Chapter 3: Financial Struggles at Home

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Now, after leaving the military, the prospects are far less promising than before. If one cannot be promoted to a rank above regiment level while serving, then after transfer, the best one can do is drive for some organization or become a criminal investigator, with little future ahead.

Back then, the reason Father was assigned to the Red Flag Factory and became a section chief in logistics was mainly because he was a war hero and a disabled veteran, receiving special consideration.

Shao’an Liang exchanged a few words with the family and then spoke a bit more with Shaoping Liang before hanging up.

Mother, Cuiying Wang, had prepared the meal, and though Jiyong Liang was not going to enlist, she was still very happy. Deep down, she did not want her son to join the army. Although there was no war now, military life was hard and exhausting, and she feared she wouldn’t be able to sleep if any military conflict broke out again.

Mother was eight years younger than Father, just turning fifty this year. Her kind and dignified face had started to show wrinkles, perhaps because she was an elementary school teacher, her voice at home always gentle and soft.

Since it was the weekend, no one had to work. The meal consisted of four vegetable dishes and one soup. Apart from a sweet and sour sparerib dish, everything else was vegetarian, yet the flavor was something Jiyong Liang would never forget.

After tasting a piece of sweet and sour sparerib, familiar flavors revived his taste buds, and tears nearly welled up in his eyes. It had been so many years since he last had a meal cooked by his mother.

Lowering his head, Jiyong coughed lightly to hide his tears.

“Eat slowly, no one’s going to snatch your food!” Cuiying Wang smiled and placed another sparerib on his plate.

Shaoping Liang saw this and passed her bowl forward, eyes pleading toward their mother.

Cuiying smiled and gave her a piece of sparerib, “You’re grown up, stop fighting with your brother!”

“Mom, you’re biased, favoring boys over girls. Just wait until I have a daughter-in-law—you’ll see it’s better to have daughters!”

Perhaps the mention of “daughter-in-law” irked Mother. She put down her bowl and sighed, “Ah, your eldest brother still hasn’t found a girlfriend. After the New Year, he’ll be thirty...”

Being thirty without a girlfriend was indeed worrying.

“The eldest is still studying. Boys mature later. Younger sister, a few days ago, Uncle Wen said Zhaohui is back...” Father also put down his bowl and looked at the second sister.

At once, the second sister lost her appetite, wishing she could turn and run away.

Jiyong lowered his head and said nothing, because in reality, the second sister had always been single. He himself didn’t know why she hadn’t married or even had a rumored boyfriend. At least, he was unaware.

He only vaguely knew that during university, she might have had a classmate she liked, but it never worked out. Could that be why she remained unmarried for life?

“Dad, Mom, I’m not planning on dating right now!” Shaoping Liang said earnestly.

“You’re already twenty-five. If you keep delaying, you’ll become an old maid!” Mother was more persistent about this than Father.

Second sister was a capable and free-spirited woman. At first glance, she wasn’t a beauty, but her poised and vigorous aura was like that of Hua Mulan. There were definitely many suitors.

“I’m not interested in Wen Zhaohui at all!” she firmly rejected the match her parents wanted to arrange.

“Zhaohui grew up with us, was your classmate, excelled in both conduct and academics, and graduated from a prestigious foreign university...” Father seemed quite satisfied with Wen Zhaohui.

“Dad, since Wen Zhaohui and I are classmates, we’re familiar, but we’re not suitable. You don’t need to worry about this. Eldest brother just said he plans to study abroad for two more years and wanted to hear your opinion!” Second sister changed the subject, immediately diverting their attention. Jiyong was surprised; in his memory, he had no idea about this plan, and the eldest brother had never really gone abroad for further study.

He already had a doctorate in mechanics. Studying abroad or exchanging studies would be at the postdoctoral level.

In his previous life, the eldest brother’s path seemed steady.

After earning his PhD, he joined a large military-industrial group as a weapons machinery expert until retirement.

In that life, Jiyong rarely communicated with his eldest brother, meeting once or twice a year, sometimes not at all.

The eldest wanted to study abroad but never went.

