My name is Liu He and I am currently a teacher. I have an older brother who is two years older than me, and he is currently working with me in F City.
I also have a husband two years younger than me. We were married last year.
My father died when I was very young, and my mother was a very weak person. After my father died, my mother dragged me and my brother along.
At the beginning, uncle was still very good to us siblings. After mother gave birth to his own child, our younger brother, Huai Lu, my situation slowly became worse.
Although mother is also very good to us siblings, but the big and small matters at home are all decided by uncle, many times mother is also very helpless.
When my brother turned sixteen, my uncle told him that he was the eldest son of the family, and that it was better if he shared the family's income with him. My brother, who was always ranked among the top ten, thought about it for a few days, until my uncle agreed to let me take the college entrance exam before he left to go out and work.
When I first went to the construction site to visit him, his hands were already worn out by the red bricks. His face was full of color, but he kept comforting me to tears, saying that he would save up for me to go to college, and after I graduate from college, my life at home would be better.
Later on, I was admitted into F University because I had very few words to say to myself. Everyone in the dorm got along well, but I was still a bit closer to Su Chan, whose conditions were similar to mine.
That day, Su Chan and I ate steamed buns and salted vegetables in the dorm, and when we returned, we saw that she said that she wanted to go out to eat, we left the food for the both of us, and then she left with the small dish of pickled vegetables on the table. After that, the people in the dorm would often secretly help the both of us.
Su Chan and I are both people who aren't good at talking, but we can see these things very clearly. Later on, Su Chan's granny opened a soy sauce restaurant, and my classmates helped me find a home tutor.
At that time, I was thinking that if this went on, I should have a lot of money to save for my four years of university. Perhaps I could save up a bit of money, so that my brother's burden would be greatly reduced.
The construction site isn't far from the school. On the weekends, I can still help my brother wash his clothes and tell him about the school, but us siblings don't think that it's a big deal to live a bit longer, and when we save up some money in the future, we'll still be able to do some things on our own.
Once, I met the construction crew's boss at the construction site. That potbellied man laughed like a Maitreya and kept talking to me, even saying that my brother was someone who could endure hardships. After a few days, he would be taught to follow the construction workers to look at the blueprints, and he would also be able to last for a long time.
However, these are the people who gave us the net ah, we are young and ignorant, unwittingly be caught in the net.
That day, someone came to the school to look for me. He said that my brother was in an accident at the construction site. His leg was broken by steel bars.
Hearing this, my mind went blank, and I followed him without saying a word. Now that I thought about it, the other person's words were full of loopholes. It was because I was captured and worried about my brother that I fell for it.
It was a nightmare. My brother was being beaten up by others, and in order to force me to agree to be their mistress, I kept crying and begging them to let him go, and my brother kept forcing me to leave, not allowing me to agree to his request. That was my brother, for me to give up my studies and leave school to work, and just as I was about to accept, he covered my mouth with his hands. The sounds coming from outside the room made my heart race, this is to save me, it must be, I struggled with all my might, believing the words at the door, I didn't think I was here.
It's quiet outside, even my heart is dead. Who would've thought that the door would be kicked open by someone from the outside? Qi Zhengyuan and Chen Xiangyu, the military training instructor Cheng, came over.
After a fierce battle, we siblings were finally brought back.
That Instructor Cheng called 'Chen Xiaolian IV' paid us a hundred thousand yuan. To us, that amount is an astronomical figure. Qi Zheng ran around helping us out and even told Big Brother to go to his aunt's house to recuperate.
The older brother said, "Sister, we will remember your classmate's friendship for the rest of our lives. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't even know what would have happened now."
Actually, I also have a lingering fear. If I was forced to agree to their request, my life would be ruined. Can I still sit in the classroom and study like my classmates? Can I still laugh as happily as my peers? Can I still have dreams of my own? The answer, of course, was no, so they were my benefactors, the ones who'd done their best to pull me out just as I was about to fall into the mire.
Qi Zheng and us siblings have a lot of talk, said that since there is this money, why does Liu Yang not go to school to study university? The savings must have been enough to cover the expenses of the two of us for the past few years.
Brother's heart once again rippled. I was also very happy. I kept urging my brother to go study in university. That was his dream for a long time.
After thinking over and over again for a long time, Big Brother finally decided to go back to high school after the new year and participate in next year's college entrance exam. We were all happy for him.
Brother's legs are enough for two or three months. I was afraid that it would be inconvenient for us to take a bus home, so I found a car to take us home, but I didn't say anything openly. Brother said that we should go home first.
Qi Xiang is a gentle and magnanimous person. When we were in the dormitory, we also said that her home must be a happy home. I ate a meal at her house and finally found out that her happy home was like this. Her parents were kind, her children understood the etiquette, and the atmosphere in the house was very nice and beautiful.
Before returning home, my brother had told me not to talk to my family about the hundred thousand dollars. He just said that someone had taken a fancy to my brother's talents and wanted to help him get into college, while I looked at the grants and the hard work and thrifty money that was enough to cover my living expenses.
However, I still didn't think that my brother going to school would be so much of a hindrance.
First of all, my uncle said that the family conditions had always been bad, and that Willow would soon go to high school as well. My mother's body couldn't do heavy work, and he was too tired to let his brother go to school.
We wanted to ask for Mommy's support, but Mommy cried and told us both, "All these years we were all thanks to your uncle, and your sister could go to college, and you're a boy, and if you pull out of school and go to school, people in the village will say we're ungrateful, and then they'll urge Mommy to just cry and not say a word."
