Busy for three straight days, they got up before dawn and only returned home after dark. Even though Xu Nianhua tried to vary the dishes she made, it still didn’t change the fact that they were eating vegetables.
The bright moonlight was as clear as daylight, and the stars twinkled, with fireflies occasionally seen flitting about.
The cicadas’ chorus rose and fell, and the frogs in the fields were singing as the three siblings cooled off in the courtyard.
"Big brother, when are you going back to the brick factory?" Xu Nianhua looked toward Xu Nianji, who was four years older than her. At twenty-three, Xu Nianji was considered late in marrying.
Xu Zhihao, a year younger than Xu Nianji, had gotten married at the end of last year and was about to become a father.
All this was due to their partial step-grandmother who claimed that marrying someone from the city as Xu Zhihao did would eventually benefit their entire family.
Others might not know, but could she not be aware?
The recent division of the family had been so decisively handled, was it not because Xu Zhihao was about to become a father? His father-in-law worked at the supply and marketing cooperative as an accountant, and now, approaching retirement, he wanted to secure the job for Xu Zhihao.
Before the news was even confirmed, Liu Sanmei had begun scheming about splitting the family assets. Nianhua remembered from her past life, Liu Sanmei never managed to convince Grandpa Xu Zhong to agree, and with time dragging on, Xu Zhihao lost his job opportunity, and the matter of the family split naturally fizzled out.
Liu Sanmei’s most valued grandson, Xu Zhiyuan, had also failed to gain admission to a university.
Liu Sanmei’s efforts must have been in vain.
Xu Nianhua contemplated deep in her heart what her big brother could do—a job that could earn money yet be safe.
Xu Nianji’s features, resembling those of Xu Qinghe, appeared as if carved out of the same mold—thick black eyebrows, sharply defined features, just like Xu Qinghe, thoroughly reliable.
"Next time I come back, I’ll get my paycheck. What would you like?" Xu Nianji asked, looking at her with doting eyes.
In the family, Xu Nianhua was the only sister, and both Xu Nianji and Xu Nian’an treated her extremely well.
"I don’t lack anything," Xu Nianhua had just finished speaking when Xu Nian’an stepped forward and said, "Brother, is the brick factory still hiring?"
"You just stay at home, at ease, wait to study another year, pass the college entrance exam, and bring honor to our Xu Family."
Xu Nianji glared at him and said, "Both of you better study hard. I am really looking forward to you getting into college, to bring us joy."
"Brother, let little sister study, I..."
Xu Nian’an hadn’t finished his sentence, when Xu Nianhua interrupted, "Second brother, school’s not starting for a while, why don’t we earn our own tuition?"
"How would we earn it?" Xu Nian’an looked at Xu Nianhua with a clueless expression. Earning enough for tuition by themselves was truly not an easy task.
"We’ll think of a way."
Xu Nianhua hadn’t come up with a plan yet, but she felt that there would definitely be a way.
Xu Nianji, who was beside them, wanted to say something, but seeing the two of them talking excitedly, he did not want to dampen their spirits.
"Brother, what about Zhou Family’s sister?" Xu Nianhua suddenly changed the subject.
Xu Nianji was taken aback.
"Don’t worry about her, she said she would wait for me." Xu Nianji lightly tapped Xu Nianhua’s forehead and then suddenly became serious, "You should worry more about yourself. Going to the back mountain to play, you could have fallen into the lake, and if Nian’an hadn’t been there to find you, do you realize how dangerous that was?"
Xu Nianhua stuck out her tongue playfully and said, "That was just an accident, really not my fault."