Poverty Alleviation C01

Chapter 1

“Wei Mian, if I remember correctly, you’re two years older than me, right? What’s this? When we were kids, you coaxed my dad into taking my toys, and now that we’re grown up, you’re trying to steal my job too?”

Looking at his cousin standing smugly behind his father and uncle, Wei Sheng sneered, his sunny and handsome face filled with mockery.

He truly couldn’t understand why such men existed in this world!

A man with a wife and child of his own, yet he insisted on fighting to take care of someone else’s wife and child!

And unfortunately, Wei Sheng’s own father was precisely such an idiot! A complete fool!

The Wei family’s situation wasn’t particularly complicated in China. Wei Sheng’s grandmother had only two sons: the eldest, Wei Sheng’s father, Wei Zhiyong, and the younger, his uncle, Wei Zhifei.

The one jumping up and down recently, trying to manipulate the elders into getting Wei Sheng’s mother to find him a job, was none other than his cousin, Wei Mian.

Wei Sheng’s uncle had never been fond of studying. He left school early and started working, so he got married and had children before his older brother.

Wei Sheng’s father, Wei Zhiyong, on the other hand, was academically inclined and made it all the way to university.

Back in those days, university students were highly valued. Among his classmates, those from the same cohort had either become directors or town mayors, and the most successful ones had even climbed to high-ranking provincial positions.

But only Wei Zhiyong, who had started with an excellent hand, managed to ruin it completely!

Or rather, to be precise, his original family had dragged him down and ruined him!

Wei Sheng’s grandmother, an expert in rural-style emotional manipulation, had been brainwashing her eldest son ever since he got into university. She constantly drilled into him that the only reason he could study was because his younger brother had sacrificed his own future, working to support him.

She also instilled in him the belief that once he graduated and became successful, he must never forget to take care of his younger brother’s family.

After graduating, Wei Zhiyong landed a job at a large state-owned enterprise thanks to his good major—a workplace that people today would fight tooth and nail to get into!

But within just a couple of years, his mother started hinting at him to find a way to help his younger brother.

This system wasn’t something anyone could just waltz into! Even hiring temporary workers required qualifications!

With no other choice, Wei Zhiyong managed to get his brother a tobacco retail license. With that, his uncle could open a small shop and run a business, making an income comparable to a regular job.

Who could have expected that Wei Zhifei, driven by greed, would go so far as to smuggle counterfeit cigarettes—an outright criminal act!

Once this was exposed, not only was his tobacco license revoked, but Wei Zhiyong also ended up being sidelined in his company, stuck in a dead-end position for over thirty years!

Thankfully, the company had good benefits. Because of this stable job, he was introduced to Hu Qianqian, whose family was relatively well-off.

The Hu family ran a supermarket and even had a cigarette counter, so marrying a son-in-law who worked in the tobacco industry was at least somewhat acceptable.

But who could have guessed that Wei Zhiyong was just a man who looked good on paper?

The state-owned enterprise provided decent benefits, but after getting married, Hu Qianqian discovered that her husband handed over more than half of his salary each month to support his mother and younger brother.

At first, Hu Qianqian believed her husband’s nonsense—thinking that since his younger brother had sacrificed his own education to work and support him, it was only fair to help out a little.

After all, gratitude is a virtue!

But one year, when she accompanied her husband back to his hometown and helped her mother-in-law clean up, she accidentally found her brother-in-law’s middle school report card—and it made her laugh in anger.

Chinese: 53, Math: 32, English: 19.

Adding up all three core subjects, the total wasn’t even as high as her own son’s Chinese score alone!

With grades like that, how did he have the audacity to claim he had “sacrificed his chance to go to university to support his older brother”?

From that moment on, Hu Qianqian refused to let her husband continue supporting his younger brother’s family.

Helping out in emergencies was one thing—she had no objections to that.

But his mother and younger brother were simply too much!

