After Brother Failed, I Entered Elite University, Got Disowned

1: 1

When the placement exam scores came out, I became the enemy of my whole family.

All because two years ago, my dead grandfather had come to my father in a dream.

The Harpers will produce a prodigy.

Everyone assumed it had to be my younger brother, Hunter Harper.

He always delivered. His grades were excellent.

But no one saw it coming: the worst score of his life landed on the placement exams.

Looking at my acceptance letter from the National Defense University, my parents couldn't muster any joy.

"You got into an elite university, so what about your brother? The Harpers can only produce one prodigy."

My brother stared at the notice that had knocked him down below his cutoff, and slammed his phone down in a fury.

"Sis, you stole my good luck for school. You owe me!"

I stayed silent. I only waited for our parents to weigh in.

They thought it over for a long time, and finally made up their minds.

"Valerie Stewart, go change your surname. The Harper prodigy can only be your brother."

My mother tried to comfort me.

"Take my maiden name, Cox. You'll still be our good daughter."

Something inside me went cold, and colder.

I'd gotten into an elite university. Everyone said I'd brought honor to the family name. And my own parents wanted to strike me from the family register.

I nodded without any expression.

"All right."

But I didn't say the rest.

I wouldn't be a Harper. And I wouldn't be a Cox.

From here on, across all the distance ahead of me, in the Harper family and the Cox family alike, that person would not exist.

1.

At six in the morning, my mother knocked on my door.

"Val, when are you going to change your name?"

I rubbed my eyes.

"I made an appointment for this morning."

She nodded.

"Good. We're taking your brother to look at exam-prep academies, so we won't be able to go with you."

She turned and knocked on Hunter's door.

From inside came the sound of something heavy hitting the floor.

Hunter was throwing another fit.

Since the scores came out, he hadn't quieted down for a single moment.

"I'm not going! What garbage exam-prep academy! I could've gotten into Riverside High!"

"It's all her fault! Nothing's gone right for me since she came back!"

My mother tidied up carefully, not even daring to raise her voice.

"Hunt, calm down, that's your sister's laptop"

"That's exactly why I'm smashing it!"

Hunter was still shouting.

"You should've just let her die back in the countryside. Why did you bring her back at all! She ruined my whole future!"

I quietly closed my door.

The sound was fainter now, but I could still hear every word.

Hunter and I are three years apart.

After he was born, my parents used the excuse that "the rental was too small, we couldn't look after two kids," and left me with Grandma Abbott.

"Val, your brother's little, he needs Mom and Dad more."

"Just wait a while. Once we buy a place in the city, we'll bring you over."

That wait lasted twelve years.

I went through preschool, elementary, and middle school back in the countryside.

My brother lived in the city with our parents.

Even after they'd long since bought the place, they never thought of me.

Then, the year I turned fifteen, Grandma died, and only then did my parents bring me to live with them.

I was so happy back then. I thought the family could finally be together.

But once I walked through the door, I realized no one else saw it that way.

My parents would cook good food for my brother, and when they looked at me, there was always that distance.

"Val, we don't know what you like to eat. Just make do."

They bought my brother nice sneakers and clothes. All I had was my school uniform.

"Val, don't compare yourself to others. Getting good grades is what matters most."

I was obedient. I didn't hold it against them.

But even when my grades were excellent, they still didn't see me.

Because the "prodigy" they kept talking about could only be my brother.

Hunter was still going at it, and something crashed against my door.

A loud bang, then it dropped to the floor.

My mother's voice was urgent and careful.

"Hunt, don't be angry. You just had an off day. Next year you'll definitely"

"I don't want next year! I want this year! Grandpa Harper said the prodigy was me, and now she's stolen it!"

My father finally came out of his room.

His voice was low.

"Enough! Valerie's already agreed to change her name. What are you still making a scene about?"

"She stole your luck? Why not blame yourself for not beating her?"

Hunter wanted to argue back, but he was afraid of angering our father, so he swallowed it.

He turned and shut his door, and then came the sound of a video game, and he refused to come out again.

When I opened my door, my mother was picking things up off the floor.

I looked, and my pupils shrank.

What Hunter had thrown was my pencil case.

Inside was an iron medal. It was something Grandma had given me.

"Val, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Young as I was, I hadn't figured it out yet.

I looked at the medal she kept in her drawer.

"Grandma, I want to be like you. Go to the battlefield, defend the country."

Grandma smiled.

"Times are different now. Your generation builds the country through science."

She stroked my head.

"Study hard. Go to the best school someday, and make your dream come true."

