Chapter 27: A Huge Sum?

This money didn’t just fall from the sky. Liu Yinyin felt too embarrassed to enjoy it without contributing anything.

Besides… she hadn’t even planned on continuing their life together. How could she accept his money?

“Keep it. Even if you don’t spend it, the child will need it,” Gu Cheng said. He didn’t know much about childbirth, but he understood it wasn’t easy.

As the father, he couldn’t just leave everything to Liu Yinyin.

“You’ll need to make clothes for the baby, right? And diapers… I don’t know what else, but you can take care of it. If there’s anything you can’t buy, let me know, and I’ll find a way to get it.”

Money alone wasn’t enough. If he had known earlier that Liu Yinyin was pregnant, he would have exchanged more fabric ration coupons with his comrades before coming back.

Seeing how serious he looked, Liu Yinyin said, “My family always says I’m a big spender and not very good at managing money. Aren’t you afraid all your hard-earned money will be wasted on me?”

Liu Yinyin wasn’t the type who liked to live a frugal, penny-pinching life. If someone nagged her all day about being thrifty—saying this was too expensive and that couldn’t be bought—she figured she’d get fed up sooner or later.

“Just buy whatever you need. Money is meant to be spent,” Gu Cheng said casually.

Liu Yinyin thought for a moment and said, “Alright then.”

After all, he was the child’s father, and it was only right for him to take some responsibility.

But… this was really a lot of money. After months of being broke, suddenly seeing so much cash in front of her felt surreal—like a poor person suddenly striking it rich.

Gu Cheng hesitated for a moment before saying, “There’s something else I need to discuss with you.”

Liu Yinyin was busy counting the money and absentmindedly nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

Gu Cheng sighed. “It’s about my parents…”

He had already heard about what happened from Liu’s father and mother. He knew his parents had been in the wrong, but as their son, he couldn’t just ignore them completely.

Liu Yinyin’s hands froze mid-counting. She lifted her eyes to look at him. “Just say it.”

Was he planning to change his mind and hand the money over to Mother Gu after all?

Well, that was fine. It was his money, so he had the right to decide what to do with it. But if he really did that, Liu Yinyin wouldn’t bother with him anymore.

He could do whatever he wanted, just not with her involvement!

Gu Cheng paused for a moment, then said, “When you were living with my family, I sent my mother twenty yuan every month. But now that we have our own household, I was thinking of giving my parents ten yuan a month instead. On holidays, I’ll also send them some extra gifts. What do you think?”

Liu Yinyin subtly let out a breath of relief.

Not giving his mother any money at all wasn’t an option. As a son, Gu Cheng had a duty to support his parents. Ten yuan was a reasonable amount—not too much or too little—and should be enough for the two of them to get by.

Besides, his parents were still capable of working, and Gu Cheng wasn’t their only son.

Liu Yinyin glanced at him and said, “It’s your money. I won’t interfere with who you give it to. Giving money to your parents is the right thing to do. I’m just worried your mother will think it’s too little.”

Ten yuan a month was a good amount in the countryside. Rural families didn’t have to buy grain, so the money was mostly for household expenses. They might even be able to save a little.

But since Mother Gu was used to getting twenty yuan a month, she might not take the reduction well.

Honestly, if Gu Cheng had insisted on giving twenty yuan, Liu Yinyin wouldn’t have objected—as long as his family didn’t come bothering her.

“I’ll talk to them properly,” Gu Cheng assured her.

Now that he had his own family to take care of, most of his attention had to be on his wife and child.

Liu Yinyin appreciated the fact that he was discussing things with her rather than making unilateral decisions. Suddenly, something came to mind, and she pointed at the cigarette pack on the table. “Do you smoke?”

Pregnant women had a heightened sense of smell. Yesterday, Liu Yinyin had faintly noticed a cigarette scent on Gu Cheng.

When he had showered earlier, he had casually tossed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter onto the table.

She didn’t dislike the smell of smoke, but secondhand smoke wasn’t good for the baby.

“…Yeah.” Gu Cheng admitted. He was definitely a smoker—most people in the military were.

Liu Yinyin discussed it with him, “If you want to smoke in the future, you can do it outside, but not in the room. I heard that the smell of smoke is bad for the baby.”

For someone addicted to smoking, quitting suddenly would be too difficult, but he also couldn’t be completely careless about it.

Gu Cheng quickly agreed, “Alright, I’ll be more careful from now on.”

After washing the dishes, Gu Cheng rested for a while before heading back to work.

Liu Yinyin took everything out of the aluminum lunchbox and placed them in her small personal chest. Keeping so much money in a lunchbox wasn’t safe.

Her small chest was something she bought from the system, and it even had a little lock.

She had just counted the money—five rolls of large-denomination bills amounted to 500 yuan, and the scattered bills added up to another 125 yuan.

The real bulk of it, though, was in the bankbook, which had a balance of 5,000 yuan!

When she first saw the amount, Liu Yinyin was stunned. In this era, 5,000 yuan was a massive fortune.

A man who could earn and save money like this was truly rare.

Liu Yinyin locked the bankbook and large-denomination bills in the money chest.

She kept the remaining 125 yuan, along with her own 42.88 yuan, inside the lunchbox as pocket money.

There was also a thick stack of colorful ration coupons—mostly grain coupons, meat coupons, sugar coupons, and fabric coupons.

These were all highly sought-after supplies, though not everything required ration coupons just yet.

After a nap of over an hour, Liu Yinyin got up to water the vegetable garden. This small plot of land was near the mountain, and since the sun had already set, it was a good time for watering.

The sweet potatoes would be ready for harvesting soon, so they didn’t need watering anymore.

In the afternoon, after finishing work, Gu Cheng came home with Liu Mingyuan. Both of them were carrying several wooden planks.

Liu Yinyin muttered, “…What’s this for?”

Gu Cheng explained, “The bed at home is too small, so I borrowed some wood to extend a section on your side.”

Otherwise, he was worried that Liu Yinyin might fall off the bed while sleeping.

Curious, Liu Yinyin asked, “You know carpentry?”

Gu Cheng nodded. “A little. I can build a simple small bed.”

Alright then. Liu Yinyin left him to it.

She had thought he was just going to attach a simple plank to the side, but the two men spent the entire evening working in the courtyard, hammering away noisily…

By the end, they had actually built a whole small bed! It was the same length as the main bed but about half the width, with three sides enclosed by a railing.

Once attached to the main bed, it became a modern-style co-sleeping crib for a child.

Gu Cheng was quite satisfied with his work. “Once the baby is born, this will be perfect for them to sleep in.”

Liu Yinyin couldn’t help but praise him, “…You really thought this through.”