Eldest brother Shao’an Liang now should be a rising star in the domestic mechanical industry. Yet, it must be admitted, China’s cutting-edge mechanical technology lagged behind abroad by at least twenty years.

Thus, this overseas exchange was certainly very important for him.

“Isn’t the eldest brother already done with his doctorate? Why study more?”

Cuiying Wang worried, partly because abroad was so far, and also because Shao’an was almost thirty. Studying two more years would make him thirty-two or thirty-three. When would they get a grandchild?

“Long hair, short knowledge—that means learning never ends. Those foreign devils’ technology is truly more advanced. We must learn their skills to defeat them!”

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Though Father never had much formal education as a child, after joining the army and working, he never stopped learning in his spare time. This thirst for knowledge set an example for the Liang siblings.

“How much will it cost for eldest brother to study abroad?” Father knew the eldest’s hesitation was surely due to the expense.

“Eldest brother is going on a government scholarship. His round-trip airfare and tuition are free, but his stipend won’t cover living expenses, which are very high overseas.

He plans to go to MIT. I have a classmate studying there — the yearly living cost is about ten thousand US dollars, roughly fifty to sixty thousand yuan. For two years, even saving, it will be around one hundred thousand yuan!”

One hundred thousand yuan!

Father was momentarily speechless.

He had worked for thirty years, but for the first twenty, wages were low, and with elders to care for and relatives back home to support, saving was impossible. Back then, just having enough to eat was fortunate.

In the last ten years, the three siblings went to school; though eldest and second sister went to university without asking for money, parents still gave some support to ease their hardship.

Now, the parents’ combined annual salary was about five thousand yuan. Eldest brother’s yearly stipend was around three thousand, and second sister earned about three thousand a year.

That meant their whole family’s income was just over ten thousand yuan annually.

Tightening their belts could at most support the eldest brother with twenty thousand yuan.

There remained a gap of over thirty thousand yuan that the eldest had to cover himself.

Given his character, he would never accept help from outsiders and hadn’t directly told the parents about the money issue.

“How much money do we have at home?” Dahong Liang asked his wife.

Though reluctant to see her son go so far, Cuiying Wang went into the bedroom and brought out a vanity box about half a foot in size, unlocking it.

Inside were two bankbooks.

These were the parents’ respective wages; the family had no other income, so this was all their savings.

One book contained ten thousand yuan, the other seven thousand, totaling seventeen thousand yuan.

Seventeen thousand was indeed a substantial sum.

The average wage now was just over one hundred yuan. Father’s salary at the factory was slightly higher than government officials’, but he had no illicit income.

“I have ten thousand yuan!” Shaoping Liang said.

Jiyong was stunned. Where did second sister get so much money?

Her monthly salary was three hundred yuan, which was already quite high. Even if she saved every penny after a year of work, it would only be slightly over three thousand.

Jiyong knew she had no savings when returning to Yunzhou; her part-time earnings at university only covered her own expenses.

“Did you take money from students’ parents?” Dahong’s face darkened instantly.

“No, the extra tutoring money I earned is through private lessons. Now, teachers are allowed to tutor!” Second sister shook her head. There were no longer regulations forbidding teachers from tutoring.

“Someone asked you to tutor Chinese?” Jiyong was surprised; he rarely heard of Chinese tutoring.

Shaoping looked disdainfully at her foolish brother.

“Your big sister has an English Level 8 certificate and perfect math scores on the college entrance exam!”

Jiyong was dumbfounded. Indeed, his elder sister was quite remarkable.

Though she initially favored science and engineering, Father insisted girls study liberal arts, so she reluctantly majored in Chinese.

But that wasn’t her passion; in graduate school, she switched to economics and management.

Father reached for a cigarette but found his pockets empty. He glanced at Jiyong but received no offer of one, so he refrained.

“Twenty-seven thousand, eldest brother probably has some savings too. Maybe they can gather thirty thousand yuan. Our family income over two years is around twenty thousand, so still short by about fifty thousand!”

Second sister calculated. This assumed no spending at all for two years.

Jiyong had to repeat a year, another significant expense.

Adding others’ living expenses would add at least ten thousand yuan more.

