In a cramped and dim room, a lame man named Li Yi sat hunched over at a table, with his empty pant leg dangling. His wooden prosthetic leg lay nearby.
The prosthetic leg was old and worn; it should have been replaced long ago. With advancements in medical technology, prosthetics can now utilize biomimetic principles. With enough money, prosthetics can take on various forms and offer improved comfort for the wearer.
But the wooden prosthetic clearly lacked any comfort.
In the courtyard, a family was embroiled in an argument. Li Yi could hear his sister-in-law shouting, "Li the Second, listen to me. If you keep supporting that useless burden, I'll divorce you."
"But what can I do? He's my brother," came the reply.
Their parents chimed in, "Oh, come on, you're family. No need to make such a fuss."
"I used to let it slide, but it's been so many years now. If we keep supporting him, will our son and daughter have to support this burden too? We're better off getting divorced than being weighed down like this." The sister-in-law's voice was shrill.
Everyone joined in the cacophony, a cheap double act.
Their voices carried loudly into the room, meant for Li Yi to hear.
Li Yi, now 40 years old, wore a slight mocking smile. So now they're starting to resent him for being disabled?
Before his discharge, he had been a warrior among soldiers.
A later accident led to his discharge.
But the accident resulted in compensation from his unit of over 500,000 yuan.
Combined with his years of retirement pay, he had over 1 million yuan.
Enough to cover his medical expenses.
But back then, his parents had pressured him to use the money to help his younger brother get married.
They then gradually swindled the money away with various sob stories.
Now Li Yi had no money left, receiving only a few hundred yuan in monthly assistance. And the family started finding ways to resent him!
Before, they did it discreetly. Now, they were bringing it out into the open.
His parents didn't intervene.
His brother's words sounded good, but without his consent, how could this matter be so openly raised?
In truth, they were all using this to pressure Li Yi to leave the family.
The world is callous, human sentiments are fickle.
These were his own parents and brother.
When he was strong and able, they took pride in him. Now everything had changed.
Parents and siblings are equally opportunistic.
This was the home he had lived in for over 40 years, yet each of them wanted to drive him out.
Although disabled and aged, he still had his pride.
He strapped on his uncomfortable wooden prosthetic leg and hobbled out the door.
The courtyard erupted in argument, but everyone fell silent when they saw him.
Li Yi declared, "I'll leave. From now on, you can act like you never had this older brother, this son."
Their previous bickering had deeply hurt him.
The more than 1 million yuan he had earned with his life was meant to repay his parents' kindness.
It had severed his bonds of brotherhood with his parents and siblings in this life.
Still, he had repaid his debt to his motherland and family!
His brother and parents had forced this confrontation, compelling the eldest son to take a stand.
But now that he had, they felt uneasy. His father said, "What kind of talk is that? How can your brother show his face in public after this?"
Li Yi scoffed at his father. "A few words from me, and he can't take it? Fine, then I'll take back what I said, and we'll all go back to how things were!" He turned to go back inside.
His father sputtered, flustered. "You're talking back to me now?"
"Nothing, I'm just telling you that from now on, I'm not your son."
His younger brother had always felt superior, but for a moment, he felt a twinge of panic, as if his beloved older brother might truly disappear!
At that point, his sister-in-law spoke up again. "Oh, so you really mean what you say? Just don't come crawling back to us for support later on."
Li Yi was truly angered now. "Enough! I mean what I say. From now on, my parents are your responsibility too. Don't ever come looking for me again."
"Why would we look for you? You can't even support yourself. Fine, since you've decided to leave, we'll hold you to it. After all, you lost your leg for the country, so the country will surely support us without your help!" The sister-in-law was relentless.
Then she added, "Since you've decided to go, we'd like to keep this room for Little Wei." Little Wei was their son's name.
They treated their dilapidated house like a treasure, afraid he would occupy it.
Li Yi's heart sank further. "Don't worry, I won't take up even an inch of your space. Since everything is over, write me a deed of separation, and I'll leave immediately."
The sister-in-law urged from the side, "Write it for him."
Afraid to miss this opportunity. They then wrote the deed of separation, each putting their handprint on it, even calling in witnesses!
The old neighbors outside sighed, "It's all about money."
Some even blamed Li Yi's father. "You're truly foolish, treating your accomplished eldest son so heartlessly, while indulging your unfilial younger son. Aren't you afraid of karmic retribution?"
People in this urban village spoke bluntly.
Li Yi's father turned pale. "This is a family matter. No need for you to concern yourself."
He had known his eldest son was impressive, but now he was down on his luck, wasn't he?
Just over 40 years old, unable to work or earn money, living off the family's support day after day - who could tolerate that?
Moreover, they had received news that in a few years, the houses in this area would be demolished for redevelopment, potentially netting them 1.8 million yuan. With one less person, they could all get a larger share.
So, with the village chief as witness, they formalized the deed of separation. Li Yi turned to leave.
Even the village chief felt uncomfortable witnessing this. "Where will you go? If you have nowhere, stay at my place for a few days."
Li Yi replied, "If my own parents can't keep me, then I won't stay here any longer."
No one said anything more.
At that moment, Li Yi received a call. His cheap old flip phone couldn't even run WeChat.
A durable, inexpensive phone.
Most importantly, it had a loud speaker. Even the old village men had stopped using such phones.
But Li Yi still used one, a sign of his difficult circumstances in recent years, having not spent a single cent of the money he had risked his life to earn.
The reasonable people in the village felt angry on his behalf.
But he didn't care.
Li Yi answered the call.
The voice on the other end said, "Hello, this is Starry Sky Kindergarten. Can you come work for us as soon as possible? We'll provide room and board, and pay you 20,000 yuan per month. What do you think?" The speaker was Shen Wei.
Ever since that shrewish woman had caused a scene, Shen Wei had been eager to find someone suitable. The System had recommended Li Yi.
Although he had lost a leg, as a former warrior, his combat prowess was likely unmatched by 10 ordinary men.
Shen Wei needed someone who appeared ordinary but was truly formidable. Money was no object, so she offered the highest possible salary!
The System had already called Li Yi once before, and he had agreed, just not for the current date.
But with Shen Wei's urgent request, and his current family situation, Li Yi immediately replied, "Okay. I'll be there soon."
After hanging up, everyone looked at him differently.
In this urban village, life was quite difficult.
With the prospect of redevelopment dangling before them like a carrot, in reality, these people couldn't even earn 2,000 yuan a month working outside.
Hearing that Li Yi could earn 20,000 yuan a month at a kindergarten, their eyes lit up with envy.
Afterwards, Li Yi's relatives also looked at him with strange expressions.
Li Yi's younger brother reacted strongly: "Brother, what's going on? You've never mentioned this before."
Li Yi said indifferently: "Let me tell you, you've taken even this little money!"
His younger brother's face alternated between red and white.
His sister-in-law mocked him from the side: "As if you could earn 20,000. Even people who work on their feet don't necessarily earn that much, so you can just brag."
Li Yi said: "Whether I earn 20,000 a month or not has nothing to do with you. Just keep dreaming your big beautiful dream about that house of yours!"
Others didn't know, but Li Yi had some incredibly capable war buddies.
These buddies knew he lived here, and they had specifically told him inside information. The subway line was being rerouted, so there was no way this area could be demolished for redevelopment.
The fairy tale of getting rich overnight through demolition and redevelopment only existed in the past.
Those people clinging to the dream of redevelopment, driving him out, would regret it sooner or later.
