Zhao Huai’an remembered that back then, his eldest and second brother even got into an argument over this matter. The eldest brother felt that he had finally managed to marry the woman he loved, so why couldn’t the second brother understand or help him? But from the second brother’s perspective, it wasn’t like that at all—he was facing the possibility of being sent down to the countryside, and the family had already done everything they could to scrape together money to buy him a job. Why should the eldest brother suddenly interfere?
But in the minds of Zhao’s father and mother, the situation had become extremely urgent. They not only had to consider the second son, but also the third. The second and third sons were close in age, and because the second son had started school a year late, the two of them graduated almost back-to-back.
At the moment, they could still manage to spend money to buy a job for the second son, but by the time it came to the third son, there might not be such an opportunity. Zhao’s mother even planned to transfer her own job to the third son so that the two brothers working in the canteen could at least look out for each other.
As for the fourth and fifth children, they were still young and could wait a few more years. Perhaps things would change by then.
So the eldest son’s action had completely disrupted the parents’ plan. If they used the money to help the eldest son get married, the job would have to be transferred to the second son, and the third son would be forced to go down to the countryside.
There was no choice. In front of the children, the parents expressed this plan to the eldest son, hoping he would consider his brothers and postpone his marriage. It was, in a sense, a sacrifice asked of him.
Zhao Huai’an still remembered what his eldest brother Zhao Huaiguo said at the time:
“Dad, Mom, every family has children going down to the countryside. Why in our family are you refusing to let go of even one of my younger brothers? Your thinking is problematic!”
Those words almost shattered the hearts of his parents and younger siblings. No one expected the eldest son to be so selfish.
Seeing that the eldest son seemed to have already arranged everything in the family as he pleased, Zhao’s father couldn’t help but slam the table and shout loudly:
“I’m not dead yet! It’s not your turn to boss things around! You want to get married? Fine! The family will give you 100 yuan. I don’t only have you as a son—I’m not afraid no one will take care of me in old age!”
Zhao’s father had always been mild-tempered, well-liked in the factory, and rarely spoke loudly to others. That time, he was truly furious.
Zhao Huai’an remembered later that the original host went to his parents’ room to talk. He was the middle child, and middle children were often the least favored and least noticed. Zhao Huai’an’s original self was no exception. Because of that, he was especially mischievous as a child, trying to get his parents’ attention. As he grew older, his personality became more restrained, but he still often hung out with friends and rarely stayed at home.
“Mom, just give the job to the second brother. I can handle myself anywhere. Maybe I can even find a job on my own. Worst comes to worst, I can go down to the countryside—at least I’d be more capable of surviving there than the honest second brother!”
Just when things seemed to be taking a turn for the better, everything was ruined because of Zhou Cuicui.
When Zhou Cuicui found out that the Zhao family’s betrothal gift was only 100 yuan and nothing else, she immediately exploded. And when she heard that Zhao’s mother intended to give her job to the second son, she was even more unwilling. She already treated all of the Zhao family’s resources as her own and could not accept sharing them with her husband’s younger brothers.
“I’m telling you, look at him—such a tall young man, and he’s going to work in a canteen? Tsk tsk, isn’t that all women’s work? Oh my, taking your mother’s job before she even retires—do you even have the nerve?”
Although Zhou Cuicui was beautiful, she was sharp-tongued and shameless. Saying such things in public naturally made Zhao Huaijia feel deeply humiliated.
Later events were unknown to Zhao Huai’an’s original self. At that time, he was busy hanging out with friends, trying to find a temporary job through unofficial means. He only knew that under the pressure of persuasion, the second brother went down to the countryside.
After Zhao Huaijia went to the countryside, Zhao’s father and mother prepared many things for him and harbored resentment toward the eldest son. They also knew that Zhou Cuicui wanted to marry in order to avoid being sent down, so they deliberately delayed things to prevent her from getting her wish.
This was the harshest method two honest people could come up with—but they did not expect Zhou Cuicui to have no bottom line.
The two of them even had premarital relations. Zhao Huaiguo knelt in front of his parents and cried, saying that if they did not take responsibility for Zhou Cuicui and quickly go to her family to propose marriage, she would accuse him of sexual misconduct.
In that era, a charge like that was terrifying.
“Help you one last time,” Zhao’s father said. “But there’s a condition: from now on, your salary will be collected by me. Except for two yuan, all the money must be handed over to the family to offset the cost of buying your job.”
Zhao Huaiguo felt it was no big deal—he could just ask his parents for money anyway. So he didn’t tell Zhou Cuicui about this arrangement.
But when Zhou Cuicui learned that the Zhao family could only produce 150 yuan and no bicycle or watch, she was very unhappy. However, after a long private discussion with her mother, she still agreed.
Later, the Zhao family learned the truth: the Zhou family was also in a hurry because the canteen job was about to be taken, and someone had already negotiated a price for it.
In the end, the Zhou family added another 50 yuan, along with prepared fabric and grain coupons, and quickly bought the job from the elderly woman who worked in the canteen.
When Zhao’s mother saw Zhou’s mother arrive triumphantly afterward, she immediately realized that they had been used as a stepping stone.
It turned out that the Zhou family had also wanted that job and used their daughter’s marriage as a bargaining tool to secure it, planning to give it to Zhou Cuicui’s younger brother a few years later.
After learning this, Zhao’s mother fell seriously ill and took several days off work.
As for Zhou Cuicui, she did not care at all. Only when she later discovered that her husband’s salary was still controlled by her father-in-law—and she herself only had two yuan a month—did she completely explode.
Although this matter was strongly suppressed by the Zhao parents, the family atmosphere remained tense and oppressive ever since.
When Zhao Huai’an returned home, he could immediately feel the air filled with the aftermath of arguments.
“Dad, I’ve got good news. Let’s have a drink,” Zhao Huai’an said, ignoring Zhou Cuicui completely as he leaned against the doorway with a bottle in hand. It was cheap liquor from the department store, said to be diluted, and didn’t require ration coupons.
“What good news?” His father knew that the third son was resourceful and always had a bit of spare money.
Zhao Huai’an spoke in a calm, almost boastful tone:
“I got a job. Isn’t that good news?”