Poverty Alleviation C03

Chapter 3

Hu Qianqian added another 4,000 yuan to the 6,000 yuan “travel expenses” her son had given her, making it a total of 10,000 yuan, and handed it back to him.

“My son is about to start working at the TV station! Who knows, he might even appear on TV in the future—he needs to buy some nice clothes!”

“Don’t worry, your mom isn’t short on money. Didn’t I just receive 800,000 yuan?” Hu Qianqian patted her bank card happily.

In the past, she had been afraid of showing wealth in front of the Wei family. She didn’t dare buy anything nice for the house, and even if she did, she worried that Wei Zhiyong would just take it back to his hometown and give it away.

But now, everything at home belonged to her closest family. Since getting married, Hu Qianqian had never felt this relaxed.

“Look at you, getting excited over nothing! What can you even do with just 800,000?” Hu Sheng’s grandfather, Hu Yuanzheng, shot his daughter a glare.

Even his grandmother, Ge Jun, didn’t take her daughter’s side. She snatched the bank card from her hands.

“I think you’re getting carried away! I’ll hold onto this money! Once Wei Sheng’s job is stable and he has paid six months of housing fund contributions, we’ll use this 800,000—if it’s not enough, the family can pitch in more—to buy him a wedding apartment while housing prices are still reasonable!”

Wei Sheng: “……”

Here we go again!

When he was in school, they used to twist his ear and repeatedly warn him not to date.

Now, barely a year after graduation, they were already eager for a girlfriend to drop from the sky and get married immediately?

Still, complaints aside, Wei Sheng agreed to let his grandparents manage the money.

His mom might scold more fiercely than anyone, but if she were truly ruthless, she wouldn’t have stood by all these years, watching her husband funnel his entire salary and savings to support his mother and younger brother.

By contrast, his grandparents were much more clear-headed.

Despite the fact that his father often came to his grandmother’s house to mooch meals, she never asked him for living expenses. In reality, though, Wei Zhiyong, as a son-in-law, had no clue how much wealth the Hu family had accumulated over the years.

His grandparents were well aware that their son-in-law’s heart was entirely set on his relatives back in his hometown. Knowing he was unreliable, they had likely anticipated that their daughter would divorce him sooner or later. That’s why they had always kept a backup plan.

Now that their daughter and grandson had come back, Hu Yuanzheng was overjoyed. That evening, he even opened a bottle of his treasured Maotai and insisted that Wei Sheng have a drink with him.

However, Hu Qianqian wasn’t treated as well.

After two glasses of Maotai, Hu Yuanzheng couldn’t hold back and glared fiercely at his daughter. “You just let him walk away with 800,000 so easily? Foolish! You two might be dividing things cleanly, but did you ever think about leaving something for Xiao Sheng?”

According to Hu Yuanzheng, after dividing their assets, the couple should have each contributed half of their money to cover the down payment for a house for Wei Sheng.

But now, thanks to his foolish daughter’s eagerness to get rid of that man, she had let Wei Zhiyong take the entire 800,000. Anyone with half a brain could guess that once the money was in his hands, it would end up in his family’s pockets.

Hu Yuanzheng couldn’t help but wonder—he and his wife had been shrewd all their lives, so how had they ended up with such a clueless daughter?

Hu Qianqian had always been afraid of her father. After getting scolded, her eyes turned red, and she didn’t dare say a word in protest.

“Grandpa, you’ve misunderstood my mom. I was the one who refused the money. Didn’t you always teach me that a real man doesn’t rely on his parents’ money?”

“With my grandma and uncle’s personalities, having that 800,000 dangling in front of them would only push them to pressure my dad into divorcing my mom—even if he didn’t want to!”

Wei Sheng sneered.

Who wouldn’t love money?

But if spending 800,000 meant his mom could finally rid herself of those disgusting toads from the Wei family, then the money was well worth it!

“Hahaha! Now that’s the spirit of a true Hu family member! Well done! Money is never more important than people!” Hu Yuanzheng laughed heartily and patted Wei Sheng on the shoulder.

While the Hu family was filled with laughter, the Wei family’s atmosphere was more complicated.

Somehow, under the persuasion of his mother and younger brother, Wei Zhiyong had ended up divorced. But for some reason, he felt an empty void inside.

