Li Xia specially applied for leave today. After breakfast, she took a taxi to South City.
Because she would pass by Wang Yunmei’s house on the way to the Wang family’s house, Li Xia specially dropped by. She saw that the wooden gate was locked and the door was tightly closed. Apparently, she was not at home.
Wang Yunmei hid out early in the morning while Jian Ai went to school and Jian Yu also found a driving school to learn how to drive. There was no one at home.
Li Xia’s expression did not look good. She thought to herself, ‘We couldn’t have made a wasted trip again today, right?’
When Old Madam Wang learned that there was no one at Wang Yunmei’s house, it left her stunned. “She went home late after her night shift. The breakfast stall has been closed for quite some time. If she’s not at home early in the morning, what can she be doing?”
“Mom, did she deliberately avoid us?” Li Xia pondered.
The old lady snorted. “I’m her mother. How dare she avoid me?”
As she spoke, she couldn’t help but look at Li Xia. Her expression instantly changed again, and she smiled with concern. “Xia, since you’re pregnant, don’t go back and forth. You should lie at home. Mom is here. They won’t be able to escape!”
As she spoke, she stood up and rummaged through the yellow wooden closet before pulling out a red bankbook.
“Come, Xia, take this. Buy more food to nourish your body. Don’t be reluctant to spend it. This is for you and the child in your stomach,” the old lady said and stuffed the bankbook into Li Xia’s hand.
Li Xia knew she was faking her pregnancy just to provoke the old lady to help support them. Who knew that the old lady looked forward to having a grandson so much that she even gave her a bankbook?
Feeling guilty, Li Xia instinctively wanted to refuse. After all, she did not deserve a reward since her pregnancy was fake. If in the future her lies were exposed, she would be charged with taking advantage.
However, just as she was about to refuse, Li Xia saw the number on the bankbook and instantly put it back.
This old lady was offering ten thousand yuan at once.
In this era, ten thousand yuan was not a small sum. Li Xia’s monthly salary was less than two thousand yuan. This was equivalent to her salary for half a year.
Although Old Master Wang and the old lady didn’t have pensions, the four children would give each of them a fixed living allowance of three hundred yuan every month, which was one thousand and two hundred yuan a month.
The elders were already old, so they had little to spend on. One to two hundred yuan was enough for their monthly living allowance. In addition, although Wang Yunzhong rarely gave them more living allowance, he would always consider that he was the eldest son and give them one to two thousand yuan during festive occasions or their birthdays to show off.
Over time, the old lady saved up a lot of money.
Old Master Wang was not a generous person, and the old lady was even more stingy, but the two elders’ desire to see their grandson exceeded everything.
Now that Li Xia was pregnant, the meat in her stomach was a golden ball in the eyes of the two elders. Naturally, they treasured it very much.
Therefore, after the two of them discussed, they took out ten thousand yuan to give to Li Xia so that she could recuperate well during her pregnancy. They did not even blink, let alone feel heartache.
“Mom, this is too much. It’s difficult for me to use it.”
Li Xia did not refuse directly but cleverly flattered the old lady.
As expected, the old lady felt happy when she heard that. She raised her chin in a very magnanimous manner. “It’s not much. You’re pregnant with the Wang family’s child. As the grandmother, I have to show my gratitude, right?”
“When you give birth to a fat boy, Mom will give you a big red packet!”
Li Xia knew very well that the Wang family favored boys over girls. When she heard the old lady’s words, she could not help but laugh dryly. She could not bear to part with ten thousand yuan, but she felt increasingly uncertain.