I knew of a lot of good schools, but I didn't know which one Grandma meant. Still, I nodded.

Before she died, Grandma left me that medal.

And I'd kept it with me ever since.

Every time I slacked off in my studies, or the pressure got to me, I'd take it out and look at it.

Grandma's words steadied my resolve.

But now, that medal had been smashed.

It had broken into three pieces, and the thimble cap had fallen off.

I couldn't stop my eyes from stinging.

My father sensed something was wrong. He cleared his throat.

"Don't blame your brother. He's upset about slipping below his cutoff. He didn't mean it."

My mother had seen the few scraps of metal in my hand too.

"That's the thing Grandma left you, isn't it? An old thing, not worth anything. If it's broken, just let it go."

I said nothing. I only picked up the pieces one by one.

In their eyes, nothing of mine was ever worth anything.

Back in my room with the door shut, the girl in the mirror had red eyes.

But I held back the tears.

Eighteen years old. I was an adult now. I couldn't cry anymore.

Another knock came from outside.

My mother was calling.

"Val, it's time. You should get to the records office to change your name."

I answered, and packed a few clothes and daily necessities into my suitcase along the way.

It was time to go.

No.

Just like Hunter said, I never should have come.

2: 2

At the records office window, the clerk glanced up at me.

Have you settled on the new name?

Valerie Stewart.

She paused, then bent over the register and flipped through it.

This surnameit doesn't match either of your parents'. Is there some particular reason?

I touched the medal I'd glued back together and lowered my head.

My grandmother's name was Stewart. She raised me.

There was another reason I didn't mention.

My grandmother had been an orphan, and my mother was the only child she ever had.

After my mother married my father, she never once went back to tend the graves, not even on the days you're supposed to.

I asked her about it once, and all she said was,

A wife follows her husband. I married into the Harpers, so of course I tend the Harper graves.

When I was small, I used to go with my grandmother to tend my grandfather's grave.

After she died, there was no one left to tend hers.

People in the village said it wasn't proper, that I had no standing to do it.

That standing was exactly what I wanted.

The clerk looked at me and didn't ask anything more.

The paperwork was done quickly.

Leave an address. Your new ID will be mailed to you in a week.

I thought about it and wrote down the school's address.

Back home, I shipped off the clothes and bedding I'd already packed.

If the old things still worked, there was no point spending money on new ones.

I'd barely finished when my parents came back, Hunter trailing behind them.

Is the surname changed?

I took out the receipt.

It's done.

Neither of them read it closely. They just nodded.

Changing the surname is only the legal part. The family rite still has to be done.

His voice was a little low.

Come to the family hall tonight and we'll go through the process.

He seemed about to say something more, but my mother tugged at his sleeve, and in the end he shut his mouth.

Inside the Harper family hall, Elder Harper sat in the head seat, three other family elders beside him.

They looked over my situation, brows drawn deep.

Third Elder Harper spoke first.

Richard, this girl of yours got into the National Defense University. She'll be serving the country one day. In all the towns around here, she's the first. The very first.

Second Elder Harper nodded too.

That brings honor to the whole family. How can you push her out?

Before my father could open his mouth, my mother clicked her tongue.

She's a girl. What's there to show off about getting into a military school?

When Hunter gets into an Ivy-tier school someday, that's a real prodigy. That's what brings honor to the family!

My father nodded along.

Both children are excellent.

He said it beautifully, but his eyes never came to me.

Valerie's already made something of herself. Whatever surname she takes, she's still our good daughter. Hunter, though, we still have to plan for

Elder Harper looked troubled.

Valerie hasn't done anything wrong. We can't strike her from the family register on our own say-so. It isn't right.

My mother panicked. She grabbed me, her nails digging into the soft flesh inside my arm.

Valerie agreed to it herself. Isn't that enough?

She turned to me, her eyes carrying a threat.

Go on, tell the patriarch. Is this your own choice or not?

I wanted to pull my arm free.

But she held on hard, so hard I couldn't break away at all.

Elder Harper looked at me, his face kind.

Valerie, say it yourself. Are you willing to leave the Harper family register?

The whole room went quiet, waiting on that one word from me.

I didn't hesitate. I gave a small nod.

I'm willing.

3: 3

Mom and Dad let out a breath at once.

Behind them, Hunter's mouth curled into a thin, contemptuous smile.

Elder Harper frowned, and in the end he spoke.

"All right."

The doors of the family hall were shut, and the ceremony formally began.

I knelt on the floor, my back held straight.

Elder Harper stood before the altar, lit three sticks of incense, raised them above his head, and bowed three times to the portraits of the ancestors.