It was as if he had lost something truly precious.

When he stumbled back home in a daze, the bank card in his pocket hadn’t even warmed up before his mother snatched it from him.

“Wei Mian is about to start working in the provincial capital. He’ll be a city man now! We need to buy him a house there as soon as possible. I heard that city girls won’t even date a guy unless he owns property.”

Grandma Wei, her sharp eyes glinting, glanced at her eldest son. After a moment of thought, she gave him a new assignment—

“Doesn’t your workplace have a generous housing fund? Go check how much you have saved.”

“Wei Mian just started working and still needs to find a girlfriend. How can we expect him to take on a mortgage in the provincial capital? Zhiyong, you’re his real uncle! He’s always been closer to you than his own father. How could you possibly not help him?”

Wei Zhiyong opened his mouth.

He wanted to say that his own son didn’t even have a house yet.

The only property the family had owned had already been sold because of the divorce.

If all 800,000 went toward buying a house for Wei Mian, then what about Wei Sheng?

Even though Wei Sheng was closer to his mother, in his heart, Wei Zhiyong still held onto the traditional belief that family assets should ultimately go to his own son.

“Big Brother! Sister-in-law’s family runs a supermarket, they’re so rich. Are you saying they won’t buy a house for Wei Sheng when he gets married? Sigh! In the end, it’s because we’re useless—we have no education, can’t find good jobs, can’t make money, and don’t have the ability to buy a house for Wei Mian…” Wei Zhifei skillfully started playing the victim.

Wei Zhiyong was instantly at a loss for words.

Just like that, his original plan of returning to his hometown to pick up his nephew for his job in the provincial capital somehow turned into him agreeing to a whole list of demands from his mother and younger brother.

After arriving back in the provincial capital, Wei Zhiyong first booked a budget hotel near his workplace for Wei Mian to stay in temporarily. Then, he went to his office to report back and inquire about how to apply for employee housing.

The office director was stunned when he heard about the request.

“Lao Wei, our company dorms are meant for young, unmarried employees. You’ve been here for over thirty years—are you really planning to squeeze into a dorm with a bunch of young people?”

“Besides, the company contributes over four thousand yuan to your housing fund every month. Isn’t that enough to rent a place?”

The words made Wei Zhiyong’s face flush with embarrassment.

Left with no choice, he hurriedly rented a three-bedroom apartment near his old residence.

The rent was 4,500 yuan per month, with a deposit and three months’ rent upfront. Just like that, his salary account was nearly drained, leaving only a few hundred yuan.

With just the two of them living there, he could have rented a cheaper place, but his mother insisted that they couldn’t go without a woman to take care of things. Once they settled down in the provincial capital, she planned to bring his younger brother and sister-in-law over to work as well.

By that calculation, with his brother and sister-in-law in one room, Wei Mian in another, and himself in the last, they had to rent a three-bedroom apartment at the very least.

“Uncle, I’m hungry. Let’s go eat some steak?” After settling the rental and checking out of the hotel, Wei Mian caught sight of a Western restaurant and refused to move.

“Steak is way too expensive! A single meal costs over a hundred yuan. Let’s just take a cab home—there’s a Shaxian Delicacies restaurant near our apartment…” Wei Zhiyong said, distressed over the expense.

“Oh… I just heard that when Wei Sheng goes out with his classmates, they always have steak or seafood buffets. I’ve never had any before… I was kind of curious about the taste…”

Wei Mian lowered his head, his slightly long bangs covering the resentment and jealousy in his eyes. His thin figure looked especially pitiful.

Wei Zhiyong immediately felt guilty.

So, he ended up spending the last of his 500 yuan on a Western meal for his nephew, spending over 300. After moving into the rental, he stopped by a nearby supermarket to buy some essentials, and by the time he was done, his bank card wouldn’t go through for even a single yuan.

In the end, he had to use Huabei (a credit service).

Unfortunately, neither of them was good at managing household affairs.

Wei Mian was spoiled from childhood—he never did any housework and wasn’t even sure what was needed for daily living.

Whenever he was uncertain about something, he just called for his mom.

Wei Zhiyong, despite his age, was also clueless about household management.

