Qiu Hongxia felt troubled. “We don’t have that much money right now.”
“How could we not have money? I give you money every day.” Wang Chaoyang’s earnings all went to his mother. Calculated over the days, it was several hundred yuan.
He was frugal and rarely spent anything. How could there be no 100 yuan at all?
Seeing his parents silent, Wang Chaoyang frowned tightly. “What’s going on? Say something!”
“Don’t speak so loudly.” Qiu Hongxia feared someone might overhear and hurried to close the door.
Wang Chaoyang understood immediately. “You lent the money to someone.”
Qiu Hongxia lowered her head and sat quietly without answering.
“Big brother? Or Second Sister?” Wang Chaoyang’s eyes widened, filled with sorrow and anger. “You really lent money to them.”
Qiu Hongxia remained silent. Wang Fugui said, “Chaoyang, they’re your siblings. If they’re in trouble, it’s normal to help. Don’t make a fuss. They’ll pay the money back.”
Wang Chaoyang laughed, but it was a bitter laugh. “When I was selling fish balls before, my big brother avoided me. Has he come back even once in the past year? Now they borrow my money and don’t even tell me. Mom, Dad, am I not your son?”
Zeng Xiangmin asked his parents the same question. His right cheek had a clear slap mark—his father had hit him. “Mom, Dad, big brother is your son, but am I not? Second and third sisters don’t dare make trouble, but I refuse to accept this. If you’ve got the guts, beat me to death today, or give me big brother’s job.”
The old Zeng family finally had a university student, but now the acceptance letter was gone. Zeng Qingliang was so angry he gasped for breath. “I never said I wouldn’t give you the job. I also tried to persuade your big brother to give it to you, but you can’t steal his acceptance letter!”
“Why not?” Zeng Xiangmin said. “Big brother doesn’t listen to you, so I don’t have to either. Without the acceptance letter, let’s see how he survives. If he retakes the exam, chances are he still won’t get into university, and then he’ll have to work at the cotton mill for life.”
They fought and yelled, and Lin Jiazhen lost her voice trying to calm them. Neither son listened.
Zeng Qingliang was equally helpless. Reluctantly, he went to see his eldest son. “Xiangping, just give your job to your brother.”
Zeng Xiangping swallowed hard. “Why? I got into university through my own efforts, and the job is because of my hard work. Why should I just hand it over to him?”
“Then why did Mom give you the job for free in the first place?” Zeng Xiangmin also raised the example.
Seeing the brothers fight again gave Zeng Qingliang a splitting headache. “Alright, alright, you’re both capable. You fight, you quarrel—I won’t get involved. Xiangping, if you want everything, then keep the job.”
He was more dissatisfied with his eldest son anyway. After all, the job wasn’t something Xiangping earned himself but something from the family. Giving it to the younger son wasn’t unreasonable.
Zeng Xiangmin laid down his ultimatum. “I don’t have a job anyway, so I won’t give you the acceptance letter. Or you can give me the money you got from selling the job, and then I might consider it.”
After speaking, Zeng Xiangmin went back to his room.
Zeng Shuyi acted like a transparent person and didn’t ask any questions.
Days passed like this. With university registration day approaching, Zeng Xiangmin still couldn’t produce the acceptance letter. Zeng Qingliang was worried sick.
Zeng Xiangping tried all kinds of pressure, but to no avail. At that time, Wang Zhigang came by again and just happened to meet Zeng Xiangping in a bad mood, getting scolded.
“Job, job! If you want a job, then pay up! What are you putting on a show in front of me for? Aren’t you ashamed?” After yelling, Zeng Xiangping slammed the door and left.
It took Wang Zhigang a long time to react. “He’s gone rogue!” He went into the Zeng household to take his daughter away, but she refused to go.
“Dad, stop making trouble. Don’t you know Xiangping can’t even go to university now?” Wang Juan was increasingly annoyed by her father. “If you want to buy the job, then just pay. Xiangping’s acceptance letter was stolen by Xiangmin. There’s nothing we can do.”
Hearing this, Wang Zhigang said he wanted to call the police.
Wang Juan was speechless. “The two brothers have already been to the Police Station over this. The police said it’s a family matter and told us to settle it ourselves. Then the community officials came and sided with Xiangmin. Dad, you can’t expect to get everything your way. Just let it go.”
