For the sake of the family and his own future, Old Man Lin wanted to keep some money in hand and give his two sons something to look forward to.

He added, “The four hundred from the family also needs to be paid back. The children are still young, and there will be many expenses. They still need to study and get married, which are not small costs. Even if there’s some leftover, the third one has already moved out. When your mother and I are old, whatever money we have will be divided between you two.”

At this point, who could have any objections?

When it came to sending the children to school, they had seen Lin Yongcheng’s success.

When he was young, his family didn’t want to send him to school.

He secretly went to a school to listen in, then saved money to study on his own, not relying on his family.

His grades were excellent, and he was always praised by his teachers.

When he went to the county town for middle school, the teachers all said he was capable of going to college.

Later, he went with Lin Changjin’s son to join the army and ended up being selected.

In those days, when someone joined the army, the whole family was honored.

Even if he didn’t want to go, Old Man Lin would have dragged him there.

Lin Yongcheng’s chance to go to college was ruined, but his education was not wasted.

He entered the army, and he was smart and learned everything quickly, also picking up skills like driving and car repairs.

With these two skills, he never had trouble finding a job.

With Lin Yongcheng’s success as an example, both Lin Yongjia and Lin Yongye hoped their children could follow the same path and have a stable job in the future.

Not just them—Old Man Lin thought the same way.

Sending children to school became the Lin family’s obsession!

Lin Yongye called his two oldest sons over, and they came immediately.

He put an arm around each of them, “You have such good conditions. You must seize the opportunity and study hard. Be successful like your third uncle! Don’t be like your dad!”

By the time he said the last sentence, his eyes had turned red.

He himself was incapable, and all he could do was depend on the little the old man had in his hands. He still hoped his sons could use Lin Yongcheng as a model, not follow his own example.

Lin Dajiang and Lin Daho exchanged looks.

They had grown up hearing stories about their third uncle, but after the family split, there were fewer mentions of him.

However, when they left the house, others in the village would praise how great their third uncle was.

The two nodded, “We remember!”

Lin Yongye felt slightly relieved.

Lin Yongjia also looked at his children, his eldest daughter Lin Liuzhi was of the same age as the twins from the second household.

Because she was a girl, both Old Man Lin and Grandma Lin didn’t pay much attention to her.

He himself didn’t like her, so he didn’t send her to school.

Lin Liuzhi had been neglected since childhood, and children like her, not receiving love, never fought for attention.

Maybe she even knew that fighting for it would be useless.

His eldest son, Lin Dahai, was seven years old this year and hadn’t started school yet.

“Dahai, you too,” Lin Yongjia reminded his son. “Think about the life your third uncle lived, and think about how much hardship your dad went through. When you go to school, you must study hard, so you can be like your third uncle, capable on your own, and succeed out there!”

The Lin family’s atmosphere finally became harmonious.

But it was only on the surface.

Lin Dahai kept it in his heart!

Lin Yongjia had tried to use his own and his younger brother’s lives to trade for the second uncle’s life, to secure his own job.

Now, he was pretending to be a good father.

Didn’t he feel disgusting?

Even though Lin Dahai hated him in his heart, he still obediently nodded.

Seeing this, Old Man Lin felt a little relieved inside.

As long as there was no trouble, even though he spoiled Lin Yongjia, he didn’t want to put all his eggs in one basket.

What if something happened to Lin Yongjia?

Who would take care of him in his old age?

With the atmosphere now calm, Old Man Lin said, “The temporary workers’ salary is eighteen yuan per month. You’ll each pay twelve yuan per month to settle the debt. Afterward, if you can become permanent, depending on your salary, you’ll still need to pay part of your salary until the debt is fully paid.”

When Lin Yongcheng worked at home, he paid fifteen yuan per month.

Although they didn’t know how much his salary was, from the way he bought things so generously, they could guess a bit.

Even though he made a lot of money, he only paid fifteen yuan, while they were being asked to pay twelve yuan from an eighteen yuan salary.

Lin Yongjia thought it was a bit much and wasn’t too happy.

He immediately raised the issue, “Dad, can we pay ten yuan per month? A grown man working outside should always have a little money in his pocket. When we meet someone important, we should at least offer a cigarette, right? Otherwise, it looks too stingy and people will look down on us.”

They hadn’t even entered the city yet, and he was already thinking of showing off.

But Old Man Lin bought it.

He was someone who cared about face and thought Lin Yongjia’s words made sense.

“Before you become permanent, you can pay ten yuan per month!”

With the issue settled, except for Old Man Lin still feeling the pinch, the atmosphere improved.

Lin Yongjia’s household was happy, and the second household was happy too.

Lin Yongcheng and Bai Ji left together.

Originally, they planned to sell the position to a high school student, but now they were going to take the money from the Lin family’s work, so the plan needed to change.

They had to inform the high school student about it too.

They also took the things that were pried out of Old Man Lin’s hands.

Old Man Lin was still anxiously waiting for news.

Instead of waiting for Lin Yongcheng, he first heard news about Lin Hongni.

Although she was only fourteen and not yet an adult, the nature of her crime—killing more than ten people—was too severe, and she was sentenced to twenty years of hard labor.

The plan had been to set up a typical case and hold a criticism meeting, but after others followed suit, the meeting was abandoned.

She was just sent to a labor reform farm in the northwest.

The day before she left, Lin Changjin took Lin Zhijun and Lin Qingni to see her.

When she saw that her younger siblings were being taken care of, Lin Hongni left at ease.

But in the end, it was a pity.

