Chapter 84
Brotherhood Association of Different Surnames
The heart is heavy with the cruel prospect, and the indomitable spirit is faltering, about to lose its strength in the face of pain that is torturing the frail body, causing a mental riot… a person… he never calls… mother."
The pain beyond endurance buries hope, crushes the hearts of withered flowers, living yet seeming already dead, with each breath flickering and fading away at any moment.
The mood swirls in the storm of a chain of tragedies. The man struggling to revive his own spirit holds an unshakable belief that the god of death is no opponent for his brother.
The man who has held on to his belief for so long becomes obsessed… still… silently feels the sad and bleak atmosphere like a funeral… suffocating every strong man… and quietly observes emotions from the past to the present… only exposed with the national flag soaked with sweat and blood fluttering on the world arena.
- Hey, if it is elder brother, I sell my life for any one person of the brotherhood association of different surnames!
The words of admiration serve as humor to relieve stress… like a gentle touch of a hand wiping away the hot tears from everyone's burning red eyes.
All laugh, some gently touch their eyes with their fingers, and some pat their faces. But he does not want to end the test of hearts yet:
- I have no doubt, and maybe even… stupid antis cannot destroy solidarity. Everything has its limits. If brother wakes up but is being unable to act as a national hero, cannot even control himself, must lie motionless day after day and month after month, and live in one place, I fear the prospect slowly strangles the most persistent will, and anyone — even me — may collapse in an ending more miserable than death!
Everyone understands what he means. But they are constantly tested by bad endings. He again dares to collide at the most delicate moment. The fire of resentment not yet extinguished burns the impulsive mood, and everyone reacts violently:
- You always say unlucky things for your brother. Damn, I'm crazy!
- Damn it, what the hell do you want? You keep nagging us like it's an interrogation!
The crowd's eyes are red just now, but now they burn like a volcano erupting with anger. The quietest man on the track and field team cannot stand it, his eyes bulging and rolling wildly. He looks like a madman as he leaps in immediately:
- Don't you think that even if you are as close as brothers, if you ignore other people's feelings, states of mind, or even touch them, you will have to bear the consequences?
Everyone is furious and mad, but no one wants to lose unity because of a few words testing their hearts, so they all intervene and hold on to the guy who has lost his temper.
- A gentleman should speak with his mouth, not with his fists!
- You know he has no ill intentions, so why are you so crazy? Sit down!
The leader of Vermilion Bird says loudly:
- Hatred is only poured on the enemy. Chickens in the same team should not kick each other!
Truong Xuan sighs:
- Older brother is not an idiot to make friends with evil people!
The guy is still dissatisfied and irritable:
- I can't stand his attitude! Damn it. If the older brother ends up disabled and lives a shaky life, I'm going to come for you first, you unlucky-mouthed bastard!...
Huh…
The sound of exhaling echoes in everyone's ears, and they all turn to the person who makes the dreary sound:
- What the hell are you guys doing, huh?
He casts a dull glance, weary at his seasoned teammates who act like young buffaloes.
- From the past to the present, this gritty brotherhood that has always gotten goosebumps whenever things have turned "warm" has now shown deep friendship. Who the hell are you guys putting on a show for, huh? For my younger brother? Damn, he lies dead in one place, like a soulless corpse. You pinch him, he may not know he is being pinched, feel the power of friendship through the connection of hearts, like that game hacker guy in that friendship comic. Huh???
He raises his hand toward the mother who suffers from mental breakdown:
- Don't say it is Aunt Hang? Look at her, old age and weakness weigh on her. Each labored breath suffocates the air. Each erratic heartbeat ravages his mother's body and mind. You guys deliver a fatal blow to the spirit of someone on the verge of collapsing…
He mutters curses, clenching his trembling hands, ruffling his sleek hair, and squeezing the face that is always radiant as a festival, now tattered by a mess that cannot be tidied up.
No one wants to become the one who tarnishes the image of the national team captain... since forever... he has had nothing but an indomitable spirit... now... frantically erasing emotions that are no longer immutable in the face of despair.
