Chapter 140

"I think that male landlord is quite polite. I reckon that if it's someone you know, giving them 60 cents is fine, but if you haven't interacted with them before, giving them 20 cents is acceptable too, just as a token." Wu Lei said.

In fact, not giving anything is also fine since the rent has already been paid. But since they've added two kids to the family, it's good to give them some happiness.

"Alright, I'll just listen to grandma and go get it done." Pei Jing said.

Pei Jing prepared a 60 cent red envelope and also brought two eggs to the neighbor's place.

Zhang Lin opened the door. In the middle of the day, her hair was still a bit messy, languidly as if she had just woken up from a nap.

Pei Jing didn't dare look improperly. He said a couple polite words, then handed over the red envelope, "Sister-in-law, we've just had dragon and phoenix twins added to our family. I'm bringing you some happiness."

Zhang Lin looked over Pei Jing's appearance, knowing that the man before her was a soldier. But today he wasn't wearing his uniform, lacking that solemn dignity, instead appearing even more handsome.

Compared to the gentle and refined Xiao Xian, Zhang Lin was a flashy and charming beauty. Looking at the tall and handsome man before her, then comparing to her own ugly partner, she inevitably felt a bit unhappy.

She wasn't any worse than that little girl who looked like she hadn't fully grown up. Why did she end up with such a huge difference in her partner!

The corner of her eye raised, and Zhang Lin reached out to take the eggs and red envelope. But the tone of her voice was like a fishhook, "Then thank you, big brother. My husband Wu Lei isn't home, otherwise you could come in and sit for a bit, have some tea, and wait for him to come back to chat for a couple words?"

Her fair hand didn't open to wait for Pei Jing to hand it over, instead taking the initiative to reach out.

Her skin made deliberate contact, her fingers even scratched his palm a bit, making Pei Jing feel a hint of disgust. "No need. With Wu not home I wouldn't feel right going in. Sister-in-law, take care of yourself. I'm going back first." Pei Jing withdrew his hand lightning fast. Just having added a pair of children was a time of joy, but now his heart felt like there were flies buzzing around, nauseous.

Pei Jing's lack of manners made Zhang Lin's face alternate between green and white. She retreated back and slammed the door closed. The eggs in her hand were also tossed onto the ground.

Opening the red envelope and looking at the 60 cents inside, deliberately organized as three 20 cent bills, Zhang Lin disgustedly fished them out and put them in her pocket.

He didn't look poor, yet was so stingy. Just having twins and he gave 60 cents.

When Wu Lei got off work and returned, he saw Zhang Lin's cold expression scolding the children.

He sighed helplessly, suppressing the irritation in his heart. "If you have something to say, say it properly. Seeing you huffing and puffing like this, you're going to scare the children silly."

"Stupid like you, five or six already and about to start school, but can't even calculate addition and subtraction within 20 clearly." Zhang Lin said disdainfully.

Afraid they would argue again, Wu Lei didn't dare say that compared to Zhang Lin's intelligence, even an idiot could tell who was smarter.

After comforting his wife and child, he took out the food from his lunchbox and laid it out neatly before calling them over to eat. "Oh right, I heard this morning when I left that the neighbor had dragon and phoenix twins. Brother Pei really has great fortune. You go to the supply and marketing cooperative this afternoon to buy some eggs. When I get off work tonight we'll go over together to take a look."

"No going. Stingily pathetic. Why should we give them eggs?" As soon as Zhang Lin said this, Wu Lei could tell something was off.

From his interactions with Brother Pei's family, in this day and age, someone willing to share their food with strangers couldn't possibly be stingy.

"Just now he came over to give a red envelope. For twins he only gave 60 cents. If our family had twins renting from them, I'd give at least $2." Zhang Lin grimaced. "Also your Brother Pei, I saw he didn't treat you as a brother at all. Using giving the red envelope and eggs as an excuse, his fingers even touched my hand. Who knows what he was thinking..."

"Don't have pipe dreams. His wife is pretty, young, and gentle..." He looked at Zhang Lin, not even daring to say it, only realizing after the fact that he had been blind, only looking at her face back then.

Zhang Lin immediately scowled and threw down her chopsticks. "So what if she's young and pretty? She's got a big belly and her man's been away for months. Who knows what ideas he has! No, Wu Lei. You praising another man's wife like this, I see you've got a wandering eye. You've taken a liking to her right?"

"Ancestors, I beg you, can you stop being unreasonable? Given my age, people politely call me brother. I could be a few years older and be called uncle!" He didn't even dare raise his voice. If the neighbors heard, how awkward would that be.

Wu Lei was in his 30s, Zhang Lin 25 or 26. Outsiders envied him for marrying a young and pretty wife, but the suffering in his heart, only those who experienced it understood. This f*cked up life, if it wasn't for considerations about his future and son, he really wanted to abandon his wife and child. He just couldn't bear it anymore.

Wu Lei's regret was truly from the heart. Over these years, if not for this woman stirring up trouble and not listening to advice, dragging him back, he wouldn't just be a factory supervisor. With his abilities, he could have even taken the factory director position.

Marrying the wrong wife ruined three generations. He had learned a profound lesson.

After Pei Jing finished delivering everything, he kept frowning.

Xiao Xian's thoughts were all on the children, and didn't notice.

After dinner, Wu Lei brought his son over, carrying a bag of eggs and half a pound of brown sugar, also quite generous gifts.

As a grown man he wouldn't feel proper entering the room, so he urged Pei Jing, "Brother Pei, hurry and bring out your dragon and phoenix twins for me to admire. It'd be great to let me broaden my horizons."

Since Wu Lei said it this way, Pei Jing also didn't feel good rejecting him. But he didn't expect that Wu Lei would take out a dollar for each child as a meeting gift, refusing to let him decline.

"Comrade Wu, you're too polite. The children are still small and can't use money yet." Pei Jing frowned.

"Then save it for when they grow up." Wu Lei's heart thudded. He recalled what Zhang Lin had said about Pei Jing speaking ill of him.

They were all perceptive people. Having gotten along these past few days, with Pei Jing even calling him Brother Wu, but now suddenly changing to Comrade Wu again, it inevitably made one think further.

"Brother Pei, you also know my job. If you really feel bad, have Sister Xiao Xian help out to experiment with some new varieties. It'd be mutually beneficial for all of us."

"Comrade Wu, as you can see, we've just added two children to the family. She won't have time to work on anything else, so I'm afraid she'll have to disappoint you."

If it was before today, he would have only thought about finding a way to make up for it somewhere else. But Zhang Lin's bold actions today left him very annoyed, also re-examining his view of his friend Wu Lei.

Wu Lei was not bad, his conduct made people feel comfortable. But Pei Jing didn't arrogantly believe this newly acquainted friend could supersede family.

So Pei Jing didn't even mention Zhang Lin's actions. He didn't want to get involved in others' family matters, but also felt Wu Lei might not believe him, and could even think he had impure motives.

But because of Zhang Lin, Pei Jing also didn't want to interact too closely with Wu Lei anymore. Running into this unlucky situation, it wouldn't look good for anyone if spoken about, so he could only choose to keep a respectful