Chapter 281 (Chapter 1) Such a housewife is not...
The joyous Spring Festival passed in the blink of an eye, and the Tang and Fu families returned to Shenzhen.
After this year, it's unlikely that Madam Fu will have a strong desire to go back anymore.
Of the many familiar old men and women in the compound, half have passed away over the years.
When I went back this year, I couldn't even gather enough people to play cards.
It's so sad that I have fewer and fewer old friends every year.
In April 1997, the Fu family chose an auspicious day to move into their new home.
Moving house starts with moving your belongings, and with such a commotion, it's impossible for someone not to notice.
He Xiaojuan, who had lost touch with them much, couldn't help but come upstairs and ask as they carried large and small bags downstairs, "Are you moving out?"
This question is somewhat of a rhetorical one. With so much stuff being moved out, it can't be because there's too much stuff and nowhere to put it.
But for some reason, she subconsciously hoped that Tang Mingli and the others wouldn't move away.
Although the other party might not like her that much, He Xiaojuan knew in her heart that this family was probably the most righteous in the whole building.
The last time her husband hit her, only they rushed over to stop him; the whole family came.
Having such a righteous neighbor makes me feel much more at ease.
At least if her husband dared to beat her like last time, she wouldn't be afraid of being beaten to death, because the Fu family would definitely not stand idly by.
Now that they're moving away, He Xiaojuan felt an indescribable sadness.
Hopefully they're just moving things and not actually moving them away.
Tang Mingli didn't particularly like this neighbor, but she didn't dislike him either.
Although He Xiaojuan is a bit too outgoing and annoying, she's also quite perceptive when she senses your impatience. So, in Tang Mingli's mind, she's a neighbor with whom she needs to maintain a certain distance, but with whom she can get along fairly harmoniously.
In my past life, I lived in a rented apartment, and the neighbors I encountered were truly indescribable oddities.
Not only do they like to occupy public areas, but they also often fail to throw away their trash in time, attracting cockroaches and ants.
Looking back on those days, I really don't know how I got through them.
She smiled at He Xiaojuan and replied, "Yes, our new house has been renovated for a long time, and we plan to move in soon. We're moving some things now."
He Xiaojuan's last bit of hope was shattered, and her first thought was that no one would care if her husband beat her to death.
However, she still managed a forced smile and congratulated them, saying, "Congratulations on moving to your new house."
Tang Mingli smiled; she could tell she was upset.
Their relationship wasn't exactly good, so why was she upset about their move?
However, she didn't think much about it and continued packing after He Xiaojuan left.
After a truckload of stuff was hauled away, half the house was empty.
I used to think the place was small, but now it looks rather empty.
A few days after moving their belongings, the auspicious day for moving was set, and Tang Mingli and her family officially moved into their new villa.
They didn't hold a grand housewarming ceremony; they simply invited Tang Mingmei's family and Gu Lin and her siblings to have a meal together.
After the housewarming party, Gu Wei and Tian Xiao'e were deeply affected.
The previous house was beautiful enough, but it still couldn't compare to the new home.
The thought that Fu Ci's family had already moved to two new houses, each one more beautiful than the last, while the couple was still living in a cramped rental room that could barely fit a bed, made it seem as if they were living in two different worlds.
On the way back, Tian Xiao'e asked her husband, "How come it's so easy for Fu Ci to make money?"
Gu Wei had no idea how to answer that. If he knew, he could have made just as much money.
"That's true." Tian Xiao'e smiled.
She must have been so envious that she lost her mind to ask such a question.
"You mean they already have a place to live, so why do they keep buying more houses? They've only lived in their previous house for a few years, and now they're moving to a new one. What will happen to the old house?"
Gu Wei found his wife's words particularly funny.
"What to do? Just leave it there."
Tian Xiao'e said, "It's such a waste to leave it there."
As she spoke, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and she stopped in her tracks, excitedly grabbing her husband's arm.
"What are you doing?" Gu Wei asked, puzzled by his wife's change in attitude. "Hurry up and let's go. Didn't you want to go shopping before going back?"
Now, Tian Xiao'e has no time to go shopping.
