Yan Dabao and his brother Yan Erbao’s house were one floor away. They were all collective houses allocated by the earliest units.
Because of the large number of people in the factory, during the distribution of the social housing at that time, the two brothers did not have a long working experience. They were only able to get the house because of their father. So the area of their respective allocated apartment was not spacious.
It was more than 30 square meters. The living room and bedroom, also the kitchen and bathroom, were shared in the apartment. It was more than enough for a house of this size for a family of three to live. But if one wanted five or six people to live in, it looked a little crowded.
Before the original self made those things happen, the children lived in the Yan family’s old house. When they grew up, the old lady learned the way of the dormitory in the school and asked the carpenter to make the bunk beds. The area of the old house was still spacious. It was more than enough to live for several children, and there was still room for them to set their desks, especially after getting the bunk beds.
When the old house got mortgaged, Yan Dadan21DadanBig Egg and Yan Dani17DaniBig Girl, the older children, were old enough to graduate and work, and they could also live in a rented house. The younger children indeed wanted to move in with them, the married couples afterward. So from beginning to end, Liu Hui and Zhang Qiaoqiao did not think about the problems they needed to face after picking up the children. They went to the flea market and found a large bed. As soon as they put it in the living room, it was over.
Yan Dabao and his four brothers, also Yan Dani and her three sisters, went home with their parents in high spirits, and they saw such a scene.
“Dani, you take your sister to clean up the house. Our stove has its name written on it. You cooked the meal before you came back.”
The machinery factory had not laid off staff yet, and the wages and benefits were also quite good. Liu Hui discussed with her husband and would not quit her job for the time being. When they decided on what business they would do, they would retire from the factory.
Now, the work was calculated according to the working hours. They went to the old house to find the old lady to bring the children back and asked for half a day’s absence. Because their wages would get a deduction, they could not ask for leave in the afternoon.
“Forget it. You’d better bring it yourself when your father and I come back in the evening.”
Liu Hui looked at her oldest daughter’s little body and frowned, for such a big girl could not do anything. They were indeed three naughty children.
Without the pictures of the three children living together as they imagined, Yan Erbao and his wife Liu Hui locked the door and left in a hurry.
Dani and Erni16ErniSecond Girl, the older of the three children, were still carrying luggage. Sanni15SanniThird Girl was young and protected by her brothers and sisters. She watched her parents leave and asked if her mother had bought drumsticks for her.
But now Yan Dani could not answer her. She was a little confused. Their mother was very good to them when she came to see them occasionally. Their father, in particular, would bring them fruit candies to eat.
But now, why did Mom and Dad become so indifferent?
Dani pursed her lips and asked her second sister to help tidy up their luggage since they would live here in the future.
On the other hand, Yan Dabao’s family was similar, but their family was noisier. Four boys were making a racket all around them. One side wanted to go out to play, and the other wanted to eat. The couple’s ears were going to explode when they listened to the noise.
“Dadan’s Dad, what do you think we should do next?” Zhang Qiaoqiao asked her husband, Yan Dabao.
The four sons each stuffed an apple and finally calmed down. The couple hid in their bedroom and quietly discussed.
“Resign and go to the sea14go to the seagenerally referring to abandoning or retaining the original job to run business and entrepreneurship. How many people have lost their hair this year? Look at my little uncle. He saved so many of our family’s daily life in his previous life. He took out 800,000 without blinking.”
Yan Dabao swallowed and thought about the appearance of his uncle’s suit and leather shoes in his previous life. He was ten years older than him, but he looked much younger than him.
He also blamed Yan Chu for not angering his mother. For such a rich uncle, a small leak in his fingers was enough for them to be chic.
Yan Dabao thought that rebirth was an opportunity God gave him. He knew what he could do to make a fortune in the future. He did not believe that he could be worse than his uncle.
“Anyway, our factory will close down in more than ten years. It’s meaningless to keep it. In the breakpoint event, the hero will break their wrists.”
Yan Dabao was very energetic, “Coincidentally, look at how much money our family still has. We can’t do business without the principal.”
When the family was separated, their family got 500. Yan Dabao’s salary increased from 45 to 110. Zhang Qiaoqiao had a little less than him, 75 each month. Their family had four children, and the married couple gave the old lady 20 Yuan a month. The rest was the couple’s own expenses and some social dealings. The highest expenditure was estimated to be the black-and-white TV set at home, which cost 300 Yuan. In addition, the husband and wife bought a watch, respectively. After calculation, they had saved more than 4,000 Yuan over the years. Now, it was also a good fortune.
