Upon returning to the guesthouse through the wind and snow, Feng Qingxue counted the money in her hands while packing her luggage and coughed heavily.
"Qingxue, are you alright? Is there something wrong with your throat?" With Xibao sitting at the table eating fruit, Lu Jiang finally had the peace to hold his daughter and relax in the room. She was quiet and not crying, much more well-behaved than Xibao.
However, when he heard his wife cough, Lu Jiang’s full attention was on her, a look of concern on his face.
"From now on, we must be thrifty and frugal." If they continued to spend lavishly, they would soon run out of money.
Lu Jiang was taken aback, "Are we out of money?" It couldn’t be. After buying train tickets for Wang Fengqiao, giving her some grain tickets and food money, he had given all of the wages saved over the last two months to Feng Qingxue yesterday.
In these two months, except for food, he hadn’t purchased anything from the local Tibetans, so there was still some left over.
Feng Qingxue nodded, then shook her head, sighing, "We are not exactly penniless, but our expenditures have soared in the last six months. I alone have spent several hundred dollars. The cost of the air tickets, the train tickets for my sister and me, the food we ate on the journey, the cost of living in the Capital, the cost of entertaining, and the money given to Uncle for Xiaoyun’s living expenses, all far exceed my annual salary!"
Speaking of this, Feng Qingxue couldn’t help but cover her face.
"The train fare and food expenses for your sister were paid for by you. While in the Capital, I didn’t give a single penny to Father. The travel expenses between Father and Uncle were covered by them. All of Xibao’s food, drinks, and toys were expensive products bought for him by our family and friends. Even the things Father bought himself from the flea market or the black market, he paid for himself."
Given their rate of spending, the couple was indeed spending more than they earned.
Without the wages that Chen Si Ling and Ye Zhengjun brought to her for a few months, they might not even be able to cover the cost of returning to the army, and would have to ask Father Lu for money.
Feng Qingxue became more and more ashamed as she spoke, "Money flows like water; I feel like a spendthrift!"
Lu Jiang replied with laughter: "Didn’t you give all your savings to Father before you came to the army? He has several thousand dollars in his hands, isn’t it normal that you don’t give him anything? Besides, money is meant to be spent, don’t be too hard on yourself and the family. I earn the money, and you spend it, aren’t we a perfect pair?"
"A pair!" Xibao lifted his chubby face smeared with fruit juice and echoed, "A pair!"
"Silly boy, just eat your food, why are you trying to butt in?" Feng Qingxue blushed slightly.
Xibao winked at her and made a silly face, "Daddy said so, a pair! Daddy, Daddy!"
Lu Jiang laughed: "Yes, what daddy said. Daddy and Mommy are a perfect pair. Xibao, you cannot tell this to anyone else, only say it before Mommy and Daddy, got it?"
"Understood!" Xibao agreed readily.
"In the future, don’t say such things in front of Xibao, in case he repeats them and it gets out. Who knows what a child might unintentionally reveal? Xibao is becoming more and more articulate and especially likes to parrot phrases. If others hear our private conversations, it would be us who end up embarrassed!"
Lu Jiang readily agreed, "Understood!" His tone was exactly like Xibao’s.
Xibao chimed in, "Understood, understood!"
Feng Qingxue rolled her eyes at both father and son. She gingerly wrapped the six hundred dollars in her hand with a handkerchief. While it looked like she put it in her bag, she actually tucked it into her space, leaving only tens of dollars as their living expenses.