Transmigration: On the Gossip Front
Chapter 398 The Foolish Filial Man’s Wife 13_1

Chapter 398: Chapter 398 The Foolish Filial Man’s Wife 13_1

As people passed through the alley, they saw Zhao Wenjin leading the Locksmith to change the locks early in the morning.

"Did you lose your keys?"

"No, Liao Kai ran away from home yesterday because I told him there’s no breakfast for him at home, he should go buy it himself, since he’s not contributing to the living expenses."

"Then I also mentioned that since he’s living at home, he should do some chores. Ever since my parents passed away, he’s been acting like a lord, not doing any work."

"I don’t want to indulge him anymore; I want him to do household chores."

"But he got unhappy, feeling that I was targeting him, and stormed out in a huff."

"He even said that unless I kneel and beg for his forgiveness, he won’t come back."

Pedestrians exclaimed in surprise, "Not doing any chores?"

"He actually ran away from home?" It’s heard of children running away, but adults?

"And he wants you to beg him on your knees to come back?"

Everyone had different points of focus in what they heard, but they all thought it was unbelievable.

"Exactly, since he wants to leave, let him go. We’re all adults; life goes on without anyone."

"Kneeling and begging is out of the question. Since someone has laid down the challenge, it’s only right to let him know that leaving is easy, but coming back is hard."

"I’m going to change all the locks in the house. If someone gets any bad ideas and takes off with my stuff, I’d be devastated."

The current situation had become quite different from her previous life; the lessons from the past were no longer sufficient.

It’s like a new map, a new version. Of course, she needed to be more cautious—jewelry, bankbooks, and the property deed all had to be kept in a safe.

"That’s something to be careful about." Nobody thought Zhao Wenjin was overthinking it or assuming the worst of people.

Previously in their alley, there had been a similar incident where a divorcing daughter-in-law took off with a lot of valuables.

It was only after the family threatened to call the police that they scared the thief into returning the stolen goods.

"Yeah, maybe he’s not thinking along those lines, but I have to be prepared."

She couldn’t care less how the Liao Family would cry and argue later, saying she was overthinking things—that they never had such intentions.

When dealing with shameless people, you’ve got to be cautious; otherwise, if something goes missing, the loss would be on you. Defining marital property isn’t straightforward.

"I’m also preventing Liao Kai from just waltzing back in. I want to make it clear to him that coming back won’t be easy; he must recognize his mistakes."

"A proper agreement must be signed." Yes, a proper agreement, laying out all the terms and conditions.

Sign an agreement? Everyone was puzzled. How did changing a lock become connected to signing an agreement?

"Some things need to be made clear. Although my parents wrote a will and had it notarized before they died, leaving the house solely to me,"

"it’s not part of the marital property, and he’s not entitled to a share. But there are still terms that need to be agreed upon."

Everyone knew the house belonged to the Zhao Family and was left to Zhao Wenjin. What nobody expected was that the parents of the Zhao Family had actually made a will.

"Your house also needs this kind of hassle?" Isn’t hiring a lawyer expensive? Doesn’t notarization cost money? It all costs money.

"People naturally assume what parents leave for their children belongs to the children. But without taking these measures, it’s considered marital property."

"If you do end up splitting assets, it gets messy. With everything in order, there’s no need to worry later. It’s for your children after all."

"Of course, if the relationship between husband and wife is good, there’s no need for such measures."

Zhao Wenjin knew that in this alley, in cases of divorce, the properties left by elders became a major source of conflict.

It was uncertain whether her intervention could change the fate of many people.

Of course, this might incur the dissatisfaction of many people, who’ve been enduring and waiting all for the sake of the elderly person’s house.

Once the locks were changed, Zhao Wenjin planned to go to the bank to inquire about safe deposit box services.

Such a service is generally only provided by large banks; up-and-coming smaller banks definitely wouldn’t have it.

She went to a branch of one of the big four banks and asked about it. The staff were startled at first, consulted a few people, and at last, she received confirmation from the branch manager.

The bank had just started offering this service, but she would have to go to the head office to use it.

Although she needed to visit the head office, it didn’t matter—so long as the service was available, that was enough.

Since she had already asked, she took the opportunity to have the staff inquire about what documents she needed to bring to rent a safe deposit box at the head office.

After getting clear on the necessary documents, she quickly went home to gather them and stuffed the items needing safekeeping into her carry-on bag.

After asking briefly about the sizes of the safe deposit boxes and the payment methods, she directly rented three of the largest boxes and signed the contract for the longest custodial term available.

"Make sure that only I can access the safe deposit box, unless someone has a proxy authorization from me, right?"

"Correct," the staff confirmed.

"So that includes my husband; he also wouldn’t be able to open it?"

"Correct," the staff confirmed again.

"And you won’t tell anyone which safe deposit boxes I rented or where they are located, unless required by judicial or administrative authorities?"

"That’s right, all of this is your secret," the staff member, experienced with such queries, reassured her, as many were hesitant about the new service.

Some people would ask even more detailed and tricky questions than Zhao Wenjin did.

Having signed the contract, Zhao Wenjin was led by the staff member into the vault.

The staff member took Zhao Wenjin to the location of her three safe deposit boxes, "These are the three."

"Are they okay?"

Originally, Zhao Wenjin had thought about choosing three boxes that weren’t close to each other, but then decided it wasn’t necessary—who would guess she had rented three boxes?

Many people were completely unaware that the bank offered such a service, and the Liao Family certainly wouldn’t have thought of it.

She sorted her parents’ jewelry and treasures by value, along with the two property titles that were known to the Liao Family and the other two that Liao Kai didn’t know about.

Although the houses weren’t big, their excellent location near Chang’an Street made them highly desirable, especially after the turn of the millennium when there was reconstruction.

Now, the rent from those houses, while not substantial, still exceeded her monthly salary.

The last box contained the property deeds for the quad-style house as well as her personal jewelry collection.

If it really came to splitting the family assets one day, some loss was inevitable, but with her preparations, the damage could be minimized.

After organizing everything, Zhao Wenjin immediately went to the law firm she had previously researched, to consult on minimizing her losses in the event of a divorce.

The lawyer hadn’t expected a woman who looked like a typical housewife to seek legal advice on this matter.

Usually, only the wealthy would think to hire lawyers when divorcing, given the significant assets involved.

For someone like Zhao Wenjin, cases are generally settled privately. When the other party eventually learns about the Zhao Family’s property notarization, there would be no surprise.

If the elderly could think of such measures, it wasn’t surprising their descendants would do the same.

Within the bounds of legality, the lawyer offered Zhao Wenjin a solution, and of course, she was quite satisfied with the post-consultation fees.

The lawyer’s fee wasn’t expensive at all, and Zhao Wenjin decided that in the future, if she encountered issues, she would consult a lawyer first.