“It’s a pity to quit working in the factory directly. It’s better to give it to my natal brother and sister-in-law. They have been doing*24doing*from 干 [gàn] that can mean as to do or to f*ck (vulgar) part-time work. There are still a group of children to raise at home, and life is a little difficult.”
Zhang Qiaoqiao thought that although the factory would not be open for many years, at least, there would be money to make in the past ten years. Especially after being laid off, she could get a sum of money. Now, how many people break their heads for a regular job? It was better to bargain with her natal brother.
“Whatever you want.”
Yan Dabao answered indifferently. Anyway, he was predetermined to make a lot of money in the future. He was not so shallow as to make a quarrel with his wife for this little money.
“By the way, do you think the second child’s family is the same as us?”
Zhang Qiaoqiao asked her husband. Otherwise, it did not make sense for them to go to the old lady to pick up their children. They did not do this in their previous life.
“I guess so.”
Thinking of this, Yan Dabao frowned, and a few more people were reborn, which meant that more people knew what would happen in the future.
“In the evening, you and I go to the second child to communicate and make a fortune together. Don’t let that thing do something stupid and drag down a group of us.”
Yan Dabao and Yan Erbao had a good relationship. After all, they were fellow sufferers who empathized with each other. The latter half of their life got soured by the loss of their hopes. The two brothers worked for nothing and mutually poured out their grievances with peanuts and radishes. Their feelings got spent criticizing Yan Chu and the old lady together. When they were old, they were closer than when they were young.
Zhang Qiaoqiao did not mean to oppose her husband. She and Liu Hui had a good relationship. Who let them face a biased mother-in-law together?
Of course, the most important thing was that this sister-in-law wholeheartedly wanted to have a son, but she gave birth to three daughters. She felt lacking on one side. Zhang Qiaoqiao, with the arrogance and pity she did not realize, naturally thought she and Liu Hui got along very happily.
However, compared with her husband’s brother and sister-in-law Liu Hui, Zhang Qiaoqiao wanted to think of her natal family when there was any happy occasion at home.
A group of reborn people, with their own thoughts, had to look back on how they could live from now on.
“I say, Old Lady Hua is too partial and will be punished sooner or later. Her two sons have taken their children away for more than a month. They used to take something back to see the old lady and children in the past ten days and a half months. This time, they haven’t come back for so long,” said a young married woman with short curly hair.
“Shh, don’t let Old Lady Hua hear this, but Dabao and Erbao, no matter how partial, she is also their mother. Jinbao23JinbaoYan Chu's nickname, refers to valuables in general; precious; darling; sweetie is the youngest and was born without a father. She would inevitably love him more as a mother. No matter what, the old lady doesn’t lack the two brothers for food and drink. She paid for them to marry a wife, and the two jobs at home, given to them. In the beginning, when the child was young, the child knew she was their mother. Now, when the child grows up, can run and jump, they throw their mother aside after picking the fruit. They’re truly good-for-nothings.”
The biggest gossip in the quadrangle these days was the Yan family. That day, when Yan Dabao and Yan Erbao came to pick up their children, it was quite a lot of news. Everyone saw it. They thought it was common for parents to pick up their children to live together, but they had not come back to see the old lady for a long time. This kind of practice made people talk.
There were two significant attitudes in the quadrangle. One was that the old lady hurt the other two children by favoritism. This argument principally spread among the young married woman who had not yet become a mother-in-law. The other was that Yan Dabao and Yan Erbao were wrong. This interpretation mainly spread among the mother-in-law whose son married a wife. No one on both sides could convince anyone.
“Granny, Auntie.”
Yan Chu had been in the new school for two weeks. The school was the one contacted by his uncle Jin Zhande. It was fully enclosed. He had only one day to go home every week. He went home on Saturday night and had to go back to school for self-study on Sunday night.
Such a school was still rare now. It was estimated that there was only one in Jing City. However, because of the strict teaching management and high enrollment rate, there was no lack of aspiring parents at any time. The upsurge of college students was currently popular in big cities. Jin Zhande could send this nephew in and put a lot of money in, but he did not tell his wife and the old lady about this.
“Jinbao is back. Your mother doesn’t know what delicious food to cook for you.”
When Yan Chu came back, the women, who had gathered in the yard to wash vegetables and chat, also stopped their gossip and spoke to him affectionately.
“I miss my mother too, Granny, Auntie. You wash the dishes slowly. I’ll go home first.”
The teenager in school uniforms looked very energetic. In addition, the biggest favorite of the original self today was to read martial arts novels. He did not go out much, so his skin was whiter than the ordinary girls. His facial features inherited Jin Zhanhua. He looked delicate and white. Without the arrogance and hostility of the past, he seemed to be indescribably pleasing to the elderly.
