Zhou Dajiang originally thought that putting on a long face would intimidate Zhou Lina.
To his surprise, she didn’t even pay attention to him at all. After greeting upon entering the house, she washed up and was ready to leave.
What’s the situation? "Aren’t you cooking?" Zhou Juan’s damn issues are something Zhou Dajiang can’t care about right now—eating is the top priority.
"Cooking?" Zhou Lina cursed him in her heart for his shamelessness while her face showed an expression of helplessness, "There are no grains, flour, or vegetables left in the house."
"Uncle Zhou, when will you contribute to the living expenses?" She looked steadily at Zhou Dajiang, "My mom’s salary can barely support me and Xiao Xuan."
"It’s unreasonable. Uncle Zhou, both you and your son have jobs, but you still want to freeload."
"No wonder Zhou Juan borrowed money without any intention of paying it back," Zhou Lina muttered under her breath.
Zhou Dajiang was startled by Zhou Lina’s words, "I just haven’t transferred the money yet, I’ll give it as soon as it’s transferred."
"Xiao Na, look, we are all family. There’s no need to be so calculative," Zhou Dajiang had truly not expected Zhang Shifen to actually go through with this.
He was really not comfortable with this—having a wife and still having to eat in the cafeteria. Once word got out, he didn’t know how many people would laugh at him.
And the main point is that the food in the cafeteria is not tasty at all. After eating it for so many years, he had truly grown tired of it.
"Eating at the cafeteria all the time is not the way to go." Knowing that Zhou Lina would absolutely not take his side, or rather would take pleasure in seeing them clash.
But it didn’t matter, he still had help, "Xiao Xuan, you don’t want to eat at the cafeteria often either, right?"
"Sis said that once Brother Hong moves out, we can cook over there," Zhou Xuan waited until Zhou Lina was packed up and didn’t care how Zhou Dajiang was falling apart at that moment.
What? They actually planned to start cooking in Zhou Lina’s apartment? What would he and his son do then?
Although he could cook some, his skills were truly mediocre—it was just about boiling the ingredients until they were edible; the taste didn’t matter, as long as it filled the stomach.
But over the years, both he and his son’s taste buds had been conquered by Zhang Shifen’s cooking skills; they had higher expectations.
Yet, unexpectedly, they had regressed to a long time ago, and Zhou Dajiang was still not reconciled, "I need to talk to your mom."
"We are husband and wife; how can it be ?" Zhou Dajiang felt angry just thinking about it, and his voice grew louder.
"You know about husband and wife?" Zhou Lina said with a face full of surprise, "Then why didn’t you think about contributing to the living expenses? Freeloading all the time, and still complaining about me?"
"I, I..." Zhou Dajiang, looking at the sharp-tongued Zhou Lina, found all sorts of things displeasing.
"Uncle Zhou, your son will be off work soon, think about how you’ll solve dinner."
Looking at the clothes he was wearing, which were really as greasy as they could get, normally Zhang Shifen would wash them herself.
"I would think someone with a little self-awareness should feel embarrassed to let their wife do all the housework, especially since each should bear their own expenses."
"There’s no such thing that housework should entirely be done by women." Zhou Lina made up her mind to talk to Zhang Shifen about this.
The original host didn’t know about this, and since all the women around were doing laundry, it was normal not to see any problem with it.
But now that she knew Zhou Dajiang was only contributing half to the household expenses and doing none of the chores, why should that be?
"The Chairman said that men and women should each hold up half the sky. Women go out to work and earn money just like men."
"Housework also needs to be shared. You cannot let my mom do everything."
After she finished speaking, Zhou Lina, with Zhou Xuan who had been quietly standing by, left.
Zhou Dajiang watched Zhou Lina’s retreating figure, so angry he felt like cursing. What did this mean?
Not contributing to living expenses meant they wouldn’t cook for them or do their laundry anymore?
Zhou Dajiang thought about it and got even more angry. Wasn’t not cooking and not planning to do laundry for him and his son?
