Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 961 - 943. Middle-aged man reemployed

Chapter 961: 943. Middle-aged man reemployed

The delivery company bosses, carrying an unfathomable chef filter, headed back for overtime shifts to ship orders, while here, Master Jiang finally welcomed his wife!

Really! It wasn’t easy at all!

He hurriedly spent 200 yuan to rent a car and pick up his wife from the station. She was pulling her suitcase and chiding him, "Look at you, I said we’d come over together during the kid’s winter break, right after New Year’s – it would have been perfect! But you kept urging, day after day!"

"It’s not ideal!" Master Jiang, Jian Xiaokang has been here getting up early and going to bed early for months, eating and drinking with Old Song’s family, becoming more nurtured and firm like an old steamed bun.

He looks spirited, a stark contrast to his feeble state when he just arrived, recovering from a serious illness!

Now, the old steamed bun squeezed out a feigned grievance: "They’ve assigned me a flat here, 50 square meters. I can’t manage it alone; I need you to keep an eye on things..."

Impressed, aren’t you?

His wife, Du Mei, was indeed not impressed!

Frankly, anyone with a hundred-plus square meters house in a provincial capital city wouldn’t be impressed with an ordinary dormitory in the countryside.

But then she thought, Jian Xiaokang has always been sentimental, he couldn’t handle the workload in a surgery hotel, and now relegated to the countryside... It’s like being unemployed at midlife.

No matter whether the family lacks money or not, the mental disparity is unbearable!

So, on the verge of criticizing, she changed her tone: "Didn’t I tell you the other day on the video call how to handle it? I told you, you need to tidy up that small bedroom a bit; otherwise, our daughter won’t be used to staying there when she arrives for the holidays!"

"It’s all in good shape!" Master Jiang hurriedly responded. But deep down, he felt a bit guilty—the place is a 50 square-meter, two-room flat with a living room, but one room is very small, used as a storage space, less than 10 square meters, barely fitting a single bed and a small desk.

But his daughter is just coming to stay for a few days, participating in some club project during the winter break... It should be fine!

Anyway, they’ll have to make do!

After half a lifetime together, how could Du Mei not understand what type she married? Without showing any signs, she only asked:

"You bragged about how great it is here, saying it was Master Qian who did a big favor to arrange this... It does look good to me, you don’t even want to go home and kept urging me to come."

His complexion also looks much better, quite rosy! Just out of the hospital, he couldn’t stand the air conditioning, but now, in the dead of winter, he’s wearing a thin down jacket, unzipped...

Not to say anything else, but his physique really seems to have gotten stronger!

Speaking of this, Jian Xiaokang is genuinely grateful to Master Qian, and he became proud when his wife asked:

"Indeed, it was a huge effort for my master to arrange me to come here!"

If Master Qian heard this, he’d probably blush—It really wasn’t tough, finding a chef with no relatives or old connections to work in the countryside for 4500 isn’t easy!

But no one brought this up in either side, and if mentioned, no one would believe it. Jian Xiaokang had silently noted down his master’s kindness, and at this moment hinted cryptically to his wife:

"Just wait! The host family will treat you to a meal at noon, then you’ll know—just to be clear, our usual meals aren’t like this!"

"But Old Song’s family also mentioned that after the winter passes, things will get better next year! Next year we’ll also start using produce from our village!"

"Moreover, hearing that you were coming, Song Tan specifically allocated a portion of their home’s rice and vegetables for us. We can’t eat it every meal, but I can cook something special for you!"

Oh dear! Oh dear! This was discussed early on, but who knew his wife would only arrive today, Master Jiang thought regretfully.

Having said so nicely, Du Mei also became interested—Jian Xiaokang is a chef, what good ingredients hasn’t he seen? Now that he’s speaking so animatedly, it’s hard for her not to be tempted.

"Alright then!" She stowed her suitcase in the trunk and settled into the car: "Then let’s head back, and I’ll have a good taste!"

Actually thinking about it, their child is also grown up, and back in the years when the chef was making good money, the couple prepared a house and a car, and she herself isn’t much of a materialist...

Forget it, living in the countryside is pretty good too, at least she can enjoy meals prepared by a chef.

It’s kind of heartbreaking when you think about it, marrying a chef, everyone says she’s blessed for not having to cook, but is it that easy for a chef to get paid?

Others dine while he cooks, he eats after the restaurant closes.

The kids are already twenty, the chef barely has any days cooking at home!

He’s practically having all his meals at the hotel, how else could he earn such a high salary? Other than his skills and talent, it’s all about hard graft.

Just thinking about this, Du Mei suddenly asks, "How many paychecks are left?"

Master Jiang: ...Is there no joy left for a middle-aged man?

The driver in front continues driving meticulous, as if he heard nothing. Master Jiang thought this woman really doesn’t give him face!

But he inadvertently caved in, "You, you said you’d keep the salary here for yourself, didn’t you?"

Du Mei sighed, "Have you forgotten? I quit my job to care for the patient, and it’s not easy to find a new job right away... I just want to see if you can save up..."

Another sigh, "Being a full-time housewife now, I feel like I’ve lost my value in life, I’m not respected anymore when I go out!"

She used to be an after-sales manager at a supermarket, not much salary but it was stable. But with her daughter’s college entrance exams and her husband’s hospital stay, they needed someone around, it wasn’t a big problem but still necessary!

In the end, she thought it was a pity and resigned.

Nonsense! Master Jiang became anxious: How could you not be respected and have no value? Two houses, a car, and several hundred thousand in savings including her old salary card, isn’t it all in her hands?

He would like to be such a full-time husband!

But since she puts it that way, having indeed lost a job for the family... Master Jiang felt guilty and short of breath, and handed over his phone:

"It’s been two months since Eleven arrived, spent 1800 on renovating the house, a few tens on a audiobook membership, and the phone bill... nothing else."

Nothing else?!

Du Mei checked the balance and spending—there’s no expense at all!

She was surprised, "You don’t spend any money?"

Previously as a chef, he often needed to take his apprentices out to dine and sing, bringing some food and necessities... They were all young workers, still naive, or just superficial thinkers.

Master Jiang and Master Qian were the old-school thinkers, viewing these kids as genuine apprentices, inevitably having to worry a bit more for them.

There were also networking gifts, random expensive cooking tools frequently purchased...

How could there be nothing at all?!

Master Jiang thought about it and couldn’t figure out what else there was to spend money on—networking gifts were handled by Du Mei, after all, he was so far away.

So naturally, he said, "Here food and lodging are provided, what else is there to spend on?"

Du Mei opened her mouth, then suddenly chuckled:

"That’s great, you’re working here, and earning enough to cover our family’s monthly expenses!"

If not for buying some furniture and daily necessities, 4500 a month wouldn’t be far from saving 4000.

The daughter’s monthly living expense is 1500, 1000 for household expenses, add a bit for utilities like water, electricity, property management, gas, etc., and there’s still enough left for some networking gifts...

It’s not about how much money, but that life has suddenly become simpler.

Reemployment for a middle-aged man, that’s great!