Chapter 11: The Dinner Party (Part 2)

  The conversation at the dinner table shifted to Xiaodi Zeng Yuan, who was still young and five years younger than himself. However, he was absolutely a precocious object of the new generation. Although he was only around eleven years old, he was very clever. The family members on his mother's side were almost all centered around him, and he was naturally the darling of the whole family. Moreover, Zeng Yuan looked quite pretty when he was young, with curly hair and a pointed nose, just like a foreigner. So, whether it was in kindergarten or now in elementary school, he had a good relationship with girls, and his older sister Zeng Na also liked him very much.

  Under the pampering of a family, Zeng Yuan was initially indifferent to his brother and would often order him around, even spitting at him, which indirectly tortured his fragile nerves. Later, on an accidental occasion, Su Can took Zeng Yuan to a swimming pool, who knew that this kid, who usually looked so spirited, became a helpless lamb when he encountered water, clinging to him tightly after entering the water, with a pleading gaze that triggered Su Can's pent-up resentment over the years...

  Later, Zeng Yuan became more and more afraid of Su Can after drinking many cubic meters of swimming pool water, and willingly became his shadow.

  Zeng Yuan's current elementary school grades are similarly not much better than Su Can's overall ranking, and the frequency of parents' comparisons is trending towards surpassing Su Can in the future. Once the family opens up the topic on him, the words just can't be stopped again.

  Zeng Yuan stuck out her tongue at Su Can, while giving him a thumbs up, "Just now how you spoke to older sister, for the first time I felt your temperament is full!"

  Su Can was taken aback, as a child he had excellent grades and attended a key middle school. His older sister, who always wore a stern expression to scold people, left an impression on Su Can and Zeng Yuan's young minds as a dark-faced deity. Along with his eldest uncle, they complemented each other. Although he would occasionally have ideological clashes with her, every time he was at a disadvantage. Now, he had unexpectedly countered his sister's words without being servile or overbearing, which even surprised Zeng Yuan.

  Zeng Yuang had just learned the word "temperament" from school for the first time, so he dragged everything to be related to it. His younger brother was actually making Su Can a little cry and laugh at the same time.

  "Alright! I'll just leave it like this!"

  Big uncle Zeng Quanming and little uncle Zeng Zhao Ding surprisingly made a decision at the same time.

  "Zeng Yuan, if you get 99 points for me at the end of the semester, I'll buy that game console you like!" Zeng Zhaoding said with a smile.

  "Really!?" Zeng Yuan was already one step ahead in surprise, the first generation Gameboy was originally black and white, but being able to play games like Super Mario that could only be played on cartridge machines at the time was enough to amaze countless people. Having a game console that could be held in one's hand was an object of contempt for everyone back then. Zeng Yuan had been looked down upon by a peer whose family owned a Santana car, and now hearing that he too could have one, his excitement was self-evident.

  "So..." his uncle said, "Su Can, if you can successfully get into the third middle school today and perform exceptionally well, I'll reward you with a bicycle, a good one, you can choose it yourself!"

  At that time, a bicycle was around 300 yuan, but if the eldest uncle opened his mouth, it should be at least a racing bike price, probably between 600 and 700 yuan. At that time, most students rode bicycles to school, and there were not many cars picking up and dropping off in Xia Hai City. Besides, Xia Hai city was small, and it only took 30 minutes to walk from the city center to the third ring road. Students usually took buses or rode their own bikes, which was enough. Having a car pick you up was too showy, and no one was so bored that they would sleep in every day and have someone drive them around to show off on math test days.

  So generally speaking, most students ride bicycles to school. Every middle school has a magnificent bike yard. If someone rides a mountain bike to school, it's just as cool as driving a BMW or Audi to school in 2009.

  "That's good, just see if you can pass the exam! Don't let your dad waste money on a high price again!" Zeng Na gave Su Can a timely white eye. Although she had always wanted to have a mountain bike, there were two reasons why she didn't get one. Firstly, as a girl, riding a bike in the summer while wearing a skirt was quite inconvenient. Secondly, she was used to taking the bus to school and suddenly switching to riding a bike would be quite uncomfortable for her. So although she felt a bit resentful, if Su Can could pass the high school entrance exam smoothly, she wouldn't mind her father buying him a bike after all. After all, Zeng Na still knew what was important and what wasn't, even though she didn't like her brother very much, he was still her brother.

  In Su Can's memory, he knew that neither he nor his younger brother Zeng Yuan had ever received the bicycle promised by their uncle. Both of them were filled with endless longing and hope at this moment, but after the summer vacation, it all disappeared into thin air.

  "Ah, it's Director Zeng! I didn't know Director Zeng was also having dinner here!" a voice called out from the side.

  "Oh, Director Xiao, has your whole family come too?" Eldest Uncle Zeng Quanming suddenly smiled and appeared before them was the head of the Construction Bureau's Tendering Office, Xiao Fei. The two were infamous internal rivals, with their conflict originating from when Xia Hai's construction company had a relative relationship with Xiao Fei, and the company developed in Xia Hai City, managed by Xiao Fei who had direct benefits to gain. However, due to conflicting approval processes and planning procedures, Eldest Uncle Zeng Quanming was stubborn and didn't know how to compromise, plus he looked down on Xiao Fei's behavior in the bureau, so he strictly followed the regulations for land use approvals, eventually squeezing out Xiao Fei's relative's construction company from Xia Hai. The grudge between them had been formed since then.

  This struggle has been going on, and later, my elder brother-in-law used public funds for stock trading. The amount was not a lot, just a temporary shortage of funds that could be repaid within a few days. However, due to the lack of funds, there was a leak, which was caught by Xiao Fei and reported to the city authorities, causing a very bad influence. Although the investigation later found that the amount involved was not much, and it was only a minor disciplinary action, this incident also affected the upper leadership's view of my elder brother-in-law.

