Chapter 5: One Yu, three Zhaos, Zhao Feng at the bottom.  

The Zhao family hierarchy was: One Yu, three Zhaos, with Zhao Feng at the bottom.  

So, Zhao Feng stood aside watching his second sister till the soil and make ridges in the field, fidgeting from head to toe. He scratched his head and ears non-stop until she announced they could go back, at which point he let out a long sigh of relief.  

No one was home. Zhao Jianguo was at the health center, Yu Xiulan at the team committee, and Zhao Mian at school.  

Zhao Ke had been working for two hours and was actually quite tired, but she maintained appearances. While circling the house, she noticed that Zhao Feng’s jacket on the kang had a torn seam.  

One essential skill for slacking off without being caught: make sure your work looks like work. If it doesn’t, make sure to mention it yourself.  

So Zhao Ke offered to mend Zhao Feng’s jacket.  

Zhao Feng hesitated, politely declining, “My jacket’s not urgent. I’ll wait for Da Jie to sew it.”  

Da Jie sewed beautifully; Er Jie’s work merely got the job done.  

Zhao Ke: “Your pocket…”  

Zhao Feng jolted and immediately, with a sheepish grin, went inside to retrieve his jacket, offering it with both hands to his second sister.  

If he’d done this sooner, she wouldn’t have had to waste her breath.  

Zhao Ke went to her and her sister’s room, casually placing the jacket on the desk before rummaging for the sewing kit.  

Zhao Feng, sitting on the bench outside the window, idly picked up a high school textbook from the desk and flipped through it.  

“Be gentle,” Zhao Ke glanced up. “Don’t rip it with your rough hands.”  

Zhao Feng picked up a fallen bookmark and asked, “Er Jie, you still read this?”  

Of course, she still read it.  

Zhao Ke cast a casual glance, but something seemed off—she hadn’t left the bookmark on this page last time.  

She didn’t dwell on it, assuming Zhao Feng had messed it up while flipping through. She opened Da Jie’s drawer.  

Zhao Mian was neat and tidy; even her drawer was well-organized.  

Zhao Ke found the sewing kit, along with a notebook she had previously left in disarray. She smoothed the edges of the loose paper with her fingers and tapped it twice on the desk to align it.  

Suddenly, a slightly familiar, somewhat aged piece of paper caught Zhao Ke’s eye.  

She pinched the edge and pulled it out. When she clearly saw the content, her eyes widened.  

Noticing her expression, Zhao Feng leaned his upper body through the window to peek. After a few moments, he was shocked. “An acceptance letter?! Da Jie’s? But Da Jie’s grades weren’t much better than mine!”  

His shock wasn’t just shock. It carried the bitter betrayal of “We agreed to be bad students together, and now you’re suddenly shining?” and the helplessness of “Am I the only fool in the family?”  

Zhao Ke pressed her lips together and gently placed the thin piece of paper down, then picked up the textbook Zhao Feng had just been flipping through.  

There were no other markings on it.  

She then turned her gaze to the notebooks, flipping through them one by one.  

Most were lesson plans, but at the bottom were two notebooks completely filled, front and back, with high school problems.

It was obvious—Da Jie was self-studying high school material.  

Zhao Ke sat in the chair, her brows lowered, silently focused on the “evidence” before her.  

She didn’t speak, but Zhao Feng couldn’t hold it in. “Didn’t they say Da Jie didn’t get into high school? So did she get in or not?”  

Wasn’t the truth right in front of them?  

Zhao Ke started school at seven, hoping to ease the family’s burden. She progressed steadily through elementary school, doing what she could at home with Zhao Feng, and skipped a grade each in middle and high school.  

Da Jie, Zhao Mian, had started school a year late due to illness. The year she graduated middle school, their grandparents passed away one after another, and Zhao Ke had just skipped into high school.  

Those two years were tough on the entire family…  

Zhao Feng studied his second sister’s expression and cautiously asked, “Er Jie, do you think Dad and Mom knew?”  

“If they knew, they wouldn’t have stopped Da Jie from attending high school.”  

Zhao Ke shut the drawer with one hand but didn’t put the acceptance letter back.  

At three in the afternoon, Yu Xiulan came home briefly, wanting to check what Zhao Ke and Zhao Feng were up to.  

