As soon as Mei Yinan finished speaking, Mei Mengchen reacted just like in the previous life and started crying right away. He hurried to Mei Mengzhen's side, clung tightly to her arm, and said, "I don't want to leave my sister. I want to be with my sister. I don't want to go to someone else's home."
Mei Mengzhen had already been trying to make up for things, so she'd been treating this younger brother quite well in recent days. Because of this, she had quickly filled the place of their parents in his heart in just a few days.
Of course, those irresponsible parents didn't really have a big place in her brother's heart to begin with.
Mei Mengzhen was pulled back into reality by her brother's sobs. Seeing him clinging to her arm, crying and shouting, made her feel a wave of sorrow inside.
"How could you call that someone else's house? They're your uncles!" But in the end, they were still outsiders. Living with them would be living under someone else's roof. Mei Yinan sighed, wanting to say more, but was cut off by Mei Mengzhen. Mei Mengzhen said seriously, "Auntie, I'm already grown up. I want to live with my brother on our own—we're not going anywhere."
"Nonsense. You're about to be in your final year of high school. How can you possibly take care of him? You might not even be able to look after yourself." After all, Mei Mengzhen's grades were what they were—barely good enough for a third-tier college. What if she messed things up and couldn't get into one? Mei Yinan thought about this but didn't say it out loud.
"Auntie, I'm already 17. I understand everything I should by now. Taking us in isn't just a matter of another bowl at the table—the burden is simply too much. It would actually be better if we lived on our own. Plus, Chenchen doesn't want to be separated from me."
Mei Mengchen quickly nodded. "I don't want to be apart from my sister. I just want to be with her."
"He's still a child and doesn't understand things, but don't you? You're about to start your senior year. When do your morning and evening classes end? Chenchen needs to go to kindergarten—when does he go and when does he finish? Your schedules can't possibly line up. Even if you manage for this one year, what will you do after you start college? Are you not going to college? Are you just going to stay home and take care of your brother?" Mei Yinan's concerns were very real, and they were problems Mei Mengzhen would soon have to face.
But problems can be solved.
"I could ask the school to let me skip evening study hall, so then I'd finish around 5 or 6. The kindergarten offers extended care, so I can just pick up my brother after school. As for mornings..." She really might have some trouble there; the senior year started super early. If she dropped off her brother first, she'd definitely be late. "I'll just take him over early."
"I can go by myself. I know where the kindergarten is." Mei Mengchen lifted his head from Mei Mengzhen's arm and shouted loudly. He really did know where the kindergarten was—his mom took him to register before she died. He remembered, and besides, the kindergarten was close by, right in this area. He wouldn't get lost.
"Knowing how to walk there isn't enough—you can't just go by yourself. What if you run into a kidnapper?" Mei Mengzhen would never agree to let him go on his own. Worst case, she'd hire a nanny to take care of drop-off, pick-up, and cooking. The only thing was, she didn't know if she could find a suitable one right away.
As for money, she wasn't worried at all. The vegetables from the space tasted so good; as long as she found an opportunity to make money, all of this wouldn't be a problem. And their parents still left a little savings—not much, but enough to get through this tough period for a while. She also still had jewelry and Gold in the space. If it really came to it, she could just sell some of it. She wasn't the mei Mengzhen from her previous life anymore. If she had such a big cheat and still ended up like before, she'd be useless!
Actually, besides hiring a nanny, there really was someone who could help—that was Auntie. The kindergarten where Mei Mengchen was enrolled was right near Auntie's workplace, and Auntie had to pass their house every day on her way to work. The route was Auntie's place, their house, the kindergarten, and then Auntie's work—basically a straight line. If Auntie could help drop off and pick up her brother, it would be perfect.
But even though she could, Mei Mengzhen didn't feel right about asking. Sure, they were family, but helping was a favor, not helping was her right. If she just dumped the task on Auntie as if it were totally natural, that would be way out of line and way too presumptuous.
Mei Yinan looked at the pair of siblings and her anger started to rise. "I…"
Before Mei Yinan could say what she wanted, there was another knock at the door.
"That should be your uncle, second aunt, little aunt, and uncle. Go open the door."
"It's not locked~~~~~." Mei Mengzhen yelled at the top of her lungs, and at that moment, the group just pushed the door open and came in.
The relatives from their family were now all there. Mei Mengzhen nimbly boiled some water, made tea for everyone, and also brought her brother a cup of milk before she sat down with them.
Well, it was time to start talking.
The atmosphere was rather tense because, while making the tea, Mei Yinan had already explained the three of their conversation to everyone.
To call it "explaining" was putting it nicely—it was more like complaining that she was being irrational, and most people disagreed with her opinion.
When Mei Mengzhen came over and sat down, the others looked at her with ambiguous expressions, but for Auntie's sake, no one said anything right away.
After everyone was seated, Mei Yinan spoke first: "So, the reason we're here today is to discuss the two children. Zhenzhen, why don't you share your thoughts first?"
"My opinion is, I plan to stay here with my brother."
Uncle Mei Yongfu snorted coldly. "You want to live here, so you just live here? Whose house is this anyway? Did you get our permission?"
Aunt Mei Yifan nodded. "This is your grandfather, my father's house. When he said he'd give it to you, we didn't agree, but he insisted and there was nothing we could do. But let's be honest, is this house really yours? You think you can just live here as long as you want?"
"Aren't we discussing what will happen to my brother and me? Why are we talking about this house? Besides, it's not mine."
Mei Mengzhen was very calm. She knew these people were all eyeing the house their grandfather left behind. They were Grandpa's children—it made sense they'd want to inherit it. But Grandpa skipped all of them and gave it to her. Back then, that stirred up a lot of dissatisfaction. After Grandpa died, there was a lot of fuss over this house, but her parents weren't pushovers either, so they didn't get their way. Now, with only her and her brother left, how could they not seize the chance to take the house back?
But honestly, Mei Mengzhen never intended to cling to the house. Besides, it wasn't even hers now, and even if it was, she didn't want it. The house was nothing but trouble at this point—whether before or after any demolition.
However, she was only 17, about to enter her senior year, and didn't have the time to go make money. Renting elsewhere would just be another big expense, so she needed to stay here—but only temporarily. If she was just staying for now, these people probably wouldn't object too much. After all, things hadn't gotten truly ugly, and surely they wouldn't want to see two minors turned out onto the street.
"So what, you plan to hog the house and not give it up, is that it?" Aunt Mei Yifan glared at her with venom, looking like if Mei Mengzhen agreed, she'd leap up and tear her apart on the spot.