Chapter 66 (1/2)

Shi Yan wasn’t going to allow He Ma to end their conversation like that. He turned towards He Pa, “I went to look for our teachers in school today. They all said that it was a pity for He Nuo and kept asking me why he hadn’t resumed classes. As long as he maintained his previous standards, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to enter a key college.”

The He couple knew why Shi Yan had come. They looked at He Nuo and He Nuo’s heart rose all the way up to his throat. They were rather unhappy and thought that He Nuo had invited Shi Yan over to be a lobbyist, so it only added onto their sense of aversion. Nevertheless, they still needed to show their grace as elders. He Pa gently said, “Shi Yan, thank you for your kind intentions. You’re a pretty good kid who’s very considerate of his friend.”

“Uncle He, don’t say that, He Nuo’s the kind one. It’s really a great pity for him to not resume classes.” Shi Yan didn’t accept the praise and avoided the change of topic; he has always kept a tight hold on the matter of resuming classes for He Nuo.

“College isn’t the only pathway in life. Once he gets a stable job after he takes the recruitment examination, it’s an iron rice bowl1 all the same, which isn’t too bad either.” He Ma refuted.

“Getting recruited isn’t too bad, but after He Nuo graduates from college he’ll become a state cadre. If he gets recruited, he’ll only be a worker.”

“Isn’t his dad a worker as well? His two elder brothers became workers too after they graduated from junior high school. His third brother became an apprentice after he graduated from junior high, and since he got into a good company, they had even sent him to a vocational school. He Nuo is a a high school graduate now, even if he becomes a worker his conditions would be much better than his three older brothers. If he wants to study, then he can just focus on doing his job well and his company would train him in the future.”

Shi Yan thought of the type of work that He Nuo had applied for and he suddenly really wanted to strangle her to death. Those types of work could be said to have good conditions? Now Shi Yan has really committed to memory what a ‘stepmother’ meant. But you couldn’t really blame this on her status as a stepmother. She didn’t want He Nuo to resume classes because of her selfishness to prepare for her sons’ futures instead, but as a mother, who wouldn’t first consider and love their own children? Since he’s not attending college, then of course he should choose whatever pays him the most. As far as hard work was concerned, isn’t it just a little more exhausting than usual? This kind of tiring work was nothing to the He couple.

“If He Nuo doesn’t resume classes, then it’ll be as if I’ve harmed him for a lifetime. I feel really guilty. Uncle He, He Nuo’s life can look completely different. He has always been very diligent in his studies, and it was all for the sake of the difficult and dangerous path known as our college entrance examination. But in the end, it wasn’t because he didn’t work hard that he couldn’t get into college, but because of an accident. If it ends like this, then all those years of hard work that He Nuo had put in would be for naught. That would be too cruel towards him.”

He Pa didn’t say anything, but He Ma was a little anxious. She was afraid that He Pa would be persuaded by Shi Yan. At this moment, they heard the courtyard door open — He Nuo’s fourth brother had returned. He was a college graduate and had already been working for two years, but because his company was situated far away from their house, he has always lived in a dormitory and would only return home on the weekends. But it wasn’t a weekend today. Though He Ma felt a bit puzzled, she was happy that someone who could help her had returned. Their fourth son was more well-liked by this couple just like their fifth son, and He Ma prefers their fourth son more, while He Pa prefers their fifth son more.

When fourth bro entered, he was stunned when he saw Shi Yan. Shi Yan stood up to greet him. They had met before; fourth bro first knew about Shi Yan from fifth bro. He didn’t know why he was at their house, and he even looked like he was discussing something with his parents, but the upset fourth bro wasn’t in the mood to ask and wanted to go back to his own room. He Ma could tell that fourth bro was in a bad mood, but she still stopped him and asked him to support her.

“Aiwen, don’t leave first. We’re discussing He Nuo’s recruitment exam now.”

“O.” Fourth bro sat down and responded lazily.

“Don’t you think it’s good to be a worker with an iron rice bowl and a down-to-earth job? He Nuo wants to resume classes and insists on going to college.”

“College? Once you graduate you’ll still be with the workers, and you’ll still be doing the same kind of job anyway. What do you think is so great about going to college?” Fourth bro’s voice was full of anger and sarcasm as he vented.

“Aiwen, what’s wrong? Are you suffering any grievances?” He Ma quickly asked when she saw how angry fourth bro looked.

“Work isn’t going well?” He Pa was concerned as well.

Fourth bro came home after he had been angered at work. Even though he’s a college graduate, his family had no authority or power so he had no strings to pull for his allocation and everything was done for him strictly by the book. He was allocated to a factory below , and it was still okay at first. He could start off by being a technician, then gradually move up the ranks by becoming an assistant engineer, then an engineer and he would be satisfied. But when their manager assigned tasks to them today, he was actually put together with a bunch of workers and he worked on the same kind of tasks as them. He went to reason with the manager, and his manager opened his big mouth, “Youngsters need to undergo some training.”