Chapter 20

Zhang Hui gave her husband a look. “He doesn’t skip meals often, but he does forget to eat due to work. If anyone is likely to get a stomach illness, it’s him.”

She wasn’t complaining about his work. Sometimes, she too would forget to eat. However, Zhou Junkang’s health had deteriorated because of his busy work schedule, leading to a stomach illness. Despite knowing he shouldn’t skip meals, he often forgot due to work.

They had accumulated a lot of medicine for treating stomach issues at home. The doctors had given up on him, knowing he wouldn’t follow the advice, so it was pointless to keep saying it.

Zhou Junkang fell silent, having no excuse for his frequent oversight. He turned to Xu Zhao, discovering that Xu Zhao’s knowledge in military equipment was quite impressive. Xu Zhao could handle many topics well. Originally a casual chat, Zhou Junkang found himself more interested in testing Xu Zhao’s knowledge.

Xu Zhao was surprised as well. Zhou Junkang’s understanding of military equipment rivaled his own, and in some areas, Zhou had even more in-depth knowledge.

As an insider, Xu Zhao knew that Li Province had a military factory. Could Zhou Junkang be working there?

Jiang Suihan glanced at Xu Zhao, noting his unchanged expression, feeling a bit guilty. She leaned in and whispered, “I was just trying to provoke them earlier. They were so rude. You’re not angry, are you?”

She had said that to provoke the young woman, not expecting Xu Zhao to play along so well. However, it seemed she had inadvertently affected his image, as people were now looking at him strangely.

He wouldn’t hold it against her, would he?

Xu Zhao gave Jiang Suihan a knowing look, having been labeled as a kept man earlier. Now, she seemed to be backing down.

He casually replied, “It’s fine. From now on, you’ll manage the household finances. You can buy whatever you want. So, what I said earlier wasn’t entirely wrong.”

He wasn’t upset over this small matter. He was just somewhat amused by the new experience of being labeled a kept man.

The only thing he was grateful for was that Zhang Xiangqian, the big mouth, wasn’t around. Otherwise, this news would have spread throughout the entire unit, and everyone would greet him with those peculiar looks, making him feel quite uncomfortable. He still cared about his dignity.

Jiang Suihan looked at Xu Zhao in surprise. “You really want me to manage the finances?”

Such awareness was commendable—he volunteered to hand over his salary without her even asking.

Xu Zhao responded with a question, “Don’t you want to?”

At home, his mother managed the finances. His father would hand over his entire monthly salary to her, and she would then allocate a small portion for his father’s daily expenses and social interactions.

Now that he and Jiang Suihan were married and would be living together for the rest of their lives, it was only natural and proper for her to take on the role of managing the family finances.

“If you find it troublesome and don’t want to, that’s fine too,” he added.

Seeing the opportunity to control the household finances, Jiang Suihan wasn’t foolish. She gave Xu Zhao a charming smile and said, “Since you’re so sincerely offering, I’ll reluctantly accept.”

Her little display of pride was quite endearing.

Xu Zhao couldn’t help but lightly poke her dimpled cheek, shaking his head with a smile. “Then it seems like Comrade Jiang will have to work hard. Are you still feeling dizzy?”

Not mentioning this was fine, but talking about it made Jiang Suihan feel a bit uncomfortable. She put her hand on her head and said, “I’m dizzy. I’ll sleep for an hour. No, two hours. Wake me up in two hours.”

She worried that sleeping too much would affect her ability to sleep at night. With no distractions on the train, her only option was to sleep.

Jiang Suihan slept fitfully, not fully awake. She leaned against the train window, looking at the desolate landscape. Though the view was bleak and the sky was dark, there was nothing else to do but look.

After seven or eight minutes, Xu Zhao returned, followed by Jiang Leyun, the little tail.

“There are hot meals on the train. I bought some for us to eat while it’s still warm.”

Jiang Leyun chattered beside him, “Brother-in-law bought two big chicken legs and some meat slices with cabbage. So much meat!”

Since Brother-in-law came into their family, life has improved significantly. They hadn’t seen meat for a month before, but now there was meat every day. He felt like his face was getting rounder.

Jiang Suihan opened the lunch box to find that indeed, there was a box of white rice and two boxes of vegetables.

Train food was relatively expensive, and many people preferred to bring their own food to save money. Jiang Suihan had considered this, so she got up early to make some buns for the trip. She only made twenty or so, a normal size, not as large as the ones Xu Zhao bought at the state-run restaurant.

The last meal at home had been buns, and Xu Zhao had eaten about seven or eight of them, along with a large bowl of stir-fried noodles.

