11. One person made the decision.
Zhuang Jia's reaction this time was unexpected by Yi Yi.
But in the end, most of the money that should have been spent, and the money that shouldn't have been spent, will be spent.
Yi Yi once asked him, "You're not really stingy, so why do you always talk so meanly? It makes people uncomfortable."
Zhuang Jia responded frankly at the time: "I've always been a calculating person, and it makes me feel better to say it out loud."
Therefore, whenever there is a large expense, Yi Yi always has the illusion of "asking for money". Even when she was still working, she was always told why she didn't discuss it first or that it was too expensive. Although Zhuang Jia would always say "then buy it" if it was something Yi Yi really wanted, she seemed a little reluctant.
But this time, when Yi Yi said that Gun Gun and Haha were going to study abroad in the United States during the Spring Festival, Zhuang Jia chuckled.
"What did you buy this time?" Yi Yi's heart tightened, and she subconsciously looked around the customer room, afraid that some huge thing might pop out from the corner.
Zhuang Jia always surprised Yi Yi like this. Five cases of water, three buckets of oil, 100 jin of rice, four large bags of noodles, three boxes of toilet paper… Yi Yi could tolerate these, after all, they could be used up, even if it took a while. But sometimes, it was this kind of surprise: I like to eat breakfast where the sunlight comes in, so a small table appeared by the living room window; it's easy to catch a cold after sweating while exercising outside in winter, so a treadmill appeared by the bedroom window; sitting by the window to read and drink tea is especially blissful, so a single sofa appeared in another corner by the living room window…
“Let’s go to America for Chinese New Year!” Zhuang Jia’s eyes lit up.
"Huh?" Yi thought she had misheard. She expected the response to be "Why waste money?" or "What does a child that young know?"
"Micro study abroad?"
“Let’s forget about that. It’s just the holidays here, and school starts again over there. Let’s give the kids some free time and space.” On this point, Yi Yi was unusually in agreement with him. Although she sometimes felt anxious, worried that her “unconventional” approach might hinder her child, Zhuang Jia’s words always reassured her: “You don’t need to deliberately cultivate gifted children. Those who are deliberately cultivated will collapse even faster once the external support is gone.”
“Besides, neither of us are geniuses. Our IQs are what they are. Why should your kid be a genius? As an average kid who is slightly above average, it’s enough for him to study and live a carefree life.” Zhuang Jia got more and more excited as he spoke.
"Then..." Yi Yi was thinking, what should we do there?
Zhuang Jia chuckled twice, with a hint of pride in his voice: "I just snagged three discounted round-trip tickets to Los Angeles a few days ago, they were practically free! Let's go for a drive on Highway 1!"
"A few days ago?" Yi Yi caught the key phrase.
"Hehe." Zhuang Jia scratched his head, he was chuckling unusually often today. "Wasn't it because I was afraid you'd scold me?"
"I wouldn't dare complain about spending your money," Yi Yi said, but something felt off inside. She'd bought it without a second thought, and now she didn't dare say anything. Zhuang Jia seemed to read her mind, or perhaps she was simply showing off: "Getting tickets is all about speed! I found it casually after finishing overtime, saw the price was right, and immediately placed the order. Then I looked back, and it was gone!"
"Hmm!" Yi Yi responded faintly, the inexplicable unease in her heart spreading slowly like ink drops into water.
They were excitedly planning a family trip, going to a place many people dream of visiting, which should have been a cause for celebration. But this huge expense was presented as an "information" rather than a "discussion." Although he explained the urgency of securing the tickets and his subsequent anxiety, Yi Yi's lingering unease remained.
But she wouldn't admit her unhappiness. She would reflect on herself, wondering if she was being too dramatic, if she shouldn't think this way, if she should consider his feelings, if she should try to see things from his perspective... She thought about so many things, but she never considered that she was unhappy, and there was no question of whether she should or shouldn't have thought about it.
Sullenly, I picked up my phone, opened WeChat, and saw hundreds of messages in their "three-person group." What were those two doing?
