Chapter 2 - 1: Parents in This Life (2)

"Hmm, you have a point. I've been consistently sending my salary to my parents every month. They live in the countryside and don't spend much. I never really spent their money from childhood until now, so it balances out. No other girl in the countryside does what we do, sending money monthly and giving extra for holiday gifts. Plus, the 50,000 bridal dowry you gave at our wedding, and although our elder sister doesn't give as much, she still sends 5,000 to 10,000 a year. They're not short on money, really. Just look at my aunts, and you'll see no other daughter supports her family like we do. It's because you and brother-in-law are easygoing. Otherwise, why would they have had a younger brother? Weren't sons supposed to look after their parents? They used to say we sisters were worthless, yet they returned to the countryside, losing their jobs to have the younger brother. Now we still have to support him, his wife, and if they have kids, probably the whole family. Should I find someone to see if there's a suitable job for the younger brother? He should take on family responsibilities." Zhang Guoqing frowned, comforting her. "Don't bother! If you introduced him, he'd quit in less than two weeks due to his personality. How would you explain that? Even though brother-in-law got him a job with relatives, with a high salary of over 5,000. He ended up quitting in less than a month, complaining it was tiring. He thought that as a university graduate, he deserved an office job. Haha, my mom even thought brother-in-law was useless for not introducing a good job. Since then, no relative dares to introduce him anymore, fearing trouble." "Hmm, I'll listen to you. You make the decisions at home. We'll reach there after crossing this street." In fact, the countryside isn't worse off than the city now, with wide roads and new three-story houses on both sides. Most households have their exteriors tiled with white ceramics and have planted many fruit trees around. Relying on the dowry from Zhou Jiao and her sister, and her regular support, her father Zhou Dafu is much wealthier than his brothers. Their newly built rural home is a three-story villa with five rooms, shiny ceramic tiled walls, and let's not mention furniture inside. Their village has a custom; when a married daughter's parents move into a new house, daughters provide the furniture as gifts. Coupled with previous support, this house was essentially built by Zhou Jiao and her sister. Compared to the daughters of their uncles, everyone says Zhou Dafu is truly blessed, having such caring daughters and sons-in-law. Not to mention, during every festival, they drive down with plenty of gifts. Meanwhile, the cousins in their uncle's houses only moved into their husbands' homes. Everyone knows those cousins were spoiled and domineering, with sweet words and sharp hearts. You simply can't compare. Initially, their grandparents despised the childless eldest son and stayed with the younger son after the family separation. Later, when Zhou Dafu lost his job to have a son, he was blamed and criticized by his parents until Zhou Jiao got into college, where they actively tried to prevent it. If Zhou Jiao hadn't been smart back then, secretly arranging with Teacher Ma to start school early, she might have been forced to marry early for dowry money. So many things about the Zhou family are known around the village. But there's nothing to be done, as their daughters willingly choose to be filial. That's the way it is. See, today, on Aunt Zhou's 60th birthday, both daughters drove down early while their younger brother is still playing cards at the village supermarket. Zhou Jiao didn't actually want to come back, but if she didn't, her mom would go around the school crying everywhere. That's how she easily got the bridal dowry back then. It makes you wonder—how can someone who's a university lecturer not understand basic Chinese virtues? The office isn't calm either, with undercover knives and frost. No one believes just because your parents never raised you, you shouldn't support them, or needn't notify them about your marriage. You'll only understand the pain when the knife cuts your own hand. Reality is relentlessly forcing compromises. Zhang Guoqing believed in keeping life simple, so he gave the 50,000 dowry. But considering they asked for 150,000 just now, shouldn't they provide a dowry in return? Standing at the house gate after getting out of the car, Zhou Jiao's mind kept thinking about these matters. Her mother greeted Zhang Guoqing warmly. No choice, her youngest daughter wasn't soft-hearted, but fortunately, the youngest son-in-law truly treated her like his own mother. From the bottom of her heart, she liked her youngest son-in-law, unlike the elder, who was always cold-faced. Every time she went to the city, her youngest son-in-law would take her shopping. Sometimes, when work wasn't busy, he would drive her back to the village. She enjoyed going to her younger daughter's home; no in-laws made life easy. Plus, her son-in-law was considerate—benefits from work, like last year's Hainan tour, were gifted to them, along with 5,000 pocket money. Nothing more needed saying. It's fortunate her husband favored the orphaned younger son-in-law back then; otherwise, he might have married their daughter to the rich boss in the county town just for 200,000. Who knew if life would be this good? Rumor had it that boss had three different wives in three years. What her father said was true; just look at Zhou Jiao's second sister, slow and lifeless, speaking softly, but shrewd and calculative inside. She had long become uncontrollable by them. Oh, so they disagreed with her marriage then? If there hadn't been a dowry, she might have gone ahead and registered her marriage by now. Just like back then, who knew she got into university? Just when they were about to hold a banquet to celebrate, this girl quietly had her residency transferred and left for work, earning money to study at university. No one knew who this kid took after, making money from a young age. She never asked for tuition fees, more calculating than the eldest daughter. If it weren't for the younger son-in-law, this girl might have been deemed ungrateful. Her father did say, that the second daughter's household is managed by her. If she is truly filial, buying a house in the city, not just the county, is no problem. If Zhou Jiao knew her parents' thoughts, she'd probably be baffled. But even knowing wouldn't change her mind. She and her husband wouldn't go beyond what was agreed on. In a few months, since they were having a baby, the expenses would increase. Besides, her parents had savings, lived in a new house, and had no concerns about food and clothing. She felt she had done enough as a daughter. Of course, she didn't know yet that her maternal family had discussed, including her grandparents minus the eldest sister's family, that both sisters should buy a house. Otherwise, Zhou Jiao might have gotten in the car and returned to the city immediately.