So, with their future two-year income, they were still short by sixty thousand yuan.

And that was the minimum estimate.

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To allow Shao’an Liang to study abroad without worry, they needed an additional sixty thousand yuan.

Sixty thousand yuan—in this era, in Yunzhou, a second-tier city, a house cost only twenty to thirty thousand yuan.

“Dad, a company in Lingnan wants me to work there, at least fifteen hundred yuan a month!” Shaoping Liang opportunely mentioned.

“No discussion. If you quit, I can’t stop you, but once you quit, don’t ever come back to this house!” Father’s tone was resolute.

Second sister’s face turned grim.

Jiyong knew he was powerless at this moment. Though he could argue many reasons, it was incomprehensible when he spoke. Moreover, changing Father’s mindset wasn’t something done with a few words.

Breaking the iron rice bowl was unthinkable and even rebellious in this era.

Sixty thousand yuan was a weight their family could not bear.

Given Father’s character, borrowing ten or twenty thousand might be possible, but sixty thousand? Forget who could lend it, Father would never want to lose face.

Though life had always been hard, Dahong Liang never felt the importance of money as keenly as he did now.

He deeply valued knowledge and supported his son’s pursuit of advanced studies abroad to build the nation.

Shao’an Liang wasn’t just the Liang family’s pillar but a talent for the country.

Yet this sixty thousand yuan became an insurmountable barrier to his education.

In silence, the family ended their lunch.

In the afternoon, Father went to the factory. Though it was Sunday, he couldn’t rest without a visit. Too many with ill intentions lurked; if he didn’t keep watch, the country’s property could be lost.

Mother was not overly distressed. Though an elementary school teacher, her vision and insight lagged behind Father’s. Moreover, the foreign land was too far; she couldn’t bear to see her son leave home and country.

Shaoping helped mother clean up the dishes and endured another round of lectures that she found tedious.

She could argue with Father but couldn’t bear to quarrel with Mother, who always spoke softly, making confrontation unbearable.

Yet, in her heart, Shaoping was more determined than ever to quit teaching and go to Lingnan.

This year of teaching, though full of gains and experiences, had made her clearer that this was not the life she wanted.

“Little Third, I’m back in Yunzhou!” Shaoping Liang said.

The Red Flag Factory’s residential area lay on the outskirts of Yunzhou. It was nearly self-contained, isolated from the outside world except for essential supplies.

The factory had its own living quarters, shops, dance halls, swimming pools, stadiums, even schools.

Jiyong Liang studied at the factory’s children’s school until junior high.

He only went to Yunzhou No. 1 High School for senior high.

The factory’s children’s school was average in quality but sent dozens of students each year to Yunzhou’s best high school.

This was because the factory sponsored Yunzhou No. 1 High School with education funds annually. Otherwise, with Jiyong’s grades, he would not have been admitted.

Jiyong knew that during the summer break, second sister had been busy organizing a tutoring class with some teachers. In two months, she would earn two or three thousand yuan, more profitable than teaching at school.

“Wait for me, second sister! I’m going to Yunzhou too!” Jiyong shouted, putting on a polyester short-sleeve shirt and stepping out.

“Why go to Yunzhou? If you want to repeat a year, just study hard at home!” Shaoping was displeased with Jiyong’s contradictory behavior.

“I have something important to discuss!” Jiyong replied, greeting their mother in the kitchen before following second sister out.

They lived in the factory’s No. 3 residential area, where the housing was spacious. Their home was a large three-bedroom, 140 square meters; otherwise, with five family members, it would be cramped.

Because Father was a disabled veteran, they lived on the ground floor, with a small garden in the back. Mother planted vegetables: three rows of eggplants, several rows of cucumbers and tomatoes, just enough for a month or two in summer.

“Is it money problems again? Listen, this year, if you want to go to university, you have to work hard. Don’t hang out with those bad friends, no dancing in the halls, no roller skating, no—”

“Uh, second sister, you’re almost like Mom now. I know what I’m doing. I’m asking you something serious—is it true you really plan to quit your job?”

Shaoping was slightly startled that this kid had seen through her.