I felt a twinge of discomfort and mixed feelings. A few years ago, my brother-in-law was a shopkeeper with a booming business, but now his wife has ruined his business and his son has forced him to go bankrupt.
1
When I was young, my grandfather's family was very poor, and all six brothers had to get married and build a house. When it was the youngest brother-in-law's turn to get married, the family was already heavily in debt.
Seeing that all the people in the village who have some doorways have gone out to work, when they earn money, they turn the earthen house into a two-story building. My brother-in-law's short and shabby earthen house is gradually covered by the small building that has sprung up. My brother-in-law can't sit still, but he can't find any other doorways to get money except farming.
People say that in but not as those know it who have been poor together, after giving birth to three daughters in succession, my aunt finally gave birth to a son, but the child was in poor health and often fell ill. My aunt named him Jianjian after passing a fake monk. Perhaps the fake monk didn't go deep enough, and changing his name still didn't change the essence of the child's infirmity. Therefore, the brother-in-law and his wife are particularly partial to this son.
The child's illness costs a lot of money, which makes the poor family even worse. Because of the money problem, my aunt often finds fault with her brother-in-law, and the couple quarrels and fights and smash the only furniture in the house.
At that time, divorce was not as popular as it is now, and the days after the fight had to go on. My brother-in-law watched his son grow up day by day and needed more money. My brother-in-law discussed with my father and decided to go to Nanjing to take refuge in a distant relative.
I still remember that on the day my brother-in-law left on the 1th day of Lunar New Year's Eve, he couldn't even afford the travel expenses. He borrowed half of the village, but he didn't borrow it. At that time, everyone was not rich, and our family had just built a new house, so there was no extra money. Later, my parents gave the lucky money of our three brothers and sisters together with the rest of the family to my brother-in-law, and my brother-in-law went out of town.
it turns out that brother-in-law made the right decision.
A distant relative rented a facade to someone else to cook braised pork. At first, my brother-in-law served as an apprentice in a braised pork shop. Because the business of braised pork shop is very depressed, the owner has no intention to renew the lease after the house expires.
After hearing this news, my quick-witted brother-in-law immediately went to his relatives and said, Let me rent the shop, and I will take as much as others take. Hearing this, the relatives took a lot of money anyway, so who should they rent it to? But on second thought, old businessmen can't manage well. Can this rural boy do it? In case my brother-in-law is not well managed and can't be too torn up because of his feelings, relatives still feel risky.
Brother-in-law saw through distant relatives' thoughts, and immediately paid off all the money earned from working as rent. Only then did relatives promise to sign a contract for half a year.
Brother-in-law has put all his fortune in the shop, and there is no way out after he has burned his bridges. Every time I go to stock, my brother-in-law is the first to go and buy the freshest meat with the best quality. Brother-in-law's shop is also the latest to close.
during his two years as an apprentice, my brother-in-law learned all the skills of making braised pork in a down-to-earth manner. The store just started business, and he didn't have the money to hire an apprentice. He just finished all the procedures by himself, from four o'clock in the morning, then went to the store to cook the meat in different categories, then sold it himself, and even cleaned the store after closing at ten o'clock in the evening.
Because my brother-in-law is honest, he buys the freshest meat, and the braised pork tastes good, and because he is never short of weight, the number of customers in the store is gradually increasing.
Later, my brother-in-law introduced a kind of braised pork from our hometown, and the cooked braised pork was very popular, so my brother-in-law's business was firmly established.
in two years, my brother-in-law not only paid off the debts he owed when he got married, but also turned the adobe house into the most magnificent two-story building in our village.
In those years, my brother-in-law only came back to reunite with his family on holidays and brought us children some rare sweets and delicious snacks that could not be named. I also bought an expensive sweater for my grandmother. It is said that this sweater was equivalent to my father's salary at that time.
2
My aunt stayed at home to look after the children. After the children went to middle school, she moved to her parents' home in the town and started to do some small business. My aunt was too smart and bitter, which made people in the neighborhood complain about her, and her business was naturally not good. My aunt simply went to play mahjong after sending her children to school every day.
Brother-in-law's store business is getting more and more prosperous. Brother-in-law can't make it alone, so he recruited a male waiter to buy goods. Brother-in-law is responsible for marinating, cooking and selling. Not long after, because there are too many people waiting in line to buy braised pork every day, the demand for braised pork is in short supply. Brother-in-law has hired a waitress to sell at the counter, while brother-in-law is just busy in the kitchen. Even so, brother-in-law is busy late every day, watching the business getting better and better, and he feels energetic no matter how tired he is.
