His younger brother lived by borrowing money, yet he never thought of finding his own brother a job, nor did he lend him a single cent.
Most importantly, he wasn't short of money; on the contrary, he was quite wealthy, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to build a three-story house.
Therefore, it wasn't instability or lack of money, but rather that he had no regard for these relatives.
If he had no regard for his relatives, he certainly had no regard for the villagers.
Those who had held Zhang Liuxing in admiration suddenly realized they might have been mistaken. Zhang Liuxing was not as good as they had thought.
"That was built with money borrowed from his father-in-law's family; the second son truly has no money," Yu Xiaohua panicked. She saw the villagers, who used to look at her with envy whenever she mentioned her second son, now looking at him with disdain.
How could this be? Why was this happening?
Her second son was the pride of the entire village, someone they could only look up to.
In the span of just a few words, their perception of her second son had changed.
"You all keep saying Liuxing is the hope of our village, but he has never brought us any hope.
Instead, it's Liunian, whom you look down upon, who thought of helping the villagers as soon as he earned money.
So, why should you prevent Liunian from being a self-employed businessman just because of Liuxing?
Do you know how hard Liunian worked? In the beginning, he was a self-employed businessman relying only on his legs, carrying a hundred to a hundred and fifty pounds of goods, running to the county town and back twice a day.
As soon as he earned some money, he immediately sought help from the villagers, offering high wages and even planning to build a factory in the village to lead everyone to a better life.
Such a person is the hope of our entire village. If you prevent Liunian from continuing because of Liuxing's reputation, I will be the first to object."
Zhang Hao's heartfelt words instantly shocked the entire audience.
Zhang Liunian planned to establish a factory in the village and lead the entire village to a moderately prosperous life?
Did Zhang Liunian actually have this plan? How come they didn't know?
This made many people feel deeply ashamed, as they had secretly gone to sell crayfish as soon as they heard that crayfish could be eaten.
However, most people were not very successful.
The main reason was that many people believed crayfish could not be eaten, and some even thought crayfish were disgusting. In any case, due to various reasons, their business was not as good as they had expected.
Fortunately, these crayfish were free, and they could earn some money, which led them to not give up.
"I also disagree. Liunian has come this far step by step, and I cannot let you ruin him like this," Zhang Laoshi also declared his support for Zhang Liunian and his plan to run a factory.
"We also support Liunian."
"I want to see Brother Liunian start a factory and lead our entire village to a better life."
"I also want to see that day. I want to be a worker too."
"I want to be a worker too, earning money without leaving home."
"I want to eat meat every meal and wear new clothes."
"..."
More and more people expressed their support for Zhang Liunian, which shocked Zhang Wenxue and his wife.
They were not aware of what their younger son had been up to recently. Now, seeing everyone siding with their younger son, they realized that their younger son had won over most people in the past month.
"What should we do?" Yu Xiaohua knew the tide had turned. At least for now, they couldn't force their younger son to obey them in front of everyone.
Zhang Wenxue shook his head, signaling her not to speak further.
At this point, everyone had become Zhang Liunian's supporters. Anything they said would be futile.
If they continued to pursue this matter, they might be scolded by the villagers even before their younger son made a move.
Now, they were no longer the parents of the golden phoenix but bad people preventing the entire village from having a better life.
Even though they didn't want to accept it, this was the reality.
Yu Xiaohua understood her husband's thoughts, but she was unwilling to give up like this. Moreover, the entire village was ignoring her beloved second son, which was unacceptable.
Just as Yu Xiaohua was at a loss, Zhang Wenjun cursed them internally for being useless, unable to even control his own son.
It seemed he needed to add fuel to the fire. With this thought, Zhang Wenjun suddenly came to Yu Xiaohua's side and said, "Sister-in-law, Liunian has gone too far. Liuxing is his own brother, how can he let everyone misunderstand him like this?
Although Liuxing didn't help Liunian, he helped my son Liuhuo and let him help with work, giving him a job. That's helping a brother."
Yu Xiaohua was looking for a way to help her second son clear his name, and Zhang Wenjun's words had indeed reminded her.
Yes, although the second son didn't help his immediate brother, helping a cousin was also helping the family. How could they say he wasn't the hope of the entire village?
Seeing that his sister-in-law had taken his words to heart, Zhang Wenjun pressed on, "Furthermore, if Liuxing hadn't neglected him, Liunian wouldn't be where he is today. His current success is all due to the good fortune brought by Liuxing.
He should be grateful for Liuxing's kindness, so how can he allow everyone to misunderstand Liuxing?
They are born of the same mother; they prosper together and fall together. He must consider Liuxing, after all, he is the only university student in the surrounding villages and a cadre with a stable job.
If he becomes successful in the future, will he lack food and drink for his brother?"
Yu Xiaohua deeply agreed. Indeed, as long as the second son succeeded, he would definitely lead everyone to a better life.
She even more greedily thought that if the second son reached a high position, the entire village would benefit, wouldn't it?
They, the short-sighted ones, didn't know how to give her second son some time.
Yu Xiaohua felt more and more that the village was too impatient. If they just waited another thirty to fifty years, they would surely lead the entire village to a good life.
She was unaware of how unacceptable her thoughts were. If a good life required thirty to fifty years, who could guarantee they would still be alive at that time?
Compared to decades later, they naturally preferred immediate benefits.
And Zhang Liunian was the one who could quickly lead everyone to a better life. Therefore, even if they knew Zhang Liuxing would reach a high position in the future, they didn't want to wait.
That was just a reflection in the water or a flower in the mirror; no one could grasp it.
Moreover, Zhang Liuxing had indeed subtly shown a look of disdain for the villagers over the years, although it was not obvious, some people had sensed it.
"Sister-in-law, he is your son. You can decide his life, but don't let him stubbornly pursue a university education like before. He's really not cut out for it," Zhang Wenjun wanted to see the eldest brother's family in chaos.
However, Zhang Wenxue saw through his intentions clearly. With a dark expression, he pushed Zhang Wenjun aside and gave him a warning glance.
Zhang Wenjun, seeing that it was enough, smiled and withdrew.
As soon as he left, Wu Gudi jumped out again. She pointed at Zhang Liunian's nose and scolded, "Liunian, Mom and Dad are the ones who gave birth to you and raised you. How can you unite the entire village against them and embarrass them?"
Zhang Liunian was just thinking about going to settle scores with Wu Gudi later, but unexpectedly, she came to his doorstep herself.