“You—”
Li Mingyue was so angry that she wanted to retort, but Liu Jihong grabbed her and hurriedly laughed it off.
“She is just a little slow to react. But…”
Gu Wan knew that the real reason they had insisted on waiting for her to have dinner tonight was about to be revealed. She quietly watched Liu Jihong put on her performance.
“Wanwan, Aunt Liu has been through this before. I know how important it is for a woman to be pregnant. You have to be extremely careful. You can’t tire yourself out, hurt yourself, or bump into anything. You’re already almost three months along, and your belly will only get bigger from here. You shouldn’t go to work anymore, just in case something happens.”
So that was tonight’s topic—the job.
It just so happened that she didn’t have much cash on hand. If someone was willing to give her money, there was no reason to refuse.
“Aunt Liu, you’re worrying too much. My job is pretty easy. It’s not tiring or dangerous at all. It’s perfectly fine.”
Gu Wan’s job was as a custodian at the Cultural Relics Management Office, a position her grandfather had arranged for her through his connections. The work was easy—basically keeping records and managing the storeroom. The salary was high, and the benefits were excellent.
That was precisely why Li Mingyue and Liu Jihong had set their sights on it.
Hearing Gu Wan’s response, Li Mingyue was so frustrated her teeth nearly itched.
Liu Jihong, however, refused to give up and continued persuading her.
“Our family isn’t short of the little bit of money you earn. You can just stay home and focus on your pregnancy. If you’re in a good mood, the baby will be healthier too. Besides, your workplace handles all kinds of old artifacts, and some of them even come from tombs… What if they bring bad luck to the baby? That wouldn’t be good!”
Gu Wan hadn’t expected Liu Jihong to resort to such an excuse.
She pretended to agree and nodded.
“That actually makes a lot of sense.”
Hearing this, Liu Jihong immediately brightened. She quickly revealed what she really wanted.
“Exactly! You should stay home and focus on your pregnancy. Let Mingyue go to work in your place. After all, you’re sisters.”
Gu Wan thought about it and nodded.
“That works too. Tomorrow I’ll tell the office to let Mingyue take my place. As for the salary… we’ll split it fifty-fifty!”
Li Mingyue was startled.
What?
So she was going to become Gu Wan’s employee?
She would do all the work, and Gu Wan would still take half the salary?
Li Mingyue hurriedly shot Liu Jihong a meaningful look.
Of course Liu Jihong wasn’t willing to accept that either.
They had wanted to get Gu Wan’s job entirely. How had it suddenly turned into her hiring Li Mingyue?
How could that possibly work?
“Wanwan, look, you’re sisters. You’re not short of that little bit of money. Since Mingyue will be working in your place, shouldn’t the salary belong to her?”
Gu Wan immediately refused.
“What are you talking about? The job still belongs to me! My grandfather found it for me. It’s such a good position that even if I don’t want it anymore, I could sell it for several thousand yuan.”
That was indeed true.
In those days, finding a permanent job was extremely difficult, especially a position like Gu Wan’s. It was essentially part of the cultural sector. The work was comfortable and stable, the salary was high, and it was an area ordinary people could hardly hope to enter.
It was also the kind of job one could safely keep until retirement, with the position eventually being passed down to one’s children.
Such jobs were rarely transferred to outsiders.
Her grandfather had spent quite a bit of money and used numerous personal connections to secure this position for her.
Hearing this, Liu Jihong was also at a loss.
Li Mingyue was even more anxious.
She didn’t want to work for Gu Wan.
She wanted the permanent position itself.
Only by obtaining this job could she avoid being sent to the countryside.
Li Mingyue anxiously rubbed her hands and stomped her feet, winking desperately and mouthing words at Liu Jihong, urging her to continue persuading Gu Wan.
Liu Jihong had no choice but to turn back to Gu Wan and continue.
“Wanwan, look, you’re not short of this little bit of money. You’re pregnant now, so why don’t you just transfer the job to Mingyue? Why would you even want money for it? You’re sisters, after all!”
