"Not allowed to go?" Zhang Yu chuckled, "Dad, don't you always teach us that we should obey what our leaders instruct us to do?"
"How can you say you're not going when you're told to go?"
"Besides, Dad, haven't you always felt that I'm not ambitious enough, that after so many years, I'm still just a junior accountant?"
"I think that's very correct, very sensible," Zhang Yu said decisively. In the past, hadn't they always criticized her for lacking ambition? Well, now that she wanted to progress, that should be fine, right?
"Plus, all my colleagues have families, and the boss also said I have fewer burdens."
"The boss has already decided, so as a subordinate, of course, I should follow orders."
The original owner of this body had listened to her family's wishes and told the boss that she couldn't work away from home. As a result, the boss was quite unhappy. Though it wasn't to the extent of deliberately making things difficult for her, people whom the boss didn't favor were certainly not going to be promoted.
With Zhang Yu making such a statement, what could the Zhang Family say in response? Every word she spoke had once been uttered by the old man himself; how could they refute it?
Zhang Dagu was in a foul mood. Although he had four children, he was used to being taken care of by Zhang Yu. Initially, he felt a bit embarrassed since the house was to be divided among his other children.
He thought about how to compensate her somehow, but now, any guilt he might have felt had gone.
"The house will be demolished soon, and if you insist on working out of town, you won't have a share of the house," Zhang Dagu said huffily.
Zhang Yu internally laughed at those words. It was as if she would have a share if she stayed, "Dad, it's fine. I'm not married; give my share to my brother and sisters."
After all, she had money on hand. Once she bought a house from the company, it would be hers, no need to listen to Zhang Dagu's endless nagging.
In her previous life, the old couple had used the house to keep the original owner on the hook, but this time, sorry, that trick wasn't going to work on her.
When Zhang Dagu heard how indifferent Zhang Yu was about the house, the anger inside him did not subside but burned even more fiercely.
"What will you do when you get old without a house?" Zhang Dagu retorted.
"That's not a rush. Mom and Dad, you just take care of yourselves. I have my plans," she snorted. She definitely wouldn't mention buying a house; otherwise, who knows how much they'd dwell on it.
To the ears of the Zhang Family, this meant Zhang Yu was eyeing their parents' house.
Zhang Guohua felt uncomfortable with this. After all, as the eldest son, he was supposed to get the lion's share of the family's property.
Instead, the house was to be divided into fourths: each of the three siblings would get one part, and the elderly couple another. As the eldest son, he was not getting more than his siblings.
He had hoped, since he had the only grandson in the Zhang Family, that his parents' house would naturally go to his son.
But unexpectedly, Zhang Yu was also eyeing the house. Even though she wasn't married, what if one day, when she got old and muddled, she chose to marry? Then no one would know to whom the house might end up going.
No, that wouldn't do. Zhang Guohua thought he needed to talk with Zhang Dagu and his wife. The house could be offered to Zhang Yu to live in, but it should not be given to her outright.
As for the parents' house, naturally, it should be left to the Zhang Family's eldest son and grandson.
Zhang Shouhua and Zhang Hong also felt displeased. In their opinion, Zhang Yu was nothing but unappreciative; she clearly had no spouse or children yet still coveted her parents' house.
They couldn't understand why a person with no offspring was obsessed with a house, why she even bothered competing for it.
Zhang Dagu and his wife were displeased as well, feeling that before they had even done anything, Zhang Yu was already scheming for their house.
"How our house will be arranged in the future and whom it will go to, is for us, the old couple, to decide. You needn't concern yourself with it," Zhang Dagu said coldly.
Did they think she was planning to take over the house under Zhang Dagu and his wife's names? Zhang Yu realized that everyone's expressions changed dramatically and knew that this must be what they were thinking.
Zhang Yu couldn't stop shaking her head, thinking a group of selfish people, believing that everyone else is selfish.
"I know."
"Alright, let's eat." Zhang Yu ate quickly, then cleaned up the table and other things before going back to her room to pack up her belongings.
She had already planned everything out: she would mail off the things that needed to be sent, and when she arrived there, she would stay at a hotel at first since her workplace would pay for her housing.
She was even considering buying a small studio there, since whether or not she bought a house, she would receive a housing allowance anyway.
This money was after all several thousand yuan. Instead of giving it to the landlord, it made sense for her to take it herself. She remembered a colleague from a previous life who was stationed abroad, who bought a small house to live in and then sold it for a profit of several hundred thousand yuan upon return.
This time, Zhang Yu planned to do the same; if she didn't sell the house, she could continue to rent it out.
While Zhang Yu was packing her things in her room, the Zhang family continued to discuss how much compensation they should ask for in the demolition in the main hall.
Pan Juan watched the lively discussion and thought about Zhang Yu's upcoming move to a different place. Although the old man said they had other children who would take care of them in turn,
Even though Zhang Guohua and his siblings had all promised that they would take good care of the old couple, Pan Juan still wondered how well the eldest daughter-in-law and the second daughter-in-law could really treat their in-laws.
As for Zhang Hong, while Pan Juan liked this daughter as well, she knew that this daughter was all talk, and it was futile to expect her to actually do the work.
She still felt that Zhang Yu was the one who would take the best care of them both and was willing to put in the effort.
Gently pushing open the door to Zhang Yu's room, the old lady saw that she was already packing.
"Are you packing?"
Zhang Yu, realizing it was Pan Juan, wasn't too surprised; despite Zhang Dagu being the nominal head of the household, the real authority was this old lady.
"Yes, I'm supposed to report there on Monday, so I plan to head there on Saturday."
"That way I can get settled and adjust my state, so I'll be better prepared to start the job on Monday."
"Plus, if possible, I'd like to use the weekend to go house-hunting, so once my things are mailed over, I can unpack them directly in the rented place."
"Can't you not go?" Pan Juan still wanted to make another effort.
Zhang Yu packed up the clothes she wanted to take, "Mom, you know the boss has already spoken, can I say no?"
"I definitely can't say no."
"Mom, don't worry, my brothers are filial, they will take good care of you."
"When the time comes, don't be too strong-willed and let them handle things."
After all, didn't you say my eldest brother and the others are filial? It's a good opportunity for them to step up.
At the same time, it would let Zhang Guohua and the others realize that taking care of the elderly is not an easy task.
It would also give Zhang Dagu and his wife a chance to see just how filial the children they thought were filial really were.
Sometimes lip service is not true filial piety; it's actions that count. Aren't Zhang Guohua and the others just eyeing the old couple's wallets? They needed to understand that wanting the elderly's wallet came with a cost.