Chapter 8: Family
Li Ye's home is a single-family bungalow with three main rooms and three side rooms. The living conditions are pretty good.
As soon as he rode his bike to the door, Li Ye smelled the aroma of spicy and sour potato shreds.
It is already late autumn and early winter, and all kinds of fine vegetables are basically out of the market. The three main dishes on each household's table are basically radishes, potatoes, and cabbages.
When Li Ye pushed the cart into the house, he saw three figures, one big and two small, busying themselves in the kitchen shed.
The older one is naturally Li Ye’s stepmother Han Chunmei, and the younger ones are the two daughters she brought with her. They changed their surnames to Li Juan and Li Ying after Li Kaijian.
Speaking of Han Chunmei, she is also a miserable person.
When she was young, Han Chunmei was recognized as a beauty in the surrounding area. After marrying a carpenter, she gave birth to two girls in succession and never had any more children.
If this happened in later generations, a man with two daughters would be very lucky.
No need to save money to buy a house or land, no need to worry about cars and gifts, just lie on the sofa during the holidays, and the daughter will obediently bring cigarettes, alcohol, sugar and tea to her, and the son-in-law will have to flatter her with a smile: "Dad, let's go together?"
When he gets old and suffers from illness or disaster, his two daughters will be unable to escape the consequences, both financially and physically. He spends his money lavishly throughout his life.
But this is not the case in this era, every family has a throne waiting to be inherited! If you can't give birth to a sword-carrying guard, gossip can crush a person to death.
Han Chunmei's parents-in-law were very powerful. They forced their son to divorce his wife and remarry, and kicked Han Chunmei out of the house.
Han Chunmei took her two daughters back to her parents' home. After enduring several years of hardship, she finally married Li Kaijian, who was eight years older than her.
Then, she felt heavenly.
Parents-in-law will no longer blame their daughter for eating half an extra piece of steamed bun, and men will not pull their belts for breaking a bowl.
After she got married, the Li family found Han Chunmei a temporary job, paying her 22.5 yuan a month. It may not seem like much, but it made the poor girl cry with joy.
No one understands better than her how painful it is to see your own children watching others eat candy while you don't have a penny in your pocket.
No one knows better than her the bitterness of having children crying out for hunger in the middle of the night but having only a bowl of cold water to feed them.
So after entering the Li family, Han Chunmei treated the Li family with gratitude and took care of all the laundry, cooking and housework. Even Li Ye's grandmother often complained, "I'm not even old yet, but I'm useless."
"Hey, Xiao Ye is back?"
Seeing Li Ye coming in, Han Chunmei was stunned for a moment, then quickly took out two cents and handed it to her daughter.
"Xiaojuan, go to East Street and buy some tofu. Xiaoying, wash some cabbage."
Food is precious at this time, and the family has a limited amount of food to cook for one meal. There will never be any waste like leftovers. So when Li Ye suddenly came back, Han Chunmei was afraid that the food she cooked would not be enough.
"Don't bother. I'll just add some cabbage hearts and it'll be fine."
Li Ye waved his hand to stop Li Juan who was about to leave, and took out the bag of uneaten sesame candy from his schoolbag and handed it to her.
"I bought some sesame candy on the road. I'll give it to you and Xiaoying to try."
“.”
Li Juan looked at the sesame candy handed to her, feeling a little overwhelmed.
She had been with Han Chunmei for a year and had never seen Li Ye, her brother, in a good mood. What happened today? Was he kicked in the head by a donkey? Or did a sow climb up a tree?
"I don't want to eat. You eat it!"
Li Juan tried hard to hold back her saliva and refused the candy that was about to reach her mouth. She lowered her head and slipped behind Han Chunmei.
"Eat it! I still have half a pack!"
Li Ye took out the half bag of sesame candy he had eaten and stuffed the whole bag into Li Juan's hand.
"oh."
Li Juan then took it, lowered her head and walked behind Han Chunmei, looked at her sister Li Ying, and showed a hint of joy.
Han Chunmei frowned in displeasure and scolded her two daughters, "Oh, oh, oh, you can't even call me brother? You're so grown up and you don't know how to behave?"
“.”
"elder brother."
"elder brother."
The two girls hurriedly called Li Ye "brother", timidly, like the hum of a mosquito.
"It's okay, it's okay. I didn't know much before, but I'll get used to it slowly. I'll go inside first."