"Ancestors of the Harper line above, this unworthy descendant, Valerie, daughter of Richard Harper, withdraws from the clan of her own will. Today it is declared before the ancestors that her name be struck from the register. From this day forward, in life and death, in marriage, she shall have no further tie to the Harpers"

When the rite was recited, Elder Harper set the incense into the bronze burner, turned, and opened the family register.

Brush dipped in ink, he held it above the two characters of "Valerie," and it would not fall.

He looked at me, then at my parents.

"By the rules, being struck from the register calls for the kneeling-on-incense ordeal. The knees press against the burning incense, and it does not end until the incense has burned out."

"But that punishment is for those who've broken the family law. This girl has done nothing wrong. As I see it, striking out the name is enough. We can waive the family law."

The three elders glanced at one another and all nodded.

"No!"

My mother's voice came out quick and frayed.

"If it's a ceremony, then it has to be done properly. What if it affects the prodigy's fortune?"

Elder Harper frowned.

"But she's done nothing wrong. She shouldn't take this punishment. And the kneeling-on-incense is no small thing. At best the skin peels away and the flesh shows; at worst it's a burn bad enough to cost a limb."

"I know."

My mother's voice dropped low.

But she didn't back down. She glanced at my father instead.

He had an unlit cigarette between his fingers, his eyes lowered, and said nothing.

"The Harper prodigy's fortune rests on this one thing."

My mother couldn't help herself and spoke again.

She crouched down and took my hand.

"Val, just bear it. Do it for your brother."

"Hunter's under so much pressure repeating the year. If it isn't cleared away completely, if that 'scholar's luck' stays clinging to you, he'll fail again next year."

I looked into her eyes.

There was only anxiety for her son in them, not a trace of pity for her daughter.

I spoke softly.

"Mom, once the family law is carried out, that means I have nothing to do with the Harpers anymore, doesn't it?"

"What kind of thing is that to say?"

She patted the back of my hand, her tone half-scolding.

"You'll always be your mom and dad's daughter. It's only a ceremony. Just going through the motions."

My father nodded too.

"Val, don't worry. Once you change your surname and your name's struck from the register, you're still our girl. Blood isn't something you can cut off that easily."

I looked at the brush hanging over the altar.

"If it's only going through the motions, then why be so serious about it."

At that my mother frowned. She grabbed my arm, her voice rising.

"What are you being so difficult for? Would your own parents ever hurt you? Be good, bear it, and it'll be over."

I pulled my hand back out of hers.

Before she could keep pleading, I turned to Elder Harper.

"Elder Harper, let me ask you. Once the family law is carried out and I'm struck from the register, does that mean I truly have no tie of any kind left to the Harper clan?"

I paused.

"Before the ancestors, you can't lie to me."

Elder Harper's brush hung in the air, his eyes watching me through his reading glasses.

He was quiet for a moment, then let out a soft sigh.

"Yes. Once the family law is done and your name is struck from the register, you're no longer a Harper."

"With the ancestors above, I won't speak falsely."

My father's lips moved, but he made no sound.

My mother didn't grab me again. Only the anxiety stayed in her eyes.

They were afraid.

Afraid I would refuse.

Then, suddenly, Hunter spoke.

"Valerie's a girl. Sooner or later she'll marry out and go into someone else's register."

"A little earlier, a little later, what does it matter."

He gave a scornful laugh.

"All this dithering. She's probably still hoping to hold on to the prodigy's luck."

That got to my parents.

My mother panicked and clutched me tighter.

"Val, just agree. Take it as your mom begging you."

"I'm not asking you to support me in my old age, I'm not asking you to repay us. I'm only asking you to do this one thing for your brother."

My father crouched down too.

"Don't worry. We've got burn ointment ready. We won't let anything happen to you."

Looking at the things they'd prepared ahead of time, I gave a bitter smile.

"So you knew all along. You just didn't tell me."

My parents' faces shifted.

They started to say more, and I waved a hand.

"There's no need. I agree to be punished."

I straightened up on my knees again.

"Elder Harper, let's begin."

4: 4

The incense was lit.

Eighteen thin sticks, laid out flat across the floor.

I drew a deep breath and knelt down onto them.

"Sssss!"

A faint sound, like meat hitting a hot pan.

My face twisted with the pain.

A dense field of burns bored down into my flesh.

I clenched my fists and bit down on my lip, forcing it back, sweat breaking out on my forehead, my whole body shaking despite myself.

My mother covered her mouth, her eyes going red.

My father turned his face away, unable to look.