Her eyes lit up as she asked her husband, "Do you think if we ask my aunt, could we borrow that house we used to live in?"
Before Gu Wei could answer, Gu Lin, who had been silent all along, quickly said, "Sister-in-law, you mustn't even think about that. How could someone lend out such a nice house?"
"We are relatives."
"It is precisely because they are relatives that we cannot ask for this, otherwise we may lose our relationship."
"Why? The house is just sitting empty anyway."
Gu Lin couldn't understand why her usually clever sister-in-law would suddenly be so confused. She guessed she was so envious she'd lost her mind.
She reminded her sister-in-law of a simple truth: "Whether it's empty or not, it's still someone else's house."
It's someone else's property; they can do whatever they want with it. What right do outsiders have to interfere, let alone covet it?
Gu Lin earnestly reminded her sister-in-law: "Sister-in-law, you have to have a sense of boundaries. The fact that we are able to establish ourselves in Shenzhen is already thanks to the help of my cousin Fu Ci."
This mention of boundaries instantly brought Tian Xiao'e to her senses, and she hurriedly said, "Look at me, I must have had a couple of drinks at the dinner table and got a little tipsy. Just pretend you didn't hear anything, but please don't let it get back to Fu Ci."
If someone can afford to move to a bigger house, that's their ability.
When she and her husband have that ability, they will also be able to live in a big house.
If you never have one, living in a tiny house is perfectly acceptable.
One should not be too greedy. Thanks to Fu Ci's help, the couple was already much more successful than their neighbors in the same alley.
At least their children can have new clothes all year round back in their hometown. At least they can go back home for the Spring Festival with big bags and big packages, looking very impressive. At least their savings accounts no longer have pitiful amounts of tens or hundreds of yuan.
Thinking about the amount in her savings account, Tian Xiao'e felt incredibly satisfied.
Who would have thought that Tian Xiao'e would one day become a millionaire?
They saved up together as a couple, which is why they saved so quickly. But she thought her sister-in-law must also have a lot of money, since she started working two years earlier than them.
However, my sister-in-law has been signing up for various training courses lately, which must have cost her quite a bit of money.
Tian Xiao'e originally didn't want to get involved in these matters, but since she thought of them today, she couldn't help but offer a few words of advice to her sister-in-law.
“Gu Lin, I’m not trying to stop you from being ambitious, but those training courses are really expensive, you…”
Tian Xiao'e didn't dare to say too much, and just chuckled.
However, Gu Lin understood what her sister-in-law meant and told her, "Sister-in-law, I know what I'm doing. Actually, the training course I signed up for wasn't expensive. It only costs one month's salary for half a year, and I can learn a lot. I think it's worth it."
A month's salary for teaching for half a year seems acceptable.
Tian Xiao'e said nothing more.
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Let's go back to Tang Mingli.
After moving here, the children's school is much farther away, so she decided to buy two women's motorcycles so that her mother-in-law could occasionally pick up and drop off the children.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law spent a long time at the motorcycle shop before finally choosing to buy Mulan.
It's said to be a choice, but there aren't actually that many choices. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been possible to make a decision in just half a day.
Once the motorcycle was bought, I started practicing.
The road in front of the villa is straight and wide, and there aren't many people around, so it's a good place to practice driving.
At first, Fu's mother didn't have much confidence.
She only had the courage to try it after seeing her husband learn it so easily.
Strangely enough, she couldn't learn to drive a car no matter what she tried, but she learned to ride a motorcycle very quickly.
After driving two laps, she excitedly told her family members standing by the roadside, "Learning to ride a women's motorcycle is easier than learning to ride a bicycle."
This is no exaggeration. When I was learning to ride a bicycle, I would often wobble and fall off, but with a motorcycle, I could just twist the throttle and it would go forward.
She had only ridden two laps, but she already thought she was an expert.
However, despite her confidence, she still had to be meticulous when it came to driving a motorcycle to pick up and drop off her granddaughter, practicing until she was absolutely sure of herself.
Before Fu Mu's training reached perfection, the responsibility of picking up and dropping off the children fell entirely on Tang Mingli.