Wei Zhiyong earned 3,000 yuan a month, gave 2,000 to his mother, and kept only 1,000 for himself. Sometimes, his nephew, Wei Mian, would call asking for this or that, and Wei Zhiyong would buy it for him without hesitation.

Meanwhile, his own son, Wei Sheng, had barely received a penny from his father since childhood!

When Hu Qianqian was pregnant, her mother took pity on her and invited her back home to eat. Wei Zhiyong often tagged along for free meals too, and her mother never asked him for a cent in living expenses.

Later, when she was hospitalized to give birth, her mother-in-law came to visit, stayed one night, then started complaining about back pain, leg pain, and discomfort everywhere. Wei Zhiyong had to take four days off just to send his mother back home, and when his wife and newborn son were discharged from the hospital, it was her father who came to pick them up.

And that was just the beginning.

Throughout his childhood, Wei Sheng never received much from his father.

The one and only time was when his school started basketball lessons—his father bought him a basketball. But when his cousin, Wei Mian, saw it, he wanted one too.

So, Wei Zhiyong took his nephew to the mall, and when they came back, not only did Wei Mian have a new basketball, but he also had a full set of basketball shoes, a jersey, and knee pads.

From that day on, Wei Sheng never asked his father for anything again.

He could let go of childhood toys and clothes.

But this time was different.

The job market has been tough this year. After graduating from university, Wei Sheng had been struggling to find a suitable job. However, he had a plan—he had secretly signed up for an editing position interview at the local TV station. He wanted to surprise his mother, so he kept it a secret from his family.

Unexpectedly, his mother was even more anxious about his job search than he was. Coincidentally, Wei Sheng’s grandfather had an old fishing buddy who was a retired senior official from the power supply bureau. Upon hearing that Wei Sheng was still unemployed, he mentioned that the bureau was currently hiring and suggested that Wei Sheng apply.

After all, the position wasn’t a permanent one; it was more of a labor dispatch role. For someone like Wei Sheng, who was preparing for civil service exams, taking on a transitional job like this wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Who would have thought that after his mother discussed this with his father, his uncle’s family would set their sights on this temporary position?

Especially his cousin, Wei Mian, who was just like his uncle—even the way he played the victim followed the same script.

He complained that his father had given up on his own education so that his elder brother could attend university. As a result, he didn’t have the same privileges as Wei Sheng—being born in the city, attending good urban schools, getting into a good university, and now having the opportunity to work in a prestigious unit like the power supply bureau.

But what about him, Wei Mian? He was also a grandson of the Wei family, the eldest grandson at that, yet he was stuck in a factory, tightening screws.

“Uncle, Wei Sheng’s grades are excellent, but a temporary position at the power supply bureau is beneath him!”

“That’s right, big brother. With Wei Sheng’s academic performance, he’s bound to pass the civil service exam in the future. Why not have him help Wei Mian get this job at the power supply bureau? That way, both of our kids can stay in the city.”

Wei Zhiyong found their reasoning compelling. If both his son and nephew could secure jobs in the city, it would boost his reputation in the village. Relatives would admire his capability.

But when he brought this up to his wife, speaking gently, Hu Qianqian told him to get lost?

“It’s just a temporary job! What’s so great about it?”

“If it’s no good, why don’t you go take the test yourself and give it to your precious nephew?”

Hu Qianqian was so furious that her head spun, and her hands trembled as she pointed at her husband.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is for university graduates to find jobs these days?”

“Do you realize that even this temporary position requires our son to take an exam himself?”

“You want Wei Mian to replace my son at the power supply bureau? Wei Zhiyong, do you think we’re still living decades ago, where government jobs could be casually swapped?”

“That’s exactly why we need Wei Sheng to help him! It’s just a dispatch job; they won’t scrutinize it too much,” Wei Zhiyong muttered. “Besides, doesn’t your dad know someone in the power supply bureau? We could send a little gift…”

Let her son risk breaking the law by taking an exam for that kid?