Hunter seemed shaken too. He muttered under his breath.

"This... how long does she have to kneel like this?"

No one answered him.

The incense burned down to half.

I could smell my own flesh scorching.

My legs started to tremble on their own, my whole body trembling with them.

I wanted to shift, just to kneel on a different spot.

"Don't move!"

Elder Harper snapped low.

"You can't rise before the incense burns out. Stand up and the rite fails."

He thought I was about to back out.

My parents heard it and rushed forward in a panic, one on each side, pressing down on my shoulders.

"Valerie, bear it a little longer, it'll be over soon."

"Yes, if you give up now, all of this is for nothing."

They pressed hard.

The incense that had only lain against my skin now sank deep into flesh and bone.

"Ahh!"

The pain tore a scream out of me.

Somewhere in the haze, I thought of Grandma.

The winter I was six, I ran a high fever, and Grandma carried me three miles on her back to the clinic in town.

The mountain road had iced over, and she slipped and fell, splitting open her knee.

That scar stayed with her the rest of her life.

Every damp, rainy day, I would see her rubbing ointment into it.

I asked her once.

"Does it hurt?"

She shook her head, smiling.

"No, no. Your Grandma's tough as old leather."

Only now do I know how much a knee like that can hurt.

Then I thought of the year I was fifteen, the day Grandma left us.

She lay in bed, worn down to nothing but bone.

She gripped my hand, her lips moving, and she got out only a few words.

"Valerie, take care of yourself... don't worry about your parents..."

Back then I didn't understand what she meant.

Now, I understand.

What came after, I don't remember.

I thought I heard Elder Harper call out.

"The rite is complete. Rise!"

I couldn't rise. I fainted straight onto the floor.

"Valerie! Valerie! Are you all right?"

My father fumbled the burn ointment out with shaking hands.

My mother rolled up my pant legs, and the flesh lay bare in front of them, still smoking.

Red, charred black, one big bloody stretch of it.

Elder Harper's face changed.

"Get her to a hospital, now! The flesh is burned through, you can't just put ointment on this!"

My father shuddered in fright. He scooped me up and ran out of the family hall.

My mother grabbed the school bag I'd left on the floor and hurried after us, calling out.

"I'll bring the car around."

Hunter didn't move. He only stared at that spent coil of incense, something complicated in his eyes.

I didn't wake again until the next morning.

My knees were wrapped tight in gauze.

I tried to move one, and the pain went straight through me.

The family member in the next bed pressed the nurse call button for me, and a nurse came to change my IV bag.

"Lucky you got here in time. That's the only reason we could save the knee."

I looked around. My parents weren't there.

The nurse hesitated, something aching in her eyes.

"Your mom and dad left this morning. Said they had things to do today, they'll come back tomorrow."

My phone was charging beside the bed, two unread messages on the screen.

"Valerie, your dad and I headed back first. It's your brother's birthday today, we couldn't get away."

"Just rest and heal. We've hired a caregiver for you. Whatever you need, tell her."

I opened her social feed.

My mother had posted a grid of photos: a round banquet-room table with a lazy Susan crowded with dishes.

Hunter making a wish over his cake, eyes shut, the corners of his mouth turned up.

The caption: "Our family's little prodigy, happy fifteenth birthday! The exam-prep academy is all set, next year we win for sure! You've got this, son!"

Beneath it, dozens of likes and comments.

"Hunt's got this for sure!"

"A prodigy come down to earth. Ivy League's a lock for him now!"

"The Harpers' luck has finally turned!"

I set the phone down and looked back at the nurse.

"I want to check out."

She was stunned.

"You're still injured, you can't be discharged!"

I shook my head, resolute.

"Get me some medicine. I'm leaving right now."

Looking at how set I was, the nurse could only run off to find the attending physician.

I peeled off the gauze and pulled out the IV needle.

After pressing on the spot for a while, I tried to sit up.

There was a rental wheelchair by the bed, and I edged myself over into it.

Once the discharge paperwork was done, I shouldered my school bag.

Inside were my college acceptance letter, my new bank card, my old ID, and the receipt from changing my name...

The phone lit up. Someone had tagged me in the family group chat.

"Valerie, how come you didn't come celebrate Hunt's birthday today?"

I didn't reply.

My parents didn't reply for me either.

I left the group, then went through my contacts and blocked every one of the Harpers, one by one.

I was going to Sandport.

That best school Grandma always talked about.

The place that held my faith and my dream.

And they could go on guarding their self-styled prodigy.

From here on, the road runs long and the waters run wide.

Between me and the Harpers, nothing was left.