Chapter13
"Honey, this place is expensive. Let's just order something simple."
As they sat down at the seafood restaurant, Yao Nan quietly said this. The upscale decor and the prices on the menu made her uneasy.
"No, yesterday we were both exhausted. We should treat ourselves well."
Xu Bin picked up the menu.
Upon hearing this, Yao Nan's face turned red, and she whispered, "Then I'll pay with my credit card, but don't tell my mom."
"Don't worry, honey, I'm not as poor as you think."
Xu Bin called the waiter over and ordered, "Hello, we'll have a plate of sizzling snowflake beef, a serving of cheese lobster, and a plate of stir-fried crab with chili and garlic."
Snowflake beef for 168, Australian cheese lobster for 668, and stir-fried crab with chili and garlic for 398…
The prices made Yao Nan feel heartbroken, almost suffocating. The waiter took note and asked, "Sir, would you like any drinks or soups?"
No drink was priced below 30, and most of the soups were over half of the main dishes.
Yao Nan immediately said, "No need, just tea is fine."
Xu Bin immediately stopped her and said to the waiter, "Give my wife a serving of fish gelatin stew and I'll have a serving of pigeon stew with morel mushrooms. That's it!"
As the waiter left, Yao Nan leaned in and whispered, "Honey, are you crazy? This meal will cost over a thousand or even two thousand."
"I know you love seafood the most."
Xu Bin gently held her hand.
"But we shouldn't spend that much!"
Yao Nan was a thrifty and frugal woman, and she immediately started calculating. She said, "If you're craving, I could buy some seafood and cook it at home, which would save us a lot."
She deliberately lowered her voice because she knew she had to save face for her husband outside, thanks to her mother-in-law's good upbringing. Of course, it was ineffective on Yao Xin.
"We have to pay the bill next month. If my mom finds out, she'll tear me apart!"
Yao Nan was very anxious.
Every month, she handed over 3,000 out of her 5,000 salary to her mother. Shen Ruyu pretended to save it for her, so Yao Nan didn't have much money to spend.
"Don't worry, honey, I'm not really living off you!"
Xu Bin handed over his phone and said, "Take a look."
Yao Nan had never had the habit of checking her husband's phone, but when she looked at the withdrawal records, she was stunned.
"100,000? Where did you get this money?"
Yao Nan was quite nervous. For her, this was a huge sum.
"Look again!"
Seeing the stock trading records, Yao Nan was even more shocked. Xu Bin smiled and said, "Wife, I'm not a lazy person. I've been working hard and saving money. Keeping it in the bank with that measly interest rate is not worth it. Actually, I have some scattered investments."
"I… I didn't know."
"You didn't ask, so I thought you weren't interested!"
When it came to lying, men had a natural talent for it. Xu Bin said with a full smile, "Last time during the bull market, this stock of mine almost reached 200,000. But I got greedy and didn't sell, resulting in a loss of 70%. This time, I quickly sold after making a profit and invested it elsewhere."
Yao Nan finally relaxed and looked at him with admiration and a hint of reproach. "Honey, you scared me. I thought you were up to something bad."
"If I were doing something bad, I'd be a billionaire by now."
Xu Bin laughed happily and boasted without any psychological pressure.
Feeling relieved, Yao Nan's mood became very pleasant. She hugged her husband's arm and asked softly, "Honey, since you're so capable, why don't you talk to my mom and the others about it?"
Xu Bin understood her thoughts. Although Yao Nan had always been submissive and endured grievances at home, she couldn't help but speak up when Xu Bin was being wronged. Being called a freeloader and a poor guy… She actually had a lot of pressure and worries, and she also hoped that her husband could have some status at home, at least for her mother not to constantly criticize and find fault.
To put it bluntly, all women have vanity, and Yao Nan, the wife, also had it, but she was too insecure to show it.