Dear Auntie Lee,

I received your check of 400 RMB. Thank you for your support.

I don’t know how to tell you about my current status. My life is in a chaos and my mind a mess. As a 9th grader I should have focused on study, but I can’t. Something happened and I don’t know what this will lead to.

Last month, after a binge drinking, my father hit my mom and injured her. Mom left home and took refuge at grandma’s place. She has a concussion and wants a divorce.

I feel like a magnet for all my life’s misfortunes. I haven’t been to school for two weeks and the catchup for the missing classes would be difficult. Dad said he would abandon me if the divorce went through. Ever since I could remember, Dad has been brutally violent toward Mom. He is irrational, an irredeemable monster. I wonder often why I was born into such a family.

There is a flu epidemic in my school. I fell ill too. I didn’t go to the doctor because I didn’t dare to ask my parents for money. I tried exercises and hoped to recover from it. Instead, the flu turned into bronchitis. I went to a clinic to get medicine but couldn’t afford the intravenous injection. Today, I realized that my left ear went deaf. My biology teacher told me it was caused by the bronchitis and I could go deaf without the treatment. I really don’t know what to say to my parents to ask for money.

I am sorry, Auntie Lee. I am dumping my grief on you. I know you are busy. I just want to write to you and send my greetings. Instead, I was talking only about myself. I wish you well. May the clouds carry my best wishes to you.