I have ten trillion licking dog gold

"What time is it? You haven't gone to pick up Xiaoqiang yet?! Do you want to die?!"

After the sound of the key turning in the lock, a barrage of vicious curses followed.

Zhang Zhongquan, leaning back on the sofa, remained calm and composed, even staring straight ahead as he watched the suspense drama on TV. On the coffee table in front of him were different kinds of fruit, a few cans of beer, and a plate of peanuts.

What does it mean to live in the present?

What does "live for the moment" mean?

My wife goes to work while I enjoy myself – what a model husband, what a winner in life!
As Boss Jiang once said, "It's human nature to worry about inequality rather than scarcity." That's right, very apt. After opening the door and seeing this scene, Mai Encui was even more furious, her lungs were about to burst!

"I'm talking to you, can't you hear me!"

Zhang Zhongquan's wife is somewhat similar to his cousin Jiang Huazi. She is plump, or rather, overweight, with thick eyebrows and fierce features. She is also more assertive than Jiang Huazi.

Normally, if Zhang Zhongquan were yelled at, he would be terrified and would immediately get up and obediently go to pick up his son. But today, he seemed to have eaten the gall of a bear and the heart of a leopard.

It's probably not because he drank too much.

Two or three cans of beer, not that serious.

"It's only a little past five o'clock. Aren't they supposed to finish evening self-study at six-thirty?"

Tutoring has been available in elementary schools for a long time.

Of course, the Ministry of Education has repeatedly emphasized the need to reduce the burden on primary and secondary school students, but there are always ways to circumvent the rules. If tutoring is not allowed according to regulations, then surely after-school tutoring does not violate the rules, right?
The elementary school is only a ten-minute ride away on an electric scooter from my home, and school ends at 6:30, so there's really no rush. However, sometimes what women care about isn't the event itself, but rather the attitude a man displays.

As the de facto head of the household, Mai Encui has always been domineering and autocratic, and her word is law. But today, her submissive husband actually started talking back.

Is this okay?

"Hey Zhang, you've really made something of yourself! I work hard to earn money to support the family, while you just stay at home eating and drinking. If you don't want to live like this anymore, get out of here right now!"

The surging decibels drowned out the sound of the television.

The familiar roar of a shrew.

In the past, Zhang Zhongquan would have been utterly terrified by this move, but he truly showed his mettle. He ignored it completely, remaining unmoved, his buttocks firmly planted on the sofa, not budging an inch. His composure was outrageous. He retorted once again, "You buy several sets of clothes at a time, what's wrong with me eating some fruit?"

As he spoke, he even picked up a cherry and was about to put it in his mouth.

Mai Encui's face twitched, and she rushed over in a flash.

"You've got some nerve! — *Slap!*"

She slapped the cherries out of Zhang Zhongquan's hand, her eyes wide with anger, as if she wanted to devour him whole.

"How much did I spend on clothes? I got them all from coupons at the fruit orchard, and several sets together weren't even as expensive as a plate of durians you get! Zhang, I'm trying every way to save money, while you're living it up!"

Look at the fruit on the coffee table.

Durian, cherries, kiwi...

It definitely won't be less than a few hundred dollars.

Did I tell you to buy that junk?

Junk goods?
Enraged, Maiencui looked down at Zhang Zhongquan, spitting almost onto his face.

"Oh! You dare call the clothes I bought junk now? Why don't I buy better ones? It's all because I married a useless piece of trash like you!"

"Look at other men, working from dawn till dusk, doing several jobs a day. And you? You're lazy and averse to work! You're only in your forties and you're lying at home all day. Learn from them, working part-time as a driver late at night. If you can't find work, you can deliver food..."

"Shut up!"

The sudden shout startled Mai Encui, leaving her stunned and bewildered.

That useless husband of hers actually dared to yell at her?
"Delivering takeout? No matter what, I, Zhang Zhongquan, would never do something so shameful!"

Who says there's no distinction between high and low professions?

Even though they are all considered unemployed, Zhang Zhongquan still harbors deep-seated prejudice against food delivery workers.

If there were an rage bar, you could see that Maientui's value was rising rapidly like boiling water. Just as it was about to break through the limit, Zhang Zhongquan, who finally straightened his back and acted like a man, bent down and reached out to pull open a drawer under the coffee table.

A stack.

Two stacks.

Three stacks.

……

It's money.

So much money!

The real-life shrew, Maenchi, was stunned, her eyes wide with disbelief, a mix of surprise, disbelief, and other emotions shifting across her fierce face.

Zhang Zhongquan calmly took out all the money from the drawer and arranged it in stacks on the coffee table like an exhibition. He seemed indifferent, but in reality, he resembled a lion returning triumphantly from a successful hunt.

