His younger brother, Xiao Jie, said those words because he didn't want to put him in a difficult position.

But to Qin Nan, it was no different from being pierced by a thousand arrows.

It's because he's incompetent that he can't afford to send his younger brother, who loves reading, to school.

My younger brother had such good grades, but he was forced to drop out of school because he couldn't afford the few yuan for the registration fee.

He hated his own incompetence and uselessness!

Just when he was in utter despair, it seemed that heaven finally opened its eyes and gave him a chance to let his younger brother, Xiao Jie, continue his schooling.

His cousin suddenly returned from out of town, dressed in a fashionable denim outfit, with a pack of cigarettes costing more than two yuan dangling from his mouth. He walked around the village looking incredibly smug.

Because they were cousins, he had to borrow money from his cousin.

In order to borrow money, he had no choice but to play the victim and recount his miserable experiences over the past year.

Originally, he just hoped that his cousin could lend him a few dollars to help his younger brother, Xiao Jie, pay his tuition for this semester.

However, his cousin generously took out fifty yuan, saying that as long as he helped him get one thing done, the fifty yuan would be his.

In order for his younger brother Xiao Jie to continue his schooling, he readily agreed to do whatever his cousin asked him to do, even before the cousin had asked.

As it turned out, what his cousin asked him to do was steal a gold necklace from a wealthy family.

He was in charge of stealing, while his cousin was in charge of keeping watch.

Just as he climbed in through the window, the wealthy family returned.

His cousin, fearing he would be caught, abandoned him and ran away.

Fortunately, he was quick-witted enough to not only escape by hiding in the closet, but also to find a lot of cash in that wealthy person's house.

However, this time he only took ten yuan and climbed out the window to leave.

With the money, his younger brother Xiao Jie was finally able to enroll in school.

As for his cousin who had taken advantage of him, he never came looking for him again.

He didn't go to the other party, but after this betrayal, he understood a lesson.

In this world, the only person he can truly rely on is himself.

Later, his reputation in the village became increasingly bad, and his dilapidated house, which couldn't even keep out the rain, was burned down completely.

Now, they truly have nowhere to go.

Just then, he heard that he could find work in the city, and he would get two yuan a day.

So he took his younger brother Xiao Jie, who was on vacation, and walked 60 or 70 kilometers to reach the county seat of Nanming County.

They walked those sixty or seventy kilometers in a day and a night.

When they were hungry, they ate the steamed buns they carried with them; when they were thirsty, they found water to drink on the road.

His younger brother, Xiao Jie, is only nine years old; he certainly can't walk that far.

For at least half of that journey, he carried his younger brother on his back.

When he finally arrived in the county town, he realized that the job that others were talking about, which paid two yuan a day, simply didn't exist.

While he was searching around with his exhausted brother, they encountered a group of thugs. Not only did he fail to find work, but the thugs also stole the only two dollars and seventy cents he had left.

That was the money he and his brother used to live on in the city. In a fit of anger, he picked up a stone from the roadside and chased after them.

Although he was only sixteen years old at the time, he was already taller than an average adult. Even when outnumbered, he beat those thugs until they were screaming in pain.

In the end, he successfully got his money back.

Because he fought so fiercely, he caught the eye of the gang leader, who used coercion to force him to submit.

He was so focused on fighting that his younger brother, Xiao Jie, fell into the hands of the other side.

Not wanting his younger brother to get into trouble, he had no choice but to compromise.

From then on, he was either fighting or on his way to fight every day.

Over the years, his body was covered in scars.

Because of his bravery, his fame grew, and many people turned pale with fright at the mere mention of his name.

But what no one knew was that beneath his fierce exterior lay a deep sense of shame.

He enrolled his younger brother in a school on the outskirts of the county town, while lying to the authorities that he had found a good job.

As for where they lived, they rented an abandoned house.

Although the living conditions were simple, his brother lived a very happy life.

They have access to education, books to read, and food to eat. Their older brother has a respectable job and no longer needs to be a thief.

Therefore, his younger brother Xiao Jie studied hard and eventually got into a top high school.

Even after he was admitted to high school, his younger brother still didn't know that he was involved in organized crime. He always thought that he was doing a legitimate job and was always proud of him.

Later, his younger brother went to high school in another city, while he himself gradually became the boss of the old neighborhood.

He only becomes bewildered when Chen Yong suddenly asks him where he lives.

Although he has been involved in the underworld for many years, he has never had a home.

The house he has lived in all these years has only been rented.

After disbanding the gang and starting work at the transportation department established by Wang Qian, he only lived in the dormitory building.

So from beginning to end, he never truly had a home of his own.

"Qin Nan, I'm planning to buy an apartment in the city. Do you have any recommendations?"

Seeing through his thoughts, Wang Qian changed the subject at the right time.

He naturally knew about Qin Nan's past experiences. He let it go before, but now that Qin Nan has reformed and is working hard like an ordinary person, he definitely needs a home of his own.

"You want to buy a house in the city?"

Qin Nan suddenly came to his senses, thought about it carefully, and then smiled and said, "You're a rich man now, shouldn't you be considering villas in Machuan District first when buying a house?"

“I’ve thought about that place, but it’s not suitable for me,” Wang Qian shook his head.

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