I Didn't Dare Tell You

Da Yuan, is a lonely little boy tormented by playground bullies and raised by an often absent single-father who has despite himself pledged his son as an apprentice in settlement for his gambling debts. Da Yuan, however, wants to stay in education after middle school and is wary of an older man, Uncle Chen, who often drops by the house inspecting his teeth as if he were a horse at market. Consumed by guilt, Da Yuan’s father eventually decides to honor his son’s wishes and send him to the public high school telling Uncle Chen that the deal is off. Uncle Chen, however, is less than sympathetic insisting that Da Yuan’s father pay back the money he owes within the month. Spying on his father Da Yuan overhears their conversation and begins to feel guilty himself, wondering if he should give up on staying at school but later deciding to look for work to help his father pay off the debt entering an arrangement with another boy who had to drop out of education to work in a print house, pulling his shifts while his friend does Da Yuan’s homework to prepare for entering the high school the next year as his older brother had promised him he could.
(Source: WindowsOnWorlds)