"Where did it come from?"

After a few seconds of silence, Mai Encui's expression changed, and she cautiously asked a probing question.

"Who just said that I, surnamed Zhang, am incompetent? A piece of trash?"

Mai Encui was embarrassed and completely lost her previous arrogance.

The stacks of gleaming banknotes on the coffee table tipped the scales of power within the family. Zhang Zhongquan, who had regained his position as head of the household, picked up a cherry again, and this time, no one stopped him.

He gained the freedom to eat fruit.

"Where did the money come from?"

Mai Encui asked in a low voice, and to make sure the money was real, she even picked up a stack of bills and opened it to check.

One hundred thousand.

A full 100,000!

And it's not a training voucher.

All of them are genuine banknotes.

Mai Encui's heart raced, her eyes were drawn to the banknotes on the coffee table, and she couldn't bear to look away.

One hundred thousand yuan is, if not an astronomical figure, at least a considerable sum of money for an ordinary family.

Many families in Shacheng don't even have a combined annual income of 100,000 yuan.

"Go pick up your son later."

Finally, I could finally hold my head high and get my revenge.

Zhang Zhongquan immediately put on airs.

"I'll take it."

Mai Encui said decisively, without the slightest hesitation, that this was the kind of woman she wanted to settle down with—so simple and pure.

Zhang Zhongquan leisurely picked up a slice of watermelon with his fork before slowly opening his mouth.

“You’ve really worked hard these past few years, so this money…”

"Are they really ours?!"

Sensing something amiss, Mai Encui couldn't wait to interrupt.

Zhang Zhongquan nodded, unconsciously raising his chin, finally unable to contain his smugness, "Of course it's ours."

Mai Encui was overjoyed and plopped down next to him. Just moments before, she had been speaking harshly to him, but now she was all lovey-dovey, holding onto her husband's arm.

"I knew it! I didn't marry the wrong person!"

Zhang Zhongquan smiled faintly and gestured to the plate of durian, "Try it, I bought it for you."

"My husband is so kind!"

Between husband and wife, there's no need to worry about saving face. Mai Encui, whose attitude had completely changed, showed no embarrassment whatsoever. She didn't rush to touch the plate of durian, her gaze still burning as she stared at the ten neatly stacked and tempting banknotes.

"You won the lottery?"

“Lottery tickets are just for fools. Even if I throw the money away, I won’t let those parasites benefit.” Mai Encui was already used to his arrogance. If it were before, she would definitely have cursed him, but now, she held on even tighter.

"That's...your secret stash of money?"

"Secret stash of money? Do I have any secret stash of money? I confiscated the three hundred-plus yuan under the bed."

"Tell me already! Stop keeping me in suspense!"

Maient shook his arm.

The old married couple was being a bit mushy, but Zhang Zhongquan still fell for it. "The people from Greenland came today. I talked to them, and they sincerely apologized and promised to refund our purchase price in full. This 100,000 yuan is the first payment. The rest will be credited to my account as soon as I withdraw the lawsuit."

"Didn't I say there's nothing to worry about? What's there to be afraid of with Greenland Group? When I, Zhang Zhongquan, take charge, there's nothing I can't accomplish!"

Mai Encui was slightly taken aback, and immediately let go of the hand she was holding.

They thought it was a windfall.

After all that, it turns out it was my own money to begin with!

"You mean this 100,000 yuan was given by Greenland Group?"

"Ah."

Zhang Zhongquan picked up another piece of watermelon with his fork.

After the Greenland Group people left, he immediately went downstairs to withdraw his money, then went to a fruit shop. He didn't buy any fruit that cost more than 3 yuan per kilogram, but deliberately bought fruit that cost more than 6 yuan per kilogram.

Expensive melons are always sweet.

"Weren't they about to go to court? Why are they..."

"What else could it be? They're just scared. No matter how big a company is, if they encounter Zhang Zhongquan, they'll cower before dragons and lie low before tigers!"

To be honest, it's okay not to earn money. There's no law that says men have to be the ones to earn money. Picking up and dropping off the kids, cooking, and doing housework are all ways to make a living. But the one flaw that Mai Encui can't stand the most is that her man loves to brag.

Since they are ordinary people, they should have the awareness of ordinary people, but instead they insist on talking nonsense and deceiving themselves.

What do you mean by "meeting you, Zhang Zhongquan"?

Before the Fang family helped you, did Greenland Group even bother with you?
However, with 100,000 yuan in front of her, Mai Encui couldn't be too disrespectful to her husband.

"You mean you've reached a settlement with Greenland? And you're not going to fight the lawsuit anymore?"

