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Li Xingguo, the eldest son, coughed a couple of times, feigning discomfort said. “Grandpa and Grandma, the cost of going abroad is quite high. I really can’t manage it on my own, so I asked you both to come over.” A glint flashed in the old man’s eyes. “Your grandmother and I are both unable to work. We still rely on your father and your uncle to support us!” The Old man replied.
“Grandpa, that’s not what I meant. I’m not asking you for money. I just wanted you to talk to my parents and ask them to help me figure something out!” Li Xingguo quickly explained. “How much money does it cost to go abroad?” the old woman curiously asked.
“The cost of going abroad, including airfare and visa fees, is at least ten thousand!” “Ten thousand?” The old woman’s voice rose sharply. The old man looked at his grandson in disbelief. “Do you want your father’s life?!” the old man blurted out.
The eldest brother and his siblings had suffered through hardship; they had only recently improved their situation. Although the eldest son worked in the city, look at his clothes, look how thin he is! Wasn’t all this from supporting this grandson through university and marriage? Even at his age, he still had several hundred yuan left from the hardship! And this grandson just casually asks for ten thousand! Does he even know how much ten thousand yuan is?! Even selling the eldest son and his daughter-in-law wouldn’t fetch that much!
The old man suddenly felt his grandson was a stranger! Was this something an eldest son should say? Their eldest son, no matter how difficult his own life was, had never uttered a word of hardship to them! To avoid worrying them, he always only reported good news, never bad! How could his grandson be like this!
Li Xingguo’s face flushed as he listened to his grandfather’s questioning. “Grandpa, as long as we can get through these few years, just think, our family could produce a vice-ministerial level official!”
“You’ll be a vice-ministerial official! Your father will probably be six feet under!” The old man slammed his pipe on the table with a bang.
Having ambition is fine, but you can’t make your son pay for it with his life! Even a grandson is valued because of his father! Without a son, which grandson would remember these old bones?
“Grandpa, it’s not as serious as you say! My parents have their jobs. They can sell their jobs, my eldest sister still has her compensation money, and we can borrow some from relatives; it’ll almost be enough!” Li Xingguo replied confidently because he had already calculated everything.
The old man’s chest heaved with anger. They had worked so hard their whole lives to get their son a job in the city, and this grandson actually wanted his parents to sell their jobs for him! Is he the only child in the family? He is the eldest!
There are two younger brothers and a two younger sister below him! The old man was so angry he could barely breathe. The old woman’s face was ashen. She had never seen such a calculating child. This isn’t a child! This is a wolf cub!
Just then, Li Mancang entered the room. Li Mancang’s disheveled appearance made the old couple even more heartbroken.
“Eldest son, what have you been doing? Why are you so dirty?” The old woman pulled her son towards her, her heart aching.
“Mom, it’s nothing. I was unloading goods at the recycling station after work. I haven’t been to see you for two days. I finished work early today.” Li Mancang’s words made the old couple feel sad, forming a stark contrast to the heartless words of their grandson.
“One job is already tiring enough and you still unload goods? Can your body handle it?” The old woman touched her son’s gaunt face, her heart aching.
“I have no choice, Mom! The third son is not yet married, and the fourth son is still in university. Everything costs money. Zhiqiu has to work at a restaurant washing dishes after work.”
Li Xingguo, the eldest son, couldn’t listen any longer. “Dad, Mom just took a thousand yuan from me a few days ago. We’re not that short of money!” Li Mancang didn’t get angry, but chuckled wryly at his son’s sudden voice.
“Eldest son, the thousand yuan your mother took from you went to paying off debts! Since you started university, our family has been constantly borrowing money to support you! We figured you could help the family after graduation, but after you graduated, you haven’t given the family a single cent. Then the wedding came; Wang Yue demanded eight thousand yuan in bride price, plus thirty pieces of clothing, a radio, a bicycle, and a watch. Can you calculate how much money the family spent on your wedding? All that money was borrowed. If it weren’t for Wang Yue scolding your mother a few days ago and giving all her salary to her parents’ home, Your mother would have been furious, demanding the bride price back. She took a thousand yuan from you, barely paying off the debts! The third son is also about to get married, and your younger sister is going to university next year. Don’t you dare say that the family is not short of money!” Li Mancang’s own eyes welled up as he spoke! If his wife hadn’t squeezed money out of their eldest son, they would still be under the pressure of debt!
The old woman and old man were furious. What kind of heartless wolf was this! “Your wife dared to scold your mother? And now she’s giving her salary to her parents home?” The old woman extracted two key pieces of information from her eldest son’s words, her eyes wide with disbelief. Li Xingguo hadn’t expected the honest Li Mancang to expose their family’s dirty laundry like this.
“Grandma, it was all a misunderstanding!” Li Xingguo defended himself but it was no use.
“A misunderstanding? Your wife scold your own mother? Or did your wife give her salary to her parents’ home? And by the way, after you got a job, you didn’t give a single cent to the family, just watching your father work day and night?” No matter how eloquent Li Xingguo was, he couldn’t refute these points.
“Grandma, from now on, I’ll give half my salary to the family!” Li Xingguo, remembering this, tried to make amends. “Isn’t that what you should do as the eldest son?” His grandma replied to him coldly.
Li Xingguo hated it when people used his status as the eldest son to lecture him. Everything was what he “should” do! It wasn’t like he wanted to be the eldest son. Why should he always be the one to do everything? He studied hard and got into university; shouldn’t the family have supported him? Wasn’t that the parents’ responsibility?
Why was it that if he didn’t give money to the family, it was like he had committed some heinous crime! He went to university and worked to improve his own life, not to bear the burden of his family!
Li Mancang saw the changing expression on his eldest son’s face, guessing he was resenting him and his wife again! He had achieved his goal today. He didn’t care what his eldest son thought; as long as the old man and old woman felt sorry for him that was fine!
“Mom and Dad, you can just stay here. It’s rare for your grandson to want to show filial piety; you should just fulfill his wish. I have early shift tomorrow, so I’ll go back now. I’ll come to see you again when I have time!” Li Mancang said.
“Go, go back and rest! You look exhausted! We’re fine here; don’t worry,” the old woman hurriedly urged her son to go back. “Go back and rest. You can come over when we go back. Don’t make a fuss over nothing!” The old man said to his eldest son with a gloomy face.
“Okay, Mom and Dad, I’ll go back now!” Li Mancang happily went home. Li Xingguo rubbed his temples. He hadn’t expected his honest father to be so cunning. Looking at the old couple’s attitude, it was impossible to get them to pressure his parents into giving him money!
The old man and old woman were old, but they weren’t stupid. Was that even human talk? For him to go abroad, his parents jobs had to be sold, his eldest sister’s compensation money had to be used, and he had to borrow from every relative. Was that even something a human being could think of?
Why couldn’t he just study hard at university, and climb the ladder step by step through his own efforts? He’d only been working for two years, yet he was already aiming high for a vice-ministerial position.
The old man shook his head. He hoped his descendants would succeed, but he wasn’t senile yet! Even if you were the son of an official, it wasn’t possible to become a high-ranking official after only two years of work. Even if you went abroad to study for several years, it wasn’t possible.
Every high-ranking official had spent many years working in local government, gaining a deep understanding of the people’s livelihood, and possessing strong abilities before they could become officials.