Chapter 354: The Ideal Life
Chapter 354: The Ideal Life
After Jiang Xia finished the payment and arranged the delivery time, the group left the furniture mall and headed to a nearby restaurant for a meal.
Li Xiuxian walked at the back, feeling dejected.
Zhou Chensen asked her, "What did you buy?"
Li Xiuxian replied irritably, "Do you know how much money we have? What can we afford? There's nothing we can buy with our salaries! I wanted to buy a boat, but you didn't agree! Look at your fourth brother, he earned money from fishing and can buy whatever he wants! Look at how Jiang Xia shops without even looking at the prices!"
Li Xiuxian had just witnessed Jiang Xia's carefree shopping, buying whatever she wanted without considering the prices, and paying without blinking an eye. In contrast, she herself had to be frugal when buying groceries every day.
Watching Jiang Xia shop, Li Xiuxian felt both envious and admiring.
Li Xiuxian had always yearned for a life like Jiang Xia's.
She used to think that such a life only existed in dreams, an ideal that couldn't be found in reality.
After all, how could one person possibly have everything go their way?
Her husband treated her like a princess, her in-laws loved her dearly, her own family was supportive, and she had money!
But in reality, it was her sister-in-law who lived the life she had always dreamed of.
Another woman of the same status, with a less prestigious job, and who had to respectfully call her 'Second Sister-in-Law' was living the life Li Xiuxian desired.
Both being daughters-in-law of the Zhou family, the vast difference in their lives made Li Xiuxian feel a huge disparity and fear.
Because their couple had stable jobs, their future was predictable and secure.
They could live a peaceful life without financial worries, but they were not wealthy.
However, the eldest and fourth sons had endless possibilities!
Especially Jiang Xia, who was already living the life Li Xiuxian had always dreamed of.
From the beginning, when she married into the Zhou family, she had married the son with the most potential and ambition.
Zhou Chensen was one of the few college graduates in the entire town.
Why was their life not as good as the eldest son's?
Zhou Chensen glanced at his wife, seeing right through her thoughts. "If you like fishing so much, why didn't you marry a fisherman in the first place?"
Even after agreeing to book the boat, she still had so much to say! Li Xiuxian was speechless.
Zhou Chensen left those words behind and quickly walked ahead to watch his daughter and nephew cross the road.
Zhou Chenglei rode his motorcycle with Jiang Xia to a newly opened restaurant nearby.
Recently, a new restaurant had opened in the city.
More and more people were starting small businesses.
The economy was improving.
With their large group, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia requested a private room.
The two of them huddled together to order dishes.
Zhou Chenglei knew that Jiang Xia didn't like eating seafood when dining out, and the seafood at the restaurant was not as fresh as the one at home, so he didn't order any seafood.
The restaurant had a diverse menu, and after some discussion, they ordered braised beef, big plate chicken, douban duck, maoxuewang, red braised pigeon, and mapo tofu.
They let the children choose the rest.
The children gathered together, chattering excitedly about what they wanted to eat.
Except for when they were young and their parents took them out to eat, the three brothers had never dined out with their families like this after getting married.
Zhou Chensen enjoyed the atmosphere and laughed, "On the Winter Solstice, let's not cook at home. There's a new restaurant in town, so let's all go there as a family."
He didn't care what the women thought; he just wanted the brothers to be united, and for the next generation to be united as well.
The bond between brothers needed to be maintained, and the children needed to spend more time together to develop a strong relationship.
The future relationship between the children depended on the relationship between the older generation.
With only the three brothers left in the family, their younger sister had married far away and rarely visited, and their cousins from their maternal grandparents' side lived far away and had little contact.
Of course, the three brothers should stand united.
Li Xiuxian glanced at him but said nothing.
Seeing the children's joy, Zhou Chengxin also thought it was a good idea to have a meal together and smiled, saying, "Let's go out to eat on New Year's Day too, and let the kids have some fun."
Whoever hosts the gathering usually pays.
Tian Caixia wanted fairness, and she had no objections after hearing this.
It was normal for the fourth and second sons' families to invite them.
Zhou Chenglei raised his teacup in a toast to his brother and sister-in-law, saying, "Let's gather more often in the future."
After the meal, the family went to the shipyard.
Seeing Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia leading a group of people, Zhou Factory Director smiled and asked, "What's the special occasion today? Are you planning to order a boat for each of you?"
Zhou Chenglei presented a bag of fruit and dried fish to Zhou Factory Director.
This wasn't the first time he had received their dried fish, and Zhou Factory Director took it with a smile, saying, "Oh no, you're not thinking of ordering two large boats with just a thousand yuan, are you?"
Jiang Xia laughed and said, "Yes, you're going to have to spend a lot! I brought the kids to receive the ship models, does Zhou Factory Director have them?"
Zhou Factory Director smiled and said, "Of course, I must! One for each!"
Zhou Factory Director enjoyed designing ships and often started with a model. His office indeed had quite a few ship models.
So, Zhou Factory Director called over a few children and gave each of them a ship model.
Li Xiuxian took a glance, and Zhou Zhou's model was the newest and most intricate.
Perhaps it was because Jiang Xia had been holding Zhou Zhou's hand when they entered.
Jiang Xia hadn't expected there to be any, and she laughed, "I was just joking, I didn't think I'd get such a good deal. You kids quickly thank Zhou Grandpa."
The children happily shouted their thanks to Zhou Grandpa.
Zhou Factory Director smiled and said, "Good kids." Then he continued, "This morning, I called to inform you that I knew your family was in the city for the Ten Thousand Yuan Households Commendation Conference, and I thought you might come by the shipyard. The used boat you wanted to buy has news. The ship your brother ordered is almost ready. We'll test it on New Year's Day, and if there are no issues, you can take delivery."
Li Xiuxian looked at Jiang Xia, "You're buying another boat?"
Jiang Xia nodded, "We plan to buy two small fishing boats to go out to sea and feed the fish. So we won't delay the family's fishing boat."
Li Xiuxian thought to herself that even a small boat would cost a few thousand yuan.
Tian Caixia was delighted, "Zhou Factory Director, is our new boat ready so soon?"
Zhou Factory Director nodded, "We diverted a production line, so it's faster. Also, a batch of apprentices graduated and became full-fledged workers, and we recruited a new batch of trainees. With more manpower, it's naturally faster."
"Zhou Factory Director, we're Zhou Chenglei's second brother and sister-in-law, and we also want to order a boat," Li Xiuxian nudged Zhou Chensen to speak up.
He's the one who knows about boats!"
Zhou Chensen didn't want to order a boat. As a child, he had almost been swept away by a wave, and he didn't like going out to sea. His grandmother had his fortune told, saying he should avoid vehicles and water. He also felt a fear of water, even though he was a strong swimmer and diver, not inferior to his brothers. But deep down, he resisted going out to sea to fish.
However, there was no choice. Li Xiuxian was determined, and this time, Zhou Chensen knew she had made up her mind to buy a boat. He couldn't stop her, so he could only go along with her! When the time came and she couldn't manage, he would give the boat to his elder brother and fourth brother and see if she dared to cause more trouble in the future!
Zhou Chensen began discussing the matter with Zhou Factory Director.
After listening to Zhou Chensen's request, which was very modest, likely due to financial constraints, Zhou Factory Director said, "Wait a moment. Actually, I wasn't finished speaking just now."
(End of Chapter)
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