She didn’t want to go back to her parental home. At this moment, if she left, Zeng Xiangping definitely wouldn’t coax her back.
After the miscarriage incident, Wang Juan saw through many things. Now, her daughter and Zeng Xiangping were her whole life. As for her parental home, she was powerless to help.
Wang Zhigang got nowhere and could only scold his daughter in frustration.
Wang Juan listened silently. After sending her father off, she quietly went to clean.
Until the day before Zeng Xiangping left, he couldn’t hold on any longer and finally agreed to what Zeng Xiangmin said.
“Xiangmin, I hope you remember, if you have anything in the future, don’t come to me.” After completing the procedures, Zeng Xiangping took a deep breath stepping out of the cotton mill. “Don’t blame me for being unbrotherly. You forced me into this.”
Zeng Xiangmin got the job and was delighted. “Big brother, don’t say you haven’t succeeded yet. When you really hit the peak, you can say these things. You’re too big-hearted. Third sister said you have no ambition and can’t accomplish great things. When you go to work, you’ll just be someone’s dog. The first to die will be you. I’m just trying to give you a little advice: you can’t have all the good things in the world. People need to learn to be content and grateful.”
Though they were going home together, the brothers walked apart, neither willing to speak to the other.
The next day, Zeng Xiangping packed his luggage and went to school. He had been accepted to the Science and Technology University of the Province, studying in Liucheng.
But the school was not close—seven or eight kilometers away—so he chose to live on campus and planned to come home on weekends.
With one less person at home, the house felt a bit emptier. Zeng Xiangmin, having gotten the job, didn’t really apply himself. His heart was still set on venturing out.
Currently, Zeng Shuyi was the hardest worker at home. As the weather turned cold and with Zeng Xiangmin working at the cotton mill, she learned that Guangzhou’s port opening meant cheaper cotton and cloth could be bought.
Previously selling cotton had earned Zeng Shuyi and Zhao Fu a lot of money. Since then, they had been hoping for another chance.
Hearing the news, the three of them were tempted. But there was one problem—they didn’t know how to drive. Even if they had money to stock up, they couldn’t transport the goods back from Guangzhou.
“Find a big truck driver?” Zhao Fu suggested. “If it’s not too much, give him a bit extra, and we can make a good profit.”
Zeng Shuyi thought otherwise. “From Guangzhou to Liucheng, it takes four or five hours by car. Do you think the trip will be smooth the whole way?”
Currently, more people were doing business, but the policy wasn’t fully open. There were still people cracking down on speculation and hoarding. If caught, they’d lose everything and end up suffering in the Detention Center.
“What can we do?” Zhao Fu was worried. “My brother and I went to collect rice, but some farmers reported us. That caused us to get less than a tenth of last year’s harvest. Without a new way out, we’ll be eating porridge this New Year!”
Big trees catch the wind. Although Zhao Fu and his brother had an uncle who was Village Committee Secretary, not every village’s secretary was related.
Once people saw them making money, jealousy followed. A few days ago, when they went to the countryside, they almost got caught and were too scared to continue collecting grain.
It was hard to find money-making opportunities, but they dared not take the risk anymore. Zhao Fu even dreamed about it.
Zeng Shuyi also wanted to make money. After thinking it over, she said, “Cotton has to be transported by truck, but cloth is more valuable. We can carry the cloth on our backs—whatever we can carry. It’s already autumn, and demand for cloth is high. If we work harder and make several trips, it’ll be okay.”
“Besides, we don’t know the full situation yet. Let’s go check things out first. If it’s promising, we can buy in bulk later.”
From Rongcheng, a half-day and overnight train ride would get them to Guangzhou. Not close, but not too far.
After Zeng Shuyi finished explaining, Zhao Fu was uncertain and turned to look at his older brother.
Zhao Lei had recently found a girlfriend, but her family looked down on him for doing business. They demanded a ridiculous bride price of 380 yuan and thirty-six “belly strips.”
He didn’t have that much money and didn’t want to use his younger brother’s earnings. Besides, after marriage, he wanted his wife and children to live well, so he agreed, “Let’s listen to Shuyi and go to Guangzhou for a look.”