Everything was going on in an orderly way. But my aunt didn't know where she heard the rumor, and she decided that her brother-in-law was having an affair with the new waitress. The day when she was killed in the store was a surprise attack, and her brother-in-law didn't know it beforehand.
My aunt rushed to the door of the store like a shrew, shouting "You are shameless, seduce my man", and at the same time grabbed the waitress without hesitation, which was a slap in the face. The waitress who didn't know the situation didn't show weakness. The two women scuffled, and the pot-stewed smell on the shelf fell all over the floor, and the customers in the queue became spectators ... but none of them came forward to fight.
Brother-in-law had to close the shop quickly, and dragged her back to the inner room, letting her explain, but she turned a deaf ear, until her brother-in-law promised not to hire a waitress again.
As soon as I got settled here, my brother-in-law hurried to look for the waitress who was beaten. Unexpectedly, the local woman brought a large group of people with seven aunts and eight aunts into my brother-in-law's shop, and my aunt was afraid to come out, so the group of people who had nowhere to vent began to take it and smash it, and the store was in a mess. Until the police arrived, the farce was temporarily stopped.
3
People say that harmony makes money. After this trouble, my brother-in-law suffered heavy losses, and his business was deserted. Distant relatives saw that the rents around him were rising, and they began to increase the rents for his brother-in-law.
There are more and more stores slowly opening braised pork, and the competition is becoming more and more fierce. The business of brother-in-law is not as good as before.
since the last big fight, my aunt began to check her brother-in-law's shop from time to time, either because she disliked his brother-in-law's low turnover, or because she doubted whether she had given it to a wild woman outside, or because she was critical of his brother-in-law for making money.
With constant internal troubles and foreign invasion, my brother-in-law was exhausted, and the store finally closed down in the unreasonable troubles of my aunt again and again.
4
My brother-in-law honestly went back to his hometown with my aunt with his savings over the past few years. I heard from my mother that my brother-in-law was not in love with my aunt, but her sister.
that's a very capable woman like her brother-in-law. She is engaged in the business of frying goods in our town, and she has done a great job. Mom sighed, "If your brother-in-law had married your aunt's sister, maybe it wouldn't be like this now."
I asked my mother suspiciously, since my brother-in-law is in love with my sister, why is my sister married? Mom said, "At the beginning, your grandmother's family was poor, so it was not easy to marry a daughter-in-law. Both sisters took a fancy to your brother-in-law. Later, my aunt's family took into account that your brother-in-law was in the country and poor, and it happened that my sister was an older woman and it was difficult to marry, so she married her sister when she got married."
Later, I thought my brother-in-law could only make mistakes even if he wanted to, which was better than not having a daughter-in-law like his eldest brother.
But this mistake is a lifelong mistake. Both of them spend half their lives quarrelling, even when the economic conditions are good.
5
My brother-in-law returned home and went to Guangdong to work in a few years. Instead of fighting with my aunt at home, I might as well go out. This time, my aunt didn't stop me, and she knew that even Jinshan Yinshan would finish eating one day.
At that time, my brother-in-law's son, Jian Jian, was graduating from high school, and his academic performance was not good. However, he loved dressing up and his hair was shiny all day, and he finally went to a third-rate junior college when he took the college entrance examination.
Three years later, Jianjian graduated from junior college, and his brother-in-law came back from working outside. His brother-in-law was a little excited and said to his family, "My son has finally graduated, and I can't work any more. In recent years, I have finally earned enough money to marry Jianjian, so I won't go out in the future."
I feel sad when I look at my gray-haired brother-in-law, who is only in his early fifties. Years of hard work have made him much older than his peers. I secretly pray that Jianjian can understand his father's difficulties and let his brother-in-law live a comfortable life for several years.
6
After Jianjian graduated, it is said that he worked in a financial company. I went home for New Year's greetings at my uncle's house. My uncle proudly told me, "Jianjian has invested in a project in partnership with others, which can make a lot of money." When I heard it, I was quite happy with my uncle, thinking that my uncle's hard work for so many years was worth it.
Mom doesn't think so: Jianjian has repeatedly asked for money from his family for more than a year, and your uncle has put more than 1, yuan into it. What the hell is Jianjian doing? I asked my mother doubtfully. My mother said that the child is young after all. I asked your uncle to visit Jianjian's work place. Don't be cheated. Your brother-in-law insisted that he believed in the child and refused to go.
