In the courtyard of the Zhou family, Meng Shuzhi stood in the center of the hall with his waist straight, and looked around at this familiar place, the ancient building was still magnificent, but the room lacked those valuable antique ornaments and servants, and it looked empty and lonely.

Mr. Zhou is a lot older, his hair, eyebrows, and beard are all white, and there are a few old age spots on his face, which makes him look old, and he has long lost the graceful and suave demeanor of the head of the family. Maybe it was the heavy past that crushed him and made him old, he looked ten years older than his actual age,

Master Zhou looked at the tall and straight Meng Shuzhi, and his dim eyes showed the appearance of his son Zhou Ruikang, he seemed to see Ruikang wearing a straight Zhongshan suit, holding a book, walking into the hall in a sassy manner, and calling him "Dad" loudly, how proud he was of this son, how proud of him, Master Zhou grabbed the corner of the table excitedly, and wanted to stand up.

"Master Zhou." Meng Shuzhi shouted at him, which made Master Zhou sober up, wiped his wet eyes with a handkerchief, and put on his glasses to see clearly that it was Meng Shuzhi, who had grown up, and not his son Ruikang, who was thinking about it day and night.

Master Zhou sighed very much in his heart, he didn't expect that the tattered little beggar who was dressed back then would now be so heroic and compelling, it was really time flies, and life is like a white horse.

Cheng Jiaqi pulled Dingbang to stand on the side, bowing his head and saying nothing.

"Master Zhou, here is the two hundred taels of gold that Sister Ruojun borrowed from you, and we have already rescued Nian'an, so we don't need these golds, so please count them clearly and take them back."

Saying that, Meng Shuzhi opened a small cloth bag and put it on the table, and the twenty gold bars were very dazzling.

Master Zhou didn't understand his words at all, and asked in a daze: "What two hundred taels of gold, what Nian'an rescued?" What are you talking about? ”

Meng Shuzhi glanced at Cheng Jiaqi on the side, sneered, and said loudly: "Nian'an was kidnapped, don't you know?" Didn't anyone tell you? ”

Master Zhou's heart froze, his eyes widened, he became nervous, he was on crutches, holding on to the corner of the table, and his whole body trembled and said, "What? Nian An was kidnapped? You mean, you mean Ruikang's son? Kidnapped? When was this? How are the kids? Are there any injuries? Were you scared? ”

Meng Shuzhi didn't expect Master Zhou to be so nervous, but he was a little surprised in his heart, and shook his head: "Nian'an is fine, I didn't expect you to care about your grandson." ”

As soon as Master Zhou heard this, his cheeks twitched twice, his eyelids drooped, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes drooped, and he sat down slowly, the scene in the cabin on Jinyun Mountain was not only Mei Ruojun's nightmare, but also Master Zhou's nightmare, he asked himself every day, is it right or wrong to do this?

In the end, he still felt that he was doing the right thing, Nian'an couldn't recognize his ancestors and return to his ancestors no matter what, and his uncle and sister-in-law committed adultery, how to write the family tree? It's absolutely impossible, so it's the right thing to do.

But his heart is not calm at all, he has been thinking about the situation of that day every night for so many years, Nian An's lovely appearance, big black eyes, looking at himself suspiciously, from the first sight of this child, he has a natural family affection in his heart, he likes the child at first sight, more than Dingbang, but he cruelly threw him to the ground.

"Nian'an is not a child of the Zhou family, don't talk nonsense." Cheng Jiaqi suddenly raised her head and said sternly.

"Am I talking nonsense? Do you want me to bring Nian An to take a look at Master Zhou, so that Master Zhou can recognize whether he is the bloodline of the Zhou family? ”

Jiaqi glared at Meng Shuzhi angrily, turned her head to Master Zhou and said, "Dad, you know Mei Ruojun's character, she and Ding Xiaohui lived together in the cabin for so long, and I think it is more like Ding Xiaohui's than that the child is Ruikang's." ”

"You talk nonsense!" Meng Shuzhi listened to her insult Ruojun and interrupted her angrily.

"Daddy! I have here a clarification of Mei Ruojun's life experience, you see! Cheng Jiaqi didn't pay attention to him, but took out a piece of paper and sent it to Master Zhou.