All these years, he had focused entirely on his mother and younger brother’s family, eager to give them whatever he earned. His own household was completely neglected.

At first, Hu Qianqian had fought and argued with him over it. But after realizing it was pointless, she gave up, stopped depending on him, and started handling everything herself.

Over time, this gave Wei Zhiyong the illusion that running a household wasn’t difficult at all.

As long as he gave his wife 1,000 yuan per month for household expenses, he got hot meals every day, and their child attended public school without costing much. Keeping a family running seemed like no big deal.

Thinking they had covered all their bases, the two bought shampoo, body wash, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. They also got some instant noodles and sausages in case they got hungry, and even picked up some fruit. Laden with bags, they returned to the rental.

But once they got home, they realized they had forgotten towels and slippers for showering.

They wanted to cook instant noodles but hadn’t bought any pots, bowls, or utensils.

Even to eat fruit, they didn’t have a peeler…

By the time they made a list of all the missing essentials and went back out, the supermarket had already closed.

Cough—small neighborhood shops usually had laid-back owners with early schedules, similar to elderly folks. They opened in the morning and always closed before 9 PM.

No one was going to stay open late just for a random customer who needed a pack of cigarettes.

The profits weren’t worth the electricity costs for running an air conditioner at night.

Left with no other option, Wei Zhiyong dug out two old cotton T-shirts to use as makeshift towels. After a simple wash-up, they each went to their rooms…

“Uncle! Why didn’t you buy blankets?”

Wei Zhiyong walked out of his room with a defeated look.

His room only had a bare, old-style spring mattress.

No blankets, no sheets, not even a pillow!

Thinking back to when Hu Qianqian managed the household, he never had to worry about anything.

Every morning before work, breakfast was already prepared.

When he got home at night, dinner was served, and the house was clean and tidy. Everything was always ready for him.

Now that all those things were gone, he suddenly realized how unbearable life without them was.

Regret hit him hard—he actually regretted the divorce…

“Uncle, this place is unlivable. Let’s just go back to the hotel!” Wei Mian was about to throw a tantrum.

His family might have been poor, but he had never suffered like this before.

Left with no choice, Wei Zhiyong took his nephew back to the hotel.

For some reason, the whole day had been one long streak of misfortune—nothing had gone smoothly at all!

He wasn’t sure if bad luck was haunting him, but the entire day had been nothing but misfortune!

There used to be plenty of small inns and budget hotels around their neighborhood, but after searching multiple places, Wei Zhiyong found that every single one was fully booked.

“Stop looking! I doubt you’ll find a single empty room anywhere around here tonight,” a hostel owner kindly warned them. “The art academy entrance exams are happening these days, and I heard thousands of students have come all at once! With so many people looking for a place to stay, and you not booking in advance, where do you think you’ll find a room now?”

Dragging their suitcases, Wei Zhiyong and Wei Mian wandered aimlessly down the street.

Exhausted, they finally sat down on the curb to rest for a while.

“Uncle, let’s just take a cab to the city center and find a place there. It’ll be expensive, but we can’t exactly sleep on the street, right?”

Just as he finished speaking, a few drunkards staggered toward them, clutching bottles of hangover-relief drinks.

Glancing down at the two disheveled men in worn-out pajamas, the drunkards couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy.

“Lost your jobs, huh?”

“Sigh! Hang in there. Times are tough for everyone these days.”

“Here—take this money and buy yourselves a couple of cups of instant noodles!”

Surprisingly, these drunkards were actually quite kind-hearted!

Looking at the empty drink bottles tossed near their feet and then at the twenty yuan bill that had been forcibly stuffed into his hand, Wei Zhiyong’s face instantly turned bright red.

He had never been so humiliated in his entire life!

Did these people think he was a beggar?

He was a full-time employee at a proper state-owned enterprise! He had a stable job with a monthly salary and benefits totaling ten to twenty thousand yuan! He still had 800,000 in his bank account!

Wait—no. That 800,000… wasn’t really his anymore.

Wei Zhiyong looked around blankly, feeling an overwhelming sense of desolation.

For a moment, he suddenly realized that, apart from still having a slightly more respectable job, he was no different from the homeless beggars sleeping on the streets.

(End of Chapter)