"Brother, you are the pillar of our family now. Everyone needs you, and I know that too."
"But I'm not young anymore. Although I can't help you much, I can't hold you back either."
Xiao Weiguo wanted to say, "How is that a hindrance? Staying at home just means having an extra pair of chopsticks."
But Xiao Jian didn't let him speak and continued with his own topic.
“I know that living in the county town with you means that food and drink are nothing to you, and you can easily afford it. But I can’t think like that. Hu Zi and I have already lost the opportunity to go to school and are not yet of working age. We just sit around doing nothing every day. Although no one says anything, we really feel uncomfortable.”
As he spoke, he put his arm around Tiger's shoulder.
"Tiger is my good brother. Although we've been poor for the past year or so, we've never embarrassed ourselves and have always lived by our own efforts."
When Xiao Jian got to this point, he seemed a little excited.
Tiger had lived with him for so long that he could tell his mood just from the tone of his voice.
At this moment, he seized the opportunity to interrupt, saying, "Nonsense, Sister Hui has helped us a lot too."
Xiao Jian was taken aback.
Tiger's words brought the image of that kind girl back into his mind.
For more than a year, Zhang Huihui has been the only light in his and Gao Hu's lives.
It's been so long since we parted ways, I wonder how she's doing. I think I'm starting to miss her.
Gao Hu's words also caught Xiao Weiguo's attention. A small figure flashed through his mind, and whether intentionally or unintentionally, he glanced at his younger brother.
Xiao Jian's face turned slightly red. Was it just my imagination?
"Brother, what I've said so much is to tell you that I want to stay here with Gao Hu. We want to have our own way of life and be able to support ourselves with our own two hands."
"Big brother, you just lead our family forward, and I will hold down this last stronghold for us. When you are tired and want to rest, I will be waiting for you at our home."
Xiao Jian looked at his elder brother with a very firm gaze, silencing all of Xiao Weiguo's unspoken words.
After a long while, he managed to utter a single sentence with difficulty.
"Alright, I'll go back and have someone send you more money. You can tear down the old house and rebuild a new one. That place is almost uninhabitable."
Originally, Xiao Weiguo planned to renovate his old house when he had the chance. Whether he lived there or not, staying there was a longing for his homeland. He couldn't bear to leave his native soil, and he thought he might want to come back and live there someday.
"Big brother."
Xiao Jian's words carried a hint of helplessness.
"What's the difference between you doing this and letting me live in the city and you taking care of me? The old house is fine. Tiger and I have repaired it. It's perfectly habitable."
"Right, Tiger?"
He turned to Gao Hu and asked him a question.
"Yes, it's so much better than the dilapidated cave dwelling we used to live in. We have everything we need, and I'm very content to have a place like this to live in."
Gao Hu smiled and echoed Xiao Jian.
"Don't worry, brother, there won't be any problems. Gao Hu and I survived in places like that, so there's no way we wouldn't be able to survive here. There's just one thing..."
Xiao Weiguo glanced at him, and Xiao Jian continued.
“Our land has been farmed by the old Party Secretary’s family for over a year. I’m thinking, could we get it back? That way, Gao Hu and I can have something to do.”
Xiao Jian's words made sense. He and Gao Hu couldn't just sit around doing nothing and spend all their time catching fish in the river.
Xiao Weiguo thought for a moment and figured that Xiao Wenjin's situation shouldn't be a big problem.
When I left, I left the land to his family without charging them a single penny. Now that my younger brother wants to take care of it, it's perfectly reasonable for me to go and ask for it back.
The biggest problem is that it's no longer the planting season, and the crops that should have been planted have already been planted in the fields. We can't just ask people to pull them up.
At worst, we can give him some money and consider it buying his crops.
Xiao Weiguo thought that, given the old secretary's character, he wouldn't be unreasonable; everything was negotiable, and that little bit of money was nothing to him.
"Okay, since you've made up your mind, I won't try to persuade you anymore. But remember, no matter what happens, call me immediately using the team's phone."
And you, Tiger, you're Xiao Jian's brother, so of course you're my brother too. From now on, in this village, and even in this world, no one can bully you. With us brothers working together, there's nothing to be afraid of."
Tiger felt a warmth in his heart when Xiao Weiguo called him "brother," and nodded vigorously in agreement.
Since things had come to this point, Xiao Weiguo stopped insisting. Anyway, it wasn't too far, and if anything happened, he could just drive there. There was no need to worry too much.
Xiao Weiguo found that he seemed to have become a bit nagging when facing two energetic teenagers.
"Alright, as long as you're willing, I'll support you."
He finally showed his generosity by waving his hand and settling the matter.
Xiao Jian and Gao Hu exchanged a smile, finally relieved.
The sun was getting stronger and stronger, and it was almost noon. The brothers took turns putting the fish in the cages and caught seven or eight crucian carp and a small pile of whitebait.
After putting the fish into the small buckets they had brought, Xiao Jian and Gao Hu carried the fish cages on one shoulder and the bucket on the other, while Xiao Weiguo carried his leather shoes and had his suit jacket draped over his shoulders. They followed behind their two younger brothers and headed home.
At the entrance, Jiao Bai was asleep in the car; he had been waiting there all morning. He only woke up when he heard Xiao Weiguo and the others laughing and joking.
He opened the car door and jumped out, looking at Xiao Weiguo's attire with some surprise.
In his memory, Xiao Weiguo always seemed to be dressed in a suit and tie, looking very serious. He had never seen him barefoot, with his trousers rolled up, walking on a dirt road.
Upon seeing him, Xiao Jian rushed over first.
"Brother Jiao Bai, right? I heard from Liu Qing that you are very good at kung fu. How about you teach us sometime?"
As he spoke, he put down the bucket of water in his hand and gestured with his arms and legs.
After a morning of conversation, all of Xiao Jian's inner conflicts were finally resolved. He is now the kind of person a sixteen or seventeen-year-old should be.
Jiao Bai scratched his scalp and chuckled twice.
"What's the big deal? If you want to learn, I'll teach you. I'm just worried you won't be able to handle the hardship."
Xiao Weiguo hopped around, urging Xiao Jian to open the door quickly so he could go in, wash his feet, and put on his shoes. Small pebbles on the dirt road were constantly hurting him.
Upon entering the courtyard, Xiao Weiguo noticed that although the yard remained largely unchanged, it was clear that Xiao Jian and Hu Zi had meticulously tidied it up, leaving it spotless. Several new small trees had also been added, including pomegranate and apricot trees, giving it a somewhat pastoral feel.
There was a lot of extra furniture in the room, and Xiao Weiguo could tell at a glance that Liu Qing had brought it from his house.
In this way, the two of them really don't lack anything living here.
Gao Hu put the fish trap away in a safe place, while Xiao Jian carried the fish he had caught that day to the hand pump well.
"Brother, don't leave for lunch today, let's eat this."
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