Chapter 166: I Am Iron

“Hey, you promised! Why are you going back on your word?”

Lin Xiangnan, hands on hips, retorted angrily, “You have the nerve to say that? Didn’t you go back on your word first?”

“So what if I did? I’m your mom!” Hu Meili argued, her voice loud and unreasonable.

What was wrong with a mother making decisions for her daughter?

Lin Xiangnan rolled his eyes. “You are not my mother. You are the one who cares about her. You are right anyway.”

Her words made Lin Xiangxi, who was in the kitchen, burst into laughter.

“Don’t worry about it, haha.” Lin Xiangxi praised: “Sister, your word choice is so accurate. Why didn’t I think of this word before.”

In this family, it wasn’t just Lin Xiangnan who was tormented by Hu Meili’s unreasonable behavior, Lin Xiangxi was also a victim.

Having found a kindred spirit, Lin Xiangnan rushed into the kitchen, put her arm around her younger brother’s shoulder, and excitedly said, “We’re not just siblings. We’re a victim alliance.”

Hu Meili was so angry she wanted to give them both a few slaps.

“When you need help from me, you call me mom affectionately. When you have nothing to do, you tell me to ‘ignore it’. You two have really grown wings! Do you want to be beaten?”

“Mom, don’t be angry, we were just joking,” Lin Xiangxi quickly pleaded.

Lin Xiangnan also quickly smoothed things over, “Yeah, yeah, Mom, don’t be angry, we were just messing around with you.”

Seeing them act like good siblings, their relationship seemingly strong, Hu Meili suddenly laughed.

“Xiao Nan, I have a complaint.”

Hu Meili glanced at Lin Xiangxi and said, “Before you came home, you sent back some books, and Lin Xiangxi didn’t read a single one. He only started pretending to read after you came back.”

“Mom, you’re slandering me!” Lin Xiangxi quickly explained, “Sister, Mom’s making it up. Don’t believe her. Mom’s trying to sow discord!”

“I’m not making it up.” Hu Meili looked righteous. “Your brother can’t control you. I don’t have the heart to discipline you either. So let your sister handle it.”

Lin Xiangxi widened his eyes, “Mom!”

Before he could say anything else, Lin Xiangnan had already grabbed his ear.

“Ouch!” Lin Xiangxi begged pitifully, “Sister, I was wrong.”

“You’ve learned to pretend after all this time. I’m not even going to ask if you actually read the books. I’ll just give you some tests to see what you know.”

Lin Xiangnan went upstairs to her room and came back down with several sheets of paper.

“Here, write. Once you’re done, I’ll know your level.”

Lin Xiangxi was close to tears, “Sister, why do you still have so many test papers at home?”

“Well, I love to study. You haven’t learned any of my good habits.” Lin Xiangnan didn’t actually love to study. The test papers were bought from the space mall, but who told her to love to pretend?

Hu Meili, who was enjoying the misfortune, raised her hand. “Xiao Nan, you go do your thing. I’ll supervise him. I’ll make sure he doesn’t cheat.”

“Then I’ll take the kids out for a walk.” Lin Xiangnan called out to Gu Zhenhua, and confidently pushed the stroller out the door.

After Lin Xiangnan left, Hu Meili poked Lin Xiangxi’s forehead.

“You’re just your sister’s lackey. Now you’re finally in my hands.”

“I’m sitting right here in front of you. I’ll see how you write.”

“Humph!”

Lin Xiangxi chewed on his pen, laughing, “Mom, you’re thinking too much. I never planned to cheat. Nobody in the courtyard knows these questions, who am I going to cheat off of? You? You don’t know either.”

Those older than him were at work, and those younger were just elementary school students, completely unreliable. He might as well just write it himself. After all, he was a middle schooler, and he had been forced to read a lot of books lately.

Lin Xiangxi looked at his little leather shoes and sighed. Lin Xiangnan was so good to him, he couldn’t let her down.

No matter how difficult the questions were, he would grit his teeth and charge forward.

After giving himself a pep talk, Lin Xiangxi started writing.

As he wrote, Lin Xiangxi suddenly started laughing and biting his hand.

“What are you laughing at? Did you go crazy from doing the problems?”

Lin Xiangxi didn’t answer, he just laughed to himself.

“What are you laughing about?” Hu Meili was startled, she couldn’t help but look around, afraid there was some kind of ghost.

“Mom, you don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand? I’ve made progress now, I’m at least at a third-grade level!” Hu Meili was unconvinced, she leaned over to look.

“There are 21.7 people on the bus? How did you calculate that half a person?” Hu Meili exclaimed, “At least make it a whole number. Quick, erase that and just write 21 people.”

“But I calculated this 21.7 very carefully, step by step. The formula is still on the paper, just changing the result won’t work.”

Lin Xiangxi knew his own level, he accepted the result calmly, and after laughing, he continued to calculate the next problem.

But for the next problem, he struggled for a long time, couldn’t even figure out how to solve it, and then couldn’t help but laugh at himself again.

Before he could say anything, Hu Meili sighed.

“Your sister is hoping you’ll study hard, get a better job, and then get a raise. I think your sister is hoping in vain.”

“The restaurant job is good. There’s food and drink. Even if I get a high salary, I might not live as comfortably as I do at the restaurant.” Lin Xiangxi didn’t really care about that.

Most people don’t have the energy to improve themselves after they start working.

Having a job, and not having to go to the countryside, was enough for Lin Xiangxi. Asking him to study was really too much for him.

When Lin Xiangnan came back from her walk, she checked his test papers and was speechless.

“The books you read, you must have returned them all to the teacher. What is this? It’s utter nonsense.”

Lin Xiangxi pulled on Lin Xiangnan’s sleeve and whined, “Sister, I really can’t get into those books. Besides, you’re always playing around, why do you have to force me to study?”

Before Lin Xiangnan could say anything, Hu Meili proudly boasted.

“Your sister loves to play, but she’s smart. It wasn’t so obvious when we were here, but once she got to the housing complex, she got the chance and immediately stood out.”

“I told you your sister was smart since she was little, and sure enough, as soon as she started working, she was noticed by her leader and promoted to the most important project. Gold will shine wherever it goes.”

The project Lin Xiangnan was participating in was helicopter manufacturing, and Hu Meili, as a family member, was also proud, she couldn’t help but stand tall when talking about it. Lin Xiangnan was now her pride!

Lin Xiangxi wasn’t jealous or envious, he continued to laugh and say, “Yes, I admit, Big Brother and Second Sister are gold. But I’m different, I’m iron, iron doesn’t shine.”

Hu Meili glared at him, “Nonsense. I gave birth to you. How can you be iron? You have to shine for me too.”

“Mom, if you like things that shine, I’ll go shave my head tomorrow?”

“I’ll beat you to death, you little rascal. You dare try to shave your head?”