Chapter 6: The Homeless Female Supporting Character 6

Zhang Yu returned home with her things. Because she arrived a little earlier than expected, she gave Zhang Dagui and his wife a start.

"Are the procedures finished?" Zhang Dagui had spent the whole night thinking about it; if possible, he still hoped she could go talk to the leadership and express that she didn't want to work out of town.

As it turned out, he hadn't expected Zhang Yu to bring back everything she had kept in her office.

Zhang Yu gave a hum. "Yes, something happened at the subsidiary, and I have to go over there tomorrow."

Ah, Zhang Dagui hadn't expected that. He had only delayed for a moment, and yet things were already set in stone. "Why so fast?"

Pan Juan was also stunned. "Why do you have to go so soon?"

Zhang Yu hummed again. "Yes, there's no helping it. They are launching a major project over there, and since I'm considered someone sent from above, I have to participate in the entire process."

Zhang Dagui sighed softly, knowing there was no way to make Zhang Yu change her mind. Since that was the case, he had no choice but to accept it.

"Once you get there, work hard."

Zhang Yu hummed. "I will."

She looked up at Pan Juan. "Mom, I'll probably be quite busy once I get there, so I might not have time to come back."

"When you move, just have my brother and the others help out more."

"Don't tire yourselves out."

"On the weekends, just have my brother and the others go buy groceries and cook. Don't you two go fussing over it."

She certainly wouldn't say anything about skipping weekend gatherings; after all, that was a Zhang family tradition. Since she wouldn't be the one cooking anyway, whoever did it was their business.

Pan Juan looked at Zhang Yu, who was about to leave but still didn't forget to give instructions. "Don't worry, your brothers are very filial."

She knew that as for the moving, she could no longer count on Zhang Yu coming back to help pack; she would have to rely on Zhang Guohua and the others.

Zhang Dagui hummed. "Right, don't worry, we have your brothers."

"By the way, Dad, Mom, let's go out to eat today, and then I still need to pack." Although she had already packed some things, there was still quite a bit left to do, so it was better not to go through the trouble of cooking.

Under normal circumstances, Zhang Dagui would definitely grumble and complain about how eating out was a waste of money, but thinking about how much Zhang Yu had to do, he said, "Let your mother cook."

Ah, Zhang Yu had actually been a little worried when she said that just now, fearing Zhang Dagui would scold her. She hadn't expected him to tell Pan Juan to cook.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu looked at Pan Juan with unease. Although her mother used to do the cooking, the problem was that her skills weren't great.

Later, when Zhang Yu grew up, she studied culinary arts and essentially took full control of the kitchen.

Ever since she learned to cook, Pan Juan hadn't cooked anymore, only heating up leftovers.

And now, she was being asked to cook. Zhang Yu really didn't dare to hope that the food Pan Juan made would be edible.

But whether it was edible or not, she would only have to eat one meal. Zhang Dagui was different; although the old man couldn't cook and didn't want to, he was extremely picky.

Zhang Yu was truly worried about how picky Zhang Dagui would be regarding Pan Juan's cooking.

Actually, if possible, she felt that since both of them were poor cooks and yet very picky, they should just hire a nanny.

If the couple couldn't bear to hire a nanny, then they could hire a part-time cleaner. Although it would be an extra expense, at least it would be easier on them.

But she couldn't be the one to suggest this. Don't look at how much retirement pension Zhang Dagui and his wife had; that didn't mean they were willing to spend money to hire help.

Pan Juan hadn't expected Zhang Dagui to tell her to cook, and she was truly stunned. "I, I..."

She didn't know how many years it had been since she last cooked, and now she was being notified to do it. What was she supposed to do?

Her first reaction was to have Zhang Yu cook; after all, she had already packed most of her things yesterday.

But she really didn't dare to say it. After all, she could make Zhang Yu cook today, but what about tomorrow? It would still be her cooking.

"I'll go do it." Pan Juan sighed inwardly. Although she was very unwilling, there was no other way.

Zhang Yu thought Pan Juan would be unhappy about being asked to cook, but she hadn't expected her to agree immediately.

"Dad, Mom hasn't cooked in a long time." Zhang Yu thought for a moment; for their own safety, maybe they should just forget it.

"She has to learn to cook eventually," Zhang Dagui said coldly. "Otherwise, after you leave, are we not going to eat?"

What was that supposed to mean? Was her being diligent in the past a bad thing? "Fine, I'll go cook."

"I'll stand my last post." If Pan Juan's cooking was bad and they ended up with diarrhea, the whole family would end up in the hospital.

Besides, she could already imagine that if Zhang Guohua and the others found out, it would be her fault again, saying that even though she was leaving, she didn't know how to stand her last post.

As for how Zhang Dagui and his wife would solve their three meals a day after she left, that was no longer her business.

But considering the old couple had just given Zhang Guohua an apartment, she figured they would be happy to come over and cook.

She just didn't know if the others would have any objections once this routine went on for too long.

Or perhaps, whoever's turn it was to cook would just come here to eat, saving on their own household expenses—that might actually be a decent solution.

Zhang Yu really didn't understand. In Zhang Guohua's case, because Jiang Yun worked at a private enterprise, their situation was considered slightly worse, but her company was profitable, and overall, their income was decent.

As for Zhang Shouhua and his wife, they were both middle school teachers and often did private tutoring, so their income was also good.

Zhang Hong and her husband were both civil servants in government agencies, so their income and benefits were actually quite good.

Yet all three families were still "gnawing on the old" whenever they could, each one of them crying poverty like it was a competition.

Sigh, Zhang Yu sighed in her heart. Forget it, it was their business if they liked to cry poverty. Compared to holding out their hands for handouts, she preferred to work hard and earn her own money.

Actually, she felt that those three families weren't broke; they just kept their money in the bank to cry poverty, never thinking about buying property.

As a result, they missed the era of bottom-tier housing prices. By the time they saw prices rising and decided to buy, they realized the money they thought was a lot wasn't enough to buy a single apartment.

All three families were incredibly stingy. After all, if they spent their money on a house, where would they get money if they needed it?

And so, the three families hesitated and wavered. By the time they made up their minds to buy, they found that housing prices had risen again, which infuriated them so much they just stopped buying altogether.

When they later saw the never-ending rise in prices and finally decided to buy, the money that could have bought a large apartment could only afford a small one.

Zhang Yu found it amusing just thinking about it. She wondered if they had ever thought that if they had used the money they spent researching how to get funds from Zhang Dagui and his wife on the right path, they wouldn't even know how much money they would have under their names now.