Chapter 16 — The Bed of Your Own Choosing

Meng Lan did not ask for money first, but went to look at the equipment and books. She doesn't understand machines, but she can see the cash flow. In the end, she offered us eighty thousand in compensation, with the condition that Dad immediately sell the equipment and not wait any longer. Dad felt she was being too controlling. "This is between you and Yanxuan." He said. Meng Lan put down her chopsticks. "Uncle, forty thousand of that eighty thousand is mine." There was silence at the table. Mom quickly reconciled, saying she would definitely pay later. Dad looked at me: "Your money is not enough?" "Money together are preparing to buy a house." "You two aren't even married yet, how can you divide it so clearly?" Meng Lan's face changed. I didn't wait for her to open her mouth: "It's not her who divided, I told her. The house is the plan of two people, we can't just assume that because something happened to our house, she has to give in." Dad's face darkened, and he lit a cigarette. That night, When we returned to the motel, Meng Lan asked: "Do you regret taking me home?" "A little." She coldly laughed: "Really honest." "Not regretting letting you know, but regretting letting you sit on the table to listen."
to hear to hear those words." Meng Lan leaned against the head of the bed and was silent for a moment: "I also said it too bluntly. Your father is feeling useless. As soon as I arrived, I told him to sell the equipment. Of course he felt that I was denying him." "But the equipment must be sold." "Yes. Morals don't change, profits can change." The next day, she took the initiative to talk to her father for half an hour. She didn't talk about cash flow anymore, just said that her father used to do business when he was young, but after losing money, he still refused to stop, and in the end, her mother shouldered the debt alone for several years. She didn't want us to blame each other for the same thing in the future. Dad finally agreed to sell the equipment. Eighty thousand, we put in fifty thousand, my father borrowed the remaining thirty thousand from a friend. Meng Lan persevered in only taking out twenty-five thousand, not because she regretted helping, but because she wanted my parents to see that this was not a daughter-in-law filling a hole for the Zhou family, but an expense our family shouldered together. After settlement, the house buying plan was delayed half a year. When it was time to meet Meng Lan's mother, the bookkeeping was not easy. Meng's mother had divorced young and raised her eldest daughter alone; she had little patience for romantic illusions. As soon as she opened her mouth, she asked whose name was written on the house certificate, how much the bride price was, and whether Meng Lan could continue working after giving birth. I said my family would contribute what it could, and both our names would be on the deed. The bride price would be discussed by the two families. Having children was not something we had to decide now. Meng's mother was still dissatisfied. "Your family just got into debt, what if something happens to your parents in the future? We can't always take money from our little family." Meng Lan said: "Mom, his parents have something going on."
Of course I have to worry, it's the same for me if something happens." "I don't need you guys to worry." "My knee has been hurting for three years, I haven't even gone to the doctor. This isn't called not having to worry, it's called burying the landmines first." Mother and daughter argued right on the spot. On the way back to the hotel, I asked Meng Lan: "Is it true that your mother doesn't like me very much?" "She doesn't like all the people preparing to marry me." "So my pressure is a little less, at least it's not a personal issue." She laughed, then got serious again: "I don't want to pay too much bride price. The 200,000 yuan was half because she feared I would suffer a loss, and half because she wanted to prove she had not raised me in vain." "What do you think?" "I want to give her a sense of security, but I do not want to use the money set aside for our house as a record of her sacrifices." In the end, we decided on a bride price of eighty-eight thousand, and Meng's mother sent it all back under Meng Lan's name. The wedding budget was also forced to less than one hundred thousand. At first glance, every problem seemed to have a solution. But the real problem is the parents. Both sides wanted their child to keep a way out of the marriage, and Meng Lan and I had to prove amidst their worries that we were willing to combine part of our way out together. On Tet that year, my father paid me the first payment of twenty thousand. The transfer note had only four words: "Don't let Lam Lam look down on you." I looked at that line for a long time, then called him. "It's not that she despises Dad, it's that Dad hasn't forgiven himself." Dad scolded me in the city for a long time, talking like an expert on TV. Before hanging up, he asked Meng Lan what he liked to eat and said next time I will tell my mother to prepare in advance. These were the softest words he could say. We're a little closer to buying a house. I thought the most complicated relationship between our two families had been settled, but I didn't expect that the thing that really made us break up wasn't money. It was Meng Lan who received a job offer in Shanghai. She didn't tell me until she was about to sign. Meng Lan's new job would raise her salary by nearly half and put her in charge of national brand content. It was an excellent opportunity, but it meant spending at least three years in Shanghai. The night before, she had told me we had just finished looking at the house. The broker said the homeowner agreed to reduce the price by another twenty thousand, just signing the contract in a week. I stood outside the housing complex, where we had been preparing to make the down payment, Meng Lan suddenly said: "Maybe I won't buy anymore." "Why?" "I received a job offer in Shanghai." I thought she had only just received the offer.