TGDS Chapter 41.4

Good Dad System (Arc 4) Chapter 41.4: The Eccentric Dad In The Chronicles (24)

He hesitated and said, “But it’s not easy to stay in the county after graduating from junior high school. My teacher suggested that I go to a technical secondary school…” He carefully avoided the option of going home to farm, “But whether I graduate from junior high school or a technical secondary school, if I stay in the county, I may have to spend some money…”

 

Speaking of money, Li Xiuzhi immediately became sensitive: ” “How much?” She seemed a little nervous.

 

“Maybe at least two or three hundred.” Pei Jiancheng lowered his head. He secretly asked several classmates from the city.

 

“So much!” Li Xiuzhi’s face immediately turned ugly. The reserved expenses for two weddings and building a house would use up most of the family’s savings. But a housekeeper needs to have long-term planning. When the daughter-in-law gets married and has children, it will definitely cost money. The third son will get married in a few years, and money must also be saved… Money is needed everywhere, and she feels sad if she spends even a nickel!

 

“Does it have to be so much?” Li Xiuzhi asked hesitantly. She really couldn’t find any place to make money. The harvests in the past two years were okay, but even in a good year, their team’s work points were only worth 80 cents a piece.

 

Pei Jiancheng nodded and just looked at his shoes. The shoes on his feet were made by his mother. The soles were different from those handmade by ordinary villagers. They were plastic soles specially bought from the supply and marketing cooperative. They were comfortable and light, but they cost money.

 

“Jiancheng, can you get a job if you go to a normal school?” Pei Naochun suddenly spoke. After mastering the memories of his original body, he had a deeper understanding of this era. The reason why technical secondary schools have a higher status than normal schools is that in this era, workers’ wages are higher than teachers’, and there are many benefits in the factory, and even self-built houses, which the school can’t compare to.

 

Pei Jiancheng had never considered graduating from a normal school. He said honestly, “After graduating from a normal school, I may have to go to a village primary school. The environment of a village primary school is not very good, but you don’t need to use connections much. The salary is not high, maybe only a dozen yuan.”

 

“That’s quite high,” Li Xiuzhi said immediately, “but it’s a little lower than what the workers make.” She knew several workers in the county who worked in a garment factory. They could take some cloth home from time to time. It was said that they could even buy the factory’s goods at a discount at the end of the year. They, as outsiders, couldn’t get any even with their cloth coupons.

 

“Let me think about it.” Pei Naochun was struggling with the development of the future and the memories of his original body. Factory workers, for many years, had stable jobs and good pay, but they worked hard. When they reached middle age, they would encounter changes in national policies and be forced to resign. Being a teacher was a long-term job, but the pay was far worse than that of a worker. If they went to a remote place, the conditions would be even more difficult. “What about you?”

 

“I want to make more money.” Pei Jiancheng’s idea was simple, “I also want to stay in the county.” But who wouldn’t want that when they were not used to suffering these days?

 

Li Xiuzhi whispered: “Husband, how about this house be built later…”

 

“What do you mean later?” Pei Naochun replied angrily, “Where will the new bride live after she gets married? Will she sleep in the warehouse?”

 

“Just bear with it for two years!” Li Xiuzhi also insisted. Everyone’s living conditions were similar, so what was wrong with living in a warehouse? But thinking of her second son’s silly smile today, she hesitated a little, “How about…” When she found herself looking at her third son, she was shocked. She had never considered moving her third son’s house.

 

“Or I should stop studying.” Pei Jiancheng was embarrassed “I’ll look around in the city, maybe I can find a job.” In order to build a house, his parents lived frugally and tightened their belts every day. But for his idea, they actually gave up the thought of building a house.

 

“No!” Pei Naochun and Li Xiuzhi said in unison.

 

“We must build a house.” Pei Naochun said firmly, “You have to study. Regardless of other things, Dad can afford to support your studies. Let’s go to technical secondary school.” The family will have more expenses later, but there will be more labor force, so it is okay to let the third son go to school.

 

“It’s just…” Pei Naochun pondered, “Jiancheng, it will take many years to find a job. Now none of us can guarantee that you won’t be assigned a job by then, right?”

 

“Yeah.” Pei Jiancheng nodded, but he still felt uneasy because he trusted his teacher very much.

 

“Dad means that in recent years, your sisters-in-law have come into the family and there are more people in the family. I will talk to your two brothers. Everyone has been wronged for you, suffered for a while, and saved some money. But I have to tell you honestly that the money is not much.” Pei Naochun said forcefully, “If you want to blame someone, you can only blame Dad for not being capable.”

 

Pei Naochun held his son’s hand, the two of them were rarely close: “Your brothers have been working at home since they stopped going to school. When you were not around, they helped with all the household chores. I am useless as a father, but at least I have to let them get married and live in a new house. They are still squeezed into one room. They can’t sleep together when they get married, right?”

 

Pei Jiancheng looked at his father in a daze. He shook his head: “Dad, it’s not that you are useless, it’s that I am too much of a burden to the family.” He looked down at his clasped hands and said, “I seldom go home, so let my brother live in my room.” Obviously, a similar topic was mentioned during the meal, but he seemed to have ignored it out of habit. Yes, he had always occupied a room alone, while his two brothers were squeezed together.

 

“It’s okay.” Pei Naochun knew that the two brothers were very happy to live together and chat, otherwise he would have intervened long ago, “It’s just that there is not enough room at home. You live well, and when the new house is built, everyone will have their own room!”