Father's Brothers

"Big brother, eating? Hey! Er Wa's back, and you didn't even come sit with your uncle." The two uncles acted quite familiar, finding stools and sitting down on their own after entering.

"Exactly! Er Wa, your aunt was talking about you a few days ago, saying you hadn't come back for years!" Chen Mo's Uncle said with a smile as well, sounding very close.

"Is there something you need?" Father Chen Jianguo's face darkened as he asked. He knew full well what his two brothers were like. If they had no business here, they would never come to his door wearing smiles.

Chen Mo ignored his older and younger uncles' questions. Mainly because they had never been very filial. If not for the family's expenses treating his grandparents a few years ago, the household would not have been so poor. The tuition fees for him and his younger brother had been earned through the hard work of his older sister and parents, along with money borrowed through their two uncles.

During the years grandparents had been ill, Chen Mo had still been in high school. To pay for the elderly couple's treatment, he had nearly dropped out. Even so, his older and younger Uncles had only given the family a few hundred yuan here and there as a token gesture. They had not cared about the elderly couple at all.

Father Chen Jianguo was the eldest of the Chen family. Below him was a younger sister, the second child and Chen Mo's aunt, but she had married far away and found it difficult to return. His two younger brothers, Chen Jianshe, the third brother, and Chen Jianmin, the fourth brother, both lived in the village and not far from their home.

"Haha, big brother, we came to see you today because there's something we need to discuss," uncle Chen Jianshe said.

"Speak." Father Chen Jianguo did not welcome them either.

"Isn't the village selecting a village head? I entered the election. We came by today to tell you, big brother, so you can support your own brother when the village holds its voting meeting." Uncle Chen Jianshe said.

"Yeah, big brother. We're real brothers, so you have to support us," uncle Chen Jianmin added.

Chen Mo merely listened without interrupting, but inwardly he could not help mocking them. Now they were real brothers? When grandparents had still been alive, these two had never shown their faces. What a joke.

Chen Jianguo nodded and asked, "Are there many people in the village supporting your election?"

"Lots of them. Everyone says I have the best chance of being elected," Chen Jianshe said.

Chen Jianguo nodded, then said, "All right. I'll go vote when the time comes."

"Haha, then thank you, Oldest Brother." Chen Jianshe stood up with a smile. Knowing Chen Jianguo did not care much for him, he said, "Well then, you all keep eating. Third brother and I will be going. We still have several households to visit and greet."

Chen Jianguo nodded, silently watching Chen Jianshe and Chen Jianmin leave the house.

"Her Husband, you just agreed like that? If third brother becomes village head, who knows what kind of trouble he'll stir up!" Fu Huili said angrily.

"Mm! I do need to go, but I never said I'd vote for him," Father Chen Jianguo said.

Only then did Chen Mo and his mother remember that Father had said he would go vote, but he had never said who he would vote for. Mother and son looked at each other and smiled. They had not expected Chen Jianguo to have such a crafty side.

"Though we're blood brothers, I know exactly what kind of people they are. Still, it's better not to offend them. Going to vote is enough. As for how I vote, we'll see when the time comes." Chen Jianguo smiled as well.

"Dad, how does the village vote when it holds an election?" Chen Mo asked. He had never experienced one before and was rather curious.

"Oh! If you're curious, just go watch tomorrow," Father Chen Jianguo said.

"I have things to do tomorrow. How would I have time to join the excitement? What's so interesting about choosing a village head? I won't go." Chen Mo said.

"Fine if you don't go. But now that you're back, you should still visit your Grandpa's home. You should also visit your Uncles' families. Don't let people say you have no manners," Father Chen Jianguo said.

"Okay!" Chen Mo answered, saying nothing further. Ever since coming back, he had been busy with his own affairs and really had not gone around visiting.

After breakfast, Chen Ming arrived at the house with seven workers. A walking tractor followed behind them, hauling a cartload of cement, sand, and tools.

Mother hurriedly served tea and handed out cigarettes, as was customary in the village. Whenever there was work to be done at home, water and cigarettes had to be prepared. Of course, they could choose not to prepare them, but once the workers finished, they would say the Main Family was stingy. That would earn them plenty of gossip behind their backs. Besides, with those things provided, the workers would put more care into their work and save materials where they could. Otherwise, they could waste something here and there without anyone noticing, and even the money saved on tea leaves and cigarettes would not be enough to cover it.

The tea and cigarettes did not need to be anything special; ordinary ones would do. Yesterday, Chen Mo had gone to the village shop and bought plenty of Tea Leaves and several cartons of cigarettes. The Tea Leaves cost twenty yuan per jin and were quite ordinary, while the cigarettes cost fifty yuan per carton. Neither was expensive. They were mainly for entertaining the workers, so there was no need to be too particular.

Seeing the water and cigarettes laid out in the courtyard, Chen Ming smiled and said to Chen Mo, "Er Wa, the tiles and paint will arrive this afternoon. And don't worry about the paint—we ordered the best imported eco-friendly kind. It's excellent. In all my years doing construction, I've never used paint this expensive."

Chen Mo smiled. "Since we're renovating a house for Dad and Mom, it's more reassuring to use better materials. Otherwise, it just wouldn't feel right."

"You're a thoughtful kid!" Chen Ming said with a smile.

Watching them busy themselves measuring and leveling the ground, Chen Mo told his parents, then rode his motorcycle to the supermarket in town.

He went straight to the cigarettes and alcohol shop in town and bought some good cigarettes and liquor. They were for gifts, to be used when he later visited his Uncles' homes and some relatives in the village. Cigarettes and alcohol would also be needed while the house was under renovation, but ordinary ones would be enough for that; there was no need to buy expensive cigarettes or liquor. So he bought some ten-yuan packs of cigarettes and ordinary baijiu for the workers to enjoy when he returned.

He had not thought of it initially, but when he saw mother taking out cigarettes to entertain the workers that morning, the idea came to him. Then he remembered that now he was back, he needed to visit relatives and ask people for help, so he bought extra cigarettes and liquor. The people at the town tobacco and liquor shop even thought he ran a small village store, and they brought out some of their better-selling cigarettes and liquor to recommend to him.

Chen Mo did not explain. He simply bought whatever he wanted, spending all twenty thousand yuan and then taking out several thousand more.

Fortunately, he had the Universe Bead, so no matter how much he bought, it was not a problem. He had them load everything onto a small three-wheeled cargo truck and deliver it to a secluded place to unload, saying someone would come pick it up. After dismissing the delivery workers, he waited until no one was around and stored everything Inside Universe Bead.

He also called his Older Sister from town, asked after her, chatted about family matters for a while, and told her that he had returned home to pursue development. His Older Sister was rather surprised, but she did not say much. She and her brother-in-law ran a small restaurant in County Town and were very busy, so they did not talk for long.

After returning home, he took out some of the cigarettes and liquor he had bought for the workers and gave them to Mother. Then he went to the village shop and bought some paper offerings, incense, candles, and similar items.

Ever since going to university, he had never visited grandfather's grave to pay respects. He also needed to pay respects to Master Ye Shang, so he prepared these things. Chen Mo also planned to take a proper look around Gourd Valley tomorrow and explore the entire valley. He still had a major plan in mind.

Please vote. Seeing that no one had cast Recommendation Tickets left him quite disappointed. He hoped every reader would give him a vote.