“Do you think this Jinbao is different from before? Old Lady Hua spoiled him. How could he greet us so politely in the past?”
Seeing that he had gone far, the women in the courtyard looked at each other and talked.
“I think he’s different. I heard that his uncle helped him change schools. The school is strictly managed and can go home one day a week. The old lady who follows closely with her eyes can’t stay with him. I guess that the whole person has changed after suffering some hardships and lessons in school.”
Everyone gathered together and just helped Jin Zhanhua speak. The old lady who felt that Yan Dabao and Yan Erbao were not filial chimed in again.
“Actually, how old is Jinbao now? He’s spoiled in the past. Don’t you think he’s better after being taught by someone now? I think the practice of Jinbao’s uncle is good. Let the old lady stay away from Jinbao. When he learns by following good examples, he won’t be bad in the future.”
“Precisely.”
A chubby aunt also nodded, looked at Yan Chu’s back, and envied: “Have you just listened to the kid Jinbao said? It would be nice if my family’s stinky boy didn’t fight with me every day, and I hoped to hear what he said about me. But Jinbao is different. He has a very intimate relationship with Old Lady Hua. As long as he learns well in school, plus his affection for the old lady, the old lady’s life will not be bad without Dabao and Erbao.”
There were still three big tile-roofed houses. The old lady saved money for her son’s marriage long ago. Then Jin Bao’s uncle would find a job for his obedient nephew. Now, the fat aunt did not say these words out loud to those people who mocked the old lady might not have a good life for her in the future.
So many people in the courtyard said that the old lady was partial, but there were more biased elders. Jin Zhanhua somehow also subsidized money to help her first two sons to raise grandchildren. It was not because the three empty big houses of the Yan family were envious. Compared with the families in the quadrangle where all three generations of one family often lived together, and some people could not turn around, her life was comfortably off and made people jealous.
“My son said that the boarding school was quite strict. But Jinbao was spoiled by the old lady. Where did he live like that? That is, in the beginning, he can hold on for a few more days.”
The curly-haired young married woman who lived next door to the Yan family curled her lips. Her son was the same age as Yan Chu. People in the quadrangle used to praise her son. Especially under the comparison of Yan Chu, her son was more prominent. She did not want to believe that Yan Chu would get better.
After washing the dishes, she shook her wet hands. The young married woman picked up the washed vegetable, stood up, and walked to her humble kitchen.
The other people’s vegetables had almost washed too, and they walked towards their kitchen stove in twos and threes.
With the fragrant smell of roast meat in the air, one did not need to use their brain to know that Old Lady Hua’s precious son was back. She still could not make good things to the best of her ability and gave it to her darling son.
She looked down at the vegetable leaves in her basin. Who can make others have a younger brother who was competitive and filial? Couldn’t compare. She could not compare.
“Mom’s obedient Jinbao, eat more, so don’t you be tired from studying at school.”
The old lady had not seen her beloved son for several days. She cooked a table of dishes, stir-fried smoked bacon with garlic moss, steamed hairtail, braised pork with vermicelli, a big bowl full of steamed egg custard, and a few vegetarian dishes. Among them, Jin Zhanhua bought smoked bacon and hairtail fish for the old lady. But she did not eat them and kept them until her son came back.
“So skinny.”
The old lady was so distressed that she kept putting food in her son’s bowl.
Seven grandchildren had picked up. In the past, the old lady disdained them. If she did, they would have been blasted away one by one and returned to their parents. In addition, her beloved son also went to school. Suddenly, the old lady was left alone in the bustling big family. She was really lonely.
“Mom, I’ve gained two catties by weighing this time. There is fish and meat in every meal in the school. I eat very well, especially the red braised pork cooked by the chef. It’s very delicious, but I can’t take it out. Otherwise, I want to bring you some back.”
Yan Chu truly did not feel that a closed school was hard. He was very independent. In addition, Yan Chu knew all the knowledge learned in school. He exercised and studied on time, and his life was relaxed.
The most important thing was that the old lady was the person who knew the original self, her son, best. Only when he was far away that his changes would not arouse the old lady’s doubt.
Fortunately, the original self was the sweetest and used to deceive people. Because of this, the old lady had no doubt when he said these words, and her heart was as sweet as eating a jar of honey.
“It’s better to be fat. Mom knows that the school your uncle chose for you isn’t bad. Your uncle has gone out of town these days. When he comes back, Mom will take you to thank your uncle. Thanks to him these years, you will be promising in the future. You can’t forget to honor your uncle, you know?”
