Chapter Eighteen: Luring Away Older Brother

  The father and daughter returned home happily, chatting and laughing. Old Mrs. Qiu saw that there were still dozens of dumplings left in the bowl, but she didn't say anything, just urging her husband and daughter to hurry up and eat dinner.

  Qiu Feng sat at the dinner table, holding his chopsticks and crying with a sad face: "Little sister, where did you and dad go? You're back so late, I'm starving to death."

  He was called back by his mother from outside for 20 minutes. His mother didn't let him eat either, saying that his father and sister hadn't come back yet, so he couldn't eat first.

  Qiu Ye washed his hands in the bathroom and sat down at the dinner table. He said to his older brother, "I didn't do anything, I just went out to make some money."

  "What, you went to make money, did you? How did you do it?" Qiu Feng was so excited by his sister's words that he threw down his chopsticks and leaned forward, stretching his big face in front of Qiu Ye.

  Qiu Ye looked at the big face in front of her, and then at her older brother's sparkling eyes. She could understand his excitement now. When they were young, their family was poor, and their parents basically didn't give them any pocket money. Her brother had been eyeing those piaji snacks that other classmates had for a long time. He had a particular trait - he didn't like eating snacks, but he loved toys. Those plastic toy knives and guns at the small stall in front of the school gate, her brother had been coveting them for a long time, but unfortunately, they had no money to buy them.

  "I went to sell the boiled dumplings that Dad made last night, and I earned 60 cents today." Qiu Ye seemed happy as she told her brother all about it.

  In his previous life, this brother didn't love studying and always wanted to join the army. As a result, he enlisted after graduating from middle school. After being discharged, he was assigned to work as a security guard at a state-owned enterprise, which is essentially just watching the gate. It's really a waste of life for a young man in his 20s to be watching the gate every day. By the time Qi Ye was reborn, his brother had been a gatekeeper for over 20 years, wasting the most precious 20 years of his youth. Every day, he just stared at two big gates, what kind of motivation could he have? So, his brother followed the arrangement of fate and got married early, had children, and continued to live a hard life with his family, barely scraping by without starving to death.

  They say that poor couples have a hundred sorrows, and my sister-in-law and older brother had a few years of bitter days together, always arguing about money, until finally they couldn't take it anymore. In 2000, they got divorced, leaving their son with my older brother and parents. After my sister-in-law packed up her things and left, she never came back again. My older brother also became increasingly taciturn, his 40-year-old body exuding the aura of a man in his sixties or seventies, feeling worn out and old.

  In this life, she didn't want her brother to be so silently inactive and unfulfilled.

  "It's just that little, not even enough to buy a gun." Qiu Feng disappointedly shrank back, thinking he could make a lot of money, but it turned out to be only a few cents. The gun he had been eyeing for a long time at the small stall in front of the school gate was selling for 2 yuan, a high price.

  Qiu Ye heard her older brother muttering under his breath, and she really wanted to kick him to death. How dare he look down on her for earning less? Didn't he see that he himself hadn't had so much pocket money in a long time?

  "This is just noon, and I'll go sell again later. At that time, I will earn even more." Qiu Ye Bai gave a glance at his own brother and said confidently.

  Qiu Feng heard that later on, he came with interest, and with a big face, he discussed with his sister, "Old sister, after you earn money, buy a gun for your brother."

  Qiu Feng really has no sense of being a big brother, instead he comes to his little sister for money, Qiu's father is already staring at him from the side, but Qiu Feng is too focused and hasn't noticed.

  Qiu Ye's big eyes stared, with a momentum similar to her mother's, saying: "No way, I'm going to save all the money I earn myself, and leave it for college later." Seeing her older brother looking down and depressed, she changed her tone and said: "However, you can earn your own money. When you've saved up enough, you can buy the gun you like."

  "Really? Then how can I make money?" Qiu Feng shook his head and came over again.

  "Wait until the weekend when you're off and help me sell meatballs, I'll pay you a salary." Qiu Ye wanted to take Ba La Ba brother along to sell things too, so he could see more of the world, gain some experience, mature his thinking, and not just think about how to have fun all day, or think about joining the army after graduating from elementary school.

  Who knew Qiu Feng didn't take the hint, and loudly said: "I'm not going, selling things will be laughed at by my classmates. Besides, I won't be a street vendor, I'll be a soldier in the future."

  "With someone like you who can't even recognize a single character, wanting to join the army? Who would want you? You can't even recite the military discipline and rules." Qiu Ye's words made her older brother's face turn red with rage, but Qiu Feng couldn't refute because his sister was speaking the truth.

