved up to pay for my surgery and stood up to the people who bullied me.

But because of me, one of his legs was broken clean through.

Later, I said I would drop out of school and take care of him for the rest of my life. He rejected me coldly:

"I'm your older brother, and you're just a pathetic wretch who could never show her face in public."