Han Ze put down his bowl and chopsticks, looked at the backs of his three daughters walking away with their schoolbags, and sighed deeply. According to the original owner's memory, at this time, Han Zhaodi's class teacher should be urging her to pay the tuition. She knew that her family had no money and her mother had given birth to a younger sister, so she didn't even mention this matter when she returned home.
She was forced into a corner and had no choice but to take her two younger sisters to pick up scraps in the school, village, and on the streets, hoping to raise money for tuition by selling the scraps. When her classmates saw her sisters, they covered their noses and hid far away, disdaining the stench of garbage on them and unwilling to play with them.
The two younger sisters were young and could not stand their elder sisters' ridicule and contempt. They cried and shouted that they no longer wanted to follow their sister to pick up rags. Zhaodi could not bear to see her two sisters being excluded, so she picked up rags every day and sold them to pay for her sisters' tuition.
She had no choice but to drop out of school. When she was sixteen, her cousin fell ill, so with the consent of her father, Mrs. Han married him to a cripple from the next village. In exchange for the money for his medical treatment, she became a mother at an early age. Because she failed to give birth to a son after several pregnancies, she was abused to death by her in-laws.
Her two younger sisters did not get the opportunity to go to school because of her concession. They also dropped out after graduating from elementary school and went to the south to work and earn money at a young age. They were accidentally deceived and went to the red-light district to sell their bodies for money. Within a few years, they contracted a strange disease. The two never returned to the place where they were raised.
What they didn't know was that until their death, their parents kept giving birth to sons... but they never got what they wanted. In the end, their mother died because of her damaged health from having multiple abortions.
Han Ze was completely alone, but Mrs. Han still asked someone to match him up with a daughter-in-law who could give birth to a son, so as not to let her son become a childless family. At this time, Han Ze had lost his child and his wife, and finally realized the truth, but it was too late. The lost life could never be saved.
Han Ze knew that the most urgent task was to find a way to get the money to pay their tuition, otherwise if the children were really forced to pick up scraps, they would still be ostracized by their classmates.
"Mom, I'm going to the second brother's house." Thinking of this, Han Ze could no longer sit still.
"What are you going to do at the second brother's house?"
Mrs. Han was washing dishes in the kitchen. When she heard what he said, she came out with a basket filled with ten eggs. She handed the basket to Han Ze and said with a smile, "Since you are going to the second brother's house, take the eggs in the basket with you. Junjun and the other boys are at the age of growing up, so they can't do without some nutritious food."
Han Ze paused there, without moving his hands, and looked at Mrs. Han and advised earnestly and sincerely: "Why should you replenish your body if you are not sick? Besides, Junjun and the others are all boys, the pillars of the Han family in the future. How can we spoil them and let them develop bad habits of being lazy and unwilling to work? So while the children are young, we must let them learn to endure hardships and work hard, and polish them more, so that they can be useful when they grow up."
"What kind of bullshit are you talking about? They are your nephews. Are you willing to let them suffer?"
Mrs. Han was stunned, unable to believe that these were the words of her eldest son. Hadn't he always loved his nephews the most and always given them the best food
Han Zeman added: "Mom, let's not worry about whether my nephews can endure hardships for now. After all, that is the second son's business, not mine."
Mrs. Han was very dissatisfied with what her eldest son said. Since the old family had no sons, they would still rely on their nephews to take care of them in their old age. If that was the case, why couldn't the eldest son take care of his nephews' affairs
Han Ze knew his mother was unhappy, but he still wanted to persuade her, otherwise it would harm his nephews. He pointed to the eggs in the basket and asked, "Take these eggs for example. I remember that they were sent by Hongmei's parents for her to eat during her confinement. Is that right, mother?"
Mrs. Han's eyes wandered, not wanting to admit it in front of her son, although it was indeed the eggs sent by Wu Hongmei's parents. But once they were sent to their house, they were hers, and she could give them to whoever she wanted to eat, and no one else could do anything about it, but the eldest son could do it, after all, he was the head of the family.
Han Ze sighed, looking at his mother as if she were an unreasonable old lady. "Mom, I have no son. I have caused Hongmei to be pregnant so many times, and her body is damaged. Why don't you give her some nutritious food to replenish her body? You even give the eggs brought from her mother's house to your nephews? If this gets out, what will people think of our family? What will they think of Junjun and the others? They are so greedy that they even snatch up the food that Auntie prepared for confinement? Will you still talk about marrying me in the future?"
"It's just a few eggs." Mrs. Han stammered, "Why does it affect their discussion of daughter-in-law?"
Han Ze said earnestly, "Mom, my nephews are all strong boys. Why should we nourish them? We should not spoil them. These eggs are a gift from Hongmei's family. Give them to Hongmei to nourish her. If outsiders know that we abuse our daughter-in-law during confinement, who will be willing to marry their daughter to our nephews in the future?"
Since the eldest son said so, what else could Mrs. Han do? She could only put the eggs in the cupboard angrily. In the past, she could take things from home to her other two sons' homes, but that was because her eldest son agreed and she could do so without fear. Now that her eldest son did not allow her to use things from home to support her other two sons, she could only listen.
