Chapter 16 The Educated Youth Who Abandoned Their Wives and Children
"I used to work and prepare for exams at the same time, but now I'm so obsessed with getting into university that I don't even go to work anymore."
"Why are you touching me? Did I say something wrong? I've had enough of having to wash your underwear, even your sister-in-law has to do it." Wang Cui looked at her husband.
Chen Chunya lowered her head and remained silent, seemingly indicating that city dwellers were not as fortunate as they imagined.
When Ji's mother, who was cooking in the corridor, heard her eldest daughter-in-law's complaints, she paused for a moment.
Continue stirring the vegetables in the pan.
A neighbor poked his head out and asked, "Is that the country wife your second son brought back? She looks alright."
Ji's mother said coldly, "Looking like a city person doesn't change the fact that she's from the countryside. I don't even like this grandson of hers."
"That's enough for now. If you ask me, you should be thinking about how to get along better with your second child," the neighbor advised, trying to dissuade her from being stubborn.
"Who knows, your second child might be your most successful one, so why are you pushing him further and further away?"
"What's the use of being successful?" This time, Ji's mother didn't lower her voice: "Isn't being successful just being unfilial?"
“He doesn’t come back to stay for a while during holidays; he goes straight to the countryside. He doesn’t know that the people in the countryside are his parents.”
“He just resents me, he resents me and his father.”
As she spoke, Ji's mother's voice began to choke up.
Ji Huaizhi's expression didn't reveal anything when he heard these words.
Ji Huai-ren and Wang Cui exchanged a glance and said awkwardly, "That's just how Mom is."
"Yes, our whole family thought you would come back, but you didn't even say hello. Anyone would be angry."
Ji Huai-ren felt that his wife was just too talkative.
"Your older brother went to your school to look for you, thinking of bringing you back to stay for a while, but you weren't even at school anymore. However, he ran into your classmate, who said you had started some kind of tutoring center outside of school, right?"
"You even pay your classmate's salary? No wonder you're a college student, you're really smart."
"Hey, Ji Huai-ren, why are you always poking at me?" Wang Cui said impatiently.
Ji Huai Ren covered his mouth and glanced at his expressionless younger brother: "Why are we talking about this? Hehe, Dad will probably be back soon, let's eat and chat."
"Go check if Mom needs help cooking?" He frowned when his wife didn't move. "Sure."
"Okay, okay." Wang Cui reluctantly got up.
"Come on, let's watch TV. Sister-in-law, let's watch TV."
Chen Chunya glanced at her man, her eyes revealing no emotion.
Only when she turned to look at herself did a hint of a smile appear in her eyes.
When Ji's mother saw Wang Cui come out, she looked back inside and asked, "Did you come out alone?"
"How many more people do you want to come out?" Wang Cui approached and peeled radishes. "You didn't even give them a friendly look on their first visit, and you still have the nerve to ask them to do chores?"
The noise from Ji's mother stirring the vegetables grew even louder.
When Ji's father returned for lunch, he saw Ji Huaizhi and said, "You're back."
Ji Huaiyi glanced at him when he returned.
Several people sat crowded together in the middle of the room to eat, with only a small table set up in the middle.
During the meal, Ji Nan and Ji Bei started grabbing the food, while Ji Xiaotian held his bowl and chopsticks without touching them, looking disgusted.
"Xiao Tian, right? Eat up, eat the meat, there's shredded meat in it." Wang Cui noticed that Ji Huaizhi still valued his wife and son, so she took a conciliatory approach: "Come on, sister-in-law, don't be shy."
"Thank you, sister-in-law, I can do it myself." Chen Chunya took the shredded radish that his sister-in-law had picked up with her bowl.
This was a situation that she and Xiaotian had never experienced before.
"This child is named Ji Tian?" Ji's father frowned, clearly dissatisfied with the name.
"His nickname is Xiaotian, I hope he's happy every day. His formal name is Ji Yanli," Ji Huaizhi said softly.
Xiao Tian was quite happy to hear that his nickname meant that.
Even Chen Chunya looked at him in surprise. At first, she and her parents didn't like the name and felt uncomfortable hearing it.
It turns out he chose this name because he hoped our child would be happy every day.
"Second Brother's name sounds extraordinary, unlike us two mischievous rascals," Ji Huai-ren complimented with a smile.
After the meal, everyone crowded into the room. Ji Huaizhi could tell from their reaction that it was time to get down to business.
Sure enough, the next second, Father Ji spoke up: "Of the three brothers, you are the most successful. No matter what happens, you all come from the same womb. The rule of the Ji family is that the successful one should help his brothers."
Ji Huaizhi raised an eyebrow but remained silent.
When Ji's father realized that he had no reaction at all, he simply spoke directly.
“I heard from your eldest brother that you started a tutoring class at school and you even pay your classmates a salary every month. So…” Father Ji looked at his third son: “Why don’t you take Huaiyi with you to teach him? It just so happens that your brother also wants to take the college entrance exam, so you can help him review.”
"I heard that the age limit for the college entrance examination next year might be 25 years old, so I hope you, as his second brother, can tutor him a bit more. After all, you can't just abandon your brother now that you've made it, right?"
"As for salary, you don't need to pay the same as your classmates. Just pay them ten or eight yuan for living expenses."
Ji Huaizhi couldn't help but laugh, while Ji Huaiyi's face turned pale and then red.
When Wang Cui heard her father talking about the third son, she wanted to interrupt, but Ji Huai Ren stopped her.
He gestured for her to wait a moment.
"why are you laughing?"
"Dad, when was this TV bought?" Ji Huaizhi didn't answer but asked his father other questions instead.
Ji's father didn't react for a moment: "Last year."
"TV tickets must be hard to get, right? A 14-inch West Lake brand TV costs five hundred yuan." Ji Huaizhi's words left those present confused.
Chen Chunya's eyes widened when he heard the amount: "This lump of iron costs five hundred yuan?"
Ji Huaizhi was delighted to see his wife's surprised expression.
"I'm talking to you about serious matters, why are you saying this?" Mr. Ji said, his expression displeased.
Ji Huaizhi: "No, it's just that I feel our family is quite wealthy. There are three brothers in my family, and you and Mom still have enough money to buy a TV."
“Big brother, third brother, you don’t know, when I first went to the countryside, it was okay, but the farm work was too hard. But later, when I ran out of money and ration coupons and there wasn’t enough food, when I was working, I dug up sweet potatoes and ate them directly, I didn’t even care about the mud on them.”
"In the end, the brigade leader deducted three work points, but I could only earn a maximum of five work points a day."
Ji Huaizhi's words made the Ji family members lower their heads.
“I was so hungry that I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t get along with the other educated youth and I was bullied. At that time, I thought my parents would definitely find a way to let me go back to the city.”
"Even if there's no other way, you definitely won't abandon me!"
"In the end, I misunderstood. When I was so hungry that I couldn't stand it, Chun Ya gave me an egg. When I got into a conflict with other educated youth and was pushed into the river, she was the one who saved me."
“I ate my first full meal at their house after I was sent to the countryside. I thought to myself that I would definitely treat them as my own father in the future.”
Upon hearing this, Ji's father finally lost his temper: "Are you blaming us?"
"Shouldn't I complain?" Ji Huaizhi met his gaze coldly.
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