Chapter 1646 This question is really tricky.
There were many people staying at Professor Zhang's house today, so Li Ye certainly wouldn't be left to do all the work alone. Yu Xiufen and several senior female students came in to help, and even Cai Minying, who never cooks, came in to assist.
Three women make a drama. When sisters who have been friends for many years get together, they will naturally chatter and gossip, talking about all sorts of news and gossip.
Li Ye, who was in his early thirties, was the youngest. He didn't want to get involved with the group of middle-aged women right now, otherwise he might not be able to respond if they said something inappropriate.
But as the women were chatting, the conversation inevitably turned to Li Ye.
Yu Xiufen said to Li Ye with disdain, "Li Ye, have your knife skills deteriorated a bit? There are more than twenty of us today! Will we be able to have a hot meal by noon?"
Li Ye was very puzzled. Although he had indeed been cooking less and less at home over the years, since his wife could cook, and his grandmother and sister often cooked as well, he, a grown man, was certainly comfortable.
To be honest, Li Ye rarely cooks at home after getting married; you could count the number of times he does so on one hand. At most, he just stands there acting as the head chef, directing his wife to cook.
Despite not cooking, Li Ye was still very confident in his knife skills and technique; the "tap tap tap" sounds were both precise and accurate.
"My knife skills have deteriorated? No way! I think it's Senior Sister Yu who's become less skilled in cooking after all these years of pampering. I've almost finished chopping these two dishes, and you guys who wash the vegetables haven't even cleaned them up yet. It's hard to say who's delaying whom!"
"Hahaha, junior brother has finally grown up! He actually dares to talk back now. Back when he was cooking at the teacher's house, he was so well-behaved. Now he's really got some guts."
"You should be grateful! With how quickly Li Ye cooks, he must be a jack-of-all-trades, unlike our husband, who's lucky if he can just put the dishes in the basin after a meal. You still think Li Ye isn't well-behaved?"
"That's true. Back then, my teacher's wife said that whoever married Li Ye would be very lucky. I didn't understand at the time, but now I get angry just thinking about it."
"If you're angry, go find Wang Zhiyuan! Isn't he right outside? I'll call him in for you."
"Go away, go away, go away! Why are you calling that blockhead? It makes me angry just thinking about him, and calling him in makes me even angrier."
"Hahaha, who told you to be such a stubborn old man back then? Wang Zhiyuan is three years younger than you!"
"Stop talking! I'll get angry if you say another word!"
Hahaha~
When the topic of her dating younger men came up, Yu Xiufen immediately became unhappy, put her hands on her hips and threatened her sisters, which made everyone laugh.
This burst of laughter successfully attracted Zhang Chaoxian over.
He leaned against the kitchen doorframe, tossed his hair, and asked, "What are you two talking about? You seem to be having a great time?"
Yu Xiufen glanced at Zhang Chaoxian: "Oh, we were talking about what kind of wife a man should marry. Manager Zhang is considered a rich man in Lighthouse, right? What, haven't you married a foreign wife for your parents to see?"
Zhang Chaoxian answered almost instantly: "What's so great about foreign wives? Our Chinese wives are much more dignified and steady. The only good thing about foreign wives is that they're tall; they don't have any other redeeming qualities."
"Ha, Manager Zhang, have you changed your mind? Who was it that said foreign wives were a good breed and that marrying one would be good for the next generation?"
"."
"Who spread this rumor about me? When did I ever say the variety was good?"
Zhang Chaoxian first looked completely wronged, then turned to Cai Minying: "Jiayi, did you just repeat what your senior sisters said?"
Cai Minying coldly raised her head: "Back then, you pursued three girlfriends from the Lighthouse in a row, and even said that women from China were stingy. This is not news in the circle of overseas students. Do I need to repeat it?"
Zhang Chaoxian was immediately a little embarrassed: "Oh dear, that was all because we were young and ignorant, why bring that up again?"
However, Yu Xiufen seemed to have figured something out and asked with a gossipy look, "Zhang Chaoxian, you're not married yet, are you? You didn't come back to the mainland this time to... find a wife, did you?"
Zhang Chaoxian paused for a moment, then said ambiguously, "Xiufen, what are you saying! I came back to see my teachers and relatives, but my parents are indeed urging me to get married. If I find a suitable girl, getting married isn't out of the question."
"Oh~"
Yu Xiufen and the others suddenly realized what was going on, and some even looked at Cai Minying.
Of all the people present, only Cai Minying was not yet married, and she had even lived in the Lighthouse. Wasn't she the "right girl"?
Yu Xiufen curled her lips into a mischievous smile and asked, "So are you sure you don't want to marry a tall guy who's 1.8 meters? Don't your parents want their grandchildren to grow up to be tall?"
"Hey, Yu Xiufen, stop nagging me. I already said that girls from our country are the best. They're dignified, virtuous, and good at managing a household. I earn hundreds of thousands a year, and I'm really worried about entrusting my management to a woman with different values!"
