The three uncles of the Xie family were quite different.
Eldest Uncle Xie Jingyu was smart, mostly because his environment forced him to be. He was good at finding opportunities everywhere. For example, his current job was guarding the town cinema. In later times, this would just be a security guard, but here, it was a real job with official status. It was said he found it himself, but it was actually a coincidence. When Eldest Uncle was young, he got sick. A doctor prescribed medicine, but their family was too poor to buy it. So, he had to gather herbs himself. He learned to recognize several herbs from the doctor.
By chance, an old cadre in town got the same illness. Eldest Uncle heard about it, gathered the herbs, boiled them, and delivered them. The medicine cured the old cadre. Grateful, the cadre recommended Eldest Uncle for the cinema guard position. Now, his regular salary was twenty-eight yuan a month.
Eldest Uncle also picked up cigarette butts thrown away by others. Cigarettes back then didn’t have sponge filters; they were just pure tobacco. The butts still had plenty of tobacco left. Eldest Uncle would collect these, buy paper, and roll them into new cigarettes. During movie screenings, he would let Eldest Aunt (Ama, a dialect term for aunt) sell them at the entrance.
They cost two cents each, or three for five cents. Since a pack of Da Qianmen cigarettes cost five yuan, Eldest Uncle’s loose cigarettes were very popular. Counting it all up, his total monthly income was around forty or fifty yuan. Among the five siblings, he earned the most.
Second Uncle Xie Shengyu had been doing temporary work since finishing junior high. Most of it was paid daily. Second Uncle was diligent. Although temporary work was hard, he earned a decent amount, at least fifteen or sixteen yuan a month. Second Uncle was honest and thick-set. Many people liked hiring him because they didn’t have to worry about him being slippery or lazy.
Actually, among the three brothers, Youngest Uncle Xie Chengyu was the smartest. But Youngest Uncle often didn’t use his smarts for good. In the previous life, because Grandpa passed away and no one watched him, Youngest Uncle made friends with bad crowds. In the end, for the sake of loyalty, he spent sixteen years in prison. Neighbors knew he was innocent, but Youngest Uncle’s loyalty was too strong. Even if they wanted to help, they couldn’t.
Sixteen years later, he was completely out of touch with the times. No matter how smart he was, it didn’t matter. It was like being trapped in a cage. Sixteen years of prison life made him forget how to interact with people outside. Finally, the government arranged for him to work as a security guard in a supermarket, and he lived a plain life until the end.
"Little Uncle, if you don’t study well, you’ll have no future," Zhu Yanyi said, pretending to look old and serious. Her eyes showed a deep concern, as if saying, You are not a good child. This made Xie Chengyu look a bit embarrassed.
"What do you know about good or bad, little girl? You look so old. Don’t learn from your Grandpa," Youngest Uncle argued. He never lost a verbal fight, even in front of his two nieces. Probably because he was the youngest of the five Xie siblings, he still had a bit of spoiled attitude, even though Grandpa was very strict.
"I’ll tell Grandpa you dislike her," Zhu Yanyi giggled.
"You’re still sick, yet you’re jumping around like this. I think you’re already better," Youngest Uncle made a funny face.
"Cheng, come out." A stern voice rang out. No need to guess; it was Grandpa.