I'm back in 1990

Chapter 402: The Old Mother's Complaint

Auntie thought of something and said to Zeng Jiahua with concern, "Should we tell my eldest sister about this?"

Upon hearing this, Zeng Jiahua also looked troubled, his brows furrowing together.

He got up, went to the window, opened it, and lit a cigarette.

Zeng Jiahua was also conflicted. Even if he didn't say anything now, his older sister would find out sooner or later. If he said it then, it would be too late and his sister would definitely misunderstand. But if he said it now, he was afraid that his sister would hold a grudge. He knew his sister's temperament very well.

It's such a difficult choice! Xiao Chuan's decision to buy a house and register Zeng Hong and Zeng Xia's household registration in Shanghai had already made the eldest sister unhappy. Although she didn't say anything, her expression after finding out about it didn't lie.

But this time, I really couldn't refuse these two transfer orders! If it were money or goods, I definitely wouldn't let my two daughters take them. Now that I have a lot of wealth, I can't keep letting Xiaochuan spend money.

After much deliberation, Zeng Jiahua finally made a decision: he stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

"I'll call my older sister tomorrow. I need to tell her about this as soon as possible; it won't be good if we wait too long."

Auntie also agreed with Zeng Jiahua's decision: "I think so too. You should talk to your older sister nicely tomorrow and say some good things."

Zeng Jiahua glanced at his aunt with displeasure: "Do you need to teach me this?"

The next day, Zeng Jiahua called Zeng Lijuan and told her about it. Although Zeng Lijuan said that it was because Xiaochuan had a good relationship with Zeng Hong and Zeng Xia, and that it was what Huang Xiaochuan should do, her face fell after she hung up the phone.

It just so happens that today is Sunday, a day off for Lao Huang. He's sitting in the living room drinking tea and reading the newspaper. Jiang Rong has taken Mianmian to her parents' house and won't be back for lunch, so the two of them don't need to hide their conversation from Jiang Rong.

Seeing that Zeng Lijuan looked unhappy, Lao Huang asked, "What's wrong? You seem a little upset?"

Old Huang's words immediately gave Zeng Lijuan an outlet for her dissatisfaction.

"I've raised this son for nothing!"

Upon hearing this, Old Huang put down his newspaper: "What is it now?"

Zeng Lijuan sat down opposite Lao Huang with a displeased expression.

"Xiao Chuan helped Zeng Hong and Zeng Xia transfer their jobs to Shanghai."

"This is a good thing! What's bothering you?"

Zeng Lijuan gave Lao Huang a dissatisfied look: "He can transfer Zeng Hong and Zeng Xia's jobs to Shanghai, why can't he transfer his sister-in-law's job there too?"

"Look at you, here you go again. I've told you so many times, Xiao Chuan isn't a child anymore. He's working now. He has his reasons for doing things. You should just stop worrying about him."

And you should also ask Jiang Rong if she wants to go. Don't just be enthusiastic on your own and create trouble for yourself.

Without waiting for Zeng Lijuan's response, he stood up and said, "I'm going to find Lao Yu to play chess. Call me when it's time to eat."

Zeng Lijuan glared at Lao Huang and replied irritably, "I know!"

That evening, after Jiang Rong brought Huang Zemian back, while Old Huang was taking his grandson out for a walk, Zeng Lijuan subtly asked Jiang Rong a question.

"Jiang Rong, if, I mean if there were a chance to transfer your job to Shanghai, would you want to go?"

As a result, Zeng Lijuan, who was full of expectations, was given a cold shower by her eldest daughter-in-law.

"I'm doing just fine here, why would I want to go to Shanghai?"

Jiang Rong felt that she was living a good life in Qingjiang. Her parents and brothers were all in the same city, she knew everyone at her workplace, her parents-in-law were wealthy and often subsidized her, and Huang Dahai sent money back every month. All of this combined meant that the money she received each month was equivalent to the entire income of her family. So, since she married into the Huang family, she hadn't touched her salary at all.

She didn't need to worry about money, her son was being well taken care of, and she was even looking forward to Huang Dahai's early return from military service so the family could reunite. Of course, she wasn't happy about the sudden offer to transfer her to another job!

Going to Shanghai means being away from my parents and my familiar environment, and I also have to rebuild my relationships with colleagues. Just thinking about it makes me uncomfortable. My in-laws must be thinking of living in Shanghai after they retire. If you want to go, then go by yourselves. Why did you have to take me with you?

It's obvious now that the second son isn't planning to come back, and the third son is very successful, so he definitely won't come back to fight for these meager assets. In the future, all of Qingjiang's family property will belong to Huang Zemian. Then the three of them can live a good life and visit Shanghai from time to time. That's how relatives are; distant relatives are more pleasant than close ones. Being together every day only leads to more conflicts.

