Chapter 57

Giving away rabbits and meat, he’s really putting in the effort!

Although it’s just a rabbit and a pound of meat, it’s still marital property!

In the past, she didn’t bother about the money and things Cheng Jingmo spent on Wu Xiaomin. But from today onwards, she would not tolerate it.

If Cheng Jingmo dared to give anything to Wu Xiaomin, she would apply to the court to reclaim this marital property when they got divorced!

Why should she be left with nothing while Wu Xiaomin got the best of both worlds?

After dinner, Yu Xiangnian suddenly brought up, “Cheng Jingmo, find some time to open an account at the People’s Bank and deposit the 200 yuan bonus you received yesterday. From now on, all your bonuses and other extra income must be deposited into this account.”

Cheng Jingmo didn’t ask any questions. “Okay.”

Yu Xiangnian continued, “And the 80 yuan you give me every month, starting this month, deposit it into the account as well. All this money will be our emergency fund in case we need it for any unexpected expenses.”

Cheng Jingmo still had to send 30 yuan home each month, so there probably wasn’t much left for him. Let’s see how he managed to maintain a mistress with no money!

When they divorced, they would split the money equally!

Cheng Jingmo said, “Okay.”

“The passbook will be kept by me. Neither of us can use the money without the other’s consent. If there’s an urgent need for money, we must explain the reason to the other party. Only if the reason is deemed valid and sufficient can the money be used.”

Cheng Jingmo had no idea what was going on in Yu Xiangnian’s mind.

He thought that her talking about saving money and setting up an emergency fund meant she wanted to build a long-term future together with him.

Yu Xiangnian returned to her bedroom, finding it so tidy that she hardly recognized it.

The bedsheets were perfectly smooth, the quilt was folded neatly, nearly square like a piece of tofu, and the desk was spotless, with everything arranged in descending order of height.

When she opened the wardrobe, her clothes and pants were folded so neatly that they could almost stand on their own!

Cheng Jingmo must have OCD!

Yu Xiangnian walked out, unhappy. “Cheng Jingmo, did you clean up my room to destroy evidence?”

Cheng Jingmo looked confused. “Destroy what evidence?”

“Like evidence that someone else has been in my room.”

By “someone,” she specifically meant Wu Xiaomin.

Cheng Jingmo, still puzzled, said, “Only I’ve been in to clean up. Xiao Jie hasn’t been in.”

Was he deliberately being obtuse? How could she be talking about Xiao Jie?!

Yu Xiangnian rolled her eyes. “No need to take time off tomorrow to come home and cook.” Then she went back to her room.

Cheng Jingmo scratched his head, baffled.

Wasn’t Yu Xiangnian the one who loved cleanliness the most? Why was she unhappy when he cleaned up her room?

The next morning, just as Yu Xiangnian woke up, Liu Zhen and Wang Hongxiang arrived, one carrying a piece of meat and the other a bag of eggs.

Liu Zhen also had a big bowl in her hand filled with some food.

Sure enough, they had brought her food!

Liu Zhen placed the bowl on her octagonal table. “Comrade Yu, this is some food I just made, including your favorite pickled vegetables. Eat it while it’s hot.”

She continued, “You sprained your ankle, so Hongxiang and I came to see you. This is two pounds of pork and twenty eggs.”

Yu Xiangnian felt a bit embarrassed. “You didn’t have to be so polite. Take the eggs and meat back.”

She looked at the meat. Two pounds was just a small piece the size of a palm. The pound of meat Cheng Jingmo gave Wu Xiaomin was only half the size of this.

Such a small amount of meat, she didn’t even feel it was worth arguing with Cheng Jingmo about.

“As neighbors, we have to look out for each other when someone’s sick,” Wang Hongxiang said. “Besides, you helped us earn so much money. This little bit of stuff costs nothing.”

Liu Zhen chimed in, “If you don’t accept it, it means you look down on us.”

Yu Xiangnian suddenly remembered throwing away the steamed cakes Liu Zhen had given her, so she quickly said, “Alright, alright, I’ll accept it. In a few days, I’ll take you all to make more money!”

Liu Zhen and Wang Hongxiang had nothing else to do, so they stayed to chat with Yu Xiangnian.

When women sit down to chat, they can gossip about five people in just three minutes.

Two hours later, Yu Xiangnian had learned that a certain sister-in-law frequently had migraines so severe that she would bang her head against the wall. Another sister-in-law was in a second marriage, with her husband’s two children from his first wife. One sister-in-law loved to take advantage of others, another was the best at arguing, and another made the best insoles for shoes.

Even though Yu Xiangnian didn’t know any of these sister-in-laws personally, she was already very familiar with their stories.

Listening to their chat was rewarding for Yu Xiangnian. Liu Zhen casually mentioned that seven or eight months ago, she had seen a man drop Wu Xiaomin off at the residential compound. This man was around Wu Xiaomin’s age, well-mannered, and wore glasses—likely another intellectual youth.

“You know, now that you mention it, I remember too! That man wasn’t very tall but very fair-skinned,” Wang Hongxiang added excitedly. “I also saw him drop off Dr. Wu a year ago!”

Interesting!

At that time, wasn’t Wu Xiaomin already discussing marriage with Cheng Jingmo?

Could it be that she was dating two men at the same time?

This would mean Cheng Jingmo was just a backup!

And he still thought of Wu Xiaomin as his sacred white moonlight!

Yu Xiangnian almost felt sorry for Cheng Jingmo, so much so that she wanted to celebrate with a few meat buns!

When Liu Zhen and Wang Hongxiang heard Yu Xiangnian wanted to eat meat buns, they quickly got to work—one chopping meat, the other kneading dough.

Liu Zhen even went home to pick a cabbage from her garden. “Using just meat for the filling is too wasteful. Cabbage and meat buns are both delicious and economical.”

Yu Xiangnian didn’t even lift a finger, and the buns were ready.

A whole table full of twenty large buns!

Since there was nothing at home to steam buns with, Liu Zhen brought over her bamboo steamer.

The two women lit the fire and put the buns in the pot to steam before heading home to make their own dinners.

By the time Cheng Jingmo and Xiao Jie returned, the buns were already cooked, and the kitchen was filled with the delicious aroma of meat.

Xiao Jie took several deep breaths. “Auntie, you can make meat buns?”

Yu Xiangnian sneered, “Of course! Meat buns are a piece of cake! There’s nothing your aunt can’t do!”

Cheng Jingmo pressed his lips together, holding back a laugh as he entered the kitchen.

Boasting like that, she wasn’t afraid of hurting herself!

He had already observed that apart from tomato and egg noodles, Yu Xiangnian’s cooking skills were best left untested.

Thinking of those tomato and egg noodles, Cheng Jingmo wanted to eat them again.

The buns made by Liu Zhen and Wang Hongxiang were indeed very tasty.

Xiao Jie ate two, Cheng Jingmo ate three, and Yu Xiangnian intended to eat two but couldn’t finish the second one.

She gave the remaining half bun to Cheng Jingmo.

After dinner, Yu Xiangnian had Xiao Jie deliver four buns to Wang Hongxiang’s house and five buns to Liu Zhen’s house.

Now Cheng Jingmo knew who had made those buns!