  "Hmm, then I'll graduate from junior high school and join the army." In Qiu Feng's mind, graduating from junior high school means being an educated person, just like his father. So he thinks that at that time, joining the army would be perfectly fine. And in fact, in his previous life, after Qiu Feng graduated from junior high school, his father went to ask someone to let Qiu Feng join the army.

  "If you graduate from junior high and join the army, in the army you can only be a soldier who serves tea and water to leaders and runs errands. If you graduate from high school and join the army, then you can be a soldier who listens to orders, where the leader points, you fight. But if you graduate from university and then join the army, then you can become that leader, and it's your turn to give orders, your soldiers will follow. You think about it, what kind of soldier do you want to be?" Qiu Ye was trying to salvage his brother who was on the verge of failing, so he spouted a bunch of nonsense, not caring if it made sense or not, as long as it stirred up his brother's enthusiasm for studying."

  "Dad, are all the things that older sister said true?" Qiu Feng asked his dad, not quite believing what his older sister had said.

  "Hmm, your sister is right. If you finish military school and then join the army, it's not the same as being an ordinary soldier. You'd better choose carefully." Qiu Dad thought that joining the army was also a good option, but if his son could get into university first, that would be even better.

  This issue made Qiu Feng, such a heartless and inconsiderate person, not eat well for lunch, hastily scoop up a bowl of rice, and then go back to his room to lie down, even the radio that he listened to every day was not turned on.

  Qiu Ye looked at her brother like this and thought, wouldn't it be too stimulating?

  After lunch, Qiu's mother sent her daughter off to sleep and then lay in bed chatting with her husband.

  "How's business today?"

  "The girl said it was sold for six cents."

  "This I know, just that little money, not enough for her to spend on those oil and peanuts." Qiu's mother returned home to find that the oil in the house was missing another bowl, and the bag of peanuts in the warehouse had also been touched. "I'm asking how the child is behaving?"

  "Ah, pretty good, our girl is not an ordinary person. I saw her selling things, the little expressions on her face made you feel embarrassed if you didn't buy from her。 She's got a sharp tongue, daring to speak up to anyone she meets。 We should work hard and cultivate her well, she'll definitely grow up to be someone great."

  "It's still you who says that, she is my own flesh and blood, following me, growing up will definitely not be worse. Let's think carefully about how to save more money for the two children." Qiu Ma proudly raised her head, looking at which one was better, as if they were her own flesh and blood.

  "Hmm, you don't know, our daughter was talking about your son at noon today, and it was a whole set of words, I don't know who this little girl has been listening to." Qiu Dad taught Qiu Mom the words that the daughter had used to seduce her son again.

  "Our girl often goes to the downstairs Fang teacher's home, and must be learning something from them. They don't have kids, but they like Qiu Ye, so she always goes there, maybe it's because of their influence that she can say things like this."

  "Hmm, you're right too. Otherwise, how would a little girl who hasn't even gone to school know so much? It seems that letting the kids interact with Teacher Fang's family more is a good thing." Mr. Qiu said, usually he wasn't too willing to let his own children go bother others.

  "Of course, oh right, you said whether to let the girl sell meatballs in the future or not." Qiu's mother felt that it was not necessary to lose face for just that little money, and besides, the child was working very hard.

  "Of course, we have to go. On the way back, I and the girl discussed it, I told her that if she decided to continue selling, she must persevere and not give up halfway. Your daughter promised me that she will continue to sell."

  "But this doesn't make any money, why let the child suffer?" Qiu's mom was not very satisfied with Qiu's dad's decision.

  "It's not about the money, but mainly about cultivating the spirit of hard work and perseverance in children. They can't retreat as soon as they encounter some difficulties or setbacks, or else they'll do so in everything they do." Qiu Dad is still somewhat cultured after all, and has a systematic approach to educating his child.

  "I don't care about your temper, I only care about my oil bowl. You girl are too willful, taking advantage of me not being home, you've scooped out half a bowl of oil. This wasteful child." Mrs. Qiu complained to Mr. Qiu.

  "Hehe, don't be too frugal, we two have a salary of over 100 yuan this month. If there's no oil ticket, let's just buy some high-priced oil. The child is growing up and needs nutrition to grow tall."

  "You don't know the value of money, do you? With over 100 yuan, after setting aside for your mom's postage, how much is left, you don't even know? And then there's buying rice and flour, every day is expensive, and each month we want to save some for the kid's future..."

  When the time was left, Qiu's mother and Qiu's father began to discuss the household expenses, and the seed of hard work in their hearts sprouted quietly because of this discussion.

  Everyone, after finishing this chapter, if you think the book is good, please give a recommendation and collect it. Thank you all for your support here!