Chapter 258: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 258: Three Brothers Reunite Again

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Wang Dashan and Wang Erhai were talking with their father Wang Zhanggen when Wang Xiaohua came out from the house.

"Big Brother, Second Brother, you're back!"

A long-lost smile appeared on Wang Xiaohua's face.

"Little Brother, we're back!"

Wang Dashan hurried over.

He patted Wang Xiaohua on the shoulder.

Glancing him over, he found Wang Xiaohua's build and looks basically hadn't changed at all.

Still just a little small one.

Only his face had some faint acne, and some barely visible stubble.

"Little Brother, this is a red envelope from me!"

Wang Dashan hurriedly fished out a red envelope and handed it to Wang Xiaohua.

"What are you giving me this for?"

Wang Xiaohua hurriedly refused.

But Wang Dashan said:

"Last time you placed first in the whole county, I didn't come back to celebrate. This red envelope makes up for it now — just take it. You can use the money to buy school supplies! Hope you get a good score on the college entrance exam next year!"

Wang Xiaohua was moved:

"Okay, Big Brother, I'll definitely study hard!"

"Little Brother, I'm giving you a red envelope too!" Wang Erhai also hurriedly fished one out, laughing as he said:

"Whether our family produces a university student all depends on you. Your big brother and me, your second brother, we've already lost our chance!"

Wang Xiaohua accepted Wang Erhai's red envelope too, and the three brothers were all overjoyed.

Wang Xiaohua then asked:

"Right, Big Brother, didn't you say you'd bring Eldest Sister-in-law back for Spring Festival? How come she's not here?"

Wang Dashan explained with a smile:

"She's busy with work, she'll be back later. She's on the road now, might not arrive until evening."

Wang Xiaohua said:

"We only have three rooms. We have to free up one room for you and Eldest Sister-in-law to sleep in!"

The Wang family's single-story ghost building had three bedrooms and a living room total. One bedroom was occupied by Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan. Of the remaining two, one was currently occupied by Wang Xiaohua alone, the other by Wang Dashan and Wang Erhai — since they rarely came back, it had practically turned into a storage room.

Hearing this, Wang Dashan also thought it made sense.

Tonight's sleeping arrangements were a big issue and had to be resolved.

So he said:

"Then I'll go tidy up right now!"

Then he also said to Wang Erhai and Wang Xiaohua:

"Second Brother, Third Brother, how about you two share a room tonight?"

Wang Erhai replied with a smile:

"Absolutely no problem!"

Wang Xiaohua also said no problem, and said he'd go help tidy up too.

Once tidying was done, if there was still time, they'd go play basketball at Shanggou Village Primary School together.

So the three of them tidied the room together.

In under half an hour, the room was cleaned up.

At this point Wang Zhanggen came over and said:

"Tonight you three brothers sleep in one room. Let Xiao Juan have this room to herself."

"Ah? Why like that..." Wang Xiaohua was surprised. "Shouldn't Big Brother and Eldest Sister-in-law share a room?"

But Wang Zhanggen put on a stern face and said:

"You don't know shit. This is funeral custom! Before marriage, they can't sleep together. Outside I don't care what you do, but back in this family, you follow the customs here, follow the rules here!"

Wang Dashan gave a wry smile:

"Fine, fine. Then Xiao Juan sleeps in this room alone, I'll go squeeze in with Second Brother and Third Brother."

He didn't want to argue so much with Wang Zhanggen, this old man.

Anyway it was just a few days back for Spring Festival; after the festival they'd return to the city. Totally not worth fighting over such a small thing.

After the room was tidied, they discovered Li Xiulan was still in the courtyard killing chickens.

The three Wang brothers went to help, finished killing the chickens, and only then went to play basketball at Shanggou Village Primary School.

As for Wang Zhanggen, this head of household, he never did housework.

Didn't sweep, didn't wash dishes, didn't cook, didn't feed livestock.

All these things were done by Li Xiulan alone.

Wang Zhanggen felt housework should be done by women.

And Li Xiulan had long since grown used to it, and had no complaints about it.

For her three sons coming over to help on their own initiative, she was overjoyed; if not for her three sons helping, she might still be busy until dark without finishing.

However, she did not complain about Wang Zhanggen either; or rather, she had long grown numb toward Wang Zhanggen.

It was nearly six in the afternoon, and the sun was about to set behind the mountain.

Only then did the three brothers bring a basketball to Shanggou Village Primary School.

At this time, Shanggou Village Primary School had already fallen completely into disuse.

The Village Committee Secretary had said before that it would be renovated, but construction had still not begun.

Furthermore, it had previously been stolen from by two young people, everything valuable inside had been moved away, even the doors and windows had been taken, making it look even more dilapidated.

Fortunately, that basketball court, though overgrown with some weeds, could still barely be played on.

The three brothers just made do playing for a while.

When it got dark and they could no longer see, they finally went home.

"Once I have money, I must build a basketball court in the Village; so that when I come back for the Spring Festival and holidays, I'll at least have a place to play ball!"

The three brothers sat under the basketball hoop, and Wang Dashan said this with a laugh.

He was very optimistic about the future.

He felt that as long as he waited until after the New Year, returned to Guangzhou, and started a company according to plan, he would be able to earn a great deal of money.

He had never even considered what would happen if his business failed.

Because he felt it was simply impossible for him to fail.

Doing business was far too easy for him.

Since he was demobilized from the Army, whether in his career or in his love life, he had never experienced a true failure; one could say he had enjoyed smooth sailing all the way.

"Big Brother, if you have money, you should still hurry up and buy a house; things like a basketball court are secondary."

Wang Xiaohua said this at that moment.

Wang Dashan, however, said:

"I also want to have a house, but house prices are very high now; I have worked as a real estate intermediary, so I know what level house prices are at now. To be honest, spending so much money on a cement and steel box—I sincerely feel it's not worth it. It would be better to build a new house in my Hometown."

Wang Xiaohua could only give a dry laugh at this, and said:

"Your idea coincides with Mom and Dad's; they also feel that building a new house at Home is better than buying a house in the County Town, but..."

Wang Xiaohua changed his tone at this moment: "Based on the information I've obtained, I estimate that house prices will continue to rise over the next ten-plus years. If you have money, hurry up and buy a house; otherwise, you'll regret it too late."

Wang Erhai was very curious:

"Little Brother, you spend all day reading books; where did you get this information?"

Wang Xiaohua truthfully said: "Newspapers. Our Class subscribed to several copies with class funds: Southern Daily, Guangming Daily, People's Daily, Reference News, and so on. I read every single issue without missing one."

Wang Dashan looked full of suspicion at this:

"The articles published in those things are long and stinky, and they beat around the bush without speaking plainly. Can one really infer future trends from them?"

It was very clear that Wang Dashan did not disbelieve Wang Xiaohua; rather, he disbelieved the information given by those news reports.

He still felt in his heart that once he had money, he would first build a new house in his Hometown.

As for buying a house in the City, that was not urgent; he would wait until he had enough spare money to talk about it.