Transmigration: On the Gossip Front
Chapter 239 True or False First Love 39_1

Chapter 239: Chapter 239 True or False First Love 39_1

Zhou Hong saw his wife and could no longer suppress his anger, but he also knew now was not the time to say these things.

He had already made a fool of himself and couldn’t afford any more jokes.

He couldn’t say it in front of everyone, but back at home, he definitely wouldn’t let her off the hook.

Before, when there had been no issues, he hadn’t noticed any problems, but now, facing a situation, he felt that his wife was problematic in many aspects.

Zhou Hong’s wife inwardly cursed her luck, feeling the intense anger in Zhou Hong’s gaze.

She could ignore what the in-laws thought, but she couldn’t disregard her husband’s opinions.

As Zhou Hong’s wife was trying to figure out what to do, Zhou Dahai saw her, "Our eldest, look at the mess you’ve made of the house."

"Didn’t your mom tell you to find a master to repair it? Have you not found one?" Zhou Dahai was really angry, their Zhou family’s dignity was completely trampled today.

No one would say Zhou Lina was being unreasonable. Whose heart wouldn’t hurt if their beautiful house was lent to relatives and ruined like this?

"This, that..." Zhou Hong’s wife didn’t expect such a matter to come up first thing, and after stammering for a while, she couldn’t provide an answer.

Zhou Dahai was speechless, "Also, after your mom goes back to cook, you stay and clean up."

"Turns out Xiao Hong said he swept the floors. What have you done?"

Zhou Dahai kept questioning, regardless of whether it was embarrassing for Zhou Hong’s wife.

"This, that..." Zhou Hong’s wife truly regretted claiming she had tidied up the house.

Now, everything was being exposed.

Zhou Hong’s wife, feeling hopeless, resorted to the method that was hardest for Zhou Hong to deal with by starting to sob quietly, "I’m sorry, I’m sorry."

"After mom left, I did want to clean the house."

"I just thought of how my mother wasn’t in good health, and then I wanted to go back to check on her."

Zhou Hong’s wife impolitely used her mother’s ill health as a shield, and she saw nothing wrong with that.

Another mother-in-law with health issues, Zhou Dahai looked worriedly at his eldest son. Although his daughter-in-law wasn’t the eldest daughter, she was indeed the one who had married into the best situation.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t frequently go back with large and small packages, and all of these cost money.

Zhou Hong now felt a headache hearing that his mother-in-law was not in good health—although he wasn’t responsible for the medical expenses as his unit would reimburse those, tonics had to be paid for out of his own pocket.

Buying meat and chicken to take there, is that not money? Especially when there weren’t enough Meat Coupons, he had to make rounds in the black market.

The cost of these items there was truly not cheap, and he also had to buy various other things. It was all money.

In the past, he didn’t want to argue with his wife over such small amounts of money; as long as everyone was happy, it was fine.

But the situation was different now. Without renting out the house, there would be no income of ten yuan a month next year.

If they went out to rent a house, moving in and out would cost an additional ten or so yuan—a significant number.

He didn’t know how long the savings at home would last, nor when the factory would be able to allocate housing.

But he knew that even if the factory did allocate housing, the chances of him getting a large house were zero.

They had only one regular worker between the husband and wife, and the other was a temporary worker whom nothing could change. In this moment, Zhou Hong felt a twinge of regret.

His family hadn’t failed to advise him, analyzing at length the difference between marrying a temporary worker and a regular worker.

Back then, he believed none of that mattered, convinced that as long as they worked hard, their life would definitely improve.

But the reality was that their days weren’t much better off—they had three kids too and couldn’t compare with their colleagues.

Zhou Hong felt that his colleagues, being double-income families with higher salaries, naturally had more savings.

He never considered how the other colleagues managed to save; Zhou Hong and his wife, however, never skimped on food and treated themselves well.

Plus, with his mother-in-law’s household occasionally siphoning off a cut, it would be surprising if their savings could surpass others.

As for always finding one room insufficient, many colleagues had lived like that before.

Zhou Hong would not compare himself with those colleagues; he was simply envious that Zhou Lina, younger than him, could live in such a big house.

The more Zhou Hong thought about it, the more dissatisfied he became, yet he couldn’t lash out at Li Na, "Your mother is always not feeling well."

"What is she planning to ask you to buy this time?"

"Your brother is working now and earning more. We need to live our lives too, we can’t keep subsidizing them like before."

Zhou Hong believed that if they just stopped caring about that side, their savings would definitely increase quickly.

Zhou Hong’s wife had wanted to discuss with him that the prescription this time needed ginseng, which, although not aged, would still cost a significant amount.

Her family hoped that Zhou Hong would pay for it, but before she could even speak up, Zhou Hong made it clear that he would not pay anymore.

Zhou Dahai saw the change in Zhou Hong’s wife’s expression and felt displeased inside; whenever there was a need for money, it ended up with Zhou Hong footing the bill.

Zhou Dahai took a deep breath, originally thinking of discussing with his wife the repairs for furniture and walls—which would surely require a fair amount of money—and the possibility of them chipping in.

Now, he had lost that thought; they were considerate of their children and grandchildren’s difficulties, always subsidizing them.

But that money, after a turn, went to Zhou Hong’s Yue family; which parents-in-law could be happy about that?

"No matter what, when you moved in, the furniture was good, the walls were clean without any damage."

"Now, you’re responsible for paying for these repairs," said Zhou Dahai, who couldn’t downplay the issues being too many and unavoidable.

Especially since he also noticed that the head of the trade union department’s face was tightening, what could he do but to take up the responsibilities that ought to be taken?

No way, Zhou Hong’s wife looked up at Zhou Dahai in indignation. Wasn’t he Li Na’s elder?

Why couldn’t he just make a few demands, "It needs quite a lot of money, probably around fifty or sixty."

Otherwise, she wouldn’t want to face such shame. Hearing the amount, Zhou Hong was also startled, "That expensive?"

Hearing the couple complaining about the high cost, he really couldn’t hold back anymore, "Is fifty or sixty expensive?"

"How long has your house been rented out? It’s just half a year’s rent."

"Have you paid any rent for living here?"

"You’ve damaged the house to such a state, and when asked to make repairs, you still complain about it being too expensive."

The department head kept shaking his head, truly a penny-pincher.

What? Zhou Dahai and the three others were all shocked; they had never imagined even the factory leaders would know.

What to do? Zhou Hong’s heart suddenly raced, wondering if this got to the higher-ups, it would surely be dealt with.

Would they directly confiscate the house? If that were the case, where would their family live?

Now, Zhou Hong no longer disdained the smallness of the house; after all, no matter how small, it was still their nest.