"Leave a way out for others, so you can meet again in the future. Forgive others when you can."

Zhang Zhongquan said so.

"..."

Mai Encui remained silent, then couldn't help but ask, "Then how are you going to explain this to the Fang family? The Fang family's daughter specially hired a lawyer from out of town for you, and by doing this, aren't you... standing them up?"

"I'll pay for the travel expenses then."

as predicted.

Zhang Zhongquan did not disappoint everyone, proving once again the truth that "every man for himself" is a trait that will be destroyed by heaven and earth.

This is not just about releasing pigeons.

It was clearly a blatant betrayal.

"Isn't doing this... a bit inappropriate?"

Mai Encui still had a sense of morality and hesitated, saying, "Even if we go to court, we might not be able to get our money back. They were kind enough to help us, but you secretly settled with Greenland. If you were in their shoes, how would you feel?"

What does "secretly" mean?

Zhang Zhongquan complained, "It's our house, so why can't we decide how to handle it ourselves, instead of having to listen to outsiders? You say you can get money by going to court, what makes you so sure? If it were that easy, wouldn't everyone be going to court? Why bother going to block the door every day to protect our rights?"

Maientree couldn't refute it.

Yes.

Stay safe.

If you can get the money without any problem, why go to the trouble of relying on the court?
Even if you have a 90% chance of winning, there's still a 10% risk.

Her gaze swept over the ten stacks of banknotes again. Suppressing her sense of morality, Mai Encui asked, "How did you negotiate with Greenland?"

“They refunded the money, I withdrew the lawsuit, and we signed a confidentiality agreement, prohibiting me from telling anyone, so you must not tell anyone.”

"Confidentiality agreement? Confidentiality about what?"

"What do you mean by 'secret'?"

Women are just all talk and no action.

“If I spread the word that Greenland has given in and surrendered to me, will the other homeowners feel at ease? Why only compensate me and not them? It will definitely cause an even bigger uproar.”

Mai Encui suddenly realized, and then couldn't help but ask, "Then why didn't you order more?"

"You think you can ask for more whenever you want? I'd like to, but would Greenland give it to us? They're not a charity. We should be satisfied that we got our money back."

Zhang Zhongquan has a sense of justice. Despite his tough words, he knows very well how difficult it is for a company like Greenland to compromise with an ordinary citizen like him, let alone try to extort money from him.

If you refuse a toast offered politely, then you'll have to suffer the consequences.

The Fang family serves as a cautionary tale.

Mai Encui nodded absentmindedly, feeling that her husband's words made sense.

“This is the best possible outcome.”

Zhang Zhongquan summarized: "We saved ourselves the trouble and effort, and Greenland also minimized its losses, a win-win situation."

"Win-win?"

Main Cui was distracted and couldn't accept that she had joined forces with the shameless company she had previously hated so much.

"What about the other homeowners, we..."

"What does this have to do with us? What business is it of ours?"

Zhang Zhongquan said coldly, "If the police don't care, what obligation do we have to care about their lives? Besides, I've already set an example for them. As for whether they can learn from this and get their money back, that depends on their own abilities and luck."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhongquan's face revealed a mocking expression that seemed to be directed at no one in particular.

"I believe they will win in the end. Right now, it's not that they haven't won, but they're winning slowly and steadily. It's a flexible and orderly way of winning, where early wins lead to later wins."

"..."

"Keep the money."

Zhang Zhongquan was quite a man. Greenland Group paid 100,000 yuan in advance to show their sincerity, and he withdrew all of it. Apart from spending a little money on fruit, he didn't hide a single penny.

Mai Encui quickly got up to collect the money, piled it into two heaps, and prepared to carry it into the bedroom, but then paused.

"...Should you talk to the Fang family about this?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhongquan still showed some unease.

Being selfish does not mean being completely shameless.

His actions, to put it nicely, were inconsistent; to put it bluntly, they were treacherous.

Normal people would feel guilty, but selfish people would transfer this feeling to others, just like how a small favor is appreciated but a large one is resented, in order to escape the condemnation of their conscience.

"What are you talking about? Wasn't I clear enough? We signed a confidentiality agreement! Do you still want your money?"

Money is indeed a good thing.

He had never spoken with such authority in this family.

The roles were reversed, and Mai Encui became the submissive one. When it came to her own interests and the hundreds of thousands of dollars in housing payments, she immediately stopped talking and quickly took 100,000 yuan into the bedroom, fearing that the money would disappear if she hesitated for even a second.

Zhang Zhongquan sat on the sofa with an air of dominance, tossed a cherry into his mouth, and took out his phone to check how to withdraw the lawsuit.

(End of this chapter)