Chapter 5: Out of Favor!

"Wife, what should we do about this?"

Yuan Zhaodi was a bit flustered.

Mrs. Xiao Li was even worse off; asking advice from her was like asking the blind.

After a while, Mrs. Xiao Li cautiously suggested, "How about we send everything to Mother and let her help us keep it safe?"

Yuan Zhaodi thought for a moment and said, "I think that's a good idea!"

Even for Yuan Zhaodi, who worked as a manager at the dock, handling so many things was a bit overwhelming.

However, just as Yuan Zhaodi picked up the small box, he paused and whispered, "Wife, if we give this to Mother for safekeeping, I'm afraid we'll be short-handed when it comes time to repay favors."

Because they hadn't split from the family yet, the young couple didn't have much to spare. Although Old Yuan and Mrs. Zeng gave them a little pocket money each year, they didn't save much. Occasionally, when they needed to reciprocate favors, they would either take money from the communal pot or use Mrs. Xiao Li's dowry.

This time, for the gifts Yuan Bao received, Yuan Zhaodi's brothers and sisters-in-law certainly used the money from the sisters-in-law's dowry.

These all require return gifts later.

"We'll figure it out then!"

Mrs. Xiao Li also didn't know how to handle the matter. When she suggested sending it to her mother-in-law for safekeeping, she was really just hoping to find a solution from her mother-in-law.

Yuan Zhaodi, after thinking it over, decided to hold the small box and head to the main house.

As soon as Mrs. Zeng heard her son's intention, she immediately waved him off, saying, "That won't do!"

"These are Jiaojiao's things; as her parents, you handle them yourselves!"

"Mother, there are so many things; if we convert them into Silver, it might be several tens of taels, how can we manage that?"

Several tens of taels of Silver was a sum Yuan Zhaodi didn't even dare to dream of.

As a manager at the dock, his monthly salary was just over two taels, and he had to maintain relations, occasionally treating others to meals and drinks. By the end of the month, he scarcely had half a tael left.

But even so, his job was the envy of many.

In Linhe Village, Yuan Zhaodi was considered a child with great prospects.

Making money wasn't easy.

"Why can't you handle it?"

Old Yuan glared at his son's words, "What, you still expect us, old couple, to be your beasts of burden for life?"

"Father, that's not what I meant!"

Yuan Zhaodi felt wronged; is that what he meant?

He absolutely didn't mean that!

Old Yuan didn't care about these things, snorting, "I know what you mean. You've never seen much of the world—how much is this, really?"

"If you want to accomplish big things, you need to broaden your horizons, look far, and have courage!"

"You've been working at the dock for two years now, with little improvement, and I was hoping you could take another step forward!"

"Father, listen to yourself, how much competence do I have at my age?"

Yuan Zhaodi dared not dream too optimistically; he only relied on a bit of cleverness to get the manager position, and to hold onto it, most of his monthly salary went into cultivating personal connections.

As for climbing higher?

With no one backing him, even if he climbed higher, who knows when he'd be knocked down.

Things were quite good as they were now; although the income wasn't much, life wasn't too bad.

One must be content!

"Look at your pathetic state, get lost, get lost, seeing you just annoys me!"

Old Yuan waved his hand in disgust, dismissing him, out of sight, out of mind.