Chapter 73 - 62: Concerns

Zhou Jiao really needs to think carefully. After all, she’s from the future and understands the upcoming trend better than anyone else. Her dad also has this undercover identity, which is quite a hurdle. Her mom didn’t expect this, so she has to plan ahead. "Mom, look, your daughter has never asked anything from you. Can you fulfill one need of mine this time? Just one. I love calligraphy the most. Can I ask Dad or Grandpa for a piece of calligraphy from that person? Can they? No need for those poems, just having ’Zhou Xiaozheng is a good comrade’ is fine, and if it includes ’enduring humiliation for the sake of the greater good’ and ’pillar of the country,’ even better. I want to keep it as our family heirloom for Ping’an. Let my descendants know the hardships of their forebears. Know that his grandpa was also amazing and even praised by the leader. Do you think Grandpa has one too? Later, let Grandpa also get one for Uncle. This will make the Lin Family the first in Beijing to receive such praise from him." Zhou Jiao stared at her mom with starry eyes, ready to cry if she didn’t agree. "Alright, I’ll talk to your dad when I see him, okay? I’ll tell your Grandpa to get it; he’ll definitely get it for you. We’ll get several copies for you. That’s not important now; first, take a look at what I’ve prepared for you." Oh, Mom, you’re still saying it’s not important. What’s so nice about those broken houses of yours? You can’t even go to see them in Beijing. And the foreign money can’t be accessed now, visible but untouchable. "This address and password are for the foreign bank, and there’s another password for the safe. This key you have to keep safe; it opens the safe. Just this key, don’t lose it, it’s very troublesome to replace. Don’t tell National Day about this. He only needs to know there’s money. This is the biggest fund Mom has set aside for your fallback. Don’t tell your dad either, or if he asks me to hand it over, we’re doomed. This was given to me by my eldest aunt, who never married. She secretly transferred all her foreign assets to me on her deathbed." She carefully instructed Jiao Jiao. If lost, explaining overseas assets will be very troublesome. Zhou Jiao solemnly placed the key and the small notebook together at the bottom of the small wooden box from her grandma; these are not to see the light of day. "Mom, when you have time, tell me my grandaunt’s story. How can someone unmarried have so much wealth? She must be a legendary woman. Since she acquired overseas assets, she must be a capable woman." Lin Lishan stroked Jiao Jiao’s head, sighed, and said, "That’s why women need to meet a good man. She couldn’t bear the heartbreak and died young. Ah, I won’t speak of her now. I’ll tell you when I have time. Pretend you don’t know her even if someone asks, except for your grandma’s family, the Gu Family. Nobody knows she’s an orphan from the Gu Family. So even if the Gu Family mentions her, pretend you don’t know. No one knows I had any connection with her. I was only 8 when I met her, running out to play every day as part of the children’s group." Zhou Jiao nodded to show she understood. Her mom didn’t feel like talking about it, so she decided she’d ask another time. "These 10 pieces are deposit slips, nameless, and can be withdrawn anytime. For your convenience, I didn’t put them all together. Over the years, the rent and the New Year’s cash gifts from your Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle and Aunt, second uncle, and little aunt, I’ve deposited all the cash gifts here. When there’s time, go to Beijing and retrieve them to store separately." Zhou Jiao opened it to check; together, the 10 slips were nearly ten thousand yuan. She puzzledly looked up at her mom, "Mom, did you put all your money into these? Keep these for yourself in case you need them. I’m not there anyway, so having them with me doesn’t help." "No need, I have money. These deposit slips are all yours. Look at the dates on them, it’s just that they accumulate over many years so they look like a lot." "Besides rent and New Year’s cash gifts, how can there be so much?" Lin Lishan turned her eyes away sheepishly, "Well, I saw that some people take their kids for big meals and buy them gifts on their birthdays. Gifts I can send to you. But since your dad and I are not around, I just converted them into cash and stored it in the bank annually. I packed them as silver dollars before Jiefang, later storing them in the bank." Zhou Jiao bowed her head, asked faintly, "And what about the remaining three slips?" When asked about the three deposits, Lin Lishan excitedly shared, not noticing her daughter’s anomaly, "I earned extra money bringing gifts back from trips abroad for others three times. How about that, your mom is amazing, right? No one knows about it; I secretly kept it all for you. From now on, I can give you gifts without saving up money." Listening to her mom’s cheerful chatter, Zhou Jiao took a deep breath to cover her emotions, smiled normally with her head slightly lowered while watching her, looking away to peek at her son as her nose began to tingle, "Then Mom, you need to consider if your wallet is thick enough. How about you carry these deposit slips with you just in case?" Lin Lishan burst out laughing, "I told you, Mom doesn’t lack money. All my salary is stored with your Grandma anyway. You figure it out, my salary is over a hundred a month and I eat and live in the cafeteria. Besides sending your grandpa 20 yuan a month, I still have savings. Even if I travel abroad with the group, besides the safe being inaccessible, I remember the passbook’s password. Don’t worry, others think your mom is a spendthrift daughter-in-law because they don’t know our family’s wealth. Plus, those military families have a lot of burdens. Our family doesn’t have much burden. Your Grandma just keeps my money." "Here are some cloth tickets, the ones I got from your Grandma and the ones I have. Use what you like or give away the ones you don’t find useful." Zhou Jiao slowly calmed her emotions, looked at her mom, "No need to give them away, just keep it. You should also bring some back for Grandma. Too many people with eyes can be enough, no need to flaunt wealth. You gave me 600 yuan of foreign exchange vouchers in the letter, and I haven’t used them yet. But Mom, giving them to me like this makes me feel like a pauper, haha." "Give your foreign exchange vouchers to Mom, and I’ll see if I can find anything nice for you these days. You see, you’re too thrifty. How come you don’t buy a good watch, even National Day doesn’t have one? Luckily, your mom is clever. I brought some watches back from abroad last time, and when I heard you got married, I kept the most expensive pair of couple watches for you. Let me find them; I remember bringing them along; they should be among the gifts for the baby. Also, your room lacks some things; I need to check. Too bad you’re in confinement; otherwise, we could go together." She said, looking regretfully at her daughter. "Mom, don’t buy too much. Wait until we move to the city next year to add things." "Alright, I know. Aren’t you moving in spring next year? You won’t need it when you come back, right? As for going back to the city, we’ll talk about it another time. Just bring some foreign exchange vouchers to use next time with your dad. I know you want to keep a low profile, don’t worry, your mom will definitely keep a low profile this time." Zhou Jiao teased her, "Mom, you’re getting vulgar, the scent of a nouveau riche is already showing. Keeping a low profile, huh? People will call me a golden baby again."