Pan Juan returned to the room with a contemplative look on her face. Zhang Dagu had already turned off the TV and was getting ready to sleep.
Seeing her like this, he asked, "What's wrong?"
"Why did you take so long to come down? Is something the matter?"
Pan Juan hesitated for a moment, then reported in detail the call she had just received from Zhang Yi, as well as what Zhang Yu had said.
Zhang Dagu hadn't expected such a thing to happen and was critical of Zhang Yi for calling Zhang Yu by her name directly, "That was wrong of Xiao Yi, no matter how useless his younger aunt may be, he shouldn't be calling her by her name directly."
"I mentioned before that Xiao Yi and the others look down on Little Yu. You should have taught them a lesson. Now look what's happened, Little Yu's blown up."
At that thought, Zhang Dagu suddenly considered a possibility, "Do you think her agreeing to the leader's proposal to work out of town was because of this?"
Zhang Dagu had always wondered why Zhang Yu would go to work out of town, and now he knew the reason.
"So she's blown up, she doesn't have a house anyway." Pan Juan actually looked down on Zhang Yu too, thinking she couldn't afford a house.
"If she goes out of town, won't her salary increase? Did you ask her how much she would earn there?" Even though Zhang Dagu had never worked out of town, he knew that the income wouldn't be low; otherwise, why would she go?
"And won't she get a subsidy if she goes out of town?"
"I'm telling you, maybe after a few years out of town, just with the subsidy alone, she could make a down payment on a house?"
Thinking this, Zhang Dagu suddenly exclaimed in concern, "I think that girl might actually be planning to buy a house."
Although Zhang Dagu had mentioned that Zhang Yu would earn a lot after moving out of town, Pan Juan hadn't taken it seriously. But now, hearing that it could be enough for a down payment on a house,
Pan Juan was also stunned, "Can the subsidy really be that much?"
"I'm not certain, but it must be substantial, otherwise, why do you think that girl has the confidence to say she doesn't need the family assets?"
"But, but..." Pan Juan still believed that with Zhang Yu's capabilities, it was impossible for her to buy a house.
Zhang Dagu glanced at Pan Juan, "Just wait and see, Little Yu, even if she can't afford a big house, she can still buy a small one."
"But that's good too. Once she buys a house, it will eventually be left to the Old Zhang Family."
Zhang Dagu thought of his grandson, Zhang Yi, and sighed, "Xiao Yi, that child, has been spoiled by his parents."
"He doesn't understand social niceties and still thinks he's very impressive."
"I was talking on the phone with an old friend recently, and he told me Xiao Yi is just too full of himself."
Huh? This was the first time Pan Juan had heard anyone speak of Zhang Yi in such terms, and she was genuinely shocked, "Full of himself?"
"What's wrong with him?" Anyone who had worked in an office knew that "full of himself" was not a commendable label.
Once your superior defines you that way, it basically means your career development is limited.
"What else could be done? When his superior tasked him with something and asked if he knew how to do it, he said he did."
"His superior told him to seek advice if he was unsure, but he didn't ask anyone and just did things his own way."
"The result was a mess. After the superior criticized him, he not only refused to admit his fault but instead claimed others were jealous and sabotaging him."
Zhang Dagu hadn't wanted to speak of this, wanting to save his grandson some face, but now he was truly fed up.
"Maybe someone really was sabotaging him?" As the eldest grandson, Zhang Yi had grown up under the care of Zhang Dagu and his wife. The old lady adored her grandson, seeing him as precious in every way.
In her eyes, Zhang Yi was all sorts of good, with no bad traits at all.
Zhang Dagu sighed helplessly, "Yes, in your eyes, your eldest grandson can do no wrong."
"You really are…" He started to say something but restrained himself, thinking better of it. In Pan Juan's heart and eyes, Zhang Yi could do no wrong.
Pan Juan knew that Zhang Dagu might, once again, blame her for Zhang Yi's failure to turn out successful.
"As if you don't spoil Xiao Yi yourself."
"Do you want me to list the ways you dote on him day in and day out?" Pan Juan said with a smile, looking at Zhang Dagu. They were an old married couple; each knew full well the other's ways.
Zhang Dagu had no intention of letting Pan Juan spell it out, "It's all my fault, all of it."
"Let's not debate who's the one who spoiled Xiao Yi."
"What we need to discuss now is how to make Xiao Yi change his attitude."
"If he keeps looking down on Little Yu, I can guarantee that once Little Yu comes into money, she won't even give Xiao Yi a second thought."
"Maybe not just Little Yu, even Xiao Xin and the others might forget about him too."
Zhang Dagu took a moment to think and suddenly realized a serious problem—that the relationship between Zhang Guohua and Little Yu seemed rather distant.
"Old lady, have you noticed that Little Yu seems to have a very distant relationship with her brothers?"
"Really?" Pan Juan was startled by Zhang Dagu's sudden insight into the issue.
"How could it not be?" Zhang Dagu shared his observations one by one, hoping to get Pan Juan's agreement.
At first, Pan Juan really hadn't noticed it, "When Guohua and the others are together, they talk about either work or their kids. What can Little Yu possibly add to that?"
"All these years at work and she's just a junior accountant; she has nothing in common with Guohua and the others to talk about."
"And as for children, what would she, an unmarried and childless person, discuss with them?"
Pan Juan felt it wasn't Guohua's issue, but rather that they simply had no common interests.
"Also, I don't know if it's because Little Yu isn't married at her age, but sometimes I find her temperament quite odd."
"At times, when Guohua and the others are discussing topics she could join in on, she just doesn't seem interested in participating and just quietly sits to one side alone."
"No, no," Zhang Dagu felt that Pan Juan was off track, "Every time Guohua and his family come back, isn't Little Yu always busy in the kitchen?"
"What else can she do?"
"We certainly can't be doing the work."
"Besides, Guohua and the others work all week; they are tired too, and they are our guests."
Pan Juan insisted there was no reason to make guests work. "Little Yu is often the one cooking anyway, and she does it so efficiently."
Hearing this, Zhang Dagu looked helplessly at Pan Juan, "Have you forgotten that Little Yu also works and is surely tired after her job?"
"That's why she said earlier that when she comes back in the future, she'll be a guest too, with no reason to cook."
"Right, starting from tomorrow, you'll be cooking, if Chiang Yun doesn't come, that is."
Zhang Dagu suddenly began to feel uneasy, not sure whether Chiang Yun would be willing to come and cook.
What would they do about their meals if Chiang Yun didn't want to cook?
"You need to start practicing too. I'm giving you a month—can you cook a meal that satisfies me?"
As a father-in-law, he certainly couldn't dictate what Chiang Yun should or shouldn't do, but that was alright—there was still Pan Juan.