Hai cheng district, Xinghe subdistrict, at the end of the alley.
Housewives with no jobs usually loved to gather here, doing chores and chatting, to avoid boredom.
Whether it was shelling peas, sorting vegetables, knitting sweaters, or washing clothes, none of it prevented them from multitasking.
Some could even multitask three things at once.
And listen to the radio.
After living here for a few months, Wu Hua had gradually gotten used to the local pace of life and joined the crowd, though she mostly listened to others chat.
She rarely spoke herself.
It wasn't until recently, when she was more familiar with people, that someone saw her at the post office withdrawing money with a remittance slip. They curiously asked if it was living expenses sent by her husband.
Wu Hua then proudly spoke of her family matters.
However, she knew what to say and what not to say. To outsiders, she only said her husband had died and she was raising her two daughters alone. Fortunately, her youngest daughter was promising, able to write articles and earn manuscript fees at such a young age. The remittance slip was her daughter's manuscript fee, enough for daily expenses.
That's right, she didn't specify how much manuscript fee it was.
She only said it was enough.
This was to avoid attracting covetousness and burglary.
The neighbors, though envious, knew it was a matter of skill and that they couldn't replicate it.
"I really can't believe your youngest daughter is a writer, earning manuscript fees at such a young age. When she gets older, won't she become a great literary master!"
"I must go home today and shame my own stupid son. He's been writing those sappy poems since high school, and most of his pocket money was saved for submitting manuscripts. The result was zero.
His closet is full of rejection letters.
As if we didn't know.
"If you have the ability, you won't starve anywhere!"
"Going by that logic, does your household now depend entirely on your youngest daughter? I don't know much about manuscript fees, but they require inspiration, right? There's an old saying, isn't there, 'Jiang Lang's talent is exhausted,' about inspiration. It's hard to say about inspiration, you can't just rely on it!"
Because Wu Hua only said it was enough, everyone didn't think Ding Yun's manuscript fees were much. They probably estimated it to be around the salary of a normal worker, thirty to forty yuan, and likely unstable. So after a few compliments,
Someone immediately raised potential risks.
"Yes, you're still so young. You can't just rely on your youngest daughter's manuscript fees for the rest of your life, can you?
Not to mention fairness to your youngest daughter, what will you do when she gets married? You can't possibly move in with her and her husband, can you? If your daughter doesn't mind, your son-in-law will definitely have opinions.
Wouldn't that be separating your daughter and son-in-law!"
"Exactly. Let me tell you, some men now don't even want to support their own parents, let alone their in-laws. There's no hope for this situation!"
"In my opinion, you should find a stable job while you're still young so you have a pension. At least you can get by. Or, remarry and have a son.
Otherwise, if you just rely on your daughter for support, you'll suffer hardship and regret it later."
"Right, right. It might even affect your two daughters' prospects for finding partners. Think about it, if your daughters say during blind dates that they'll need to help support their mother after marriage, most men will probably turn and walk away, with no follow-up."
"Oh, you're thinking too much. It's hard for Little Hua to find another partner. First of all, her previous husband died, so she's a bit of a 'widow who brings bad luck to her husband.'
Just having two daughters is enough.
Those who want a son won't be willing to marry her.
Perhaps only remarried men with sons might be willing. But what are those people like, don't you know? They're just looking for a nanny, someone to do chores. The kind-hearted might be willing to help with elder care, but the heartless ones will probably kick her out once she's no longer needed, with no support.
"Right, right. Let me tell you, do you know about the village of Xiao Li Zhuang where my sister-in-law married? Li Tie Zhu at the east end of their village had three sons from his deceased wife. His wife died in childbirth with the third son. Later, he remarried.
He married a widow with no children, named Widow Yu.
That stepmother was truly exemplary, treating them as if they were her own children. She worked tirelessly to raise them and help them get married. Two years ago, Li Tie Zhu fell and broke his waist, according to reports.
He was bedridden, and she took care of him day and night. But last year, Li Tie Zhu died, and his three sons kicked Widow Yu out, saying they had no blood relation and no obligation to support her.
They didn't even let her stay in the pigsty!
It was the villagers who couldn't stand it and gave Widow Yu a house previously repaired by educated youth. Unfortunately, Widow Yu was probably hit hard by the blow, her spirit completely broken.
The village also helped with her funeral.
"Oh, they're truly terrible people. As expected, one must raise one's own children. Being a stepmother is not easy!"
"It's useless. Many biological children are unfilial. Whether they are filial or not seems to depend on education."
"Education is also useless. This thing is likely innate. Some people are born bad seeds. Liu San Shui was such a good person, right? His wife was also good. They were both educators. Can this family's education be considered poor? But his son, isn't he still a beast?
He lost money gambling and demanded money from home.
He dared to kill his own parents, the beast!"
"Alas, if you ask me, it's better to rely on yourself than anything else. Really, when you reach a certain age, if you have no money and have to ask your children for it, setting aside whether you can bring yourself to ask, can you succeed every time?
Asking once or twice might be okay, but what if you live a long life and have to ask a hundred or a thousand times?
Heh, even if they're willing to give it,
They'll probably curse you behind your back as 'old crow,' and the probability of them refusing is even higher..."
"Hey, I deeply empathize with that. My son is working, and my daughter-in-law is working too, but they both live at home and eat and drink at home. Is it unreasonable for me to ask each of them for ten yuan for food expenses each month?
Those meals didn't fall from the sky; I bought them with my own money. If I add up the costs of oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and other miscellaneous items, I'm actually losing money.
But they were unwilling. They were truly unwilling.
It was as if I was about to kick them out before they reluctantly gave me ten yuan each month. It's like this now, so can I still count on them when I'm older?
So, I'm being frugal whenever possible.
Save more money so that when I'm old, I don't have to live under their moods and endure this kind of resentment."
"A stable job is better. At least there's a pension guarantee. Although it's not much, it's enough to survive, and you don't have to ask your children for money. The relationship will naturally be harmonious."
Idle chatter and gossip often have no central theme. As they chatted, the topic veered off course. The points they touched upon were things Ding Yun had never told Wu Hua. After all, it was difficult for Ding Yun to say, "When I get married later, I might not be able to give you all the money."
However, Wu Hua did become thoughtful and conflicted because of these words. It wasn't that she was conflicted about remarrying.
The main point of contention was whether to use the money she had saved recently to buy a stable job. With a stable job, she would have a pension upon retirement. Living with her daughters and sons-in-law with a pension, and then helping with childcare and household chores, the son-in-law might not be so displeased.
Ding Yun had no immediate use for money. Her monthly manuscript fees ranged from at least three hundred to over a thousand at times. She gave all this money to Wu Hua. Wu Hua did not spend extravagantly. Apart from daily necessities, she saved the rest. Currently, she had three to four thousand yuan.
This amount should be enough to buy a stable job.
After all, stable jobs were not as stable as they used to be, and many people had been laid off. Furthermore, many individual entrepreneurs had become wealthy, with incomes far exceeding those of ordinary workers.
Stable jobs were no longer as desirable.
Therefore, three to four thousand yuan.
Was actually enough to buy an ordinary job.
Wu Hua was deliberating because she had enough money to buy a stable job.
If she didn't have the money, she wouldn't have thought so much.
As for using this money to start a business or become an individual entrepreneur, she had never even considered it. Wu Hua genuinely didn't believe she had the ability, and she was more worried that the business of individual entrepreneurs might not last forever. Now it was legal and compliant, and no one was being pursued, but who could guarantee the future?
A stable job was still more secure and practical.