Master Zhou looked at the life history clarification book, and sure enough, Mei Ruojun admitted that Nian An was Ding Xiaohui's child, and also signed and drew the charge, Master Zhou silently handed back the clarification book to Jiaqi, pondered for a moment and nodded: "Since the child's mother has admitted it, there is no need to argue anymore." ”

Meng Shuzhi really couldn't understand Master Zhou and Cheng Jiaqi, but he didn't want to understand, he was originally arrogant, he and Ruojun and Nian'an depended on each other Although it was difficult, it was also warm, why bother to look at people's faces and draw the reputation of the Zhou family.

sneered twice, waved his hand and said: "Hehe, I have also stayed in the Zhou family, I didn't expect a catastrophe to come down, the Zhou family is still so old-fashioned, not close to people, I don't want to argue with you about anything, the Zhou family is not rare, I am rare." Hurry up and clear the gold and return the IOU signed by Sister Ruojun to me, so as to save me from entanglement in the future. ”

Cheng Jiaqi held back his anger, stepped forward and counted the gold, took out the IOU from his cuff and threw it on the table, Meng Shuzhi checked it, put it away, looked at the century-old compound again, stood straight and said, "Farewell!" After that, he walked out of the Zhou family's compound without looking back.

Cheng Jiaqi put away the gold, turned his head, and found that Master Zhou was looking at him meaningfully, with questions on his face, his eyes fixed, cold, or rational.

She thought that Master Zhou was going to ask her something, but no, Master Zhou stared at her for a while, stood up with a cane, walked to the side, and looked at Dingbang, who was engrossed in fiddling with the toy pony in his hand, Master Zhou touched his head and left the hall without saying a word.

Cheng Jiaqi felt empty in her heart, although Master Zhou didn't say anything, but she felt that there was a lot written in his eyes, but she couldn't read it for a while.

//

After the winter vacation, Meng Shuzhi has been procrastinating and did not go to school, Ruojun asked several times, he said that this year's winter vacation was extended, but it was not until March that he said that the school started, Ruojun asked him several times how much the tuition fee for this semester was, and he was hesitant.

After dinner, Shu Zhi took his backpack as usual and was about to go out to the warehouse to work the night shift, Ruojun called out to him: "Shu Zhi, what about your report card?" Isn't there a test at the beginning of the school year every year? What about transcripts? ”

Shu Zhi stood in the courtyard and bowed his head silently, and said for a long time: "Dropped?" ”

"Dropped? What about the list of tuition and fees for this semester? Did it fall off too? Ruojun walked up to him and looked at him seriously.

Shu Zhi frowned and avoided her gaze and turned his head.

Ruojun walked up to him, his heart sank, and he looked at him nervously: "Shu Zhi, you, have you dropped out of school?" ”

Meng Shuzhi's lips tightened, and he knew that he couldn't hide it anymore, so he had to nod.

Ruojun's face was pale, very disappointed, and very sad, so many years of cultivating Shu Zhi into a talent, it was a spiritual pillar for her, because it was Ruikang who brought him into the Zhou family and brought her life, she has always regarded him as a responsibility entrusted to her by Ruikang, raised Shu Zhi and made him successful, but he dropped out of school.

"I didn't get good grades last semester and failed several subjects...... So I have to repeat it for a year, so I have to pay for another year. He bit his lip and frowned.

Of course, he has two jobs and studies, and he has to take care of Ruojun's mother and son, and take on some physical work at home, no matter how strong a person is, he will have physical overdraft, he has long been overwhelmed, but he has been holding on hard in front of Ruojun, and he dozed off uncontrollably during class, and his mind was confused during the exam, he had no time to do his homework, all his schoolwork had fallen, and he couldn't continue to study at all.

But he was afraid that Ruojun would be disappointed and sad, so he kept hiding it from her, and forced a smile when he got home, in fact, he was anxious, lost, and desperate and wanted to tear up the books several times.

Ruojun took his backpack off him and dragged him into his room, where she had to talk to him.

In the hut, Shu Zhi sat on the chair, hanging his head in frustration, losing this opportunity to study, it was even more painful than killing him, he loved to read since he was a child, his personality was extremely conceited, full of ideals, since that time he followed Zhou Fu to Peking University to visit Ruikang, he wanted to enter this beautiful campus to study, and finally got in, his life journey has just begun, and now he is forced to drop out of school, his heart is simply dripping blood.

Ruojun stood there looking at him angrily and pityingly, but she blamed herself more, she felt that she didn't take good care of him, that she was incompetent, and that she was derelict in her duties. I am immersed in the hopeless love with Ruikang all day long, causing the tragedy of so many people, no, Shu Zhi must not be the next, can't.

She covered half of her face and pondered for a long time, raised her head to look at the night outside the window and said, "From today onwards, you are not allowed to go to the night shift, if you insist on going, I will take Nian'an to leave you and never come back." ”

Shu Zhi was startled, stared at her, but couldn't speak, this was what he was most afraid of, Ruojun and Nian'an were his only relatives in the world, and he couldn't lose them.