"Wow, Zhang Chaoxian, you're making hundreds of thousands of US dollars a year?"
"Ahem, ahem, what are you thinking after the conversion?!"
"After conversion? Did you use the official exchange rate or the black market rate?"
"."
Listening to the senior female students relentlessly pressing for answers, leaving Zhang Chaoxian speechless, Li Ye couldn't help but want to laugh.
Given Zhang Chaoxian's upbringing in a society like the one in Beijing that values personal privacy, how could he possibly withstand the harassment from these middle-aged women in mainland China?
Moreover, what Zhang Chaoxian said was only half true and half false. Who are Yu Xiufen and her ilk? They have been working in government agencies for more than ten years. They are all experts at reading people and understanding their thoughts. They can find even the smallest flaws in your statements.
Is it because you, Zhang Chaoxian, don't look for tall women from overseas who are over 1.8 meters tall, that you think they are not as good as girls from China?
Indeed, a boy who grew up in China would feel very uncomfortable seeing how casually those girls from the "lighthouse" (referring to girls from rural areas) treated relationships.
In the 1980s, there was even a saying that circulated widely in mainland China: "If my wife had been with five men before and ultimately chose me, it just proves that I am better than those five men."
Tell me, isn't this version advanced or not?
The girls in mainland China in the 1980s and 90s were also the last generation of traditional "virtuous wives and loving mothers." After removing the filter of her tall stature, Zhang Chaoxian could certainly tell who was more suitable.
Li Ye has a keen eye for observation. He noticed Zhang Chaoxian's gaze towards Cai Minying and Cai Minying's furrowed brows. So, he suddenly stepped in to help Zhang Chaoxian smooth things over.
"What Senior Brother Zhang said actually makes a lot of sense. Many girls over there at the lighthouse are indeed not as reliable as the girls from our China."
"reliable?"
Having known Li Ye for so many years, Yu Xiufen immediately seized upon the sensitive words and asked with a flickering gaze, "Li Ye, what do you mean by that?"
"It means exactly what it says!"
Li Ye put down the kitchen knife and patiently explained, "When I went to Lighthouse for an internship and research, I conducted a social survey and found that there are several high-income groups in Lighthouse who are the hardest hit by middle-aged divorces, and almost all of these divorces are initiated by the wives filing for divorce in court."
Don't assume they were victims of domestic violence; they're simply after a larger share of the assets. Because when dividing assets and awarding child support, the court calculates it based on the family's income over the past few years. That's why those women file for divorce when their husbands are at the peak of their earning power.
"."
"What? Such a thing happened? How could this be?"
"Yes, that's exactly right! You can look it up if you don't believe me; many celebrities get divorced this way!"
"."
The situation Li Ye described has been proven by big data decades later.
According to the Chinese people, even if someone has reached their peak and then goes downhill, they can still make a living with the money they earned before, at most just being a little more frugal than before.
But for the other half of the family, it also means a decline in the standard of living. "Decline in standard of living"—isn't that a familiar term?
What if you file for divorce at this point? Filing for divorce when you are at the peak of your wealth is extremely cruel to you, but she will gain the greatest benefit and will not be willing to scrimp and save with you for decades.
Decades later, after the term "cutting line" became popular, analysis revealed that divorce was one of the main reasons for the cutting line, demonstrating the ruthlessness of some women.
A decline in income leads to divorce, which in turn triggers property division, and the division is based on a percentage of income from previous years.
First, they drain your cash flow, then you have to pay exorbitant child support, and after continuous bleeding, you can't pay your mortgage, then they trigger a property auction—a whole combo that takes you down with them.
Yu Xiufen and others were unaware of these social details revealed through big data analysis, which is why they were so surprised.
"Li Ye, is your social survey reliable? Rich people divorce just to get more money?"
"How can it be unreliable! I have concrete data from the official Lighthouse research agency. The situation is most severe among rugby players, with 70% experiencing financial difficulties two years after retirement."
Basketball players rank second; 60% of star players go bankrupt within five years of retirement. Third are Wall Street financial traders—what was that percentage again?
Li Ye rubbed his forehead and thought for a moment, but couldn't seem to remember. Then he turned to Zhang Chaoxian and said, "By the way, Senior Brother Zhang, aren't you a trading manager on Wall Street? You should know about this percentage, right?"
Zhang Chaoxian: "."
【I know you're fucking stupid!】
Yu Xiufen and the others looked at Zhang Chaoxian with strange expressions: "Zhang Chaoxian, do you want to find a girl from our mainland because you're afraid that marrying a foreign wife will cause her to take your money?"
Li Ye really wanted to give Yu Xiufen a big thumbs up.
Senior Sister Yu, that's a really tricky question. I wouldn't be able to answer it either.
(End of this chapter)
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