Chapter 441 - 430
Ms. Qian deeply agreed with Old Zhou on this point, and therefore chided Manbao a little, "Managing a household requires thrift and economy; we can’t always think about buying delicious food and fun things. Only by being frugal can a family have surplus."
Ms. Qian couldn’t hold back and took the opportunity to teach her daughter, "Look at our big family; there are many of us and we earn a lot, but if we have no savings, what do we do if one or two people fall ill, or if we face natural disasters or misfortunes?"
Old Zhou nodded repeatedly, "Exactly, exactly, Manbao, it’s fine to play with the young masters of the Bai Family, and you can learn their skills, but don’t learn their spending habits. We need to learn how to save money, understand?"
Ms. Qian snapped back to her purpose and resumed, "But when I say I want to divide money among the children, I don’t mean for them to take it and pay it off right away."
As soon as Old Zhou heard his wife bring up this topic, he immediately turned his face away, visibly displeased.
Ms. Qian got angry, slapping the bed frame and said, "Manbao, turn your father’s face back to me."
Manbao immediately reached out and tugged at her father’s grizzled face.
Old Zhou turned his head back grudgingly and said, "If you give them the money, won’t they spend it? If it’s all to be saved, what’s the difference between holding it ourselves or them holding it? At the end of the day, when they need money, would I not give it to them?"
"Of course, there’s a difference," Ms. Qian said soberly, "Let’s not mention Four for now; just look at Eldest, Two, and Third. Doesn’t each of them have a whole family to support behind them? One doesn’t know the cost of firewood, rice, oil, and salt until they become a householder. They are all grown up, how much longer are you going to hold the money for them? In my opinion, while the family is presently well-off, we should give them some to let them learn to manage their households."
"I’m not even dead yet, and they want to take over the household?" Old Zhou retorted.
Old Zhou, chest heaving in anger, pointed at Manbao sitting aside and said, "Not to mention Sixth still has a few years before marriage; take Manbao, for instance; she won’t marry for another seven or eight years, right? What kind of household are they running?"