The captain's voice is still serious whenever he needs to shout with fire, but it seems that he cannot be intense anymore. All lower their heads; the teammates do not dare to face the fear that the spiritual leader is about to fall.
His firm mind is shaken violently, as if standing at the foot of a huge mountain.
In the past, he has trained day and night with the determination that iron has not melted even if forged, and stone has not broken even if struck... one day... not to let the son of the wind god greet the dawn alone on the mountain that symbolizes perseverance and willpower... to proudly proclaim before the world, 'I am the captain of the Prehistoric national team'... and... to be worthy of being the big brother of his teammates.
Now…
He smiles. The helpless smile melts the iron will... poking a pair of itchy eyes, feeling uncomfortable with the sullen appearance of the chickens who are suffering from bird flu.
The owner of that gaze taps the captain's shoulder gently, and the familiar type of call startles him. The whole team is sad but cannot help laughing... the captain jolts, his face twists in bitterness, and he secretly glances at the girl with a delicate figure, waist-length hair, short white dress that reaches her thighs, short leather jacket on the outside, fragile pantyhose covering the white skin on her endless long legs.
She is standing sideways with her left hand crossed on her slender waist and her right hand on her hips.
The appearance must be reincarnated to end in classics like "sister is so angry," and the stern warning is that she is tired of young fathers: "reduce it so that sister won't be tired."
He frowns and smacks his lips, too lazy to look (or more accurately not daring to look) her face is always as bright as a plum blossom in the morning light. But whenever her heat in the body rises, it immediately burns into a flame flower.
He is particularly afraid of the plain, elegant appearance beautified by the rosy pink mascara turning fiery red, burned into a feisty look. He sits with his back to the chair, smacks his tongue, and sighs deeply.
She tilts her head, a sparkling heart-shaped smile on her pink lips, and her curled eyelashes blink her smiling eyes, as if she wants to say, "What, you dare to be rude to sister?"
The whole team tries to suppress the teasing noise, but their shoulders are still shaking violently. The guy who is testing hearts almost laughs out loud when he sees the captain, who is smiling heh heh, showing a sycophantic face:
- I don't dare... hehe... the roof is number one... hehe... hehe... hehe…
She nods like the type who has to be intimidated by her sister to be obedient, and the feisty girl turns to her teammates. The muddy brothers association hurriedly pull a U-turn back to their slimy nature, implicitly sending a distress signal to the captain.
He puts on a gesture that says, "I'm not your big brother anymore. I want to be demoted to the youngest brother to keep peace."
The whole audience laughs until tears come out. The eldest brother accepts the pain, looks sideways, clears his throat, and calls out:
- Ahem, my dear wife!
She hums, turns around, blinks, and waits for her husband to ask. He hesitates and says, fearing that he will have to sleep on the street tonight:
- Can you turn off the eyes that are as bright as a meteor, suddenly turning into... comet?
The wife tilts her head and continuously blinks at her husband. This time, he is not confused, but says gently:
- I know you want to sweep away all your frustrations, but every time your comet eyes are sweeping into my face, I feel... scared!
The insider still has to "find someone" to answer the last question. The tragic thing is that if he makes the other person touchy once, the consequences are unpredictable if he touches it again. Confused about how to deal with this problem, he looks up at sister who calmly releases every word:
- This question is really easy to touch and easy to misunderstand, but from the perspective of a sober person like me, it does make sense, husband!
The entire track team cannot interrupt the sister-in-law's words… and… no man has the heart to be dissatisfied with the sweet local accent voice that gentle God gives to the Westland people. Each of them listens carefully, not missing a word:
- Brothers and friends live and die for each other, and no one in the brotherhood association of different surnames doubts or hesitates about that as a matter of course. But... how to put it?
She pauses for a moment and reorganizes the sentence:
- A high degree of intimacy and pride corresponds to dreams and aspirations. Let's talk about sports first. People don't say it, but everyone understands that not only the track and field team, all athletes in other sports work hard to the point where blood blends with tears, hoping to reach the level of Hoang Kim. Who doesn't want to be a god who creates miracles?
