Chapter 2

"I don't have any money either."

"No money? How can you not have money?" Gu Ermao looked astonished. "You work at the food factory; even as an apprentice, you should have ten or twenty yuan a month, right? You didn't save any money in three months? Impossible, absolutely impossible!

Xiao Long, we are brothers; how can you not help when a brother is in trouble? In the past, you were the first to rush up whenever something happened. Isn't my business your business? Let me see, where is the money..."

As he spoke, he reached out to rummage through Li Long's pockets.

"Slap!" Li Long slapped his hand away and said impolitely:

"What are you doing?"

Gu Ermao used to rummage through Li Long's pockets often, and he was used to it. And Li Long had never refused. Every time, as long as he said a few nice words, Li Long couldn't bring himself to refuse and would definitely follow Gu Ermao's wishes.

Today, he didn't expect Li Long to turn against him. Gu Ermao was stunned for a moment before his face flushed red and he asked:

"What are you doing? I said it, lend me some money. Don't worry, I'll definitely pay it back!"

"I told you I don't have money!" Li Long raised his voice. "It's true I earn wages, but don't I spend them? I live in my brother and sister-in-law's house, eat their food; shouldn't I give them some money? Besides, why don't you go to your brother when you're in trouble? Why come to me? I'm not your real brother!"

A ruthless outburst left Gu Ermao stunned. Then his face flushed red, and he said angrily:

"If you won't lend it, then don't! Why so much bullshit! Li Long, I misjudged you! Don't ever say I'm your brother again! This is all you're capable of; no wonder you were fired, I think you deserved it! If you have the ability, don't come looking for me in the future! Let's see if I'll still take you to play with Mao Dan and the others!"

After speaking, he slammed the door and left angrily.

When Gu Ermao walked out, he counted silently in his heart.

One, two, three...

In the past, as long as he was angry, Li Long would usually rush out within ten counts, smiling and coaxing him. He knew that Li Long was a very vain person who didn't want others to say bad things about him. After all, Li Long was not a native of this village, and he hoped to get the recognition of other peers in the village. And he was the first person to recognize him.

But today, he counted up to fifty, and he didn't see Li Long come out. Gu Ermao couldn't understand it. Has Li Long changed? Or is he really out of money?

But since the words were already out, it was impossible for him to turn back and look for Li Long again. He didn't borrow the money, so he had to think of another way. However, he wouldn't let Li Long have an easy time either.

"Since you don't give me face, don't blame me for being impolite and spilling your business to Wu Shufen!"

Actually, Li Long knew that tomorrow, Gu Ermao would spread the news of his firing, and tomorrow, Wu Shufen, upon hearing the news, would come to him to break up.

Perfect.

In the west room, the Li Jianguo couple, who heard the commotion, looked at each other, a bit confused.

Because both sides were loud, they vaguely heard the conversation between Gu Ermao and Li Long. It's just that they couldn't figure out why Li Long, who used to be obedient to Gu Ermao, reacted so violently today?

"Did the firing from the food factory change Xiao Long's personality?" Liang Yuemei guessed.

"Maybe. Xiao Long isn't stupid either; he learns from experience. Maybe he figured it out and can't let others use him anymore. Anyway, it's a good thing."

"Then the money..."

"Let him decide the money himself." Li Jianguo shook his head. "Young man, and he's dating; how can he do it without money?"

Just as they were talking, the door of the east room opened, and the two of them immediately stopped talking.

The door of the west room was pushed open, and Li Long walked in.

He took out ten yuan and handed it to Liang Yuemei:

"Sister-in-law, my return was quite sudden. The firewood at home should not be enough. Use this money to buy some coal. I'll go find some firewood in the next two days, don't worry."

"What are you going to find?" Li Jianguo glared: "In this cold weather, minus thirty degrees, where are you going to find firewood?"

"Yes, yes, yes, you keep the money; young people should have some money on them." Liang Yuemei didn't actually have much of an opinion about Li Long; she was quite satisfied with her brother-in-law's attitude.