  Those two years, my uncle's mood and state were always in a slump. When they were together, it was rare for them not to lecture me and Zeng Yuan. During the days when the inspection team came to investigate, Auntie would often talk to my mother and tears would fall from her eyes. My uncle suddenly looked much older, and his cerebral hemorrhage condition probably worsened during that period. Later, he was naturally removed from his position and transferred to the Political Affairs Center.

  On the contrary, Xiao Fei became more and more powerful, later becoming the director of the Construction Bureau, and was later transferred to the provincial government. However, he fell from power due to a series of major events that occurred, otherwise, if he had been given time to recover, his brother-in-law's days would have become even more difficult.

  Now, watching the other party and his uncle being polite on the surface, with a demeanor of old colleagues and comrades, but in reality, secretly vigilant, Su Can's heart couldn't help but pay more attention. In fact, with his uncle's work ability, if there hadn't been an embezzlement incident, he would have had the ability to be promoted again. It wasn't until later that it was discovered that at that time, the government's standing committee had already discussed this topic, only to be exposed by Xiao Fei, and his uncle's situation suddenly became dire.

  Facing this kind-hearted uncle who had devoted himself to making them better than him, Su Can secretly made up his mind to change the misfortune that would befall them in the future.

  Xiao Fei's daughter Xiao Yunyun beside him, her charming eyes fell on Su Can at the first time.

  Seeing Xiao Yunyun in front of him, Su Can couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, remembering when he was young and played at his older sister's house. Because of his mischievous and lively personality, he led a group of kids from the Construction Bureau residential area to make trouble and have fun. At that time, there were many people in the crowd, including Xiao Yunyun. Su Can was naturally proud and had many young girls secretly in love with him, including Xiao Yunyun, who didn't hesitate to show her affection for Su Can in front of adults.

  At that time, it immediately caused a big stir in the construction bureau's courtyard, and everyone was inquiring about Su Can's origin. In the construction bureau's courtyard, children from all walks of life were mixed together, and who knows which one might be the child of some big shot. Later, it was discovered that he was Zeng Quanming's nephew, and this nephew's family were all local workers, with no connections to cling to.

  As a result, it can be imagined that even Xiao Yunyun was strictly forbidden by her parents from contacting Su Can again. Later, Xiao Yunyun attended the First Middle School, where there were many excellent people, and Xiao Yunyun was also a famous beauty in the school. She gradually forgot about the man who had left an impression on her during her childhood.

  It wasn't until now that Xiao Yunyun obviously stirred up memories of the past and began to scrutinize Su Can more carefully.

  "Zeng Na is getting better and better, I heard that Yunyun mentioned her senior's grades, which are top-notch in the whole school. How come it's already the third year of high school? Has Nana decided on a university or is she still planning to study medicine?" Xiao Fei asked with feigned closeness.

  Talking about his own daughter, the eldest uncle also had a few points of pride. "Yes, I told her to pay attention to the Third Military Medical University, or maybe West China Medical University would be fine too, but it still depends on herself after all. Now that she's in high school, studying is crucial and the environment at First High School isn't easy with so much competition! How was Yunyun's mock exam score? Is she going to attend First High School?"

  This mentality is a bit ridiculous, two people usually give each other small troubles in daily life, but neither can overpower the other. Even at a family gathering now, they still want to compare with each other, and for this kind of person, comparing other aspects is too narrow-minded, only the child who represents all their hopes for the second half of their lives becomes the tool for competing with each other.

  Obviously, it is impossible to predict future development naturally, but under the system of examination-oriented education, scores have become a representative of their comprehensive quality.

  When Zeng Quanming mentioned the Third Military Medical University and West China Medical University, those famous domestic medical schools, with such ease, Xiao Fei secretly gritted his teeth. He thought to himself: Are these schools your territory? You think you can just pay attention and get in? It's like you're letting your daughter choose freely. He couldn't help but feel inferior, "The mock exams at Yunyuns are not that great either, they're just the key classes that the whole school focuses on, top ten at most. Getting into the number one high school is no problem... Hmm, I'm also considering next semester whether to contact some universities in the UK or Australia about studying abroad for her. She's always wanted to go abroad and take a look around. By the time these young people come back from their experiences abroad, I'm afraid we'll all be old! Haha!"

  At the sight of Xiao Yunyun's astonishment, Su Can knew that this Xiao Fei was just a boastful person who couldn't bear to lose face. This time, he had even embarrassed his elder brother-in-law, saying that his own daughter, Zenna, had chosen a famous domestic university, while Xiao Fei's daughter hadn't even graduated from junior high school and was already looking at the world with wide eyes!

  Zeng Quanming wanted to say some radical words, but since the children were present, he naturally didn't dare to launch a verbal attack, so he could only take a sip of wine in frustration.

  Taking advantage of the victory, Xiao Fei's gaze finally fell on Su Can. Looking at his own daughter's charming eyes also lingering on him, his eyes couldn't help but flash with a hint of vigilance. "Oh, so this is Director Zeng's nephew, right? I've heard that your nephew's grades are quite good in class, and he's already very outstanding at such a young age! Hasn't he also received the title of 'Grade Learning Model'?"

  Grade learning model, this is just a title for excellent students that was used in the 1980s at No. 3 Middle School, and it had already fallen out of use at No. 1 Middle School at that time, so the term "grade model" has a strong suspicion of clearly distinguishing between first-rate high schools and third-rate high schools.

  The irony is even stronger.