Chapter 3

That evening, I went to the sports field and called home.

I lied to my parents. I’d made a little money working part-time, I said, and wanted to bring my sister to a good hospital.

They were thrilled.

They praised me for making something of myself and began planning when to bring her over.

From the sound of it, they intended to come too.

I only had a little over ten thousand left. If I really paid for a hospital examination, what would I have left to eat, drink, and have fun with?

So I hurriedly told them,

“We’re not that far apart. Just put her on a bus. I’ll meet her.”

“I didn’t make much from the part-time job. We have to watch what we spend.”

At first, they refused.

They were worried it wasn’t safe for her to travel alone.

But after I kept promising everything would be fine, they finally put her on a bus that Saturday morning.

I waited anxiously at the bus station.

The president kept calling to hurry me along.

Then he sent me a room number.

At last, the bus arrived.

My sister came timidly behind the crowd, looking this way and that, fear filling her eyes.

Until she saw me.

All her anxiety vanished in an instant, and she ran over.

She grabbed my hand and pressed two White Rabbit milk candies into it.

She’d looked after me even before she became an idiot.

Knowing how much I loved candy, she always hid some away and brought it out to soothe me when I cried.

Our parents had told me all that.

The White Rabbit candies she was holding now were ones I’d bought her at the village shop after selling her last time.

She loved them herself, but she’d saved them all these days instead of eating them, just to bring them to me.

She really was an idiot.

If she cared about me so much,

then naturally she ought to keep sacrificing herself for me.

I reassured myself of that.

I flagged down a taxi and headed straight for the president’s hotel.

On the way, she suddenly nudged me excitedly and pointed at a tall Ferris wheel outside.

“Nannan, that’s so pretty!”

“And there! That’s pretty too!”

I paid her no attention. One glance, and I looked away.

What was so fun about it? I’d been bored with all that for ages.

“I’ll take you there someday, all right? I’ll work hard in the fields and make money, then take Nannan to have lots of fun.”

I looked at her.

She was still gazing out the window, her face full of hope.

She meant every word.

I took a deep breath.

“Help me make money. I can go by myself.”

“Okay. I’ll work hard to make money so Nannan can go!”