1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 247 A Daughter-in-Law's Supremacy is the Foundation of Family Harmony
"You can quit this?"

Qu Peng put the cigarettes back in his bag, looking utterly incredulous.

"Why not?"

Gu Bin walked over and sat down with him on a small stool: "You'll understand when you get married. A wife's position is the foundation of family harmony."

"I never would have guessed that before."

Qu Peng sighed, "You're such a henpecked husband! Where did your domineering attitude from high school go? Back then, you didn't even put the mayor's daughter in your eyes."

"We didn't expect that at the time either."

Gu Bin teased him with a smile: "You'll give up years of feelings to become the son-in-law of a bureau chief?"

"Tsk."

Qu Peng took a deep drag of his cigarette, then exhaled it all with a sigh.

"Is Gu Hui still bothering you?"

Gu Bin smiled knowingly, picked up the lighter, and leisurely twirled it in his hand twice.

"Your cousin is quite stubborn."

Qu Peng didn't say it explicitly, but someone as clever as Gu Bin could easily understand the implication behind his words.

"I'm getting married soon, I need to think this through."

Gu Bin patted his shoulder hard, kindly reminding him: "Hesitation will only lead to trouble. If things go wrong at the wedding, don't blame me for not warning you. Your father-in-law is no pushover. If you dare to let his daughter down, your future will be over."

"It's broken, this time it's really broken."

Qu Peng exhaled another smoke ring and said with an awkward smile, "You don't need to remind me, I know better than you do."

"How many days of leave did you take this time? How many days can you stay in Jinan?"

"Four days."

"Your girlfriend didn't come with you?"

"No."

"You two are getting married soon, why didn't you come back to meet your parents?"

“She’s in the criminal investigation team, so it’s not as easy for her to take leave as it is for me.”

"Now I understand why you broke up with Gu Hui so decisively."

Gu Bin joked with a laugh, "So your wife is a criminal police officer, and you're afraid of getting a beating when you get home."

"screw you"

Qu Peng laughed angrily: "Can't you think of me in a good way? Why do you have to label me as henpecked?"

It's not that I look down on you.

Gu Bin continued slyly, "With your mediocre skills, it's going to be difficult for you to assert your authority as husband."

"What's Liangzi been up to lately?"

Qu Peng didn't want to be dragged into this, so he used the opportunity of complaining to ease his embarrassment: "I rarely come back, and he doesn't even take the initiative to treat us to a meal and have a few drinks together."

He's short on money.

Gu Bin rolled his eyes at him: "Don't even think about treating me."

"What?"

Qu Peng was puzzled.

"The couple took out a loan to buy the house."

Gu Bin laughed jokingly: "The mortgage alone costs a lot of money every month. Wu Meng is always complaining to Xi Yu, saying that they have to tighten their belts to make ends meet. It's probably hopeless to try to squeeze money out of her to treat us to a meal."

"Isn't it?"

Qu Peng exclaimed incredulously, "Liangzi's life is just too miserable! His wife controls all his money, he doesn't even have any pocket money, and he has to ask his wife for money to treat someone to a meal?"

"Isn't this normal?"

Gu Bin replied matter-of-factly, "My wife manages my money too. Xi Yu is in charge of everything. I don't even know how much money is in our family savings account."

Qu Peng: "You still feel quite honored?"

"necessary!"

Gu Bin raised an eyebrow at him smugly: "With a virtuous wife at home and a stable relationship, there's nothing to worry about."

"Keep showing off."

Qu Peng couldn't stand it anymore and gave him a disdainful look.

"Let's not talk about these trivial things anymore."

Gu Bin stopped smiling, his expression turning serious: "What's wrong with Sixth Grandfather? Why did he suddenly write a will? Do you know? Is there something wrong with his health?"

"I'm not too sure about that either."

Qu Peng frowned and said apologetically, "The old man suddenly called me and asked me to come to Jinan with him. He handed me the documents just before he left. I didn't hear anything about when he made the will. As for his health, he should be fine. If anything happens, Aunt Li should know. She's a very thoughtful person. If the old man is unwell, she will definitely tell me."

"It's good that you're alright."

Gu Bin breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat at ease.

"Nianxin, Nianrou, what happened?"

Taking the opportunity, Qu Peng asked again, "You're not a fair guy. You're keeping a lot of secrets from me."

"It's a long story."

Gu Bin deliberately kept everyone in suspense: "Let's talk about it another time. Maybe one day Sixth Grandfather will suddenly feel like writing a memoir or something, and then you'll find out."

"you boy"

Qu Peng was speechless.

