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墨書 Inktalez
She thought it over and concluded that the conditions at home were still too poor. After the winter break of her first year in high school, her uncle started working with the contractor as well. The construction site offered little rest under the sun and rain, but he earned over three thousand a month, which was more than what he made from farming.
Her aunt cooked for the workers at the site. Besides her salary, she could also collect scrap metal and similar materials, bringing her income close to two thousand. Her aunt raised her living expenses to three hundred: “Your Second Brother only gave you two fifty back then. Once you start working, you’ll pay me back five times that amount, understand?”
“Got it, got it.” After so many years together, she had gradually figured out her aunt’s temperament. She had a sharp tongue but a soft heart.
During the winter break of her second year in high school, her older brother finally brought home a girlfriend. Her aunt was overjoyed and started planning for their wedding. However, the girl demanded a dowry of one hundred thousand and insisted on buying a house in the county. This was far beyond what her uncle and aunt could afford.
Her uncle sat under the eaves and smoked an entire pack of cigarettes. Snow fell all around them. Though it was light and airy, it felt heavy as it landed on his shoulders, bending his back.
Her mother had something to say again: “If you had listened to me and not sent Shi Shi to school but let her marry instead, you could have already found a daughter-in-law by now.” She even suggested to her brother, “Just get her pregnant first; once there’s a child, she won’t ask for anything, and she’ll marry you.”
At that time, many men in the village got married this way. Her usually good-natured uncle lost his temper for the first time. “Shut your mouth; stay out of my family’s affairs from now on.”
Her mother left grumbling, “I’m only looking out for you all; you don’t know what’s good for you.”
The marriage proposal ultimately fell through.
My older brother was despondent and quit his job.
Aunt was heartbroken, her hair turning gray rapidly: “He’s almost 26; is he really going to be a bachelor for life?”
After quitting, my brother connected the internet and bought a second-hand computer.
The gossip in the village was relentless, threatening to bury our family in rumors.
People said Aunt was blinded by her affection for her useless niece, raising me while sacrificing her son.
Others claimed my brother had completely given up, not earning any money and spending his days playing on the computer.
Aunt searched everywhere for someone to introduce potential matches for him.
But everyone nearby knew our situation and shook their heads in disapproval.
Aunt worried that my brother might take drastic measures, even giving up work at the construction site.
During the day, he was lethargic, but at night he was full of energy, typing away on the keyboard non-stop.
Aunt couldn’t help but urge him:
“There will be girls out there; you need to pull yourself together and not just sit in front of the computer all day.”
My brother replied:
“I’m not just playing; I’m writing novels to make money. A life on the assembly line leads nowhere; I need to do something with potential.”
Aunt looked at him with disbelief.
I was also curious about what my brother was writing.
But he wouldn’t let me see:
“This isn’t something a kid like you can read.”
I felt half-convinced and half-doubtful.
It wasn’t until much later that I learned that back then, internet regulation wasn’t as strict as it is now, and my brother was writing borderline novels.
As the New Year approached, I was about to take my college entrance exams.
After the second year of high school divided classes, I entered a key science class.
I let go of my weaknesses, and my grades soared.
During the division of subjects, I ranked ninety-eighth in my grade. By the end of my second year, I had risen to seventy-sixth. In the first monthly exam of my third year, I reached fifty-fifth.
The higher I climbed, the harder it became. Maintaining my ranking took all my effort, and trying to move up further felt like struggling against invisible restraints. I often felt that I could no longer improve.
At the New Year’s dinner, Second Brother comforted me: “Keep a calm mindset; maintaining this score will easily get you into a lower-tier 985 university.”
“That’s already quite good. Sometimes, what crushes us is just that one straw in our minds.”
That night, my older brother, usually engrossed in his computer, gave me five hundred yuan as New Year’s money.
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