Fine, no problem. If they dared, they better not come back. After a good dinner tonight, he would just lock the door from the inside, not letting the mother and her two kids in.
They absolutely would not let them in unless they begged for mercy, and they wanted to show them they meant business.
Zhou Dajiang had discussed at length today with a few childhood friends and Zhou Dahai, and they all agreed that they absolutely could not give in.
Once they gave in this time, they would surely have to keep conceding, and Zhou Yong’s family would never be able to claim any status.
Zhou Dajiang could be indifferent to his own status, but he would definitely not be indifferent to Zhou Yong’s.
With fists clenched, Zhou Dajiang swore to himself that they could not let this go, it was a matter of life and death.
If they continued to be so arrogant, his parents would end up being trampled underfoot, just like how Zhou Dahai had been today.
Zhou Yong, with his stomach growling, dragged himself home only to find cold pots and an unlit stove. "Why isn’t there any food cooked?"
Knowing that Zhou Dajiang had not contributed living expenses, Zhou Yong didn’t dare speak too loudly, for fear that Zhou Lina might just burst out.
"Go eat in the cafeteria," Zhou Dajiang said sullenly.
What? Zhou Yong had not expected that, starting from today, all of their meals would have to be settled in the cafeteria. "Why do we have to eat at the cafeteria?"
Though the cafeteria food was barely acceptable in terms of value for money, after having it for a while, you could guess what was on the menu with your eyes closed.
Why did they have to resort to this now? Zhou Yong peeked around and asked, "Why don’t I see Zhou Lina and the others?"
It was mealtime, yet Zhou Lina was nowhere in sight, which made Zhou Yong feel uneasy.
"They’ve gone to the steel plant cafeteria to eat."
"We’re going to the cafeteria too, let’s go," Zhou Dajiang said, his voice firm.
No way, they had also gone to eat at the cafeteria. Zhou Yong was a bit curious about how the food tasted there.
Although curious, Zhou Yong wanted to ask Zhou Dajiang, but seeing his displeased expression, he knew that it wasn’t the right time to seek answers.
As they went downstairs, Zhou Yong caught a glimpse of Zhou Juan cooking in the corridor and suddenly thought of a good place to go, "Dad, what about we go to Grandpa’s house for dinner?"
He felt it shouldn’t be a problem since he used to go there often for meals, and his uncle had always told him to come over more.
Watching his eldest son, who still bore a hint of naivety, Zhou Dajiang was full of concern.
Such an honest and naive eldest son, Zhou Dajiang couldn’t help but worry, not just about him clashing with Zhou Lina, but even Zhou Xuan.
He, as the main pillar of the family, couldn’t fall; he had to uphold the family’s honor.
"Something happened today..." Zhou Dajiang thought, intending to take Zhou Yong away first and then find a secluded place to properly explain.
But to his surprise, Zhou Yong didn’t pay attention to what he was saying and just headed straight for the door.
Zhou Dajiang sighed helplessly; tonight’s dinner was truly hard to stomach.
As he had feared, from Old Zhou to Zhou Dahai’s youngest son, Zhou Bin, the looks they gave the father and son were filled with disdain.
Zhou Dajiang felt increasingly restless and really wanted to get up and leave, but he couldn’t deny how Zhou Yong was heartily enjoying his meal.
"Zhou Juan, your cooking skills have really improved a lot, even better than what Zhou Lina makes."
"I’ll come to your house for dinner from now on."
"Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, you don’t mind, right?" Zhou Yong raised his head and asked a question that made Zhou Dahai and the others feel like vomiting blood.
Zhou Dahai truly felt like vomiting blood. Was this guilelessness or was he feigning stupidity for the sake of taking advantage?
Zhou Dahai believed it was the latter. "You can if you contribute to the living expenses."
They barely had enough food for themselves; having an occasional extra mouth to feed was already a source of much distress and headache.
And now, to his disbelief, not only had they nurtured this man’s palate, he was making such a demanding request.