A Loving Family

Li Ye's home was a detached single-story courtyard house, with three main rooms and three side rooms. The living conditions were fairly good.

He had barely ridden his bicycle to the gate when Li Ye caught the fragrance of hot-and-sour shredded potatoes.

It was already late autumn, edging into early winter. Most fresh vegetables had gone off the market, and every family's table basically held the same three things: radishes, potatoes, and cabbage.

Li Ye pushed his bicycle through the gate and saw three figures, one grown and two small, bustling about beneath the kitchen awning.

The grown one was naturally Li Ye's stepmother, Han Chunmei. The two smaller ones were the daughters she had brought with her. Both had taken Li Kaijian's surname and were called Li Juan and Li Ying.

Speaking of Han Chunmei, she too had been a woman with a bitter fate.

When she was young, Han Chunmei had been acknowledged as a beauty throughout the surrounding villages. After marrying a carpenter, she gave birth to two girls in a row, then could never conceive again.

If this had been in later generations, any man with two daughters would have been over the moon.

No need to save up for houses or land, no need to fret over cars and bride prices. During holidays, he could lie on the sofa while his daughters obediently brought him cigarettes, liquor, candy, and tea, and his sons-in-law would have to fawn over him with smiling faces. "Dad, shall we have one?"

When he grew old and fell ill or met with trouble, both daughters would have to contribute money and effort. As long as he had money, he could spend his whole life in carefree style.

But that would not do in this era. Every household had a throne waiting to be inherited! If you could not produce a guard bearing a blade, idle gossip alone could crush a person to death.

Han Chunmei's in-laws had been overbearing. They directly forced their son to divorce his wife and remarry, driving Han Chunmei out the door.

Han Chunmei returned to her parents' home with her two daughters, endured several hard years, and finally married Li Kaijian, who was eight years older than her.

After that, she felt as though she had ascended to heaven.

Her in-laws no longer made veiled, mulberry-pointing accusations whenever her daughters ate half a piece more cornbread, and her husband would not pull off his belt because a bowl had been broken.

Moreover, after she married into the family, the Li family found Han Chunmei a temporary job first. It paid twenty-two yuan and fifty cents a month. It did not seem like much, but it made the ill-fated woman weep with joy.

No one understood better than she did the bitterness of watching one's children see others eating candy while having not a single cent in one's own pocket.

Nor did anyone understand better than she did the anguish of hearing her children cry from hunger in the middle of the night, while she could only give them a bowl of cold water.

So after entering the Li family, Han Chunmei treated them with a grateful heart. She took on all the washing, cooking, and housework, to the point that Li Ye's grandmother often complained, "I'm not even old yet, and I'm already useless."

"Ah, Xiao Ye, you're back?"

When she saw Li Ye come in, Han Chunmei froze for a moment, then hurriedly took out twenty cents and handed it to her daughter.

"Juan, hurry to East Street and buy a block of tofu. Ying, quickly wash a cabbage."

Food was precious these days. Every meal was carefully measured out, and there was absolutely no wasteful thing like leftovers. Since Li Ye had suddenly come home, Han Chunmei feared there would not be enough food.

"No need to make such a fuss. I had a little something outside. Just toss together some cabbage hearts."

Li Ye waved to stop Li Juan, who had been about to leave, then took the unopened packet of sesame candy from his schoolbag and handed it over.

"I bought this sesame candy on the road. You and Ying can try it."

"..."

Li Juan stared at the sesame candy held before her, at a loss.

She had followed Han Chunmei into the Li family for a year now, yet she had never seen this older brother Li Ye give them a pleasant look. What was wrong with him today? Had a donkey kicked him in the head? Or had a sow climbed a tree?

"I... I won't eat it. You eat it!"

Li Juan forced herself to refuse the sesame candy at her lips despite the saliva in her mouth, lowering her head and slipping behind Han Chunmei.

"Eat it! I still have half a packet!"

Li Ye showed her the half packet he had already opened and shoved the whole packet into Li Juan's hands.

"Oh."

Only then did Li Juan accept it. She lowered her head and went behind Han Chunmei, exchanging a glance with her younger sister Li Ying as faint delight appeared on their faces.

Han Chunmei frowned unhappily and scolded the two girls, "Oh, oh, oh. You don't even know how to call him Older Brother? You're this grown up and still so thoughtless?"

"..."

"Older Brother."

"Older Brother."

The two girls hurriedly called Li Ye Older Brother, timidly, like mosquitoes buzzing.

"It's fine, it's fine. I wasn't sensible before either. You'll get used to it slowly. I'm going inside first."