Mrs. Han didn't understand why her eldest son had become like this. Not only was he unwilling to give his nephew eggs, he also said that Wu Hongmei was in poor health and needed to be nourished. When did her son love his wife so much
Was she really devastated by having another daughter? If she was devastated by having a daughter, shouldn't she dislike Wu Hongmei? Why was she so caring towards her
Suddenly she remembered the whole story. Because of her, her son believed the old blind man's words very much, and the old blind man said that the eldest son had no son's life. Originally, for the sake of family harmony, she was unwilling to tell the fact that the old blind man was a liar, and she also planned to let the eldest son adopt Chenchen, and did not take his words seriously.
Now she discovered that this was far from the case. Since her eldest son believed that he was destined to have no son, he instead loved his daughter very much and changed the names of several girls, saying that he did not want to bring bad luck to the girls. He also felt guilty towards his wife and planned to compensate her.
How can this be possible
The girl will get married sooner or later. She belongs to someone else's family. What's the point of loving her? Besides, if the son feels guilty about his daughter-in-law, will he listen to her in everything in the future? Will he still listen to her in everything? How can she live a good life when she treated her daughter-in-law like that in the past
...
Han Ze went to his second brother's house and said straight to the point that he wanted to borrow money to pay for the girls' tuition. Han Hai looked at his wife and saw that she looked unhappy. She said with embarrassment: "I don't have much money... Mother, didn't you tell the eldest girl not to study? Why do we have to pay tuition?"
"Just tell me whether you want to lend it to me or not. Why are you saying so much?" Han Ze knew that he was straightforward and would say whatever he wanted. In fact, he just didn't know how to behave in society. He thought that his brothers and sisters understood him and would not care about these things, so he spoke without any hesitation.
"Brother, I have four children to support, I just can't spare any money..." Han Hai said this, but in his heart he was thinking, what's the point of sending these little girls to school, it's a waste of money, he wouldn't lend them money even if he had money.
"Are you unwilling to lend it to me?" Han Ze's honest face showed hurt. He felt that his younger brother did not take him seriously and it was in vain that he had been so good to him in the past.
Han Hai looked at him awkwardly. How could he respond? He really didn't want to borrow the money. Any sensible person would have backed off. But his elder brother was still adamant, making it difficult for him.
"Brother, our family is really out of money. Although we run a sales agency store, we sell on credit. Now we need to purchase more goods, but we still haven't received payment." Han Hai's wife said.
Han Ze frowned. He also knew that the villagers liked to buy things on credit, and wondered if he had wronged the second brother. He looked up and saw that his brows were tightly knitted, so he said, "That's right, it's Big Brother who made things difficult for you."
Han Hai was even more embarrassed. "No, no, we are brothers after all."
Han Ze said helplessly: "There is no other way. When your sister-in-law is one month old, I can only go out with your sister-in-law to find work and earn money. Let the girls live with grandma. You two will have to work harder during this period. You can bring mother to live with you."
Han Hai's wife opened her eyes slightly. Her mother-in-law had a bad temper. Wouldn't she be in charge of everything if she came over? How uncomfortable would she be? No, absolutely not. She asked, "Brother, do you really have to go out and make money?"
"Of course, the children don't have money to pay for tuition. There's nothing we can do."
Han Hai's wife gritted her teeth and asked, "How much money do you need?"
"three hundred."
"Why is it so much? Isn't it only 60 yuan for the fifth grade? The total cost for three children should be less than 150 yuan, right?" Han Hai's wife asked in disbelief, her eyes widened.
"Just three hundred short." Han Ze said stubbornly. He wanted to use the remaining money to open a noodle stall.
Han Hai's wife hardened her heart and said, "Okay, I'll lend you three hundred yuan, but you have to promise me that you will let me live with you from now on."
"Hasn't mom always lived with us?" Han Ze said, and then asked in confusion: "Didn't you say you had no money?"
Just as Han Hai was about to say something, his wife quickly said, "We really don't have any money. Isn't it because Big Brother is in trouble? I gave you all the money for the goods."
Han Ze was so moved.
After getting the money, Han Ze went to school to pay the tuition for his three daughters. By the way, he went to see Han Yao's homeroom teacher, Mr. Han. Mr. Han had planned to talk to Han Ze on the weekend, but he came by himself and asked him about Han Yao's junior high school entrance exam.
Han Ze didn't even finish junior high school. He had forgotten how to write many characters over the years. He didn't understand much about this. He rubbed the back of his head and said, "I believe the teacher. The teacher thinks our Zhaodi, oh, I have changed Zhaodi's name to Han Yao, Yao next to the character Wang. Teacher, don't call her Han Zhaodi anymore. You have to call her Han Yao..."
Teacher Han waved his hand and said with a smile, "Okay, I understand Han Yao, the Yao next to the character Wang, right?"
Han Ze smiled and nodded, "Teacher, Han Yao can apply to any junior high school that you think is suitable for her. I trust the teacher."
Teacher Han was a little surprised. "You mean you want her to go to junior high school?"
"Girls are weak and working in the fields is too tiring. Studying is their only way out. As long as the child is capable, let her go to school." Han Zehan laughed twice and said casually.
...
After school, Han Yao was called into the teacher's office again. She looked at Teacher Han helplessly, blushing and stammering, "Teacher, can the tuition fee wait a little longer?"
Teacher Han smiled and said, "Your father has already paid the tuition."
"What?"
Teacher Han added, "Your father also said that he would support your education even if he had to sell everything he had. Since your family supports you, you should not feel burdened. Getting good grades and entering the experimental class of Shuangji Middle School is the best way to repay your parents."
Han Yao walked out of the teacher's office with tears of joy on her smiling face. She could still study, she could still study, her father had not given up on her.