Shortly after the Spring Festival, my mother called and said that Jianjian had invested in a billiard hall and asked his father for 5, yuan. Your brother-in-law's family fortune was almost hollowed out.
However, it's far more than that ...
One day, someone called his brother-in-law, said Jianjian owed them money, and urged his uncle to pay back the loan quickly, otherwise Jianjian would be locked up. Brother-in-law was so scared that he quickly called Jianjian to ask what was going on. Jianjian cried and said that he had borrowed 5, loan sharks for investment, and now the turnover is not working. Let his brother-in-law call 1, again, or he may have to break his arm and leg.
The brother-in-law who was worried about the child believed it, scraped together the rest of the family's money, borrowed another 5, yuan from his relatives, and called Jianjian all at once.
I thought it was over, but only a week later, Jianjian called my brother-in-law and said that it was time for the credit card repayment. If he didn't pay back, he would have to pay high interest and ask his brother-in-law to help him pay back the credit card.
Brother-in-law began to doubt Jianjian: Why is the investment project that is said to be profitable like a bottomless pit without any benefit?
We all advised my brother-in-law to let Jianjian come back and honestly tell everyone what happened. We all suspected that Jianjian had been cheated.
But at this time, Jianjian no longer listens to his brother-in-law. Basically, except asking for money, he staged a drama of intimidation, inducement and bitterness, and refused to say more to his brother-in-law.
Later, Jianjian saw that he couldn't fry more oil and water from his brother-in-law, and began to borrow money from our brothers and sisters. For the first time, he borrowed 5, yuan from my brother, and after a week, he asked for another 5, yuan. At that time, Jianjian lied about inviting friends to dinner on a business trip, and when he went to the restaurant, he found that he forgot to bring his credit card. He asked my brother to transfer 5, yuan by WeChat, otherwise he couldn't get out of the hotel. My brother felt something was wrong and asked him to send Jianjian refused to send the address anyway, and finally saw that my brother was not fooled, so he never looked for my brother again.
Recently, Jianjian went to see my father again. From childhood, Jianjian was most afraid of my father who was the principal of a primary school. At that time, Jianjian played a bitter drama with a runny nose and tears, but the script has changed.
under my father's severe torture, Jian Jian said that he was instigated to buy a stock, and he did make a lot of profits in the early stage. Later, after he tasted the sweetness, he raised money in various ways to increase his chips, cashed in various credit cards, borrowed money through various online lending platforms, etc ... Now the stock has crashed, and there is no money for taking a bus, and he still has to pay back 2, yuan. If he doesn't pay it back tomorrow, he can't even keep his job.
My father couldn't bear to see his nephew so condescending, so he asked me to call Jianjian for twenty thousand yuan.
My mother told us time and again that if Jianjian really needs money to get married and buy a house, we can help, but now we can't help by cheating money.
Thinking that what my mother said is reasonable, I said to my father: He may still be cheating us, or even his job is fake. I don't want to give money to a liar.
Jian Jian saw that he couldn't get money from my father, and he began to ask his brother-in-law for money. My brother-in-law really had no money, and he saw through Jian Jian's tricks. But I still can't stand being healthy and dying, and I have to live hard.
My brother-in-law called me: Niu Niu, Jianjian is killing me. I begged my grandfather to tell my grandmother that no one would lend me money. I told him that this was the last time, and next time I would hang myself with a rope.
I can't help but get sore eyes. What has my brother-in-law been forced into!
I finally transferred 2, yuan to my brother-in-law without telling my mother. My brother-in-law repeatedly said, Don't worry, I will return the money to you, or I will go to work for a few more years.
Later, my father said to me, "I also know that Jianjian cheated us. (My father asked Jianjian to send us the specific address of the company, but Jianjian didn't respond and refused to answer my father's phone call.) But what can I do? In the end, it's your brother-in-law. Your brother-in-law and your aunt are incompatible, and they quarrel every day. Your brother-in-law is bored at home every day, and now he is forced to hang himself by the children. I really feel sorry for you.
whether it is the last time, no one knows.
I only know that my brother-in-law, who is close to 6, has once again set foot on the road of going out to work. He can't go to the factory, because he is too old. My father asked people to ask around, and finally introduced him to a warehouse to watch the gate, with a monthly fee of 2, yuan.
and my cousin Jian Jian, no one knows exactly where he spent the money. He felt sorry for himself. His father, who was over 5 years old, was forced by him to leave his hometown and wander again. What he cheated was his father's hard work for half his life!