A fourteen-year-old girl, sentenced to twenty years of hard labor, losing her best years.

By the time she served her sentence and came out, she would already be thirty-four.

When this news reached Shanglin Village, the villagers sighed with pity.

However, at least her life was spared.

When Lin Zhijun and Lin Qingni returned from the county town, they finally had a little smile on their faces.

Their expressions were no longer so sad.

They had hope because their sister would come back.

They just wanted to live a better life for these twenty years, so that when their sister returned, they could be a support for her.

The next day.

After class, Lin Zhijun and Lin Qingni exchanged a look, and Lin Zhijun said, “Bai Dafu, Qingni and I want to change our names, to say goodbye to the past and embrace new hope!”

Bai Shu closed the medical book, raised his eyebrows, and asked, “What kind of names do you want to change to?”

Lin Zhijun said, “We want to pick a Chinese medicine name!”

He was young and hadn’t read much, and the names the kids in the team gave were always combinations of just a few dozen characters.

If he had to pick a name himself, he wouldn’t come up with a good one.

He thought about it, and since Bai Shu and his daughter both had Chinese medicine names, like Xiao Zisu and Xiao Baiguo, he thought it would be good to choose a Chinese medicine name as well.

If he became successful, a Chinese medicine name would sound like he was a reliable doctor.

Lin Qingni wouldn’t have any objections.

Bai Shu thought for a moment.

Since they weren’t his own children, he didn’t want to interfere too much.

“Well, study your medical books well, and when you find a Chinese medicine name you like, change to it. Also, name changes are a serious matter. Don’t rush into it. If you pick a name you don’t like, changing it later will be troublesome. Pick one that you like now, but also one that won’t sound odd when you’re older!”

Seeing that Bai Shu didn’t want to name them, Lin Zhijun felt a bit disappointed.

But he obediently nodded. “We’ll continue studying our medical books.”

Little Bai Guo also nodded, as if she was saying, “We don’t want our current names either.”

“Good girl, what are you nodding for? You don’t even understand,” Bai Shu poked her chubby little face. Recently, her cheeks had become plump, and if she kept it up, she’d look like a little fatty.

Children looked cuter when they had meat on their faces.

Little Baiguo slapped his hand away.

She understood!

Bai Shu poked her a few more times, laughing. “Your parents are worried you’ll get bullied. With your little temper, who could bully you?”

To him, both Bai Ji and Lin Yongcheng were just worrying for nothing.

The lazy kids were just a bit lazy, but they didn’t have small tempers.

In fact, they were quite vengeful.

He had teased her with a stink bug before, and she immediately soaked him in pee.

With that temper, how could they let anyone bully them?

Unless it was something trivial that they didn’t care about.

Speaking of which, Bai Zhu knew Little Baiguo quite well.

After all, her grandfather was not as thick-skinned as her biological parents.

Moreover, since he’d been retaliated against many times, he had gained experience.

Little Baiguo impatiently slapped his hand.

Stop poking her! Go poke Lin Zhijun, the little brat!

…

Under Old Man Lin’s persistent calls, Lin Yongcheng finally returned.

He first accompanied Bai Ji to the health center to pick up the child, then sent his wife and children home. He went alone to the Lin family.

By this time, Old Man Lin hadn’t finished working, and there were only a few children at home.

Old Man Lin wasn’t home yet, so he was about to leave.

Little Liuyue eagerly approached and hugged his knee. “Third Uncle, you haven’t been back for a long time. Zisu Mei hasn’t come back either. I miss her!”

Lin Yongcheng paused and bent down to pick her up.

Little Liuyue, who was half a month older than Little Zisu, had always been close to her. However, now that Little Zisu had a younger sister, she had been somewhat forgotten.

“Zisu wants to play with her little sister,” Lin Yongcheng took out a candy from his pocket, unwrapped it, and fed it to her. “Do you want to go to Third Uncle’s house to see her?”

“I want to go!” Little Liuyue nodded eagerly, mainly wanting to play with Little Zisu.

“Stay here and guard the house. I’ll take Liuyue and go. When your grandfather gets home, tell him not to go out. I’ll come back later and bring Liuyue back.” Lin Yongcheng spoke to the youngest son of the second house, Lin Dahu, and then picked up Little Liuyue.

The Lin family was extremely patriarchal, especially in the main household and the two old people.

At the time, Li Xiaofen and Chen Cuihua had married into the Lin family in the same year.

They both got pregnant in the same year, but while Chen Cuihua gave birth to two sons, Li Xiaofen gave birth to a daughter.

Old Lady Lin often scolded her, and Old Man Lin didn’t smile for half a month.

They had always been patriarchal, and when they saw the attitude of the elderly couple, their treatment of their daughter worsened.

That was the main house.

Little Liuyue was luckier.

She was born in the second house with three older brothers, so Lin Yongye and his wife didn’t have the pressure to carry on the family line.

Not only was Little Liuyue their only daughter, but she was also the youngest child, and she was cherished by her parents.

With her parents’ love, Little Liuyue, who was just over three years old, was still very innocent.

Lin Yongcheng believed she would grow up fine.

Along the way, Little Liuyue chattered nonstop, a little chatterbox.

Lin Yongcheng, listening all the way, felt a headache.

When they got to Bai’s house, Little Liuyue immediately had a new target and left Lin Yongcheng behind, rushing excitedly toward Little Zisu.

“Zisu Mei!”

Little Zisu, who hadn’t seen her for a long time, was a little dazed but quickly showed a smile.

“Liuyue Jie, I haven’t seen you for so long!”

“I haven’t seen you for so long either…”