Li Ye quickly soothed them a little, then turned and headed for the north room. As long as he stayed, his two younger sisters would be uncomfortable.

After Li Ye left, Han Chunmei rubbed at the corners of her eyes and sternly told her daughters, "Was calling him Older Brother really that difficult? And you still have the nerve to eat candy? Get a plate, arrange it, and put it on the table."

The two children immediately pouted so hard their lips could hang an oil bottle. Li Juan even muttered softly, "He doesn't call you Mother either!"

"I..."

Han Chunmei raised her hand to strike her, but when it reached halfway, she sighed and lowered it again.

Being a stepmother was hard!

The two girls might have been unhappy, but they obediently took a plate, arranged the sesame candy on it, and brought it to the dining table as a snack.

As for the remaining bit of sesame candy, Li Juan divided it into three portions. One was for her younger sister Li Ying, and one was for her mother Han Chunmei.

At last, tears fell from the corners of Han Chunmei's eyes.

Li Ye's sudden return home made everyone in the family very happy.

Grandpa and Grandma held their eldest grandson close, asking after him with concern and repeatedly saying that he had grown thinner.

Older Sister tugged at her younger brother's outer shirt and measured it up, deciding it had become too small. She said she would buy Li Ye a new one after she received her wages.

Even Li Kaijian, whose relationship with Li Ye had been somewhat strained ever since he had given him a belt whipping, kept a stern face as he took out money and said, "Coming back at this time, are you out of money again? Here's ten yuan first. Spend it carefully."

Li Ye had originally been worried about how he should get along with this world's family, but the intense warmth of home and sincere familial affection left him feeling no barrier in his heart. He naturally blended into it.

"No, I still have money. I mainly came back because there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I got that Phoenix 26 back today."

"..."

Everyone froze. After a long while, Li Kaijian finally asked in a low voice, "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking much," Li Ye said. "Lu Jingyao sent me forty-five yuan the day before yesterday. I figured that since she already looks down on us, we shouldn't keep pressing a warm face against a cold backside. Better to part on good terms than drag out some neither-long-nor-short trouble."

Smack!

Li Kaijian slapped his thigh. "Wouldn't it have been better if you'd thought like that sooner? If I hadn't been considering you, I would've fucking—"

"What are you rambling about?"

Grandma spat at Li Kaijian, then asked Li Ye worriedly, "Xiao Ye, have you really thought this through?"

Li Ye nodded. "I have. But there may be some unpleasant rumors lately. Don't take them to heart. They'll fade after a few days."

"Rumors? What rumors?"

Just as Li Kaijian was about to question him further, Li Ye's grandfather Li Zhongfa said, "Enough. Eat first. The child is hungry, so why are you endlessly nagging?"

"When was I nagging..."

Li Kaijian muttered, lowering his head and starting to eat.

If Li Ye had once been educated by Li Kaijian's belt, then Li Kaijian had been disciplined by Li Zhongfa's stick. "A filial son comes from beneath the rod" was a Li family tradition.

Near the end of the meal, Li Zhongfa suddenly asked Li Ye, "Did your school recently hold an exam to divide classes?"

Li Ye answered, "There was an exam, but I don't know whether it was for class placement. How did you know, Grandpa?"

Li Zhongfa said, "This morning, your school called me. They said your exam results were neither especially good nor especially bad, and getting into the Express Class would be a little difficult..."

The moment Li Ye heard that, he understood what was going on.

County Second High School's Retake Class had originally been divided into fast and slow classes. Now that they had set up an Express Class, it was naturally an aggressive measure meant to boost the college admission rate.

With Li Ye's test scores and ranking, it was impossible for him to enter the Express Class. Since the school had called Li Zhongfa, they clearly wanted something.

"Grandpa, you don't need to worry about my studies. I can get into college even without entering the Express Class, so don't agree to anything that violates the rules."

"What violation of the rules? It's just doing someone a favor while going with the flow. Just focus on reviewing carefully and don't put too much pressure on yourself. Whether you get in or not, our family has no demands of you."

Well, they still did not believe in him.

Li Ye looked at everyone's eyes around the table and could feel their emotions.

Whether it was Grandpa, Grandma, dad, or older sister, none of them dared put pressure on Li Ye. They were all carefully protecting the self-respect of the family's Big Brother.

"Alright, I understand. It'll naturally be good if I get in. If I don't, I'll just live off you all!"

Li Ye did not swear oaths to make them believe him. When the time came, he would simply give them a huge surprise.