She waves her hand and shakes her head slightly, dismissing anyone who, even jokingly, suggests it is because people envy the one she considers a younger brother:
- No, don't, don't think like that! Even a joker shouldn't think like that!
She takes half of the beer can from her husband and takes a long sip, as if to drink away all the sorrow:
- Those who follow this career that dedicates their youth hope that their efforts are rewarded. Unfortunately, not everyone can reach the top of the career, let alone dominate the world. Being envied is also normal. The difference is that the envious person envies in a negative way, the admirer envies in a positive way. For some people, fame is not as important as working hard until death to affirm one's personal self... and...
She wipes her lips lightly, smiles slightly, and glances at her husband. Her husband smiles softly at the classic expression whenever she complains about "someone":
- Shout to the world - She opens her arms and imitates the steely voice every time her husband shows his determination - I am captain of the national team of Prehistoric, the big brother of the brotherhood association of different surnames!
Usually everyone smiles differently, but every time when the same feeling comes, all smiles are the same. She winks and gives a thumbs up, praising determination born of pride in the Prehistoric Kingdom.
- But for a man who believes that affection and righteousness are the only things that exist... - She chuckles as she watches her husband smacking his lips and clicking his tongue, tired of the fact that his wife considers teasing her husband an indispensable joy - Personal ego or patriotism is pushed to the back burner... only right behind... ahem... the brotherhood surely lasts forever... hehehehe…
This time, sister-in-law doesn't tell the whole story... but... expresses it in the classic way that women always like to make difficult to understand in the eyes of men.
The sister doesn't even feel embarrassed when the prankster gang shows their hard‑to‑handle look: 'It's more obvious than in broad daylight, what's so difficult to understand, sister?'
The sister-in-law of a bunch of men is still radiant, makes a heart shape with her hands, and shows a series of extremely excited expressions, like athletes winning the championship and celebrating, because the audience understands what she means:
"People who envy in a positive way will strive… desire… to climb to the top of the world at all costs. Those who live 'emotionally' to the point of emotional like… 'someone'… determined to wait… to feel… cannot have even a second to breathe like a normal person in a stuffy space thinner than… air… on a mountain so high that the top cannot be seen.
Only when climbing to the peak of loneliness and becoming a human being instead of a 'beast' can one empathize and share loneliness with the loneliest person in the world.
And only when feeling the pressure more terrible than those zombies hungry for human flesh… always sliding and crawling to the top to tear, the one who deserves to be a human being can find the best solution in a pile of chaos called: public figure."
Some pout and nod, others say 'wow' and clap their hands to show admiration for their deep sister-in-law, then they shake their heads and curse: from now on, if any cage-faced guy dares to say long-legged, short-brained, Dad definitely slaps his mouth to pieces, causing the sister-in-law to hold her stomach and laugh.
The captain just wants to write the big word "Proud" on his excited face. He smiles and raises his thumb to indicate:
"My wife is number two — only the sister-in-law of a guy who's crazy about his sister-in-law dares to compete for being Sunday."
The whole room is filled with laughter, the wife raises her lips, glares at him, and gently pushes her husband's hand. The younger brothers laugh and giggle when the sister-in-law puts on an attitude:
"Stop it, general, you are only good at flattering your wife."
The big brother, hehe, gently touches his wife's waist:
- I flatter my wife, not the neighbor lady, why must it be twisted! - He turns his happy face to his teammates - Brothers, huh?
The wife raises her lips and pats her husband's hand:
- It's disgusting, you want to be perverted, wait until we go home, the couple closes the door and tells each other! Don't play tricks in public, the brothers will sing the song oh country river, country river for you to listen!
The captain retorts, teasing his wife till the end:
- Whoever dares to sing that song with the elongated letter ê, I will make him the big brother of this muddy association now and forever!
The muddiest guy laughs happily, and each guy's shoulders shake violently in the laughter of ha ha. The big brother laughs until his eyes narrow, and listens to the small-eyed guy eh ah emphasizing every lyric:
Oh, country river, country river…
The captain wants to put his face in the country river…[1]
Note
[1] A homemade song, meaning that the captain puts his face in his wife's crotch.