Teacher Wu came to my neighborhood to buy things and we talked about my brother's situation.

It turns out, my brother didn't pass the first round of admissions because his English score was below the cutoff.

However, after the first round of admissions, many parents backed out upon hearing the tuition was two thousand, saying they wouldn't go.

The school was worried they wouldn't fill all the spots, so they lowered the standards for supplementary admissions and posted notices at the school gate.

For some reason, they didn't call again for the second round.

After Teacher Wu explained everything to us, he sighed and said, "Suxin, thanks to your sense of responsibility, you went to take a look yourself."

Later, my mom urged my dad to withdraw the money and made another trip to the county town to pay my brother's tuition.

In September, my brother started school.

He gets a break every two weeks. On Friday evenings, the school bus drops him off at the bus stop in town.

I ran to the bus stop as soon as school ended, waiting until the sun was about to set.

The school bus swayed into the station.

The door opened, and a familiar figure jumped down gracefully.

My brother picked me up and we walked home with a smile.

The station was full of pedicabs trying to pick up passengers. Uncles and aunties asked, "Where to? Take my cab, we'll leave right away."

I hugged my brother's neck and said loudly, "We're already home."

When we got home, mom took my brother's bag and asked if he needed anything washed.

My brother said no, he had already washed everything at school, including his sheets and pillowcases over the weekend.

Mom frowned and said, "Did we send you to school to wash sheets? Next time, bring them back, you should learn to do it yourself."

She added, "Xiaoyu, come down, you're like a piece of toffee."

Mom went into the kitchen, my brother gently put me down, and took out snacks for me to eat.

He left most of the snacks mom had prepared for him.

During dinner, dad picked up a piece of braised pork and suddenly said, "For the high school entrance exam, you better study hard. If you don't pass, don't expect me to pay for your school choice. Just go to this vocational school near home."

"The tuition is two thousand a year, not to mention living expenses. If you don't come home, your old man won't even get to eat braised pork."

My mom rolled her eyes and snatched the bowl in front of him, "The shredded pork at noon, did it end up in the dog's stomach?"

Dad stared, "What are you saying in front of the child?"

"Moreover, is that shredded pork? How many shreds of meat are there?"

Ignoring him, mom switched the braised pork to my brother's side, "Xiaozhe, eat quickly, finish all of this, don't listen to his nonsense."