"Sister-in-law, you keep it." Li Long stuffed the money into Liang Yuemei's hand. "I can't just let you spend money on me. I'm an adult after all... Brother,"

He said to Li Jianguo again:

"I'm almost twenty. I was a bit brainless before and did some wrong things. I know now that those things were wrong. It's fine if it's cold; just wear thicker clothes. Don't worry about this. Anyway, there's nothing to do in winter... Alright, I'm going back to my room."

After speaking, he turned and left the west room, returning to the east room.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Li Long felt that he had at least taken the first step.

In his previous life, every time he recalled the stupid things he did in the past, he felt regret. Now that he had a chance to start over, how could he repeat the same mistakes?

It's just that he was a bit hungry right now. In the countryside, people usually ate two meals in winter. The activity level itself was not high, and the food ration was not much, so in winter, one had to calculate carefully.

Now with him added, the food ration of his brother and sister-in-law's family would probably be hard to last until spring.

He really was a "scourge." In the past, he only knew how to ask his brother for food and clothes, and he asked for them righteously, never thinking about where those things came from.

Thinking about it now, it's really infuriating!

He was still blaming himself when the door rang.

Looking up, the one pushing the door was his five-year-old nephew Li Qiang.

"Uncle, I'm looking for you... to play." Li Qiang was dressed thickly, and he wiped his nose with his sleeve and said, "You came back from so far away, did you bring anything fun?"

Li Long felt ashamed. He really didn't buy anything when he came back from Wucheng. Not to mention things for his brother and sister-in-law, he didn't even buy any gifts for his niece Li Juan and nephew Li Qiang.

He rummaged through his bag and only took out a box of glutinous rice paper.

This was used for wrapping candies in the food factory. After the milk candies were processed, they were wrapped in glutinous rice paper, and then wrapped in candy paper.

Glutinous rice paper was very common in the food factory, but in this day and age in the village, it was almost never seen.

!.

Li Long picked up a piece and said to Li Qiang:

"Open your hand."

Li Qiang opened his hand as told.

Li Long put the glutinous rice paper on his hand and said to him:

"Don't move, look closely, this paper will move in a moment."

Li Qiang was very obedient, his hand stretched straight, motionless, his eyes staring fixedly at the paper.

Sure enough, the glutinous rice paper moved, slowly curling up.

"It moved, Uncle, it moved!"

Li Qiang shouted in surprise.

Li Long smiled. Having lived two lives, he knew the principle of why the glutinous rice paper moved. However, not many people knew about it now, so Li Qiang would be surprised.

Li Qiang's voice was very loud, and after a while, Li Juan also pushed the door and came in, looking at Li Long vigilantly.

Li Juan was ten years old, in elementary school, and often helped the family with work—even doing some work that Li Long didn't do.

This made Li Juan quite dislike Li Long. If Li Long wasn't there, she wouldn't mind doing the work. Children of similar age all helped their families with work. But Li Long was there, and Li Long didn't do it, but made her do it; that would obviously feel unfair in her heart.

"Sister, sister! Look, this moves... huh? Why did it melt?" Li Qiang was about to tell Li Juan, but saw the glutinous rice paper in his hand stuck to his hand.

"It's okay, there's more." Li Long put another one on Li Qiang's hand. Li Qiang told his sister like a curious baby.

Li Long also put one on Li Juan's hand. Li Juan didn't refuse, but didn't speak either.

Although the ten-year-old girl had emotions, she was also at a curious age. Seeing the glutinous rice paper in her hand moving, she was also surprised, but she didn't ask.

"Uncle, why?" Li Qiang didn't care and asked Li Long directly, "Why does it move?"

"Because this thing is very sensitive to temperature, which means it's hot in the room, so it will shrink and melt. Just like plastic meeting fire." Li Long explained briefly, "This can also be eaten."

"Can be eaten?" Li Qiang's eyes lit up when he heard this, and then he lowered his head and licked it.

"Hmm, it melted. But it's not as delicious as meat." Li Qiang glanced at Li Long:

"Uncle, I want to eat meat."

(End of chapter)