After much anticipation, his admission letter finally arrived, signaling his return to the city.

The thought of seeing his parents and sister soon filled Zhang Mengzhi with joy as he packed his belongings.

The quilt was newly made by his parents a year ago when he went to the countryside, so he had to take it back to the city. The mattress was an old quilt, which he could leave for his grandparents.

He would also take the thermos, but the books could be left for his cousins.

Thus, Zhang Mengzhi didn’t have much to take back to the city—just some clothes, the quilt, and the thermos.

Apart from the pair he was wearing, he left all his other shoes for his cousins. He was a boy, and even if his two older female cousins hadn’t married, they couldn’t wear his shoes anyway!

His cousins didn’t mind that the shoes were old and worn. They wore shoes with countless patches, while the shoes Zhang Mengzhi left behind, though old, had no patches and even included a pair of rubber shoes!

So, when Zhang Mengzhi mentioned it, his cousins happily rushed over to divide up the shoes he left behind.

Then there were some local products from his grandparents, great-aunt, and great-uncle. They weren’t heavy, so he just packed them up and carried them away.

Compared to other educated youth returning to the city with large packages, Zhang Mengzhi had less than half their belongings.

“Dear grandson, come and eat noodles. Grandma made you a fried egg, it’s so fragrant.” Grandma Zhang came in with a large bowl of noodles. A golden fried egg lay on top of the noodles, and the aroma of the noodles immediately filled Zhang Mengzhi and his cousins’ bedroom.

“Grandma, I told you not to fry an egg for me. Give it to Xiaosi and Xiaowu; they are young and need nutrition.”

Zhang Mengzhi, who was packing his things, looked helplessly at the egg on the noodles.

A large bowl of noodles was already too much, let alone with a fried egg on top. It was fortunate that his great-uncle and great-aunt’s families were generous; otherwise, this bowl of noodles and fried egg could have caused a huge uproar in the family.

It’s not poverty that people fear, but inequality. Grandparents are too biased, which can easily cause dissatisfaction among cousins.

“Don’t worry, this egg was brought by your aunt, it’s not that I’m being biased.”

Grandma Zhang immediately explained, knowing her third grandson’s concerns.

With Zhang Mengzhi constantly reminding her and her husband, Grandma Zhang usually treated her grandsons fairly.

Although in her heart, her third grandson was the most well-behaved, considerate, and filial to them, she couldn’t be too obvious, as she still lived with her two sons under the same roof and didn’t want to cause trouble for her third son and grandson.

The old lady didn’t think her favoritism was excessive. The Zhang family could survive the famine thanks to her third son.

Years ago, her youngest son, who was still young, sold himself to a wealthy family in the city to work as a servant so that his family could survive.

Over the years, the money brought back by her third son supported her two sons and allowed them to marry wives. Now, what’s wrong with giving her third grandson a little better food? What reason did the eldest and second sons have to be unhappy?

Grandma Zhang could imagine that her youngest son’s life in the city must not be easy. A child who couldn’t read a word would find it more difficult to make a living in the city than farming in the countryside. Moreover, after the founding of New China, her third son became a worker in the city, supporting not only his own family but also sending money back to his parents from time to time.

It was because she understood her youngest son’s difficulties that Grandma Zhang and Grandpa Zhang were particularly fond of this third grandson, whom they rarely saw, when Zhang Mengzhi went to the countryside as an educated youth.

The Zhang family had many members. Besides the third son, who had only one son and one daughter, the eldest and second sons each had two sons and one daughter. The daughter was the eldest, almost ten years older than Zhang Mengzhi, and had already married and had children.

Zhang Mengzhi’s eldest cousin got married a few years ago but didn’t separate from his parents and still lived and ate with them.

The grandparents didn’t eat with their two sons but cooked separately. The two sons had to give them food and living expenses every year, and the rest was almost no need to worry about.

Like today’s bowl of noodles, it was cooked by Grandma Zhang for her third grandson alone, and none of the other grandsons had a share.

“I’ll thank my aunt later.”

Zhang Mengzhi then took the bowl and began to eat, dividing the fried egg in half and feeding the larger piece to the old lady.

“Grandma.”

“Good grandson, you eat it. Grandma doesn’t want it.”

Grandma Zhang pushed the fried egg back into the bowl of noodles, determined not to eat the fried egg her grandson offered her.

“Grandma, eat it. I have more here.”

Zhang Mengzhi insisted, wanting Grandma Zhang to eat it.

Knowing that her third grandson was stubborn, Grandma Zhang happily ate the fried egg, feeling extremely happy.

How could she and her husband not love such a filial grandson more!

Grandma Zhang never denied her favoritism. She wasn’t the kind of old woman who couldn’t tell right from wrong.

Although the third son’s family wasn’t by their side, she knew clearly that the third son’s family was the most filial among the children.

The two old people in the Zhang family, who were always clear-headed, wouldn’t favor the other two sons just because their youngest son wasn’t by their side.

To put it bluntly, if anything happened to her and her husband in the future, they could only rely on the third son’s family. The other two could take care of them a little, but they couldn’t be counted on at all when the family needed money.

The two sons weren’t bad people and were considered filial to their parents, but they cared more about their own families.

They wouldn’t say much if they were given some eggs or helped with some work. If she gave her eggs to her third grandson, the eldest and second sons’ families wouldn’t stop her because they had separated from their parents when they got married.

Their parents could give their things to whomever they wanted, and Zhang Mengzhi’s two great-uncles couldn’t say much, let alone that Zhang Mengzhi was a junior, and they couldn’t bully the young.

Fortunately, the two old people usually treated everyone fairly, and occasional favoritism wasn’t excessive, so they couldn’t find anything wrong.

Therefore, the two old people only talked to the third son when they needed money.

Knowing the third son’s family’s contribution to the Zhang family, the two great-uncles of Zhang Mengzhi pretended not to see their parents’ favoritism towards Zhang Mengzhi.

After all, they had spent a lot of the third son’s money. If they insisted that their parents were biased, it would only lead to a scolding from the two old people, scolding them for being ungrateful and heartless.

Zhang Mengzhi went to the countryside and returned to his hometown as an educated youth, thanks to the influence of their Zhang family uncle, who happened to work in the educated youth office in the city. He had the power to arrange for his nephew to return to his hometown as an educated youth.

Therefore, Zhang Mengzhi didn’t suffer at all during his year in the countryside. At most, he worked in the fields with his grandparents, and he lived and ate in his grandparents’ house. Most of the villagers were his relatives, and even if Zhang Mengzhi was lazy and didn’t work, no one would report him.

Zhang Mengzhi also lived up to expectations this year, passing the university entrance exam in the second year after the resumption of the college entrance examination, and was recognized as the most promising child in the Zhang family.

Now, the people in the village cherished him. If Grandma Zhang and Grandpa Zhang hadn’t been steady and refused the gifts from their relatives, the room where Zhang Mengzhi lived would have been filled with agricultural products.

As the only college student in their Zhang family village, and even the only college student in their entire commune, everyone who passed by the Zhang family’s old house had to praise him.

The noodles now were not the tasteless noodles of later generations. Even though Zhang Mengzhi had eggs to eat every other day, he was still greedy for a bowl of refined grains. After all, the noodles with lard and scallions were too fragrant.