She also looked at him, serious, even stern, like an elder: "Also, I don't allow you to drop out of school, even if you have to repeat it for a year, you have to send me to finish college." You don't have to worry about tuition, I have a way. ”

"What's the solution? Do you want to ask the Zhou family to borrow it again? He interrupted her hurriedly.

"No, I won't go to Zhou's house, but you must promise me to complete my studies well, and if you drop out of school again, I will also leave you with Nian'an."

He didn't know how she could raise money, so he pulled her over in a hurry, stared at her urgently, and asked, "Tell me, how are you going to raise money?" If there is even the slightest sacrifice for you, I will not agree. ”

Ruojun raised his head and looked around slowly, smiled slightly and said, "We still have this house." ”

He was surprised and didn't know what to say, so he licked his dry lips very quickly and said, "You want to sell the house?" ”

Ruojun nodded, Shu Zhi stood up violently, and categorically denied: "No! Absolutely not! This house is your ancestral property, how can you sell it? Where are we going to live after selling? ”

"I've already thought about it, after the house is sold, we can rent a house to live in, your tuition fees will be settled, and there will be money left over to do some small business."

"What kind of deal?"

"I want to open a snack bar that sells simple breakfast and food, and pickles along with it. I put the pickles in small jars so that they look clean and beautiful. If you eat it at the store, if you think it tastes good, you can just buy a can and go back. Ruojun's heart was thinking about the snack bar, and his face showed a glint of hope.

Shu Zhi sounded that it seemed feasible, but when he thought of selling the Mei family's courtyard, he felt very uncomfortable, and sat back on the chair and tried to think.

Ruojun walked into him: "After you get out of class in the future, you don't have to help others anymore, wouldn't it be better to help my sister directly?" Is it okay for our sister and brother to open a store together? ”

He looked at her moving and shining eyes, his heart was very sour and guilty, in fact, he knew that the main reason for selling the house was to provide him with education, from the time he was nine years old and his sister Xunmei entered the Zhou family, Ruikang has actually been very busy, it is Ruojun who is taking care of their brothers and sisters, and all kinds of things that happen to Ruojun, he sees it in his eyes and remembers it in his heart, he has secretly vowed to take care of her and protect her for a lifetime, unless she finds a better man than him to love her and love her.

However, now, he has grown up, but he still wants her to pay, still wants her to take care of herself, and even asks her to sell her ancestral property to continue her studies, the gratitude, guilt, shame, loss, and all kinds of emotions in his heart are like waves of tide beating his heart.

Perennial repression, pretending to be strong, and great touch, gratitude, so that he finally couldn't help it, the shock in his heart made the tip of his nose sore, tears fell in his eyes, except for Xun Mei was killed by Guo Xingquan when he cried, no matter how wronged, no matter how difficult, no matter how painful, he didn't shed tears, but at this moment his male tears couldn't hold back anymore, they fell, he raised his eyes, choked and said, "Am I useless?" ”

"How so? You're too young to do everything at once. She saw his tears, her heart was very sad, behind his strong arrogance, what a pitiful background, he watched his parents and family killed, his sister was killed, living a life under the fence, how much pain he endured at a young age, and he always wanted to be like a pine and cypress in the wind, tenacious to survive and grow.

Ruojun felt a pain in his heart, gently hugged his head, hugged him into his arms, and wept with him, yes, they are a pair of distressed sisters and brothers who depend on each other, and they must hug each other to gain strength.

He hadn't been hugged for a long time, and he hugged her tightly, burying his face in her arms, as if hugging his mother, sister, or lover.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to beat him." He said sadly like a child, wiped his eyes with the palm of his hand, and compared with Zhou Ruikang, competing with each other seemed to have become the main theme of his life.

Ruikang is his idol, his opponent, his benefactor, and his enemy, and he worships him because he is indeed outstanding and radiant, but he hates him because he is half-hearted and has failed his oath to Ruojun. He always wanted to surpass Ruikang and make himself better, so he forced himself, and even deliberately learned Ruikang, and this deliberate imitation made him lose himself, very tired and hard.

Ruojun stroked his cheek and smiled bitterly: "Why do you have to compare with others? You are you, you are Meng Shuzhi, an excellent man. Aren't there a lot of female classmates in your school who like you? We will make more money and marry you a good girl in the future, and my sister will be relieved. ”

He looked up at her, there were still some tears in his eyes, his feelings for her were too complicated, although she hugged him, but he knew that she was just holding a brother, a relative, a child, and she never looked at him as a man. He felt both happy and miserable, and he had her love, but she reminded him everywhere that they were just siblings.

Xiao Nian'an pushed the door in, saw his mother and uncle hugging each other, covered his mouth happily and smiled, and also ran over and joined the hugging army.