"It's late, go home and rest."

Gu Bin laughed jokingly: "I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow. Let's invite Liangzi over too, and the three of us brothers can have a good drink together."

“That’s pretty much it”

Qu Peng, feeling relieved, chuckled and stubbed out his cigarette.

"It's so late, it'll be hard to get a taxi. I'll take you home."

Gu Bin took out his car keys from his pocket and walked towards his beloved car.

"You, the big boss of a listed company, ride this?"

Qu Peng had assumed he would be driven off in a luxury car, but upon closer inspection, he found it was just an electric bicycle.

"What's this?"

Gu Bin didn't take it seriously: "Cars can't get into the alley, so electric bikes are more convenient."

"You don't even own a car in Jinan, do you?"

Qu Peng found it quite unbelievable.

"It's normal not to have a car."

Gu Bin was seriously trying to fool people.

"Dude, you're the CEO of a listed company!"

Qu Peng mistakenly thought it was true: "Isn't this too cheap?"

"Loss value? Not at all."

Gu Bin didn't care: "None of my neighbors know my real net worth. If anyone asks, my wife just says I'm making a living by trading stocks at home."

"You two are really something."

Qu Peng choked, unable to think of a suitable adjective to express his feelings for a long time.

"Hurry up, get in the car!"

Gu Bin hopped on the electric scooter and urged him with a smile, "I still need to sleep with my wife after I take you back."

"Sitting here is so cramped."

Qu Peng sat down with his long legs spread apart, stepping on the footrests, feeling rather cramped.

"Stop complaining, sit tight, we're coming."

Gu Bin twisted the handlebars hard, and the electric scooter "flew out like an arrow"—of course, that was impossible.

In fact, the electric scooter was carrying a big man, and the load was too heavy, so it moved very slowly and didn't turn out of the alley for quite a while.

"Wow, you're so slow!"

Qu Peng was speechless: "I could walk faster by myself."

Why don't you just say you're too heavy?

Gu Bin stopped the car and glared at him with some displeasure: "If you don't want to sit, get off. I won't see you off."

"No, I want to sit."

Qu Peng lied, saying, "It's too dark in the alley, and I'm scared to walk alone at night."

"You're scared?" Gu Bin laughed angrily: "If your colleagues heard you say that, they'd laugh their heads off."

"If you don't tell, and I don't tell, how will they know?"

Qu Peng shamelessly remained seated and didn't move.

"You're good enough, I admire you."

Gu Bin was speechless at his shamelessness and had no choice but to continue riding his bike at a snail's pace of no more than ten meters per minute.

After a while, the indicator light on the electric scooter flashed a few times before plunging into darkness.

Gu Bin: "."

Qu Peng: "."

The two brothers, both in dire straits, stared at each other, completely dumbfounded.

-

old house.

Lin Xiyu looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost ten o'clock before she finally got the person back.

"Where did you two go? Did you find a place to have another drink?"

"You guessed so accurately? You're such a good wife."

Gu Bin entered the room reeking of alcohol and affectionately pinched her cheek.

"You two really went drinking?"

Lin Xiyu slapped his hand away and raised an eyebrow in slight surprise.

"My electric scooter ran out of power, so I found a place to charge it and ate a few skewers of lamb while I was there."

Gu Bin explained with a smile, opening his arms as if to pull the person into his embrace.

"He reeks of alcohol; it's suffocating."

Lin Xiyu pinched her nose and took two steps back in disgust.

Does it smell?

Gu Bin grabbed his collar and sniffed himself.

"Go take a shower quickly, the smell is bothering your son."

With the baby in her belly supporting her, Lin Xiyu confidently waved her hand to chase people away.

"Okay, okay, I'll go wash up now."

Gu Bin smiled indulgently, took out a change of clothes from the wardrobe, and went to the bathroom alone.

Seeing that he had left, Lin Xiyu opened the window and took a breath of fresh air.

It's not that she's being dramatic; she just had severe morning sickness after getting pregnant. She couldn't stand any strange smells, and she felt like vomiting at the slightest discomfort.

Gu Bin knew that her pregnancy was not easy, so he was even more attentive than usual, taking meticulous care of her.

In a situation like tonight, he would willingly do anything, even if his wife asked him to wash diapers, let alone take a bath.

-

"Did you ask? What did Qu Peng say? Why did Sixth Grandfather make a will?"

After taking a shower, the man finally felt satisfied and snuggled into the cozy bed with his wife.

Lin Xiyu was preoccupied with the matter of the courtyard house and couldn't fall asleep, tossing and turning.

"asked."

