Although it's a one-bedroom apartment, it's larger than a typical one-bedroom, and it also has a separate balcony. Sunlight streams in from the balcony every morning, and Song Xia imagines that Wei Zhu can study there.
Moreover, the room happened to have bunk beds, so it wouldn't be too crowded when sleeping. In the end, under Wei Deng's distressed gaze, Song Xia rented it for 800 yuan a month.
"Mom, that's eight hundred! And it's eight hundred every month. How can you bear to let the landlord earn so much money?"
Seeing that this small amount of money felt like a piece of his flesh, Song Xia couldn't help but put on a cold face.
Isn't this cutting off his flesh? In his mind, all the money in the house belongs to him, and everyone serves him. Now that there are extra 800 yuan to spend every month, isn't that the same as spending his money?
"The landlord has already offered the house at a very reasonable price."
"But you want to live in such a big house all by yourself? You can live in a smaller one."
"Don't I deserve a better living environment? With all these illnesses, if they flare up because of the poor living conditions, have you calculated how many hundreds of dollars we'll have to spend at the hospital? Besides, I'm planning to have your sister quit her job there and come here to develop her career, and then she can live with me."
"Make my sister quit? She's doing just fine right now, why would you make her quit?" Wei Deng was extremely unwilling. Who knew if she could find another job with such a high salary?
"Of course, it's to help your sister earn more money in the future. Besides, there are a lot of unmarried men in the factory where your sister works now. What if your sister gets lured away by a man from an average family if she spends too much time with them?"
Wei Deng was shocked upon hearing this. Back home, the minimum dowry was over 100,000 yuan. His mother had recently said that even high school students the same age as his sister were asking for 200,000 yuan. His sister was a college student, so wouldn't it be at least 300,000 yuan? If she ran off with a man from out of town, it would be truly…
He figured the house was already rented, so having another person stay there would be like paying nothing. So he said urgently, "It's time to get my sister out of that place, Mom. Call her right away."
"Alright, Mom will talk to your sister properly. Now Mom is going back to pack some luggage. I'll come to the provincial capital tomorrow, so you don't need to pick me up. Mom knows the place. Here are some wild vegetable pancakes that Mom made. Take them back to your dorm to eat."
"Okay, Mom, be careful on your way." Wei Deng took the pancake without much concern, looking at the cold pancake, wishing he could throw it away right now.
He said he wouldn't send her anything, and he really didn't. When they parted, he asked for money with a straight face: "Mom, give me another two thousand yuan for living expenses."
Song Xia frowned: "Mom, where are you going to get so much money? We just rented a place, and we haven't found a new job yet..."
Wei Deng angrily calculated, "Mom, do you want me to starve to death? It's just two thousand yuan. My sister just transferred four thousand five yesterday. Even if you just spent eight hundred on rent, you still have more than three thousand left, right?"
"Mom doesn't need to pay for the round trip from home to the provincial capital, right? And Mom even had a check-up. Okay. Here's five hundred for you. Use it sparingly. Mom needs to save some money for when you get married."
"If I don't have money to find a girlfriend, where will I find a wife in the future?" Wei Deng curled his lip. "Five hundred yuan is enough for several days!"
"Mom just checked the prices at the stir-fry restaurant. A bowl of twice-cooked pork with rice is only sixteen yuan. It's too expensive at school, so you can eat outside of school. Anyway, just be frugal. Mom really doesn't have any money right now. I've thought about it. You're only a freshman, so there's no rush to find a girlfriend. Focus on your studies first. We can talk about finding a girlfriend when you're a junior or senior."
Song Xia deliberately pouted as she spoke: "It's not that Mom is stingy with money, it's just that Mom is afraid you'll be deceived by girls. If you really can't afford to eat, come to Mom's place, Mom will cook for you. Isn't Mom's cooking better to your taste than the food in those restaurants? Come over a few times occasionally, and your classmates won't suspect anything. Listen to me, Mom is getting on the bus. Go back to school by yourself and take good care of yourself."
"Mom!" Wei Deng stared at Song Xia as she left, unable to believe that his mother hadn't agreed to his request this time. Could it be that he had really spent too much money this month?
Wei Deng scratched his head in frustration. Where did he spend so much? Some people at school spend tens of thousands of yuan a month on pocket money alone. If his classmates found out that his family didn't have any money at all... wouldn't they laugh at him for lying?
It's all Mom's fault for being incompetent and Dad for dying young, making him unable to hold his head up at school. If he had enough pocket money, would he be afraid that Mo Ru wouldn't accept his pursuit?
Song Xia didn't care what Wei Deng was like at school. She felt that she had given him too much money, but it was impossible to change things all at once. She would take it slowly. If she gave Wei Deng money too readily every time he asked for it, he would think that money came too easily.
If you keep making excuses and complaining, Weiden will gradually become less willing to speak up.
That ingrate! He only compares himself to rich people. Why doesn't he compare his grades with those of students with good grades? He doesn't even think about where his family's money came from. He wants to use Wei Zhu's hard-earned money to pursue his girlfriend? Maybe in his next life.
Song Xia guessed that the person Wei Deng was talking about wanting to date was Mo Ru, the woman Wei Deng eventually married in his previous life. Although both of them were college students, there were significant differences in their qualities.
In their past lives, both of these two people exploited Wei Zhu, both before and after their marriage. Of course, this was partly due to my own role in their evil deeds in the past. In this life, I must make it up to Wei Zhu, and Wei Deng must also make it up to me.
As for Mo Ru, she wouldn't give Wei Deng any more money. If they wanted to talk, they could talk; if they couldn't, that was fine too. She didn't want to have an ungrateful son followed by a mean-spirited daughter-in-law.
By the time I took the train to the next county and then transferred to a bus to get back home, it was already dark. I hadn't had a chance to properly look at the house yesterday, and now that I did, it looked bare and empty.
The house is quite large, with three bedrooms and two living rooms, but the furniture is scarce and mostly cheap items, though it's fairly clean.
The master bedroom was given to Wei Deng regardless of age or status, while she lived in the second bedroom. Wei Zhu's room was the smallest and not sunny. Looking at the crooked wardrobe in Wei Zhu's room, Song Xia sighed again. In her previous life, after Wei Deng got married, this small bedroom became the home of Wei Deng and Mo Ru's child. Even though Wei Zhu had single-handedly built this family, she didn't even have a place to stay when she came back.
After quickly packing a few clothes, Song Xia gave the rice, flour, oil, and seasonings to her neighbor, asking her to look after them. Actually, there wasn't anything valuable in the house, but she couldn't take these things with her, and it would be a waste for them to spoil at home.
When the neighbors heard that she was moving to the provincial capital where her son was studying, they hesitated to speak, which showed that the neighbors knew about her family's troubles, but as neighbors, they didn't want to say it to her face.
Song Xia thought to herself that there was no rush. Once she had slowly arranged some assets for Wei Zhu, everyone would change their minds.
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