Outside the gate, she first saw Zhao Feng obediently sitting alone under the eaves. After stepping inside, she noticed Zhao Ke through the window, mending clothes.  

Yu Xiulan was surprised. Were they really working?  

But Zhao Ke didn’t perform any diligent facade as she originally planned. Instead, she quietly picked up the paper on the desk and handed it over.  

Yu Xiulan was puzzled. She glanced down, and her hands trembled uncontrollably, her eyes turning red with anger. “Stupid girl with no brain! How dare she lie about something this big!”  

“I knew her grades weren’t bad. How could she not get in? I even held back from asking too much, afraid she was hurt!” Fuming, Yu Xiulan spun around. “I’m going to ask her myself!”  

“Mom!” Zhao Ke reacted quickly, leaning forward to grab her.  

“Don’t stop me!”  

Zhao Ke didn’t let go and spoke softly, “We have no right to blame Da Jie.”  

Yu Xiulan fell silent. As strong-willed as she was, even she couldn’t stop her eyes from reddening.  

Zhao Ke didn’t know if she was the primary reason Da Jie made that choice, but she was sure she was part of it. Every family member was part of it.  

She wasn’t the type to silently sacrifice, though she respected and admired Da Jie’s sacrifice deeply. But everyone deserved to know what Da Jie had given up.  

That was the reason Zhao Ke explained to her mother.  

“Mom, I’m certain. I want to give my job to Da Jie, and I won’t regret it.”  

In truth, the hardest part wasn’t changing a single event but breaking out of the fixed cycle and seeing the world beyond. Otherwise, if not Li Dasheng, there would be Zhang Dasheng or Sun Dasheng…  

Zhao Ke wanted to take Da Jie to see the world outside.  

Beside her, Zhao Feng chimed in, “Mom, I’ll be good to Da Jie too. If anyone bullies her, I’ll fight them!”  

*Slap!*  

“Ow! That hurts~”  

“Fight them?” Yu Xiulan smacked his back again. “I haven’t even dealt with you yet! What were you doing in my room earlier? I’ll beat you first so you don’t cause me trouble in the future!”  

“Mom!” Zhao Feng, despite being tall, darted around the yard, dodging his mother’s broom. “Er Jie—”  

The instigator, Zhao Ke, pitied her brother for a second, then shut the window without hesitation.  

Zhao Feng: “!” 

In the evening, when Zhao Jianguo and Zhao Mian returned, the three women had already calmed down and could face Zhao Mian as usual.  

After dinner, Zhao Ke took the initiative to invite her sister for a walk.  

Zhao Feng’s eyes darted around, unable to hide the joy on his face as he watched them leave.  

Yu Xiulan didn’t notice his sneaky thoughts and told her husband about Zhao Mian’s acceptance letter.  

Zhao Jianguo sat in a daze for a long time, then lowered his head and sighed, “It’s because I’m useless as a father.”  

On the other side, Zhao Ke and Zhao Mian walked along the green, lush field ridge.  

“Jie, I really don’t want to keep working at the bearing factory.”  

Zhao Ke didn’t say she wanted to give the job to Zhao Mian but that she didn’t want to do it anymore.  

However, Zhao Mian still frowned. “Don’t say this just to make me agree. That’s your job. It feels like a hot potato to me. I’d rather stay like this, at least without the burden on my conscience.”  

“Jie, just listen to me.”  

With that acceptance letter in hand, Zhao Ke knew exactly how to convince her sister. She deliberately showed a weary expression. “I know if I say this, people will think I’m lazy, but the work at the bearing factory is really exhausting. It’s completely unsuitable for me.”  

Zhao Mian retorted, “You’re great—smart and thoughtful. No one has the right to say otherwise.”  

Zhao Ke sighed. No wonder in the original story, Zhao Feng had been spoiled into a troublemaker…  

Her sister’s indulgence was overwhelming. If Zhao Ke hadn’t already matured, she wouldn’t be able to handle it either.  

Zhao Ke looped her arm through her sister’s, resting her head on Zhao Mian’s shoulder, playfully whining, “Only you think I’m good at everything. But I know myself. The bearing factory job is boring and exhausting. The workshop is strict, and any mistake means getting scolded, maybe even having my pay docked. I have to stay tense all the time. By the time I get back to the dorm, I don’t even want to move.”  