Ding Xiaojuan sent the first message: "'Little White Rabbit' is down, do you still have unused course bags?"
"It's gone? Such a popular organization, it used to be. Luckily we got out early."
"You're lucky, I still have a few thousand yuan there. I thought I could always find the time, but it's really hard to find the time after moving. I wish you had helped me use it."
He Miao sent a facepalm emoji: "Don't even mention it, I just deposited 20,000 yuan in 'Fighting Beauty' and it's all gone now."
"Fighting Beauty has gone out of business too? I still have several thousand yuan left. How did you manage to deposit so much all of it?"
He Miao rolled her eyes. "I got scammed by a coach I'd been following for years. She said this was the most effective treatment, that physical fitness was crucial for kids after they started school, and that they needed to train harder because physical education accounts for 40 points on the high school entrance exam, blah blah blah... I figured I had to use it anyway, and I'd been using it with her all along. She also said she needed to generate revenue, so it was a win-win situation, and I agreed. But a week later, she said she was pregnant and quit her job, and a week after that, the company went bankrupt. I can't find her now."
...
Yi Yi silently did the math for the two of them, and wow, tens of thousands of yuan were gone just like that. She felt a little fortunate that her family was "stingy" and never prepaid large sums for lessons. But then, she remembered another thing she had never mentioned to anyone.
Several years ago, she went to a China Unicom store to change her plan. The salesperson promoted a promotion: deposit 599 yuan into "Huaxia Wanjia Financial Services" and receive a body fat scale as a gift. After 59 days, the principal could be withdrawn in full, which was equivalent to getting a scale for free.
Yi Yi didn't pay attention at first and said she didn't need it.
The salesperson was very attentive, taking out his phone to demonstrate: "Look, I participated myself, there's really no risk, and I can withdraw the money. You're a long-time customer of ours, so please help me complete this task."
Looking into the other party's earnest eyes, and knowing that China Unicom was such a big brand backing her, Yi Yi softened her heart and registered, deposited money, and took the body fat scale home under their guidance. Around that time, she had just started running, weighed herself and recorded her body fat percentage every day, which motivated her quite a bit.
More than two months later, she remembered she needed to withdraw the money. She opened the app, only to find it unusable. She tried contacting customer service, but there were thousands of people in the queue, and the wait was incredibly slow.
599 yuan wasn't much, and she was too lazy to bother with it; she considered it a lesson learned. But she didn't tell anyone, not even Zhuang Jia. She knew that if Zhuang Jia found out, she would definitely say, "Money doesn't grow on trees! Complain! Fight for your rights!"
But she felt it wasn't worth the effort and worry over such a small amount of money. So, she quietly buried this small, foolish mistake in her heart, almost forgetting about it. But today, He Miao and Ding Xiaojuan's "big pit" has stirred up this "small pit."
They suffered huge losses, yet they didn't seem to care much (at least on the surface). She, on the other hand, was so bothered by this small loss, even ashamed to mention it. She felt she wasn't "magnanimous" enough, nor "shrewd" enough.
"Is your micro-study abroad program okay?" she asked in the group chat, sounding somewhat worried. Overseas projects run by small agencies like this carry significant risks.
“It’s alright,” Ding Xiaojuan replied decisively. “I’ve known the organizer for many years and I trust him.”
Outside the window, dusk was falling. Yi Yi put down her phone and looked at Zhuang Jia, who was enthusiastically researching a Highway 1 travel guide.
The plane tickets were already bought, and the itinerary was basically set. Her slight displeasure seemed a bit "affected" compared to the tens of thousands of yuan in losses suffered by He Miao and Ding Xiaojuan. However, the subtle feeling of being excluded from major decisions, and the sense of loss of being "informed" rather than "invited" to participate in the planning, still lingered in her heart.
She took a deep breath and said to herself: "Cheer up, this is a rare family trip."
But another voice asks: Why do we need to convince ourselves to be "happy"?
She stood up, went to the kitchen, and prepared dinner. The familiar tasks helped her temporarily soothe the turmoil in her heart.
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