Picking up and dropping off the kids, grocery shopping, cleaning – these ordinary tasks suddenly seem magnified.
Perhaps this is the pain of living in a big villa.
Two weeks later, she began to show signs of fatigue.
This can't go on. We need to find two nannies as soon as possible, at least to completely get rid of the housework.
While she was feeling physically and mentally exhausted, her colleagues, Fu Cheng'an and Madam Fu, were enjoying their time more and more.
Fu Cheng'an, a grown man, never imagined that he would be led into the world of vegetable growing by his mother at this age.
He spent three days turning over the entire plot of land in the backyard and, with his mother's guidance, successfully planted the seeds.
From that day on, the mother and son paid special attention to this vegetable garden.
Watering, weeding, fertilizing—they put their hearts into everything they did.
Even when there was nothing for me to take care of, the two of them would come to the vegetable garden to observe whenever they had free time.
Their observations are so meticulous that they can even notice how much taller the seedlings have grown since yesterday.
At the dinner table that day, Fu Cheng'an enthusiastically talked to his family about his vegetable garden.
“The bok choy has grown this tall.” Fu Cheng’an raised his right hand, pointing with his index finger and thumb to indicate a height of about ten centimeters. “Mom said that at this rate, we might be able to eat the vegetables we grew ourselves in less than half a month.”
Madam Fu chimed in with a smile, "Cheng'an has a real talent for growing vegetables; he takes excellent care of this vegetable patch."
Fu Cheng'an chuckled and said, "It's also thanks to my mother's guidance that I was able to grow it."
"You also need talent, otherwise even Shennong couldn't grow it with his guidance."
These compliments made Fu Cheng'an even happier.
Tang Mingli felt genuinely envious looking at her happy father-in-law and grandmother.
The life of growing flowers and vegetables in old age is truly enviable.
Fu Ci noticed the fatigue in her eyes. After dinner, her father and grandmother went to check on their vegetable garden. While her mother was playing with Fu Yu in the front yard, she finally had a chance to ask with concern, "You seemed a little unhappy at the dinner table. Do you not like Dad and Grandma growing vegetables in the backyard?"
"How could that be?" Tang Mingli quickly explained, "I told the designer that the backyard was for growing vegetables."
"That is..."
"I'm just a little tired."
Tang Mingli spoke the truth.
It's fortunate that she's been a pampered housewife for the past twenty years; if she had continued like this, she would have gone back to work in the second month.
She was so tired that she couldn't tell whether being a housewife or a corporate slave was more tiring.
Hearing his wife say she was tired, Fu Ci became even more nervous.
"Is your house too big, and cleaning it too tiring?"
"Yes, I have both." Tang Mingli pinched the bridge of her nose.
However, this situation should be coming to an end soon. She contacted a housekeeping company, which promised to recommend two suitable housekeepers to her within a week.
Fu Ci said with heartache, "It was my oversight. I should have hired a housekeeper before moving."
Tang Mingli laughed and said to him, "You're already busy with work. If you have to worry about these things too, you might as well just let me be a useless person."
If we have to say she was inconsiderate, then it was her fault.
However, she had been too optimistic, thinking that she could take her time finding a place after moving in.
After all, I lived there for several years without hiring a housekeeper, and I didn't find it too hard.
But living in a big villa without a housekeeper is really impossible, absolutely impossible.
Fortunately, it will be available in a week.
She could hold on for a week.
However, the housekeeping company was more efficient than she expected. She didn't have to wait a week; they introduced two housekeepers to her a few days later.
Indeed, professional tasks should be handled by professionals. If you try to find something suitable on your own like a blind fly, who knows when you'll ever find it.
A professional company can handle things differently; they can send the person over in just a few days.
However, two days later, she was dismayed to find that she had been too happy.
These two aunties are far inferior to Zhang Guihua.
Is her expectation too high?
With a nanny like Zhang Guihua in the past, it's really hard to lower the standards.
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Author's note: According to my research, housekeeping companies only appeared in Shenzhen at the end of 1997. But Mingli is too tired, let's lift her up a bit.
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