Helpless, Gu Bin could only force himself to stay awake and talk to her: "He said that Sixth Grandfather is in good health and has no major illnesses. He may have made a will because he likes you—the baby in your belly, and wants to leave the courtyard house to our child in your name."

I still can't believe it.

Lin Xiyu was too excited to sleep: "Did Sixth Grandfather really say that he left the courtyard house to the babies because he wanted our daughter to inherit her sweetheart's name? What if this pregnancy is all sons and there are no daughters? If Sixth Grandfather's hopes are dashed, he won't take the courtyard house back, will he?"

"hehe."

Gu Bin chuckled and affectionately ruffled her hair: "Don't think about it. There are no 'what ifs' around. Sixth Grandfather is just using this as an excuse to leave the courtyard house to us. He's already made a will. With his status and position, his word is law. Why would he go back on his word?"

"Actually, I'm not worried about him, but about your relatives."

Lin Xiyu turned over again, still unable to sleep: "An old courtyard house in Beijing, even at the current market price, must be worth at least tens of millions, right? With such a high value, how can they not be envious? If this gets out, it will probably cause a lot of trouble."

"So what if they're jealous?"

Gu Bin didn't take it to heart: "It's their wife's fault for not being able to conceive. If they're so capable, they should give birth to quadruplets so that Sixth Grandfather will look at them with more respect."

"Is Sixth Grandfather really doing this for the quadruplets?"

Lin Xiyu, still very uneasy, asked again.

"If not for that, then for what?"

Gu Bin smiled helplessly and asked, "Could it be because you look like his sweetheart? I deliberately made you imitate her. Actually, you two don't look alike at all. It's just that when you wear cheongsams, you look somewhat similar."

"Are quadruplets really that charming?"

Lin Xiyu touched her belly and smiled happily: "If I had known this would happen, why would I have worked so hard? If I had more children, I would have never had to worry about food and drink for the rest of my life."

"hehe."

Gu Bin looked at her greedy little face and let out a pleasant laugh.

"What are you laughing at? Am I wrong?"

Lin Xiyu narrowed her eyes, feigning displeasure.

"right"

Gu Bin decisively denied it: "Whatever my wife says is right."

"You know the truth."

Lin Xiyu hummed and whined arrogantly, turned over, but still couldn't fall asleep.

"I've always doted on my wife and obeyed her every command."

Gu Bin smiled helplessly and could only stay with her and endure the ordeal.

"You know, our daughter is named Nianxin and Nianrou, what should we name our son?"

"It doesn't matter to my son, just pick any name."

"How can you just do it casually? There are rules and considerations when it comes to naming a child."

"Then let's give it a simple name that's easy to raise."

"Don't you like your son? Why are you so indifferent to him?"

"All four children combined are not as good as their mother. I still like you more."

"Come on, you're just good at sweet-talking and flattering people."

"I only know how to make you happy."

"I don't believe you. Prove it to me."

"Sweetie, go to sleep, don't toss and turn."

"Can't sleep"

"Counting sheep when you can't sleep"

"I can't sleep even after counting."

"I'll count with you, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5."

In the dark room, they counted and counted until the noise gradually subsided.

Someone simply couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep after counting for only a short while.

Lin Xiyu: "."

-

The next morning, Gu Bin got up early and accompanied his sixth grandfather to take a walk along the moat. He also fetched a bucket of water from Black Tiger Spring to make tea for the old man.

Grandpa Liu was very satisfied with his filial piety and praised the sweet spring water highly.

"Sixth Grandfather"

Gu Bin took the opportunity to persuade the old man: "Why don't you stay in Jinan instead of going back to Beijing? I'll take care of you and support you in your old age."

"Don't you still have your maternal grandmother to take care of?"

Grandpa Liu had his own plans. He waved his hand and politely declined with a smile: "I won't stay and bother people. The winters in the north are too cold. Many of my old colleagues have gone to Sanya for vacation. I also plan to go and stay there for a while. Once I can adapt to the environment there, I might not come back."

"are you going alone?"

Gu Bin was taken aback, his eyes showing reluctance: "It must be so lonely for you to be alone in Sanya. At least in Beijing, Gu Peng and the others would visit you often. But once you're there, there really won't be anyone to take care of you."

"I'm used to being alone, it doesn't matter whether they come or not."

Grandpa Liu smiled nonchalantly: "But you should take the children to Sanya more often when you have time, so they can see this old man. That would make Grandpa Liu very happy."

"We'll definitely go."

Gu Bin used his children to cheer up his sixth grandfather: "As long as you don't mind the four little brats being so noisy, you can let them live with you."