The coward

This matter, to say the least, is very plain. I've asked several friends if they have the same experience, most of them answered yes, and the results are quite brilliant, most of them did not suffer beatings and not be blamed.

I have to say - stealing money.

Of course, do not dare to do such things outside the home, most of them are going through the parents' purse or pocket, and took a bill.

When my friends were teenagers, most of the money they stole invited their classmates to eat, spend it all quickly, and go back to be punished again. Only one friend, stole money, by Tainan by train alone in Taipei wandering for two days, the money ran out, also went home. According to my observation, the last little kid who went away was the least punished one, and his parents were anxious to find out that people lost their money, and people came back to take a good look at their son who was lost and found, and as a result, they couldn't bear to fight.

Children steal money, most parents will reflect on themselves, is not usually not give pocket money to induce children to steal, of course, this is a more sensible faction of parents.

My parents were also sensible, but forgot that I also need money, even as a child, not worrying about food and clothing at home, still expect to have a few coins ringing in their pockets when they walk.

That year, already in the third grade, and did not touch the money, except for the New Year's Eve packet of money, and the money is not to spend, is to put under the pillow to sleep under the pressure of the New Year, after the New Year, it will be dutifully handed back to the parents, the number recorded in a book. The adults say that they want to save it for the child's education. Not every child expects to be educated, for example, my eldest brother is not, he also refused to return the money to his parents. He always went to play poker with the neighborhood kids during the three days of New Year's Eve, and always had money to spend in the second half of the year if he won, and at a young age, he disposed of his money carefully and abundantly.

In our childhood, it was popular for elementary school students to collect rubber bands and pictures of the characters of the Red Chamber, as well as cellophane - the kind used to wrap colored candies.

These things were available for sale in the grocery stores along the way home from school, and could also be exchanged. The so-called exchange is to take a used exercise book to the boss's wife, can be exchanged for a colored candy. The paper wrapped in the candy will be washed and cleaned and stuck in the book, and when it becomes a large stack, you can exchange it with the children for a picture or a few rubber bands. Because of this, I was always very enthusiastic when I came home to do my homework, and I couldn't wait to use up the exercise book so that I could exchange it for candy paper, so that if I made a mistake and the teacher punished me for rewriting, I wouldn't feel bad, but very happy.

In my classmates, I had the longest rubber band rope, and I was the most enthusiastic when I used to jump rubber bands after class. My mother always wondered why my exercise books ran out so quickly, and blamed the teacher for having too much homework, causing the children to come home and keep writing again and again. On that Sunday, I walked into my mother's bedroom and saw a red bill lying on the chest of drawers - five dollars.

Back then, an elementary school teacher's salary was about NT$120 a month, and the value of five dollars was about five hundred dollars now, which was equal to many, many colored rubber bands, many pieces of pictures of the girls in the Dream of the Red Chamber, candy paper that could be put on a big glass window, no more painful writing exercise books, and all the thoughts and happiness of a child.

The red ticket lying quietly, my breath began to sharply, both hands clenched tightly, can not look away from it.

When I was conscious again, I was already standing under the laurel tree in the garden, feeling my pocket, and the ticket came out with me, in my pocket.

I didn't dare to go back to my room, didn't dare to go shopping, didn't dare to talk to anyone, and quietly squatted in the yard playing with mud. Mother shouted to eat lunch, reluctantly on the table, only a mouthful of soup it, then listen to the mother muttered: "strange, just put aside a five dollars how to disappear." My sister and brother ate dutifully and did not answer, but I said, "Did you forget the place and did not take it out at all?" Mother said it was impossible, I came into contact with my father's gaze, swallowed a mouthful of boiling soup, and my face turned red from the heat.

Sunday children are forced to nap, I never want to sleep, and there is no reason to go out, and again bought those babies is not good to suddenly take back, that night is to organize the school bag - in front of parents.

I was still caught in bed, my mother refused to wear pants to sleep, insisted to pull pants, when her hand touched my trouser pocket, I huffed and puffed red, struggled to turn over, shouted that headache headache, refused her to touch me.

The look is indeed like a high fever, the five dollars in the pocket as hot as the soup inside the small ribs, and always scalding my legs.

"I think my sister has a fever, I don't know if I should go see a doctor."