Li Ye hurriedly said a few words of advice and turned to go to the north room. If he didn't leave, his two sisters would feel uncomfortable.
After Li Ye left, Han Chunmei rubbed her eyes and said sternly to her two daughters, "Did calling me brother make you so embarrassed? You still have the nerve to eat candy? Take a plate and serve it on the table."
The two children pouted their lips immediately, and Li Juan even muttered softly: "He doesn't even call you mom!"
"I"
Han Chunmei stretched out her hand to hit him, but halfway through, she sighed and put her hand down.
It’s so hard to be a stepmother!
The two girls were unhappy, but they still took the plate obediently, put the sesame candy on it, and brought it to the table as a snack.
The remaining sesame candy was divided into three portions by Li Juan, one for her sister Li Ying and one for her mother Han Chunmei.
Tears finally fell from Han Chunmei's eyes.
. . . . . .
Li Ye suddenly returned home and everyone in the family was very happy.
Grandpa and grandma hugged their eldest grandson and asked him about his health, saying that he had lost weight.
The eldest sister pulled her brother's coat, measured it and felt it was too small, so she said that she would buy Li Ye a new one after she got her salary.
Li Kaijian, who had a bad relationship with his father because he had spanked Li Ye, also said with a stern face as he took out money: "Are you short of money again after coming back this day? I'll give you ten yuan first, so you can spend it sparingly."
Originally, Li Ye was a little worried about how to get along with his family in this world, but the strong family warmth and sincere kinship made him feel no spiritual barriers at all, and he naturally integrated into it.
"No, I still have money. I have something to tell you when I get back."
"What is it?"
"I got that 26 Phoenix back today."
“.”
Everyone was stunned for a moment. After a long while, Li Kaijian asked in a deep voice, "What do you think?"
"I didn't think much about it," Li Ye said. "The day before yesterday, Lu Jingyao sent me 45 yuan. I thought that since they look down on me, I should not put my face in front of them. I should part ways amicably and not cause any more trouble."
"Pah~"
Li Kaijian slapped his thigh and said, "I wish you had thought of this earlier. If I hadn't cared about you, I would have done it earlier."
"What are you mumbling about?"
Grandma spat at Li Kaijian and asked Li Ye worriedly, "Xiao Ye, have you really thought it through?"
Li Ye nodded and said, "I've thought about it, but there may be some unpleasant rumors recently. Don't take them seriously. They will fade away in a few days."
"Rumors? What rumors?"
Just as Li Kaijian was about to ask in detail, Li Ye's grandfather Li Zhongfa said, "Okay, let's eat first. The child is hungry. Why are you nagging endlessly?"
"I'm not nagging"
Li Kaijian muttered something and lowered his head to start eating.
If Li Ye was educated with a belt by Li Kaijian before, then Li Kaijian was beaten with a stick by Li Zhongfa. "A filial son is born under the stick" is the tradition of the Li family.
When they were almost done eating, Li Zhongfa suddenly asked Li Ye: "Did you take the class placement test recently?"
Li Ye replied: "I did take the exam, but I don't know about the class division. Grandpa, how did you know?"
Li Zhongfa said: "This morning, your school called me and said that your test scores were neither too good nor too bad, and it was a bit difficult to get into the express class."
Li Ye understood what was going on as soon as he heard it.
The repeat classes in the County No. 2 Middle School were originally divided into fast and slow classes, and now an entire express class was added. Naturally, this was a radical measure taken to improve the admission rate.
With Li Ye's test scores and ranking, it was impossible for him to enter the express class, and the reason why the school called Li Zhongfa must be because they had something to ask for.
"Grandpa, you don't have to worry about my studies. I can get into college even without joining the express class, so please don't agree to anything that doesn't comply with the regulations."
"What's wrong with the regulations? It's just a favor. Just study hard and don't put too much pressure on yourself. Whether you pass the exam or not, our family has no expectations of you."
Well, this is still not believing in yourself.
Li Ye glanced at the expressions of everyone at the dinner table and could sense everyone's mood.
Be it grandpa, grandma, father or sister, no one dared to put pressure on Li Ye. They were all carefully protecting the self-esteem of "the boss of the family".
"Okay, I get it. If I can pass the exam, that would be great. If I can't, I'll just live off my parents!"
Li Ye did not swear or make anyone believe him. He would just give everyone a big surprise when the time comes.
(End of this chapter)
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