"Oh! You want those delicacies to give to the professor who helped you, right?"
Chen Ke nodded.
Wang Jingjiang immediately said seriously, "We can't be careless about that. I'll go talk to my dad right now and ask him to find some nice things for you to send!"
Chen Ke opened his mouth, "No—"
"...Use." With the last word out, Wang Jingjiang had already run far away.
When Chen Ke returned home, Chen Yu was doing her homework under the eaves on a stool. Chen Zhi hadn't returned from work yet. When Chen Yu saw Chen Ke come back, she quickly went to the kitchen and brought out the cooled boiled water.
"Brother, you must be thirsty walking back from the hot sun outside. Come and have some water."
Looking at Chen Yu's expectant eyes, Chen Ke picked up his cup and took a sip of water. Surprisingly, it had a sweet, fruity taste.
"How is it? Is it delicious?"
Chen Ke doesn't like sweets, but he nodded nonetheless. "Not bad, you added sugar?"
"Yeah, I didn't finish the fruit candies my older brother brought back last time. Wouldn't it taste better if I put one in my water?"
"What's good to drink? Give me a sip, I'm dying of thirst! Big brother, you're back too." At this moment, Chen Zhi ran over from the yard, covered in sweat.
Chen Ke hummed in agreement.
As Chen Yu poured water for Chen Zhi, she asked in surprise, "Second Brother, why are you off work so early today?"
"Hehe, I was off this afternoon. I was supposed to come back at noon, but I stayed and had a free meal before coming back," Chen Zhi said smugly. He's become quite the shrewd shopper these days.
Chen Yu pouted, "Look at you, so smug."
Chen Yu and Chen Zhi were close in age and often fought over things. At that time, the original owner was often worried about their "disharmony," but Chen Ke understood that this was a sign that their relationship was closer than the original owner's.
The original owner was much older than them and had always been the one to raise and care for them. If it weren't for the original owner's boundless pampering and granting their every wish, the two younger ones should have treated him as an "elder" from a young age, or at least respected and loved him, instead of simply treating him as a "nanny".
Even if Chen Ke temporarily acknowledges them, he has no intention of developing a playful sibling relationship with them; he only wants to establish his authority and credibility as an older brother.
"Come in, I have something to tell you." After saying that, Chen Ke took the lead and entered the room.
Chen Zhi and Chen Yu exchanged a glance, and hurriedly followed them inside, still puzzled.
At a table made of broken wooden planks, Chen Ke sat down, and his two younger brothers sat opposite him on a stool close together, both extremely nervous, wondering what their older brother was going to say.
"I've changed jobs, so I probably won't be living at home anymore."
A seemingly casual remark, yet it struck Chen Zhi and Chen Yu like a thunderclap.
"Why?"
"Why?"
The two were utterly shocked, their eyes revealing obvious panic.
Is the eldest brother still not going to accept them?
They've all changed, so why does my brother still not want them anymore?
"So, where are you going to stay, brother?"
“Yeah, even if you change jobs, which factory still provides accommodation in the current situation? Where are you going to stay, brother?” Chen Zhi had worked for so long that he had a good understanding of real life and knew that employee housing was in short supply in every factory these days.
After all, I had secretly thought about moving out after I started working, but after asking around, I found out that he was already very lucky to have his own room in the city.
In many families, younger siblings share a room, and a curtain between the bed is considered enough for privacy.
"I'm going to work at the research institute; they provide room and board," Chen Ke explained.
"Food and lodging included? That's great!" Chen Zhi only grasped those four words in his entire sentence, while Chen Yu immediately caught the key point.
"Research Institute? Big brother, you're going to work at the research institute?" Chen Yu's face was full of disbelief.
At this moment, Chen Zhicai belatedly realized, "What, what research institute? Which factory has such a strange name?"
Chen Yu rolled her eyes at Chen Zhi, "Second brother, it's a research institute, a key national scientific research unit, not some factory!"
"A research institution? Big brother is going to become a scientist?" Chen Zhi suddenly raised his voice, his face showing shock mixed with barely suppressed joy.
"He's still a researcher now, but if he can achieve some results, he'll definitely become a scientist, right, big brother?" Chen Yu's tone was excited and thrilled, he could hardly believe that his big brother had actually gotten a job at the research institute.
How long has it been since my older brother said he was going to attend night school?
"Hey bro, what kind of research are you going to do at the research institute?"
"Yes, yes, are you going to make televisions? I read in the newspaper that you can actually see moving people on those foreign televisions."
After their initial excitement and elation, the two became curious about Chen Ke's work. The research institute sounded prestigious and seemed so far removed from their lives; they imagined that the people working there were all geniuses with exceptionally high IQs.
"I study mechanical manufacturing, and there are also people in our country researching television sets." If Chen Ke remembered correctly, that thing was about to be manufactured. The earliest one should be the 820 model black and white television with a 35CM vacuum tube. He might be able to assemble one himself when the time comes.
Upon hearing this, Chen Yu's mood suddenly dropped. Chen Zhi, seeing this, excitedly nudged her with his elbow, "Why are you suddenly unhappy? This is such a good thing! Mom and Dad are probably going to set off firecrackers to celebrate. Our ancestral graves are practically emitting auspicious smoke!"
Chen Yu blamed herself, saying, "Mechanical manufacturing, is this something we usually come into contact with? My brother dropped out of school before graduating from junior high, which means he learned all this at night school. How long did he attend night school? In such a short time, he learned enough to be able to conduct research at a research institute. If we hadn't held him back..."
“…Hehe, you can’t think like that…We had no choice back then, Mom and Dad passed away so suddenly…We didn’t want to be a burden to you, right, brother?” Chen Zhi explained dryly, feeling more and more guilty as he explained. It seemed that Chen Yu was right; if it weren’t for them, his brother would definitely have been able to continue his studies.
He's so smart, he must be a great scientist by now.
Chen Ke hadn't expected that his over-education of the two would lead to this conclusion. However, it was good that they were starting to reflect on their actions. The original owner had indeed given up everything for them, and it was only right that he kept that in mind at all times.
So Chen Ke said, "Since you know this, then you should always be vigilant and remind yourself that you must live a decent life in the future so as not to let down your elder brother who lost everything for you..." This includes not only his studies, but also the original owner's short life.
From the age of sixteen onwards, his entire life revolved around his younger siblings.
He lived up to his deceased parents, and he lived up to Chen Zhi and Chen Yu, but the only one he failed was himself.
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhi and Chen Yu seemed to feel a pang of sadness, and an inexplicable sorrow welled up in their hearts. Tears streamed uncontrollably from their eyes, as if they had lost the most important thing in their lives at some point.
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