“No! You’re talking about a house in the capital, and he just bought it like he was buying clothes, without even discussing it with me…” There was hurt in Li Fengmei’s voice.
When spouses live apart for too long, lack of timely communication easily leads to problems. Now that Liu Yong had bought the house before telling Li Fengmei, it wasn’t a pleasant surprise for her—it was a shock.
Most of the money was earned by Liu Yong, but where did his initial capital come from? Back then, when ‘Yuan Hui’ accidentally got all the municipal government projects, Liu Yong’s capital was far from enough. Not only did Xia Xiaolan support him, but all the money Li Fengmei earned from the clothing store was also sent to Peng Cheng.
The clothing store had daily income and employed staff, yet Li Fengmei’s expenses were reduced to a minimum. Worried that Liu Yong might run short of money in Peng Cheng, Li Fengmei, like Liu Fen, drew a monthly salary of 200 yuan from the store in addition to the profit sharing. Even from this salary, she kept only a few dozen yuan for herself, giving the rest to Liu Yong. If it weren’t for Liu Zitao, Li Fengmei would have been even harder on herself, spending nothing except for food.
In a marriage, when one spouse earns big money outside, doesn’t the other deserve credit too? While Li Fengmei had to worry about both the clothing store business and their son, Liu Yong couldn’t focus on his projects away from home, sometimes not returning for months at a time. During the two months when money was tightest, Li Fengmei had to count every six mao carefully, only to learn later that Liu Yong had spent 60,000 yuan—yes, he hadn’t spent it on drinking, gambling, or women, but on buying property for the family. However, not informing Li Fengmei beforehand and acting without consultation was what angered her most.
Xia Xiaolan could only try to smooth things over. Her uncle had handled this wrong—how could spouses not discuss major decisions? Xia Xiaolan felt guilty too; she had been so excited that she only discussed buying the courtyard house in Beijing with Liu Yong, assuming he would tell Li Fengmei, thus saving herself an extra step.
Who knew Liu Yong wouldn’t say anything?
Xia Xiaolan had told Liu Yong first because she was closer to him and because he was more decisive than Li Fengmei… Li Fengmei’s anger made Xia Xiaolan instantly reflect on her actions.
She hadn’t shown enough respect to her aunt.
She had subconsciously assumed Li Fengmei could not judge the benefits of investing in Beijing property.
“You see, this is my fault…”
“It’s not your fault! You’re doing everything for our family’s good, and I can tell what’s right and wrong. It’s all your uncle—now that he’s made some money, he’s getting cocky. To be honest, I’m worried he might find another woman in Peng Cheng.”
So this was what Li Fengmei was worried about.
When a man develops too quickly, women worry about losing control.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t dare vouch for her uncle.
If he did something wrong Aunt Li Fengmei, how could she face Liu Yong?
The family business had just started, yet various hidden problems were emerging. While Xia Xiaolan could help her family become wealthy, she couldn’t control everyone’s thoughts.
Liu Yong had caused Li Fengmei to develop a trust crisis. Marital issues had to be resolved by her uncle himself. Xia Xiaolan could only mediate both sides, comforting Li Fengmei while giving Liu Yong a warning.
Liu Yong was stunned when he received the call.
He too had been holding in his anger.
He had wanted to give Li Fengmei a surprise, stopping in Shang Du on his way back to Peng Cheng from Beijing. He hadn’t seen his wife and child for five full months, and when he finally squeezed out sometime, they spent a day and a half of his two days in Shang Du arguing about this!
It was just a house—so what if he bought it? He hadn’t spent the money on anything else.
He had wanted to spend time with his wife and child, but Li Fengmei kept fixating on this issue. Although Liu Yong hadn’t argued with her, he was holding in his anger… It wasn’t easy making money outside, having to worry about projects, hired workers, whether clients would pay, and whether they could get new business.
Necessary social engagements were unavoidable, and treating people to drinks and meals was common. Liu Yong often returned home drunk after these occasions. Especially when going out with Liu Tianquan, there were women serving drinks at the venues they visited. While drinking wasn’t a problem, he had never touched any of those women.
Liu Tianquan had teased him about being afraid of his wife, but Liu Yong hadn’t said anything.
He believed he had maintained his integrity, yet Li Fengmei had doubted even this during their argument—how could Liu Yong not be angry?
Buying property was a good thing, yet it had caused Liu Yong and Li Fengmei to fight—how could Xia Xiaolan have anticipated this? Previously, even when Liu Yong was away for months, the couple had never fought over such things—what had changed now? Xia Xiaolan could only think it was about the “money.”
Having failed to mediate the marital conflict, Xia Xiaolan quickly brought up her matter, telling Liu Fen about wanting to buy a house in Beijing.
Liu Fen was mentally prepared—studying at the university in Beijing meant hopefully working there afterward.
Having heard that it was difficult for young workers to get housing allocated by their work units, Liu Fen completely supported Xia Xiaolan’s plan to buy a house in Beijing, knowing Xia Xiaolan would settle there in the future.
“We need to buy one, but do you have enough money? I heard from your uncle that his house cost 60,000 yuan!”
This was a concerned mother speaking.
Over the past year and more, Xia Xiaolan has always respected Liu Fen. Although most of the money was earned by Xia Xiaolan, she would always consult Liu Fen about how to spend it. Later, Liu Fen herself didn’t want to manage the household accounts and couldn’t keep up with Xia Xiaolan’s business ideas. After Liu Yong’s precedent, Xia Xiaolan decided to try consulting with her mother before making decisions in the future.
“I want to buy a house in Beijing not only for our family to live in but also as an investment for property value appreciation. When we have spare money, I’ll continue investing in real estate. Uncle shares this thinking, and we got so excited we forgot to consult with Aunt…”
On the other end of the phone, Li Fengmei was listening in.
After Liu Fen hung up with Xia Xiaolan, she tried to persuade Li Fengmei: “Sister-in-law, you know my brother—he hasn’t fooled around with other women all these years, how could he do anything to wrong you? You heard what Xiaolan said, you should call your husband.”
Li Fengmei gritted her teeth, “I won’t call. If he wrongs us mother and son down south, I’ll take Taotao and divorce him to return to my parent’s home!”
Liu Fen, already not good with words, became even more unsure of how to persuade her.
…
“Brother Liu, how many times have I approached you about our partnership? If you keep avoiding it, it’s disheartening… Come, let’s drink!”
After fighting with Li Fengmei, when Liu Tianquan invited him for drinks, Liu Yong went.
Previously, Liu Tianquan would urge him to drink, but this time Liu Yong was drinking enthusiastically on his own. Seeing his gloom, Liu Tianquan acted even more like a caring big brother.
Though Liu Yong was tight-lipped, he was no match for an old hand like Liu Tianquan.
Just from a few hints, Liu Tianquan guessed most of the situation.
“Brother, you can’t give women at home too much face. Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. The more you lower yourself and indulge them, the more you encourage the tigress’s authority.”
Liu Tianquan chuckled, “Let Big Brother introduce you to someone gentle.”
Liu Yong was already seventy percent drunk but instinctively refused. Liu Tianquan clapped his hands, and a young woman entered the room, sitting down beside Liu Yong.