“Mom... Dad... let’s have fish for dinner tonight! Brother-in-law, Big Brother!” Little Uncle Carter didn’t care at all whether his pants were dirty or not. He walked in, tossed his schoolbag onto the bed, climbed onto the table, and reached out to grab some food.

“You little brat! Go wash your hands! There are sugar twists on the cutting board, Little Brian saved them just for you. Little Brian is more sensible than you—he even knows to save you something to eat. Next time, don’t always take him out running around, you hear me?” Grandpa tapped Little Uncle Carter on the head with his chopsticks, scolding his youngest son while glancing at Mr. Carter out of the corner of his eye. The old man was really saying this for Mr. Carter to hear. Even though Mr. Carter never said it out loud, everyone knew he was always worried that Brian Carter would be led astray by this Little Uncle Carter.

“Brother-in-law, do you still have any of those big steel strips you gave me last time? Give me another one, will you? I lost the last one!” Little Uncle Carter completely ignored his dad, didn’t wash his hands, grabbed more than half a sugar twist and stuffed it into his mouth, then sidled up to Mr. Carter, shamelessly asking for more.

“That thing is for sharpening kitchen knives at home. Do you even know what it is? That’s a high-speed steel saw blade, meant for cutting iron. What do you want it for?” Mr. Carter wasn’t fooled. As soon as he heard that the high-speed steel saw blade he brought back from the Shougang factory had been taken by his brother-in-law, he immediately pressed for answers.

“I just... use it as a ruler...” Little Brother-in-law rolled his eyes and lied without missing a beat.

“Dad, you can’t let Edward Brooks take that thing out. If you sharpen it, it becomes a great knife—it can cut wire without dulling. What does Edward Brooks want with it!” Mr. Carter knew it was probably pointless to say anything, but he still had to. He knew exactly what his brother-in-law was like.

“Hey, Edward Brooks doesn’t have the guts for that. Hey, Mom, are the dumplings ready? Henry Brooks, time to eat! Let’s eat!” Grandpa immediately got annoyed when he heard Mr. Carter badmouthing his son, and clearly had no intention of intervening.

“Dad... Mom... I want to discuss something with you.” At the dinner table, Brian Carter finally remembered how to bring up his request to not go to kindergarten. He had to thank his Little Uncle Carter for that—it was something of his that reminded him. What was it? The schoolbag.

When Brian Carter was just starting to understand things, Mr. Carter had already talked to him about ideals. Of course, Brian Carter didn’t really understand what “ideals” meant; he just knew his dad was asking what he wanted to do when he grew up. Brian Carter’s answer made his father very happy: Brian Carter said he wanted to be a scientist when he grew up. This wasn’t because Brian Carter was precocious or especially sensible—it was mainly thanks to his dad’s influence. In Mr. Carter’s view, all professions are inferior to studying.

“This kid, what have you been teaching him? Why does he talk so strangely!” Mrs. Carter had only just gotten home, but she wasn’t used to her son’s way of speaking and thought Mr. Carter must have been teaching him something again lately.

“Go ahead...” Mr. Carter replied casually, stuffing dumplings into his mouth.

“I want to study at home and not go to kindergarten anymore... Let me finish! I can study the elementary school textbooks by myself—Little Uncle Carter has them. You can assign me homework. If I don’t do well, I’ll go to kindergarten on my own. If I finish the homework, then I don’t have to go. Is that okay?” As soon as Brian Carter got the first half of his sentence out, his father’s eyes widened. Brian Carter quickly stopped his father from getting angry and finished what he had to say. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to sound like a little kid—he just couldn’t manage it, so he had to muddle through. Weird or not, so be it.

“I don’t have any books for you to read—I already tore them up. But I can borrow a few for you. Brother-in-law, if Little Brian doesn’t want to go to kindergarten, then let him stay home. I never went to kindergarten when I was little, and I still went to school just fine. The kids in my class who went to kindergarten didn’t do any better than me.” Little Uncle Carter immediately gave Brian Carter strong support, even using himself as an example. His grades were actually pretty good—at least above average.

“You shut up! If he doesn’t go to kindergarten, he’ll just play all day. And you have the nerve to brag about your lousy grades? Little Brian is going to college in the future—stop dragging him around everywhere!” Mrs. Carter couldn’t help but chime in, clearly blaming her brother for leading her son astray.

“I think Little Brian makes sense. What’s the point of that lousy kindergarten anyway? It costs money. Better to spend that money on some good food for Little Brian—look how skinny he is. Back then, none of you went to kindergarten, and you all went to school and work just fine.” Grandma had always opposed sending Brian Carter to kindergarten, mainly because she couldn’t bear to part with those five yuan. In her view, raising kids at home was only natural—one or a bunch, it’s all the same. No need to pay someone else to do it.

“Who taught you to say these things?” Mr. Carter stopped eating dumplings, stunned by what Brian Carter had said. He looked around, but no one seemed like they could have taught Brian Carter to say that, so he had to ask him directly.