Chapter 41 The Returned Household Items
During lunch break, the canteen of the Justice Bureau was bustling with people.
Lin Xili and Wen Qing sat by the window, eating a simple lunch.
The phone screen next to me suddenly lit up; it was a bank deposit notification—my salary for this month had arrived.
Looking at the string of numbers, Lin Xili paused slightly in her hand holding the chopsticks.
She thought of Huo Nanchen's salary of less than four thousand yuan after deducting social insurance and housing fund contributions, and Grandma Huo's hard work in running and managing the guesthouse.
A vague sense of family responsibility quietly began to grow in her heart.
Legally, they are husband and wife, even if, as Huo Nanchen said, they are just living together as a couple.
Moreover, she didn't spend a single penny on living expenses in the small town for several months.
Huo Nanchen once said that his kindness to her was a husband's duty and obligation to his wife.
Therefore, sharing household expenses should also be a responsibility and obligation that a wife owes to her husband.
She opened WeChat, found Huo Nanchen's chat window, and directly transferred 5,000 yuan.
And in the notes, I simply wrote two words: 【Household】
Sitting opposite her, Wen Qing, with her sharp eyes, immediately noticed her actions and was so shocked she almost choked on her soup, exclaiming in a low voice:
"Xi Li, you...you transferred money to him? And so much? Five thousand yuan?"
Lin Xili put down her phone. "Yes, we're a married couple. His salary isn't high, so I also have an obligation and responsibility to help with household expenses."
"Besides, Grandma is getting old, and running a bed and breakfast is not easy."
"My God!" Wen Qing looked at her with an expression of pity for her.
"Xi Li, wake up! What kind of logic is it for a woman to pay money to support a man?"
“He’s a grown man, with hands and feet, and he’s a doctor. How can we let you supplement our income? What kind of talk would that make?”
Lin Xili disagreed with her.
“We’re married. As his wife, I should take on the household expenses no matter what. I can’t let him pay for them, and it’s not something I can disclose to him.”
Wen Qing ignored her statement and still felt that she should try to secure the best possible benefits for Lin Xili.
She leaned closer and said, "By the way, his thyroid treatment skills are quite impressive. Even if we're not thinking about the present, we should at least plan for the future, right?"
"How can we maintain a long-term separation?"
"Why don't you persuade him to work hard and get into the Xiangjiang City Hospital? With his abilities, it shouldn't be too difficult for him to get in, right?"
"The salary, benefits, and career prospects at a city hospital are nowhere near what a rural clinic can offer."
"When the salary is higher, you won't need to subsidize it, and you won't have to live apart anymore. Isn't that the best of both worlds?"
Wen Qing's words represent the most universal economic values.
Upward mobility improves the economy and ends the cycle of living apart from one's hometown.
This sounds reasonable and beyond reproach.
Lin Xili listened in silence, without immediately refuting.
She knew Wen Qing meant well, and Wen Qing's suggestion about maintaining distance wasn't without merit.
Getting Huo Nanchen to take the exam and come to the city is indeed the most direct and effective way to change the current situation.
However, Huo Nanchen has an incredibly deep affection for the town, after all, it is the place where he was born and raised.
It's perfectly understandable that he wants to give back to his hometown after completing his studies.
Huo Nanchen respects her career, and she should also respect Huo Nanchen's choices.
Besides, she can't be so selfish. Her hyperthyroidism is cured, yet she takes his care for granted.
She couldn't bring herself to give up the small town and her grandmother to live in this unfamiliar place.
At 12 noon, the Lixiang Township Health Center had just finished its morning rounds of patients and was having lunch.
Huo Nanchen was about to go to the cafeteria when his phone vibrated.
He opened WeChat and saw Lin Xili's transfer message and a glaring "household" note.
His brows furrowed into a deep frown, and a clear hint of displeasure flashed across his usually calm, dark eyes.
Without the slightest hesitation, he tapped the screen and selected "Refund Now".
Then he sent a message back: "No need, keep it for yourself."
Lin Xili's reply came quickly.
Grandma's bed and breakfast didn't make much money, and there were always expenses at home; it's my duty as a wife to help.
Upon seeing this message, Huo Nanchen's brows furrowed even more.
He could almost picture her on the other side of the screen, looking serious and trying to fulfill some kind of wifely duty.
This feeling of being subsidized stirred up a strange, unpleasant emotion within him.
He paused for a few seconds, then forcefully typed out a series of sentences:
I don't have the habit of spending women's money.
The message was sent successfully. Huo Nanchen put his phone back in his pocket, got up and walked towards the cafeteria, his face regaining its usual calm.
In the canteen of the Hong Kong Municipal Bureau of Justice, Lin Xili looked at the message on the screen: "I don't have the habit of spending women's money."
And the transfer that had already been returned left her stunned.
An indescribable bitterness welled up in my heart.
She transferred money to him not out of charity, nor to show off.
It's simply based on a simple family concept that husband and wife should share responsibilities.
She even carefully considered the amount; five thousand yuan was almost a month's salary for him.
It can serve as a subsidy without appearing too deliberate or hurting one's self-esteem.
But his reaction was so direct, so decisive, carrying a cold, hard edge of being offended.
It still hurt his pride as a man.
"He didn't accept it." Lin Xili looked up and said to Wen Qing, who was looking at her, with some disappointment.
"See? I told you, men without money are more chauvinistic and have a stronger sense of self-esteem!"
Wen Qing immediately found evidence to support her point: "I grew up in our town and know it best. The tourism industry has only developed in recent years and it's not a popular tourist destination."
"To put it bluntly, it's still a poor rural area, so young people don't want to stay there at all; they all want to go to big cities to improve themselves."
"As for him, it's been five years, and he hasn't even thought about taking the exam to get into the county. If he had any ambition and wasn't content with the status quo, he should have left long ago."
"I have no idea what you're after when you married him."
"Alright, Wen Qing, stop talking." Lin Xili interrupted his friend's incessant chatter.
“This is between him and me, and I believe he has his reasons.”
Seeing that she was about to get angry, Wen Qing didn't say anything more and buried her head in her rice.
Lin Xili simply turned off her phone screen and silently finished the food on her plate.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com