My brother's face was very ugly, at last he knelt in front of my mother and said, Mom, I beg you, just agree, when I graduate and earn money, I will definitely repay you.
I know that the money that my brother earned from working these past two years has been saved by my uncle. In the future, the two boys in my family will have to spend money to get married, and in order to not be criticized by the villagers, my uncle will definitely build a house for my brother and get married. Now that my brother wants to go to school, this economic source will be cut off.
In the end, his aunt, who lived in the back of the house, persuaded his mother and uncle that they were still a few months away from the college entrance exam.
With someone so rounded, his mother looked at her uncle and nodded slightly before saying, "If I were to take the exam, I will think of ways to earn tuition fees. If I can't pass the exam, then I will go back to work."
That year, I was very sad, no one thought about my brother. When I sent my brother to our high school to repeat his studies, my brother told me that I must take the exam. Only then did I realize that my brother had changed a lot and had matured a lot.
During this period of time, I went to school to visit my brother a few times. My brother kept reviewing every minute and minute, so I advised him not to collapse his body. My brother always said with a smile that it was okay, that he had trained his body well in the years he worked, and this tiredness was nothing.
I feel more nervous than I was when I attended the college entrance examination. Because there is no holiday, I can't go with my brother to take the exam, so I can't sleep every night. It was still Qi Zheng who advised me that my brother's grades are very good, and he will definitely get a good grade.
My brother came to F City after the exam and found a job in Electronic City because I wanted to find a place to work in for the summer, so I talked with my brother about renting a small room with two beds in the narrow room and a curtain between us. We slept in our respective beds at night and talked about our ideals, about who we met every day, about what had happened, and we used these endless conversations to lighten our nerves.
Brother consulted a lot of people, decided to choose the economics major, finally applied for the provincial university economics major, wait for the notice, I began to be nervous, what if brother was not accepted by the provincial university? However, I couldn't tell my brother about this until the notice came. Now that I think about it, it was a very hard time, and I will never forget it for the rest of my life.
My brother is going to school, he decided to treat Chen Xiangyu to a meal, thank them for taking care of me.
I don't know what to say. Later on, my brother graduated to work at Father Chen's company, then my brother became the vice president of Father Chen's company, only then did I find out that before my brother even started his own studies, he had already caught Chen Xiang's eye. At this time, Father Chen's examination of my brother began.
When I was in my third year, the lover of the professor who taught the circuit ran an electronics factory, so I went to work in the laboratory there every holiday because of the teacher's introduction. Later on, I met my graduate teacher there, I was also conflicted over whether to study or not, my brother had to study for another two years, I was currently graduating to find a job, but the teacher also advised me that my professional grade was so good that I could find a better job after my graduate student had applied for the exam.
After I told my brother about this matter, my brother said that the one hundred thousand dollars we used to pay tuition fees in the first year was used by the two of us. Afterwards, we both applied for a student loan and we never used it again, so my brother still hopes that you can continue your studies and review and prepare for the exam.
I was reassured and went to the study room with Qi Xiang to study and study. Only now did I know that Qi Xiang was going to take the Chinese department as a graduate student, and that it was very difficult to pass the entrance exams. Qi Tan said that she had already been preparing for three years, and while she was clucking her tongue she couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
That night when I went back to the dorm with Qi Zhengyuan, Lu Yingjie was waiting for him to send me some chocolates along with his so-called "love letter". Now that I thought about how cute and bold my husband was, being able to stop senior on the way and chase senior on the way, I told him that he was really bold. If my male classmates found out, they wouldn't beat you up, and I didn't even dare to chase after you, you'd be the first.
This brat actually said proudly that he was the first to strike? If such a beautiful senior didn't chase after him to be his girlfriend and was chased away, then where would I cry?
This is the first time a boy has confessed to me. Although I felt quite sweet in my heart at that time, it was still a junior brother who was younger than me coming after me. Feeling a little embarrassed and annoyed, I dragged him along to return the favor.
At that time, he hadn't taken this matter seriously. He had felt that Lu Yingjie was just a child. Who knew where that sweetness had gone to during the arrival of the exam.
Later on, I succeeded in my studies and stayed at F University to continue my studies. Lu Yingjie also started to come into contact with me bit by bit, making me accept him slowly, and I even told him later on that I couldn't tell, but you were young and had no small amount of foresight, and you even knew to contact the people around me first. Yes, Lu Yingjie knew everyone in my dorm, and he slowly showed them his feelings for me, and eventually made me agree to his goals.
Our days were plain, but they didn't lose any color. Not long after Lu Yingjie graduated and went to the company, he went into the sales department, running around the country, and every time I went there, I always received local specialties, and when we got married, we made a special stand, which was the gift that Lu Yingjie brought me from all over the country. On top of it was the gift that he brought me on his wedding day, and every memorable holiday, I received gifts, sometimes simple meals cooked by Lu Yingjie himself, sometimes a small gift that he prepared meticulously.
I thought of the past again tonight. Looking at my husband sleeping soundly, I quietly got up and went to the balcony. The moonlight spilled into the room like water. I sat in the rocking chair on the balcony and slowly thought about those sweet and sad years.
After thinking about it for a while, he recalled what Qi Gang had said earlier. No matter what, he had to lead a good life and give himself a beautiful life.
With a long sigh, he got up and went back to his room to sleep. Tomorrow would definitely be another sunny day.