Chapter 157
It all started at the dinner table when Tian's mother asked Tian Hao to pay for next month's household expenses.
Tian Hao swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "It's okay to pay the household expenses. Mom, you have to tell us how you spent this month's money and how much is left as we agreed before."
Mother Tian looked reluctant and looked at Father Tian for advice.
Mr. Tian glanced at his eldest and second sons, then nodded to his mother. "Since they want to know how the money they handed in was spent, just tell them."
Tian's mother said reluctantly: "This month you paid a total of 23 yuan. You spent 14 yuan on food, meals and daily necessities. Give..."
"Wait a minute," Tian Hao interrupted Tian's mother. "What vegetables and daily necessities did you buy? It cost fourteen dollars? Mom, do you remember the account? If you don't, then just talk and it's whatever you say. How is this different from before?"
Brother Tian nodded: "That's right. Mom, you have to keep a record, otherwise no one except you will know whether what you said is true or not."
"Bring your account here." said Tian's father.
Tian's mother had no choice but to go to the cabinet and take out the account book she had kept.
Tian Hao was the first to grab it and open it.
Although Tian's mother didn't know many words, she could still do basic accounting. Tian Hao guessed and recognized what Tian's mother remembered.
"Mom, you spent one dollar and ten cents to buy twenty eggs. Where did the eggs go? I didn't eat any of them." Tian Hao asked.
"I used a few of them for cooking, and locked the rest in the food cabinet." Tian's mother said.
"How many did you use to cook? How many are left?" Tian Hao asked.
"I used six for cooking, and there are fourteen left." Tian's mother replied reluctantly.
"That's not right! As far as I remember, we only had fried eggs with chili peppers once, and there were only a few eggs that time, which was not enough for us. If we used six eggs, how could it not be enough for everyone?" Tian Hao said.
Mrs. Tian also remembered: "We did make chili scrambled eggs once, but you only gave us two eggs that time! Right, sister-in-law?"
Mrs. Tian Er didn't know what she was thinking about, and said with an embarrassed look: "Uh... well..."
"Mom, where are the other four eggs? Did you and Dad eat them secretly?" Tian Hao asked his mother.
Tian's mother was furious: "How could your father and I eat in private? Erxiang caught a cold some time ago, and the doctor said he needed to eat more. I gave your sister-in-law four eggs and asked her to make egg custard for Erxiang to nourish his body."
Tian Hao dragged out the last syllable and said "Oh" meaningfully, "So it was used on my second brother and his wife's family."
"Your second brother has also left home. Erxiang is our own child. He has a cold. Don't you even give him an egg to eat?" Tian's mother said angrily.
Tian Hao said: "I also went out to work. The money I spent on work before was the same as my second brother's. I didn't even see you give me eggs when I had a cold."
Mother Tian was choked and quickly said, "You are an adult, why are you comparing yourself with a child?"
Tian Hao put this matter aside for now, he noticed another thing.
"I remember Erxiang went to the hospital, and the medical expenses were paid by you, Mom and Dad, right? Why isn't it recorded in the account book?"
Tian's mother, Tian's second brother, and Tian's second wife all looked a little flustered.
At that time, they took Erxiang to the health center for treatment. There were only four of them, and Tian Hao was not there at all. How did he know that the medical money was paid by Tian's mother and others?
In fact, Tian Hao didn't know about this at all, he was just lying on purpose.
He knew that, given the personalities of his parents and his second brother's family, the money would most likely come from his parents. He hadn't expected that he would actually be able to trick them out.
"Brother and sister-in-law, how much did Erxiang spend on medical treatment?" Tian Hao asked.
Mrs. Tian pursed her lips and said, "Fifty cents."
"It's definitely not recorded in this account book!" Tian Hao asked, "Then which account book is this money recorded in? It seems that not only is the record less, but it's not necessarily true whether each category really spent that much money."
Tian Hao said this deliberately, and then noticed another place in the account book.
"Enamel cups, enamel basins, towels, toothbrushes, who are you buying these for? You're not buying them for my eldest brother's family, are you?" Tian Hao said.
This time it was Tian's mother, elder brother Tian, and elder sister-in-law Tian who looked a little flustered.
Tian Hao continued, "No wonder Daxiang's enamel cup and toothbrush were new. It turns out they were bought with the household allowance we gave him."
Brother Tian chuckled, "Mom saw that Daxiang's enamel cup and toothbrush were broken, so she bought him new ones."
Tian Hao said "Oh" and said, "Your enamel basin and towel are broken, and you asked your parents to buy them too?"
Mrs. Tian was a little unhappy: "Little brother, look at what you said, we paid the household allowance, how can it be considered as the money paid by our parents?"
When Mrs. Tian Er heard what Mrs. Tian Da said, she nodded vigorously and agreed: "Yes, we paid a full ten yuan for the household expenses, how can it be considered as money paid by my parents."
Tian Hao said slowly, "This month, it just so happened that my eldest brother's family needed to replace some daily necessities, and my second brother's son, Erxiang, was sick. You all spent the money from the household allowances you gave us, and it was almost all spent. However, it's not always the case that both families have problems every month. In other words, there will always be one family that will take more money out of the household allowances everyone gave us to spend. And this money is spent without anyone noticing, because Mom doesn't always keep a record, and even if she did, it would be false. Only the parties involved know the exact amount of money spent by each family."
Tian Hao bent his fingers and tapped them on the account book, then continued, "I'm the worst off. When I'm sick, my parents won't spend money on me; when something I use breaks, my parents won't spend money on me to replace it. You all can use the money you pay for household expenses, but I can't. I'm going to stop paying this household allowance starting next month."
Mrs. Tian was anxious: "How could you not pay! You only paid three yuan. Even if your parents wanted to give you some money, they don't have your money to use!"
"That's right!" Mrs. Tian Er quickly agreed.
Brother Tian, Brother Tian II, as well as Tian's father and mother, had the same idea.
Tian Hao smiled: "You forgot, before I paid three dollars for household allowance, I paid ten dollars for three or four years. I paid so much for household allowance before, how much money was spent on me, and how much money was secretly spent by my parents on you two families? I won't settle this account with you, but it doesn't mean I know nothing. When the past accounts are settled, I will start paying the household allowance again."
"Little brother, our parents gave birth to us and raised us, so it's only right for us to pay more money to them. There's no reason for us not to pay for household expenses." said Brother Tian.
Brother Tian nodded in agreement.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
