Li Chu chuckled and helped Ding Qiunan sit down in a chair: "It must be something good!"
"What good news is making you so excited? You're so annoying, you're making me dizzy."
"I've been elected as the class representative."
"What did you say?" Ding Qiunan stared wide-eyed at her husband, wondering if she had misheard.
"You heard me right, darling. Dean Liu just called to inform me."
"Ah!" Ding Qiunan excitedly stood up and hugged her husband, jumping and skipping.
"Keep your voice down, people outside can hear you." Li Chu quickly covered his wife's mouth.
"Ugh... I'm so excited!" Ding Qiunan broke free from her husband's hand and cutely stuck out her tongue.
Suddenly she frowned again: "Darling, you're so amazing, I feel like I'm becoming less and less worthy of you."
This time it was Li Chu's turn to widen his eyes. He never expected that after nearly twenty years of marriage, his wife would say something like this to him.
He reached out and cupped his wife's face in his hands: "What are you thinking about? Have you lost your mind?"
"Oh dear," Ding Qiunan shook her head and knocked his hand away. "I'm telling the truth. Look at you, you're now the vice dean and also the elected academic representative, while I, I was only given this position as director by the leadership to compensate you. I feel like I'm nothing."
Li Chu chuckled as he helped her up and forced her to sit on a chair, then he squatted down in front of his wife.
“My dear, we are a family. Everything in this family belongs to us, including honors. Just like the song says, the medals are half mine and half yours.”
"What song is this? I've never heard it before."
His wife's question made Li Chu feel like he was going to vomit blood. Was that the important question?
"Hehe," Ding Qiunan suddenly smiled and said, "Just kidding! I'm overjoyed that my man has achieved such a high honor!"
"You scared me to death!" Li Chu reached out his finger and gently flicked her nose.
"Oh, honey, shouldn't we celebrate for you?"
"Well... Lao Mo, how about we go out for a meal after get off work?" Li Chu suggested.
Ding Qiunan's eyes brightened instantly, but quickly returned to normal. She shook her head: "I don't want to go. The food there is too expensive."
“We don’t eat this every day. It’s fine to eat it once in a while. Besides, with our salaries, we could eat it every day without any problem.”
"Hey, you're getting cocky now that I'm telling you you're fat." Ding Qiunan raised her hand and slapped her husband's arm.
"You're going to eat out every day? Are you crazy? You're not going to let them go or what. You need to save money for the kids, right? When they graduate, some will get married, and others will get married. You need to prepare dowries and betrothal gifts for them!"
"How much money did you ask for?"
"You make it sound so easy. Putting everything else aside, just look at how much money Jianguo spent on his wedding. The 'three turns and one sound' (referring to a set of watches, a watch, a radio, and a watch), and those 'thirty-six legs' and 'seventy-two legs' (referring to a set of toys with 36 or 72 legs), how much did that cost? You can't possibly think that Yueyue and Wenxuan don't need these things since they're already engaged, can you?"
"How could that be? My son can't be short of anything when he gets married."
"That's right. Besides, we have to give a bride price. We can't just not give one because Junzi and Qiaoyun don't want it."
"No, we can't give you a penny less than what's due."
“That’s right,” Ding Qiunan clapped her hands. “You do the math yourself. How much money will all this cost? You’d better start saving up.”
Before Li Chu could say anything, she continued, "And Wenhui, we also need to save up a good dowry for our daughter, otherwise she might be bullied by her husband's family."
“Honey, you’re thinking too far ahead. They still have eight years before they graduate.”
“It would have been better if you hadn’t brought this up, because it makes me angry.” Ding Qiunan poked her husband’s forehead with her finger. “Why don’t you try to persuade them? Why are they studying medicine? Other people go to university for four years, but they’ll be studying for eight. Do the math, that’s how many fewer days they’ll have compared to others.”
"Sigh, I can't persuade them. I've tried to persuade them many times, but these two kids are very determined. They're just as stubborn as nails and insist on learning this. What can I do?"
After saying that, Li Chu realized something was wrong: "Wait a minute, honey, we were talking about going to eat with Lao Mo, how did we get onto this topic again?"
"No, no, it's too expensive. Let's eat at home. I remember there's still a fish in the fridge, and some leftover lamb from yesterday. Can you grill some more for me tonight? I like that."
Seeing his wife practically drooling as she talked about barbecue, Li Chu chuckled and said, "Alright then, I'll make you some more skewers tonight when we get home."
"Mmm, thank you, darling, mua!" Ding Qiunan happily leaned over and kissed his cheek.
"Hehe, honey, look, I've fulfilled all your requests. Today should be a celebration for me, so you should fulfill one of my requests too."
"Tell me what you want."
Li Chu leaned close to Ding Qiunan's ear and whispered, "Wife, wear that cheongsam tonight."
"You're going to die!" Ding Qiunan's face flushed red instantly, as if it could bleed. It was unclear whether she was thinking about the madness of that night.
"It's a deal, honey."
"I'm not wearing it. If you want to wear it, go ahead and wear it yourself." She was too embarrassed to even look at her man. How could this guy be so mean?
Suddenly I felt really hot, so I raised my hand and fanned my face repeatedly. The ceiling fan above my head didn't seem to work properly anymore.
Seeing his wife so embarrassed, Li Chu didn't continue talking about it, otherwise she might get angry.
"Alright, you can continue with your work. I'm going back to the office. We'll continue the barbecue this afternoon."
Having achieved his goal, Li Chu didn't linger and strolled away.
Watching her husband's departing figure, Ding Qiunan rolled her eyes helplessly. She wondered what this guy was thinking all day long, with so many ulterior motives.
However, the idea of him wearing a cheongsam at night is something we could consider as a reward for him.
Thinking of this, her face, which had returned to normal, flushed again. The madness of that night had left a deep impression on her.
"What a raging bull!" Ding Qiunan muttered to herself as she recalled the tattered rags scattered everywhere when she opened her eyes the morning before yesterday.
After wandering back to his office, Li Chu sat down in his chair and took a few deep breaths to calm his excited emotions.
The euphoria is over, it's time to get back to normal!
He took out his written medical records from his desk drawer and continued writing.
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