Chapter 24: I’m Not As Lucky As My Third Uncle, I Didn’t Have My Older Brother To Pay For My Education

Li Mei is a kindergarten teacher, and Xie Zhili is an elementary school teacher. It’s the end of June now, so they must be on vacation.

Xie Zhili saw Xie Lin’an with a wooden face, looking confused.

“Lin’an, you’re here, come in.”

Xie Lin’an said flatly, “No, I just came to talk to my third uncle for a few minutes, I’ll leave after I’m done.”

“Ah? Is there some misunderstanding? Why are you talking so rudely?”

“Hmph, I talk like this, Third Uncle, I ask you, did your third aunt take Xiaowen to the village a few days ago?”

Xie Zhili was stunned, then he nodded, “Yes, I asked her to go and ask Dad if the wheat is ripe, we’ll go and help when the wheat is ripe.”

“Heh, you’ll help?”

Xie Lin’an sneered.

Did he not know? They would come and pretend to help when the harvest was almost done, then they would take a few big bags of their hard-earned grain away.

Their family of four relied on taking grain from home, they couldn’t even afford to buy a few pounds of rice all year round.

“Yes, come in. This is Xiaozhen, she’s a beautiful girl, come in, come in. It’s hot, it must be tiring to travel so far, come in and sit for a while, your third aunt went to buy watermelon, she’ll be back soon, you can have some watermelon to cool down.”

Xie Zhili saw that his expression was wrong, he didn’t dare to say more, he just said nice things and warmly invited them into the house.

After all, this nephew was tall and strong, and he had a bad temper, if he quarreled with him, he wouldn’t have a good time.

Xie Lin’an heard that there would be watermelon soon, so he pulled Ye Xiaozhen in.

His third uncle and aunt had taken advantage of them a lot, now that they had the chance to eat at their expense, of course, they would eat.

He not only wanted to eat, but he also wanted to eat them all, to make those two “respectable” people angry.

After they went in, they sat down in the small living room, Xie Zhili quickly poured them some water.

“It’s hot, you must be thirsty after walking so far, here, have some water.”

It was an old enamel cup, with the school’s logo on it, it must have been given out by the school for free.

Xie Lin’an didn’t hesitate, he took it and drank half a cup in a few gulps.

He had been cycling all the way, of course, he was tired and thirsty.

Ye Xiaozhen took a sip, it tasted strongly of lye.

They lived in a building assigned by the school, an old-fashioned building, with stairs on both sides, a row of corridors in front, connecting each household.

Most of the households in this building had only one room, a few had one room and one living room.

Xie Zhili was lucky, when he got his housing voucher, he drew a one-room and one-living room, it didn’t have a kitchen but it had a toilet.

They could build a kitchen in the corridor, everyone did that anyway.

Having a separate toilet meant they didn’t have to squeeze into the public toilet.

The small bedroom inside was for Xie Zhili and his wife, the outer room was the living room, it was bigger, there was a wooden table by the window, and at the back was an iron bed with two levels, it was for the two children to sleep.

They were all from the same village, Ye Xiaozhen knew their situation, they had an older son who was the same age as Xie Linli and Xie Linqi, he was in junior high school.

He should still be in class, junior high school wasn’t on vacation yet.

“Third Uncle, did your third aunt go to the village the other day just to ask about the wheat harvest?”

Xie Zhili probably guessed why, he awkwardly glanced at Ye Xiaozhen, then said, “Not really, she heard that you married a wife, so she went to take a look.”

“Oh, she’s disgusted that my wife is a fool?”

Xie Zhili: “…”

Let’s be honest, he wasn’t afraid of his father or his older brother, but he was a little afraid of this nephew.

He felt embarrassed that he, an elder, was afraid of his nephew, but he was really afraid.

It’s not his fault, who in the ten villages and eight towns wouldn’t be afraid?

When the land was divided in the village years ago, they didn’t want to give her a share because the eldest sister-in-law had run away.

His own father agreed, after all, she wasn’t part of the family anymore.

But the nephew didn’t agree, he insisted that since they had agreed to divide the land according to household registration, and his mother’s household registration was still there, why shouldn’t she get a share?

He was only a teenager at the time, a group of farmers came to beat him up, he was alone, but he beat up seven or eight men and sent them sprawling in the mud of the winter paddy field, unable to get up. He threatened that if anyone dared to say no, he would go to their house and make a scene every day.

He asked around, who would say no? No one dared to speak up.

There were so many people in the village, if they said they would give one less person’s land, they wouldn’t get a piece of land the size of their palm. It wasn’t worth it to fight with him over this.

From that day on, he became famous, and he got his share of the land.

“Did your third aunt say something? Don’t listen to her nonsense, you can’t believe what a woman says.”

Ye Xiaozhen: “…” Huh?

What did these two mean?

Xie Lin’an’s words didn’t sound like a lie, they must have argued about it at home and Xie Lin’an heard it, that’s why he said it.

Now the third uncle is denying it, maybe they just argued behind closed doors, but they actually don’t want to cut off ties.

That’s right, if they cut off ties, how could they go back to take advantage of them?

Tsk, this is interesting.

Just as they were talking, they heard the sound of Xie Lin’an’s third aunt, Li Mei, greeting a neighbor in the corridor.

Did she buy watermelon?

Xie Zhili stood up and said, “Your third aunt is back.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly went out.

Huh? He went out to greet her even though she was already at the door.

“Zhili, what’s wrong?”

Li Mei saw that his expression was wrong.

Xie Zhili took the watermelon and whispered, “Lin’an brought his wife here.”

“Ah? Then this watermelon…”

“Shh, we’re going back to get the wheat in a few days, be careful what you say. This kid is a rascal, even my father can’t control him, if you make him angry, he might dump the wheat into the river and not give it to us.”

Hearing about getting the wheat, Li Mei held back.

After entering the house, Li Mei warmly greeted them, she washed the watermelon and chatted with Xie Lin’an.

“Lin’an, I heard from your father that you’re working on the dam, it’s hard work and you don’t make much money.”

Xie Lin’an looked at them, they not only bought watermelon, but they also bought meat.

He said flatly, “It’s not much money.”

“Oh, you, why didn’t you study hard? If you had studied hard, you would have graduated and become a teacher like your third uncle, wouldn’t that be better? You would have a house to live in, your salary would increase every year, you would get a city household registration, the work is clean, you would be respected, and your feet wouldn’t touch the mud.

It’s better than working hard for others, right? It’s okay if you work hard and get more money, but the key is that you don’t get much money.”

Xie Lin’an sneered, “Do you think I don’t know that studying is good? But I’m not as lucky as my third uncle. My third uncle had my father to support him when he was studying, but my father died when it was my turn to study.

I’m not like my third uncle, who has an older brother, I’m the oldest brother in the family, what can I do? If I study, will my third uncle pay for my education?”

Li Mei’s smile froze on her face.

Xie Zhili blushed.

Xie Lin’an didn’t understand, he was staring at his mother cutting the watermelon, he said, “Yeah, why didn’t my older brother let my father pay for your education?”