Hu Qianqian was so enraged that her vision darkened. She had to steady herself against the couch to avoid collapsing.

After a moment, she lifted her head and coldly demanded, “Wei Zhiyong, tell me clearly—are you really willing to risk our son getting caught cheating just so he can take the test for your precious nephew?”

“It’s just a temporary labor job! How could he get caught? You’re overthinking it! Besides, Wei Sheng and Wei Mian’s names only differ by one character. If he’s a bit careless when writing it, who’s going to notice?” Wei Zhiyong grumbled.

“Shut up! Wei Zhiyong, do you dare say that in front of my father?” Hu Qianqian roared in fury.

“Yes! Wei Sheng has always had a better life than Wei Mian—attended the best schools, got into a good university, he’s excelled in everything. So what’s wrong with helping his cousin out by taking an exam for him?” Wei Zhiyong raised his voice as well.

“Good! Very good! Wei Zhiyong, you truly are the filial son of the Wei family!” Hu Qianqian laughed in anger.

“Fine! You can go live with your precious nephew! I’m done with this—I want a divorce!”

Wei Sheng had just returned from his TV station interview when he heard his parents were getting a divorce.

To be precise, his mother unilaterally wanted a divorce, while his father was unwilling.

Initially confused, Wei Sheng fell silent after hearing his mother’s explanation.

The employment pressure on university graduates had been severe these past two years. News about job-hunting struggles was everywhere—on TV, on social media. There was no way his father wasn’t aware of it.

Knowing how tough the job market was, let alone the power supply bureau, even at his father’s own workplace, getting a temporary position for his son wouldn’t be easy.

Otherwise, why had Wei Sheng been unemployed for over half a year while Wei Zhiyong hadn’t managed to secure even a temporary job for him?

He had no ability to find a job for his own son, yet when his wife finally got their son an opportunity, he had the audacity to ask their son to “give” that opportunity to his nephew?

Wei Sheng was so exasperated by his father’s naïveté that he laughed.

Not to mention whether the job could even be transferred—assuming it could, he was a legitimate full-time university graduate, whereas Wei Mian only had a vocational school diploma and hadn’t even passed high school. Would the power supply bureau even want him?

When Wei Sheng brought up this issue with his mother, Hu Qianqian simply waved him off. “You don’t need to worry about this. I’m really tired, and I don’t want to stay married to your father anymore.”

“All these years, having a husband has been no different from not having one. On top of that, I’ve had to endure the absurdity of the entire Wei family! I’d be better off as a widow!”

“Now that you’re grown up, whether I stay married to your father or not won’t affect your future much. Wei Sheng, I just want a few years of peace—will you support your mother in this?”

Hu Qianqian had always been competitive and strong-willed, but for the first time in her life, she revealed her exhaustion and vulnerability in front of her son.

Wei Sheng’s eyes turned red. He opened his arms and held his mother tightly—just like when he was a child, whenever he felt wronged at his grandmother’s house, Hu Qianqian would comfort and reassure him. Now, he gave her the firmest answer possible—

“Mom, I support your divorce from Dad!”

“Don’t worry about getting old with no one to take care of you—I’ll take care of you in the future!”

“Oh, and I haven’t told you the good news yet—I just passed the provincial TV station interview today!”

“It’s not a government position, but it’s an official hire by the station. Once I pass the probation period and become a full-time employee, my annual salary will be close to 100,000 yuan.”

“As for that temporary job—doesn’t Wei Mian want it so badly? Then let him apply and take the test himself!”

“Really?!” Hu Qianqian suddenly lifted her head, her tear-filled eyes shining with excitement.

An annual salary of 100,000 yuan—that was far better than any temporary position!

Her son truly had a bright future ahead!

That ungrateful ingrate Wei Mian wasn’t even worthy of carrying her son’s shoes. Hmph!

(End of chapter)