Qi Fenglian was fuming. He kept saying that she was trying to compete, but what was there to compete with? What could she use for that? It was all about making calculations for their own benefit, yet he made it sound like something else.
"I know we can’t compare, I just feel that we can’t rely on working for others forever. Once we have some capital, we can also start a small business. Wouldn’t that be better than getting up early and going to bed late like now?" Qi Fenglian said, trying to contain her anger.
Zhang Jisheng felt a stir in his heart, and fell silent before saying, "The wages are only so much, where is the capital supposed to come from? We’re not cut out for business!"
Qi Fenglian replied, "But doesn’t everything start from small beginnings? The Taiguo wife started out just pushing a cart, and she built her business from there!"
Zhang Jisheng didn’t speak anymore.
"So, what I mean is, we should save some money, put more aside, and then when we have the capital, we’ll be able to do business, right?" Qi Fenglian said.
"Do whatever you like," Zhang Jisheng said, getting up to go to sleep.
Qi Fenglian quickly grabbed his hand, "It can’t be just ’do whatever I like.’ If I save money, and you keep handing over your entire salary to your mother, how much can that leave us?"
Zhang Jisheng’s face immediately darkened, "Mom and the others are helping us look after the children at home. Isn’t giving them money the right thing to do? How can you be like this!"
"I didn’t say don’t give them anything, just not everything. We must leave some," said Qi Fenglian. "If you give your entire salary away every month, relying only on mine, when will we ever save up enough?"
Zhang Jisheng sneered, "It all comes back to the same thing, doesn’t it? You just don’t want to part with the money!"
Qi Fenglian’s face fell, "How am I unwilling to part with money? I’m not saying we shouldn’t give at all, just that we could give a little less!"
"If it were your own mother, would you still talk like this?"
Qi Fenglian became furious, "Zhang Jisheng, what are you implying? I married you, I belong to the Zhang family, what does that have to do with my mother? If you’re suggesting it’s like my mother, did you marry into the Qi family?"
Zhang Jisheng glared at her, his face darkening.
The two glared at each other, and Qi Fenglian continued, "If we give a little less now and save up some money, once we have the capital to start a business, we can earn more and then give more, right? Of course, Zhang Jisheng, if you just want to work for others all your life, then pretend I never said this."
Qi Fenglian felt extremely weary at heart and couldn’t be bothered to speak further. She resolved to save her own money. As for Zhang Jisheng, whether he listened to her or not was up to him. He really was set in his old ways.
Zhang Jisheng snorted, thinking to himself that his wife’s ambitions were growing larger by the day. Living and working in the city had changed her; she was no longer as obedient as before.
When Cheng Su went to the train station branch to audit the accounts, she saw Elder Sister looking despondent and couldn’t help but inquire further.
As for Qi Fenglian, apart from going to and from work in Qing City and knowing only a few people, she had no close friends to vent her frustrations to.
Now that Cheng Su had asked, Qi Fenglian seized the opportunity like a free sounding board, pouring out all her anger. At the end of her tirade, she asked, "Tell me, is it wrong for me to think this way? I’m not saying he shouldn’t give, just that he should give a little less. But he makes it out as if I’m a miser who wouldn’t pluck a single feather! At the end of the day, isn’t it also for the future?"
Cheng Su, not wanting to interfere in the couple’s affairs and being the Elder Sister, advised, "Then just hold onto your own savings. Let him give you a portion for the household, for everyday expenses."
Qi Fenglian felt resentful, "That’s all I can do. Your brother-in-law is just a person set in his old ways!"
Cheng Su chuckled and deftly changed the subject.