With most of the buns already eaten for lunch, they had to buy food on the train for the rest of the journey.

Jiang Suihan looked at the lunch box lid and asked, “Why did you buy so much food? How much did this cost?”

She recalled those time-travel novels where the heroine had incredible luck, like space pockets or systems, and wondered why she had none of that, fretting over a few cents and having empty pockets.

She wasn’t the heroine of such a story, perhaps not even a minor character.

On the other hand, she did get a husband, which could be considered a consolation prize.

Every night before bed, she prayed for a surprise in the morning, but it was all in vain.

Xu Zhao, without any guilt, shifted the blame to Jiang Leyun. “Leyun wanted chicken legs.”

Jiang Leyun looked confused, not understanding why Brother-in-law was blaming him. He quickly defended himself, “I didn’t say I wanted chicken legs.”

He hadn’t explicitly said he wanted chicken legs; he just stared longingly at the ones on the food cart, almost drooling.

Xu Zhao confidently said, “I saw you drooling over those two chicken legs.”

Jiang Leyun wiped his mouth, not very confident, and weakly admitted, “I didn’t really want them. Okay, maybe just a little.”

Adults could be so annoying, not even leaving him any face. He was just a kid!

Jiang Suihan sighed, realizing Xu Zhao had a bit of a scheming side, even putting the blame on a seven-year-old without feeling embarrassed.

The so-called big chicken legs weren’t actually that big. Xu Zhao divided them without hesitation, giving one to Jiang Suihan and one to Jiang Leyun, while he ate the meat slices with cabbage.

Jiang Suihan felt her conscience pricked, considering returning the chicken leg to Xu Zhao, but he dodged with the lunch box.

She reluctantly said, “I’m not feeling very well and not very hungry. The chicken leg is too greasy. I’m afraid I’ll throw up. You should eat it.”

Xu Zhao examined her face and, seeing her condition, tore the chicken leg meat in half and gave some to Jiang Suihan. “You haven’t eaten much today. You should eat a bit, or you’ll be hungry tonight.”

The leftover food would also fall to Xu Zhao. Jiang Suihan, having learned her lesson, only asked for a small amount of rice.

Looking at the little bit of rice in her lunch box, her slender wrist seemed like it could break with a single twist. Xu Zhao furrowed his brow. With such little food, how could she not lose weight? He needed to make sure she ate more and gained some weight.

After dinner, Xu Zhao took the initiative to clean up the lunch boxes.

The young woman, annoyed, threw her lunch box back at the man. “I don’t want to eat this, it’s not good at all. Go buy me some hot food, I want meat.”

The young man showed a troubled expression. The train food was several times more expensive than usual, and they had brought their own food to avoid unnecessary expenses.

He hesitated, “Buying more food would be a waste. We’ll be at our destination tomorrow. Just hold on. I’ll take you to eat something good after we get off, okay?”

The young woman refused to relent. Why did her partner seem so stingy and uncaring, while others had such generous and thoughtful partners?

It was only in comparison that she really felt like ditching him and finding someone better.

She said imperiously, “Fine, but I want to eat meat right now. Buy me a chicken leg, and I’ll forgive you.”

The man wanted to retort that he hadn’t done anything wrong and didn’t need her forgiveness. However, he lacked the courage. Her father was a factory leader, and he hoped to leverage his future father-in-law’s influence to secure a good position at the factory.

Reluctantly, the man coaxed her, “Okay, wait here while I go buy one.”

The chicken legs were sold out, so he brought back a serving of stir-fried bean sprouts with meat. The young woman was displeased. Given her good family background and her own beauty, she had always been pampered and was somewhat spoiled. She turned away, declaring she didn’t want it.

Feeling the gaze of others around them, the man felt embarrassed and thought to himself, if it weren’t for her father, he wouldn’t put up with her behavior. Why should he always be the one to lower himself? He refused to indulge her this time; otherwise, if they were married, she would end up bossing him around.

After finishing the meal, the man belched contentedly while the young woman, feeling both upset and angry, pushed him.

“What’s your problem? You ate everything, so what am I supposed to eat later? Is this how you treat me? I’ll tell my dad!”

The man stiffened at her words. All his previous anger dissipated instantly. He pulled out a box of pastries from his bag, smiling apologetically, “This is walnut crisp from Haishi City. My aunt brought it back from her business trip. I specifically brought it for you. Try it.”

The young woman turned her head away, raising her chin. Despite her irritation, her gaze fell on the box of walnut crisps. “You’re ignoring me, so why are you paying attention to me now?”

The man, seeming to have a good temper, tried his best to appease her, sweating anxiously, until he managed to cheer her up again.

**