When the gaokao results came out, my younger sister learned she’d scored 290 and insisted someone had switched her score.
“Someone must have paid to swap my score! I won’t accept this!”
My parents felt sorry for her and tried to comfort her, even saying they’d go to the school and demand an explanation.
I didn’t want things to get out of hand, so I quietly said, “Maybe the scores weren’t switched.”
My mom slapped me.
“Qianqian is your sister. Why are you taking someone else’s side?”
My dad pointed at me and cursed. “You got a good score, so now you don’t care what happens to your sister?”
“She usually gets 600. How could she possibly get 290 on the gaokao?”
But they didn’t know that my sister had been copying answers on her regular exams. The 290 she got on the gaokao was her real score.
I covered my stinging cheek and stared at the 710 on the screen, my heart aching as I said nothing.
After half a month of making a fuss, my parents still couldn’t bear to see my sister upset. They discussed taking the matter to the Education Bureau and demanding an explanation.
To protect my sister’s privacy, they even forced me to open a verified account and record a video pleading her case.
They also wanted me to go with them and hold a banner outside the Education Bureau.
I tightened my grip on my college application form.
They had never considered my feelings or cared about my dignity.
If that was how things were, I didn’t want to stay in that family anymore.