I heard my mother discussing with my father in a low voice with some concern, and saw my father take out a thermometer in flinging. I closed my eyes again and pretended to be asleep. The posture was semi-slanted, pressed tightly against the right side pocket.

On summer afternoons, the small children who woke up from their sleep were put to the small table under the big tree and told to count the grapefruit and guavas, and everyone had a bowl of green bean soup in front of them, iced. As usual, my sister was reading a book of Journey to the West, and if we wanted to hear the story, she would read a small paragraph. Always say, read more to charge, a small paragraph does not cost. She charged 10 cents to tell one time. We do not have money, she really do not say more, their own heads down to look hard. Once the eldest brother was very generous, gave her 20 cents, the Monkey King changed many times, and went to the Flaming Mountain. The usual big brother never give, I do not have to listen.

The other day, my sister said that the Journey to the West is no longer interesting, she will also talk about romance, we asked her what is romance, she said it is the Dream of the Red Chamber - there is a romance in it. But she still wanted to charge money. My hand gently touched the bill, it was almost dusk, and it still could not be used. The first thing you need to do is to take off your pants at night and change into your pajamas, which do not have a mouth, so how can you hide that bill? If my mother washes her clothes and finds the money, what will happen? You can't put it in your school bag, your father will check it again when we go to sleep. You can't hide it in your shoes, your mother will be looking at it in the morning when you put on your shoes. The drawer can not be hidden, the eldest brother will go through. In addition to these places, a small child is no place, after all, the corner belonging to us is too little. Since my sister said the story charge money, might as well give it to her and save yourself the burden. So I asked my sister if she had money to find? The sister asked how much money to find? I said it was a dollar and told her to find 90 cents to be able to open a relationship. She asked me suspiciously, "Where do you get a dollar?" I blushed again and couldn't say anything. In fact, it was a whole five dollars, take it out to reveal the flaw. That night I was still dragged to the doctor. According to my mother, the doctor's report was that she was red-faced, irritable, wouldn't talk, couldn't eat, was distracted, and had a cold. The doctor said he couldn't see any illness and he didn't have a fever, but said to go to bed early so that he could go to school tomorrow.

I was dragged to the bath, my mother wanted to undress me, I refused, began to cry quietly, face red, cried for a while, found the family worker Yu Zhen squatting to wash the legs, which was a relief.

The five dollars were still in my pocket.

Wearing pajamas, the money came with him, clenched in his fist, hiding in the bathroom not to come out. The big brother knocked on the door several times with his fist, but also refused to open. When all of us kids were in bed, my mother went to the bathroom and my father sat in the living room.

I ran into my mother's bedroom with my bare feet, rolled the money into a ball, and quickly threw it into the crack between the chest of drawers and the wall, before fleeing back to bed, breathing a long sigh of relief. That night, I thought of many dreams going down the drain because of my own cowardice, my heart was sour.

"If you don't eat this bowl of rice, you are not allowed to go to school."

We three children looked sadly at breakfast, our mother was watching as usual, and an uneventful morning began again. "Have you found your money yet?" I asked my mother.

"I'll find it when you go to school - eat!" My mother handed up a hard-boiled egg. I ate, carried my school bag, and couldn't resist walking to my mother's bedroom for a spin, coming out shouting, "Mom, your money turned out to have fallen in a crevice." The mother put down her bowl, went in, picked up the money and said, "It was probably blown by the wind! It's good to find it." At that time, my father's eyes gently swept me a glance, I blushed again like a fever, and hurriedly ran out the door, forgetting to say goodbye.

The story of the stolen money passed so uneventfully.

Strangely enough, after that time, our parents suddenly took control of our pocket money, each child a month a dollar, their own account, used up can discuss the next month's advance, advance full two months, you have to - patience.

It was also the second Sunday after that time that my father gave me a box of foreign imported candy, and he didn't say anything about eating it slowly or anything like that. I quickly peeled out the candy and put it aside, soaked the candy paper in a basin and washed it, then one by one, I taped them to the glass window and waited for them to dry. That afternoon was spent in the joy of counting candy paper.

When I grew up and told my mother about stealing the money, she laughed and said she didn't remember. And then she asked, "How come you didn't steal any more after that?" I said that it was not a good feeling. I found my sisters and brothers laughing, and they all stole money and felt bad about it, and this past is over.