Chapter 7: My Cheap Husband is a Stingy Miser

"I've finished the dishes! Come watch TV, this sketch is hilarious!"

Jiang Hanyan called out enthusiastically. The sketch playing on the TV was *The Red Sorghum Model Team*, a classic sketch by Uncle Ben Shan; she was laughing so hard her stomach hurt.

"Come in here, I have something to say!" Lu Chen said coldly.

The smile on Jiang Hanyan's face froze. She obediently entered the room. Lu Chen closed the door and looked at her expressionlessly, speaking words that were heartless and devoid of affection, "Leave!"

"You want a divorce?"

Jiang Hanyan wasn't surprised. The only reason Lu Chen had married her was purely for the sake of the child. Now that he had discovered the pregnancy was fake, it was only natural for this man to turn on her.

All that flattery from before had been wasted on a complete fraud!

Damn it, what a waste of her emotions!

"We aren't married!" Lu Chen reminded her coldly.

She wasn't old enough to register the marriage, and he didn't want to hold a banquet, so he had simply brought her here to live.

Jiang Hanyan nodded and spoke truthfully, "Right, we're just living together illegally."

Lu Chen corrected, "We aren't living together!"

These past few days, he had been sleeping with Doudou, not this woman.

Jiang Hanyan's lip twitched. She remembered now—this guy actually had some integrity.

But as for that night... she couldn't for the life of her remember if anything had actually happened between them.

"Let's negotiate. I'm homeless right now and don't have money to rent a place. Can you take me in for a little longer?" Jiang Hanyan requested in a pleasant tone.

"You can go back to your parents' house," Lu Chen reminded her.

"Go back so they can sell me to Diao Dekai?" Jiang Hanyan countered.

If the original owner hadn't been trying to evade Diao Dekai's harassment, she wouldn't have drugged this bully, Lu Chen, in the first place. She had done it to find a patron to deal with Diao Dekai.

Lu Chen fell silent for three seconds before saying, "I'll rent you a room. You can have a month's grace period before paying."

"A day as husband and wife brings a hundred days of kindness. Lu Chen, don't you have even a shred of sentiment?" Jiang Hanyan didn't want to pay; she wanted to stay for free.

Whether they had actually slept together that night or not, she was going to act as if they had.

Lu Chen's face suddenly flushed, blood rushing to his head, but he maintained his cold expression, appearing unmoved. Jiang Hanyan looked knowingly at the tips of his ears and chuckled inwardly; the famous bully turned out to be an innocent man.

"We slept together, right? In the eyes of the neighbors, I'm your wife. Are you really going to be a scumbag who abandons his woman?" Jiang Hanyan pressed, using morality to kidnap the man.

"Rent is halved."

After three minutes of internal struggle, Lu Chen conceded painfully.

He couldn't remember anything from that night. This woman was speaking so confidently—had he really slept with her?

His face grew even hotter, like boiling water, so hot that he wanted to take a cold shower.

"You have the nerve to charge your wife rent? Lu Chen, you're really not a man like this. I despise you!" Jiang Hanyan condemned him with righteous indignation; she absolutely would not pay a single cent.

"Husbands and wives sleep in the same bed. We are not!" Lu Chen sneered, not letting her take advantage of him.

"Then you sleep on the bed tonight."

Jiang Hanyan invited him warmly. She wanted to get closer to Lu Chen to help upgrade her Space.

Besides, she knew Lu Chen was a gentleman and certainly wouldn't do anything to her.

A loud *boom* echoed in Lu Chen's mind, as if something had exploded. His thoughts were messier than paste, his mind filled with nothing but *sleeping in the same bed*... Did this woman even know how to write the word 'shame'?

"We are husband and wife, so naturally we should sleep in the same bed. It's settled then. You're never home, and Doudou gets so lonely being by himself. I'll help you look after Doudou without asking for a salary. It's mutually beneficial, right?"

Jiang Hanyan spoke fluently, settling the matter in a few sentences and giving Lu Chen no chance to refuse.

Lu Chen wanted to argue, but hearing the latter part, he swallowed his words. The woman had a point; Doudou did indeed need someone to look after him.

"One year at most."

In a year, Doudou would be able to start school and wouldn't need her care anymore.

"Fine, just one year."

Jiang Hanyan agreed readily. By next year, her body should be recovered. Even if this guy begged her to stay, she wouldn't.

"You have to give me and Doudou living expenses. I won't even have money for groceries tomorrow."

Jiang Hanyan reached out her hand righteously. She had bought a lot of heavy dishes today, and all the money was spent—most of it had gone into this man's stomach.

"I gave you two hundred yuan on New Year's Eve. You spent it all?" Lu Chen frowned deeply.

It hadn't even been ten days and the money was gone. He highly suspected this woman was subsidizing her family again.

"Buying groceries today cost dozens of yuan. You certainly didn't eat light," Jiang Hanyan also frowned. Why was this man different from what was written in the books?

The books said that in a few years, Lu Chen would strike it rich, his business would grow larger and larger, and he would become a billionaire who was generous and magnanimous. Why was he acting like a stingy old miser now?

"You don't need to cook so many dishes every meal. One meat and one vegetable dish is enough."

Reluctantly, Lu Chen pulled a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket. After hesitating for a long time, he handed it over, adding stingily, "I won't be coming home at a fixed time, so spend it sparingly."

"You won't be able to marry a wife if you're this stingy, you know?"

Jiang Hanyan snatched the money irritably. She understood now; the reason the original owner left this guy was definitely because she couldn't stand his stinginess.

"Aren't you?"

Lu Chen snapped back instinctively. She had just been insisting that she was his wife.

Jiang Hanyan was choked up, speechless. This was a pit she had dug herself; she could only jump in.

"At most, we're just a passing couple."

Jiang Hanyan rolled her eyes and put the money in her pocket. It was currently 1997; the purchasing power of a hundred yuan was very strong. She and Doudou should be fine for half a month.

Besides, she had to find a way to earn money; she couldn't let Lu Chen support her forever.

Jiang Hanyan yawned. She had been busy all day and was tired. There was no internet now, so there was little entertainment in the evening. By nine o'clock, it was basically quiet. She led the equally sleepy Doudou to wash up and then went to bed.

"Do you want to sleep on the outside or the inside?"

After getting into bed, Jiang Hanyan rolled around comfortably, then suddenly remembered her "Gold Sponsor Daddy." She called out to the outside; the one providing the money was the boss and should choose first.

However, she hoped Lu Chen would show some gentlemanly grace and not choose the outside, because she didn't like sleeping on the inside against the wall. She had slept on the inside against the wall for a year in the orphanage, and bugs would often crawl on the wall, which was disgusting.

Lu Chen entered slowly. Actually, he had planned to squeeze in with Doudou, but he felt he couldn't let himself lose face. If this woman wasn't afraid, what was a grown man like him afraid of?

"The outside!"

Just in case there was danger, sleeping on the outside meant he could run faster.

Jiang Hanyan pouted and rolled listlessly into the inside, comforting herself that it was winter now, so there wouldn't be any bugs, and there was nothing to fear.

Lu Chen saw her reluctance and his lips curled slightly in a bit of triumph. He had been suppressed by this woman for a while, and now he had finally won a round.

But he also felt a bit of contempt for himself; arguing with a woman over such a trivial matter was truly pathetic.

(End of Chapter)