My Sister Ah Wan

Part 2

3

My name is Fang Yin, a name given to me by my sister. "Yin" refers to the lush green grass, a symbol of life.

My sister's name was Fang Wan, and I was born for her.

When my sister was six years old, she was diagnosed with leukemia.

In our country, millions of patients with blood diseases await hematopoietic stem cell transplants each year, but only 0.03% of them are able to receive treatment.

Fang Wan was not among that fortunate few.

In their desperation, the doctors suggested that my parents have another child, hoping to use the cord blood from the second child for a bone marrow match.

The doctors said, "The matching success rate is very high."

The doctor said the chances were very high, but to my parents, it sounded like 100%.

They made the choice without hesitation.

After ten months of pregnancy and a single day of labor, I was born.

Everyone was full of expectation and excitement.

But the match failed, and the transplant surgery couldn't be done.

I was born useless.

The child born for Fang Wan turned out to be useless.

In utter despair, my mother hemorrhaged severely.

Her body suffered great damage, and she could no longer have children.
Fortunately, six months later, a successful match was found for Fang Wan in the cord blood stem cell bank.

Fang Wan was saved.

Thank goodness!

Otherwise, my mother would have died.

She had said, "If Ah Wan dies, I can't go on living."

As for me, I was just a worthless failure.

Eighteen years ago, my cord blood didn't match.

Eighteen years later, my kidney failed to match again.

Uremia.

Fang Wan was dying!

4

My sister chased Xie Bo Yan out of the room.

She gently pulled me away from her embrace.

As she wiped my tears, she softly asked, "Is it because of Bo Yan? He told me he confessed to you, but you turned him down."

"Yin Yin, don't you want Bo Yan to take care of you?"

"You know, Bo Yan will take good care of you."

Of course, I knew that.

In this world, when danger arose, the only person who would immediately shield me was Xie Bo Yan.

Ever since I started elementary school, he had been picking me up after school, rain or shine.

Even if it meant being late or skipping school, he never left me behind.
He would fight for me.

He would tell others, "This is my sister, and no one can bully her."

If I fell, he would carry me.

If I got sick, he would take care of me.

If I was hungry, he would cook for me.

He even explained menstruation to me when I got my first period.

Once, when he was drunk, he pressed his finger against my forehead and grumbled, "I'm practically a father now!"

He said, "Fang Yin, I raised you."

Yes, I was raised by Xie Bo Yan.

I knew that he was good to me not just because of Fang Wan's last wishes. He genuinely treated me like a sister.

"Brother Bo Yan is like a brother to me. Sister, I like him as my brother!"

My sister looked at me with a complicated expression.

"Yin Yin, a brother can't take care of you for a lifetime. Only your partner can."

I avoided her gaze and lowered my head. "But he's my brother."

After a long pause, my sister sighed.

"Sigh, I was too hasty."

"Never mind, you can take your time with this. In the end, he will take good care of you."
I vaguely murmured in agreement.

"Sister, can I come see you every day?"

My sister's eyes lit up, but quickly dimmed again.

"There's no need to trouble yourself. Just focus on your studies."

My parents didn't want me visiting my sister too often.

Mother would say, "Why would you go? To upset Ah Wan? Do you think seeing you run, jump, and stay healthy will make her happy?"

My sister said it made her happy; she wanted to see me.

But my parents didn't believe it.

They stubbornly believed that all the favoritism my sister showed me was at her own expense.

They wouldn't allow Fang Wan to suffer any hardship because of Fang Yin.

"Sigh, your grades..." She poked my forehead. "Little one, can you even get into college?"

My grades were poor, or even very bad; at least, that's how it appeared on the surface.

I shrank back and smiled, asking, "Sister, where do you want me to go to college?"

She blurted out, "Of course, the best one!"

Realizing what she had said, she quickly corrected herself, "But do what you can, don't push yourself too hard. Wherever you can get in, that's where we'll go."