This was also the thinking of most people in the 1990s. They didn't yearn to settle in big cities, after all, the gap between income and living standards wasn't that big, and the housing price difference wasn't as outrageous as it is now.

"Shanghai is a big city where you can buy anything, life is convenient, and the house is already available." Zeng Lijuan still wanted to persuade Jiang Rong to go to Shanghai because she had already planned that the two of them would move to Shanghai as soon as Lao Huang retired. However, she couldn't bear to part with her eldest grandson, Huang Zemian, so she thought of taking him with her. If she was going to take her grandson, she would naturally have to take her eldest daughter-in-law with her as well, since the child was too young to be separated from his mother.

Moreover, given Huang Xiaochuan's experience, Zeng Lijuan believed that the child should stay with his biological mother.

However, Jiang Rong didn't think that way. The house in Shanghai was registered in her and Huang Dahai's names, so it wouldn't move. It wouldn't be too late to go there when Huang Zemian grew up. Right now, she just didn't want to settle down. She wouldn't be used to the food there, and more importantly, she wouldn't understand the language. Moreover, she had heard that people in Shanghai looked down on people from other places. Why bother going through that trouble for no reason?

"Mom, I'm doing fine here. I don't want to go right now. How about we talk about it later?"

Zeng Lijuan was annoyed that her efforts had been met with indifference, so she stopped bringing up the matter.

However, Zeng Lijuan still couldn't quite understand it, and when she was chatting with Zheng Aiying, she told her best friend and mother-in-law about it.

What could Zheng Aiying say? If it weren't for the fact that they were in-laws, she could say a few words, but since her eldest daughter was Zeng Lijuan's daughter-in-law, there were some things she couldn't and shouldn't say.

All I could do was offer some advice: "You can't force a relationship. Jiang Rong probably has her own reasons, and maybe she'll change her mind someday."

Zeng Lijuan thought about it and realized that it was true. It was only acceptable if her eldest daughter-in-law was willing. She had taken it for granted that she was doing it for their own good, but the daughter-in-law didn't appreciate it. Oh well, whatever.

However, Zeng Lijuan was worried again. What about the future? She didn't know what policies would be in place, and whether the transfer would be easy to arrange.

In fact, this is a common characteristic unique to people of Zeng Lijuan's generation; they still retain the collective memory of the uncertainty of the system in their time.

Zheng Aiying naturally told her eldest daughter about this when she was on the phone with Yu Xiang, since this matter was related to her eldest son-in-law.

After learning the reason, Yu Xiang carefully considered the matter and told Huang Xiaochuan about it.

After hearing what Yu Xiang said, Huang Xiaochuan couldn't help but rub his forehead.

This was truly unexpected. Huang Xiaochuan admitted that he still favored his uncle and aunt's family in terms of kinship, but there were historical reasons for this. In both his past and present lives, his uncle and aunt's family had helped him a lot, and now that he was capable, he naturally wanted to make their lives better.

As for his two older brothers, Huang Xiaochuan felt that his mother, Zeng Lijuan, was being too anxious. In fact, he had already made preparations, but it was up to the two brothers to make their own choices. After all, Huang Xiaochuan was the youngest in the family, and it was not his place to worry about his two older brothers.

But he did everything he was supposed to do. He gave his mother money to buy houses and get blue-stamp household registrations for his two older brothers in Shanghai. Now they all have stable lives. With houses and household registrations in Shanghai, they have more choices than others. At least it has laid the foundation for their future (Huang Xiaochuan is unaware that his mother did not buy houses for Huang Erhe in Shanghai).

If his two older brothers were to transfer to Shanghai in the future, Huang Xiaochuan believed he could still help them in some ways, but he wouldn't take the initiative to do so, as it wasn't his responsibility or obligation as a younger brother.

After thinking for a while, Huang Xiaochuan said to Yu Xiang, "Let's leave it at that for now! My sister-in-law doesn't want to move around for the time being, so I won't push my luck. Let's just pretend we don't know anything."

Yu Xiang got anxious: "Your mom told my mom just so you would know! And you're still pretending to be stupid."

Huang Xiaochuan laughed: "I know! But for now, I can only pretend I don't know. Don't worry, my mom will forget about it in a few days. I'm her son, how could I not know her?"

Yu Xiang said helplessly, "Fine! You make your own decisions about your family's affairs. It's not appropriate for me to say too much or too little."

Huang Xiaochuan laughed and said, "Alright, you've done a good job already. Just keep it up!"

Yu Xiang gave Huang Xiaochuan a reproachful look: "What a jerk!"