Big Brother / Da Ge / The Unknown

Chapter 21

Old Lady Song was overjoyed, almost rolling up her sleeves to bow to Teacher Li, "Oh! Really! Thank you so much! Thank you so much!"

Old Lady Song shouted alone, completely dominating the conversation.

Xiao Bao only knew about eating, while Wei Zhiyuan looked at this and that, and finally carefully placed a piece of meat in his older brother's bowl—he saw the veins on his brother's forehead bulging.

Teacher Li left after the meal, and Wei Qian originally planned to see her off, to properly thank the teacher for her kindness and to reject the absurd idea of "rolling back to high school." But just as he got up, before he could stand straight, Old Lady Song, that shameless old hag, unexpectedly gave him a swift kick.

In front of his younger brother and sister, the older brother jumped up unprecedentedly, clamping his legs in humiliation, like a startled rabbit dodging away. Then the door slammed shut in front of the three of them, and Old Lady Song had already scurried out to send off Teacher Li, her movements so swift, not at all like an old lady in her eighties.

After two seconds of silence, Wei Qian roared at Xiao Bao, "Is your grandmother trying to kill herself?!"

Xiao Bao looked at him bewildered and innocently, wiping the sweat from eating, and said to him, "Brother, I want an ice pop!"

Wei Qian: "Eat shit, go wash the dishes!"

Xiao Bao reluctantly went to wash the dishes, while Wei Zhiyuan also spoke up, asking with concern, "Brother, does it hurt?"

Wei Qian: "......"

So Wei Qian turned his anger towards him, "Shut up, scram! Go wipe the table!"

Wei Zhiyuan then went to wipe the table. Before doing so, he smartly took the bruise ointment that Wei Qian usually used from the bedside table, placed it in front of Wei Qian, snickered secretly, and ran off before the storm fully broke on his brother's face.

Wei Qian's furious expression calmed down, he let out a sigh of relief, and leaned back in the chair that Xiao Yuan usually used for homework, sprawling out as the chair was too short for his long legs, forcing him to curl up uncomfortably.

Wei Qian's racing heartbeat settled down. In fact, he knew very well in his heart that if he really didn't want to go, if he really hated school as much as he said, he wouldn't have brought Teacher Li home for dinner.

Old Lady Song was fierce, but she wasn't as tough as his chest. Could an old lady stop a young man who was truly determined?

That was impossible.

Deep down, he wanted to go back to school, even though the dream of the childhood laboratory had shattered beyond repair. Yet, education was still something he longed for but couldn't reach.

No matter what kind of education, even if he ended up attending a very poor university, having a diploma in hand would give him a starting line to compete with most people in the world. He didn't expect anything else; he just wanted to board the train that could take him to the starting line.

Chasing the wheels on the tracks with his legs was too hard.

He really just wanted that little bit of hope.

But if he left, who would support the family? Who would make ends meet?

In less than half a year, Wei Qian would turn eighteen. In the eyes of society, he would be an adult capable of supporting himself. He had hands, feet, and strength; no one would sympathize with him for being poor, nor would anyone give aid to someone like him—the world always has more people in need than there is aid available.