The old lady felt worthy of being her two favorite people. Her younger brother and son were the best in the world.
As for the other two ingrates, let’s not talk about them.
“Mom, I got it! You should eat more too.”
Yan Chu felt that in the heart of his current uncle, to see him less was the most filial piety to him. However, he was not stupid enough to refute the old lady’s words, but he just put some meat piled into the old lady’s bowl.
“Do you obediently listen to the lessons taught by the teachers in the new school?”
The old lady asked with her eyes smiling like a crescent moon while eating the meat sandwiched by her youngest son.
“I listened properly. I think the way the lecturers teach in the new school is particularly to my liking. Mom, I will be able to give you the top ten of the class in this midterm exam.”
The former class had 48 students in total, and his grades have been hovering between 30 and 40. The number of students in the current one was about the same as before, and if he could enter the top ten, this improvement was not one or two points.
If Yan Chu indeed wanted to give full play to his strength, it was easy to be the first in the exam. But then it seemed that he was too abnormal, and he had to make progress bit by bit. For example, the old lady smiled until her gums were exposed when she heard him say he wanted to be the first ten in the exam now.
“My Jinbao is promising as expected. It’s those teachers who delayed you before.”
In the old lady’s heart, when her son said he would be in the top ten in the same way as he was in the top ten. If he failed to pass the exam at that time, it could only be said that there was a mistake or a problem with the level of the teacher who issued the test paper. Anyway, her son would not have a problem.
“The previous teachers are also good, but the teaching method is not suitable for me. Mom, don’t you think Qian Xue next door learned very well?”
Yan Chu felt sorry for the teacher after hearing what the old lady said. They were very responsible, but the original self was inept. If his mother indeed took those words out, it would also affect the reputation of other teachers.
Anyway, as Yan Chu said, the old lady kept nodding and smiling, and the mother and son got along more warmly and harmoniously.
At the end of dinner, Yan Chu just ate two large bowls of rice. Somewhat he ate to bursting point. He supported his stomach and took a walk in the hall to aid digestion. The old lady said there was no soy sauce at home. She went out with an empty bottle to get soy sauce before the grocery shop closed.
In reality, as soon as she went out with the empty bottle, the old lady hurried to the post office.
The post office in their area also replaced the function of the telephone booth. How many people can have landlines these days? The price of installing phones was sky-high. The old lady remembered a telephone number copied by her brother before she went to other places and hurriedly called.
The call’s content was nothing more than thanking her brother for finding such a good school for his nephew and showing off what her baby son said to give her the top ten in this exam.
Jin Zhande, who was far away in Shen City, hung up the phone and did not return to his senses. His first reaction was that the little beast was upgraded and tricked his elder sister.
In the hotel, Jin Zhande thought for a long time and asked the teachers of Yan Chu’s school about the situation.
Yan Chu’s headteacher was his former classmate. He was upright and would never say anything good because Yan Chu was his nephew. Moreover, when he arranged his nephew in, he told his old classmates to discipline him severely.
“Big De, your nephew is indeed spoiled. However, he is still a child and can be changed. I think he performed better recently than when he just started school. The teachers all say that he is listening seriously now. I think the child can still be saved. It’s not as hopeless as you said.”
His old classmate’s words made Jin Zhande a little bewildered.
“He didn’t cause you any trouble? For example, fighting with classmates and playing cards?”
Jin Zhande did not believe that it was his nephew.
“Yan Chu also likes playing cards. Old classmate, you didn’t tell me before?” The voice on the other end of the phone was a little serious.
“No, my nephew used to have friends playing this. I’m afraid he gets influenced by those bad children.” Jin Zhande was not sure when his nephew degenerated.
“Oh, that’s how it is.”
His old classmate’s voice relaxed a lot: “You’ve been worrying about nothing. It’s been more than two weeks since school started. The life skill teacher’s report is also not bad. Before, the child didn’t want to wash the clothes himself and wanted to take them all home for his mother to wash. Later, after the life skill teacher teaches him, he starts to wash it himself. The first time he went to class, he liked to talk about trivialities with his desk-mate and teased the girls in the front row. After criticism and education, he didn’t commit it again. That child is just lacking people to take care of him. As for what you said about playing cards and whatnot, I indeed haven’t seen him play before. If there is such behavior in the dormitory, the life skill teacher will also report to me.”
After that, they talked a little. When Jin Zhande hung up, his face became more complicated. Was this truly his nephew? Or was he indeed spoiled by the whole family before? He was only 14 years old now, so there might be room for change.
Thinking about the happy appearance of his elder sister, who just called, Jin Zhande felt that he should give the child a chance.
