Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 303 A Shameless Request
Lin Yi frowned. Seeing the large bags and small packages they were carrying, he knew that this group planned to stay in Nanyu. He waved his hand, sat down on a rock, and lit a cigarette. "There are no more Tanka people in Nanxi. Shanglin Village was demolished. We now live in resettlement housing. I help out at the shop during the day, Aqin has to go to work, and Wenjun is busy with his business outside."

It's just Yaya and her husband at home. She's here to rest during her pregnancy and needs to recuperate, so we can't entertain you all. If you don't mind, please come and stay at my place for a while."

Zhu Fugen was taken aback for a moment, then quickly shook his head and said with a fawning smile, "I don't mind at all."

And so, Lin Yi rode his diesel tricycle and took them to the small single room in the resettlement house.

The resettlement houses are all occupied by villagers, but they have been relocated and all the neighbors have changed. Lin Yi has a house here because his old house was demolished and the government allocated him a temporary residence as required.

The room contained only a bed, a cabinet, and a folding table, mainly used for making tea. The bed was just for resting and lying down during afternoon naps. There were very few things in the room, and there was no trace of cooking.

Lin Yi was aware of this and took the initiative to explain, "I usually eat at the shop, occasionally go to Aqin's place to eat, sometimes stay at Aqin's house, sometimes stay at the shop, and occasionally come back to stay. I have no fixed abode."

To Zhu Fugen and his wife, these words meant that Lin Yi was old and being disliked.

Looking at it this way, the two are glad they had a son. Although their son isn't very capable, he can take care of them in their old age!

Zhu Fugen quickly pulled his son, Zhu Laigui, out and told him to call for help.

Zhu Laigui didn't even give Lin Yi a proper look, complaining, "Dad, didn't you say that my great-uncle's family has a big villa? This shabby house isn't much better than ours. I don't want to stay here!"

Zhu Fugen was extremely embarrassed, his face turning pale and then red. He glared at his son and lightly slapped him, saying, "Tell you to stop talking nonsense! If you weren't so lazy, we wouldn't have gone through all this trouble to bring you out here to work! We've already come to the city, and you're still complaining. Do you think you're some kind of rich young master? Living in a villa? You're dreaming!"

Li Lan protectively shielded her son with heartache, "Alright, stop talking. He's still young and doesn't understand! Your uncle won't hold it against him, right?"

Li Lan quickly looked at Lin Yi.

Lin Yi acted as if he hadn't heard anything and didn't react at all.

This left the couple somewhat embarrassed and unable to save face.

Zhu Fugen composed himself, glared at Li Lan, and told her to take her son out. Then he got down to business with Lin Yi, “Uncle, you’ve seen it too. My son is very rebellious. He doesn’t listen to reason and doesn’t like to study. If we tell him to go east, he’ll go west. We had no choice but to bring him out. We can’t just let him play around in our hometown forever!”

Lin Yi looked at him with surprise, "How old is he?"

"She's fourteen years old."

Lin Yi immediately frowned, "What are you doing bringing him out here when he's only fourteen? What employer would dare hire him? He's still just a child!"

Zhu Fugen frowned immediately. "Uncle, we went to the county town to ask, and it's the same situation. We thought that you city people are more knowledgeable, so why don't you think of a solution?"

Lin Yi laughed, "What kind of solution? We won't do anything illegal! We already helped you clean up the mess once back then, so don't bring up family ties again!"

Zhu Fugen could tell immediately that Lin Yi still harbored resentment about what happened back then, and his eyes reddened. "Uncle, we know we were wrong about what happened back then. We didn't think things through enough. Later, Alan gave birth to another child, also a daughter, and we gave her away to be raised by someone else." Lin Yi stared in disbelief. "So you had several daughters?"

Zhu Fugen held up four fingers. "We had four children in total. Except for the eldest, who stayed at home, the other three were given away. This son is the fifth one, and he is our lifeblood."

Because he was hard to come by, my parents spoiled him rotten. They couldn't hit or scold him. They also protected Alan like the apple of their eye, giving him all the good things since he was little. As a result, he became arrogant and unrealistic. He didn't want to study, and when he was naughty at school and was criticized by the teacher, he would refuse to go to school.

He even said he'd rather go out and work than continue studying. My parents said, "He's already 14 anyway. If he doesn't study, he can work for two years, and by 16 he can date and get married." We agreed; after all, he's a man! It's good for him to get married and start a family early, then someone will take care of him.

Lin Yi was stunned and completely numb, as if he were meeting Zhu Fugen for the first time. "Zhu Fugen! Have you lost your mind or are your parents out of their minds? What era are we living in?"

Even an old man like me knows how important academic qualifications are, don't you understand? Oh! He can't even endure the hardship of studying at such a young age, what else can he do? And what else does your Zhu family have to guarantee your child's future?

Are you rolling in money or have a business or assets to inherit? You're letting your child run wild with nothing, do you think he'd be better off working his whole life?

Zhu Fugen was stunned by what he was said. Even a man in his fifties has his pride, so he immediately retorted, muttering, "There's nothing wrong with working away from home! Everyone from our village who goes out to work has made money!"

Lin Yi felt utterly exhausted and unable to communicate, weakly waving his hand, "Since you're all better, what brings you here to see me?"

Zhu Fugen, with a long face, snorted angrily, "Uncle, I just thought it was a rare opportunity to come to the city and wanted to see you and ask for your help. Since you're not willing to help, we'll figure it out ourselves. I'm leaving now."

As he spoke, Zhu Fugen dragged his luggage out, glanced at Li Lan and Zhu Laigui, and shouted, "Let's go!"

Li Lan quickly pulled her son forward and whispered, "What do you mean?"

Zhu Fugen curled his lip, "They look down on us poor relatives now and won't help us! Let's go, there are still several people in our village who work on construction projects. We can ask them for help, and the whole family can go to the construction site. Remember, when they ask how old your son is, you have to say he's eighteen."

Li Lan nodded frantically, and tugged at her son, repeatedly reminding him, "Remember? Listen to your dad, or I'll send you back to school."

Zhu Laigui rolled his eyes impatiently, "I know!"

Seeing his son's unhappy face, Zhu Fugen also got angry.

Li Lan couldn't help but complain, "My cousin's family is so well-off, yet they wouldn't even let us in the door, nor did they offer to cook us a meal. How can we have such relatives!"

Zhu Fugen recalled Lin Yi and his group's attitude when they came to the city before, and then thought about Lin Yi's attitude this time. He roughly guessed the reason and impatiently scolded, "What are you talking about! Uncle still wants to bring up old grievances? Why don't you say anything?"

Li Lan immediately shut up when the matter from back then was mentioned.

Zhu Laigui pressed on with curiosity, "What happened back then? Mom and Dad, did you do something behind my back?"