“Why didn’t you say so before?” Zhao Mian’s heart ached.  

Zhao Ke held out her hand, making it hurt even more. “Look at my hands—they’ve developed calluses.”  

Zhao Mian touched her hands, her eyes full of pain.  

“I had to work so hard just to become a Level 1 worker. I can’t even imagine how tough it’ll be to reach Level 2. But you’re different, Jie. You’re smart and hardworking. Master Yu in our workshop loves people like you. You’d probably get a raise in less than two years.”  

The more Zhao Ke talked, the more enthusiastic she became, imagining the future. “Level 2 wages are seven or eight yuan more than mine now. Level 3 and Level 4 wages double. If you keep advancing…”  

Zhao Mian couldn’t help but follow along with her thoughts.  

She had always been the kind of person who wished she could give Zhao Ke twice as much of anything she had, unwilling to let her younger sister suffer. If she could earn more, her sister could eat braised meat twice a month and get new clothes every season… 

Moreover, Zhao Mian looked at her sister, whose bearing and appearance were no worse than those of the city’s educated youths. Her hands shouldn’t have to do manual labor in the first place.  

Zhao Ke was very bold, directly pulling on her elder sister’s arm and swaying it. “Jie~ I can come back and take over for you at the elementary school to earn some work points. Anyway, Zhao Feng can handle the chores at home. Let me just enjoy being lazy—I don’t mind.”  

Zhao Mian finally relented, “You don’t have to do anything. I’ll take care of you.”  

Zhao Ke’s face lit up with joy, and she smiled sweetly. “That won’t do. I can’t give Mom the chance to scold me.”  

The sisters reached an agreement, strolling leisurely to the edge of the field and then taking another path back.  

At the educated youth station, under a willow tree, a young man and woman stood face to face.  

Zhao Feng happily handed over a paper-wrapped package. “Zhuang Lan, my second sister bought some candies—orange-flavored. I brought them just for you.”  

Zhuang Lan didn’t take it, speaking coldly and distantly, “These aren’t cheap. I can’t accept them. Take them back.”  

“It’s fine.” Zhao Feng eagerly pushed the package toward her. “Didn’t you feel dizzy? My dad said eating candy can help. Please take it.”  

“I don’t want it.” Zhuang Lan’s tone was harsh.  

It was as if there was a tail behind Zhao Feng, which went from wagging wildly to drooping in disappointment. But he still stubbornly asked, “Is it that you don’t like candy? Next time, I’ll ask my sister for something else to give you. My elder sister can make hair accessories, and my second sister…”  

However, hearing this, Zhuang Lan’s unpleasant memories surged up, and she couldn’t help but sharply question, “Have you ever thought about how your sisters feel? Do they deserve to be bled dry by you?”  

Zhao Feng was stunned. Was he… bleeding them dry?  

Not far away, Zhao Ke and her elder sister exchanged glances as they passed by, openly eavesdropping.  

Although the girl’s attitude was nasty, and it could be a chance to crush Zhao Feng’s romantic hopes, preventing him from becoming obsessive, Zhao Ke wasn’t happy seeing her brother misunderstood.  

Zhao Feng was still anxiously explaining, “Zhuang Lan, I didn’t—”  

Before he could finish, a sinister female voice came from behind him. “Zhao Feng, I told you to stash the candy, and now you’ve learned to pocket it for yourself?”  

Zhao Feng shivered, stiffly turning around. “Er-Er Jie?”  

Zhao Ke grabbed his ear and yanked hard. “Home!”  

Zhao Feng bent over, following her force, eyes full of pleading as he kept glancing at Zhuang Lan, silently begging his second sister to spare him some dignity in front of his crush.  

Zhao Ke snatched the candy package from his hands and stuffed it unceremoniously into the stunned Zhuang Lan’s hands, then dragged Zhao Feng away by the ear.  

At this moment, Zhao Mian walked over and greeted Zhuang Lan warmly, “Comrade Zhuang.”  

Zhuang Lan, still bewildered by what had just happened, jumped in surprise. Holding the hot package of candy, she stammered incoherently, “Ah, yes—no, I mean… I’m Zhuang Lan.”  

Help. What was she even saying?