Gu Wan gave a mocking laugh.
“Stop right there! My mother only gave birth to me. Where did I get a biological sister from? Besides, even brothers keep their accounts separate when it comes to money, let alone sisters. You say I’m not short of money, but is Mingyue short of it? Doesn’t the family give her spending money? Or does Dad favor Little Brother and give all the money to him?”
Li Fukang, who had been burying his head in a pork knuckle, immediately looked up.
What does this have to do with me?
I don’t know anything. No one gives me any money!
Li Fugui glanced at his bewildered precious son and patted him on the head.
“It has nothing to do with you. Keep eating.”
Li Fugui could see what was happening.
The appeal to family affection wasn’t going to work on Gu Wan. This girl had already become completely obsessed with money.
But regardless of what happened, if they wanted to control her, they first had to get her out of her workplace.
Once she was isolated and had no one to rely on except her family, she would have no choice but to do whatever they said.
Even if she wanted to resist, there would be no one to support her.
Since that was the case, they might as well use money to buy out her job now.
Once she was trapped at home and isolated from everyone, wouldn’t the money eventually make its way back into their hands anyway?
Li Fugui looked at Gu Wan with disgust.
This daughter of his was just like her capitalist grandfather—money was the only thing in her eyes.
“All right, then. How much money do you want before you’ll transfer the job to Mingyue?”
The moment Li Fugui spoke, everyone fell silent and stared expectantly at Gu Wan.
Gu Wan knew that Li Fugui was the real decision-maker, the one who could settle everything with a single word.
She wasn’t going to be polite either.
She began calculating the price with him, one figure at a time.
“You all know how prestigious and respectable this job is. Let’s just talk about the salary. My basic monthly salary is 29.5 yuan. Including the book allowance, grooming allowance, and all the other miscellaneous benefits, it comes to 35.8 yuan a month. That’s 429.6 yuan a year.
“During festivals and holidays, there are also various coupons and gifts. Converted into money, those are worth roughly another 100 yuan. So that’s about 529.6 yuan in annual income.
“And that doesn’t even include the regular salary increases every year. Over ten years, I’d earn at least 5,500 yuan or so.
“I’ll give you a family discount and make it 5,000 yuan. This is the kind of good job that can be passed down through three generations. Believe me, if I put it up for sale outside, someone would buy it immediately.”
The moment they heard this, everyone nearly dropped their jaws.
They had assumed that after laying out all that talk about family affection, they would eventually have to grit their teeth and offer her maybe 1,000 yuan at most.
Instead, Gu Wan had made an outrageous demand.
She wanted 5,000 yuan right off the bat!
That was 5,000 yuan!
You could hardly imagine needing that much money to buy a house!
Li Fugui exploded in anger.
“Gu Wan, look at yourself! How can you demand so much money even from your own family?”
Gu Wan blinked her innocent, wide eyes and looked at Li Fugui in confusion.
“This is my job. I don’t have to sell it. You’re the ones insisting that I sell it, so I gave you a fair price. And you’re still unhappy? If the deal doesn’t work out, we can remain on good terms. Why are you making such a big fuss?”
“Besides, Li Mingyue is Liu Jihong’s daughter. What does that have to do with you? You’re only her stepfather, while I’m your biological daughter. There’s no reason for you to make your biological daughter suffer a loss just to subsidize your stepdaughter, is there?”
Stepdaughter!
What kind of word was that?
The worst part was that Li Fugui couldn’t refute her.
His face turned purple with anger from being cornered. In the end, he decided to appeal to family affection instead.
“How can you talk like that? Your Aunt Liu raised you from childhood and treated you even better than her own daughter. Even if she didn’t give birth to you, she still raised you, didn’t she? You should know how to be grateful. You can’t forget where you came from.”
“Mingyue also grew up with you. You’re as close as sisters. Why are you talking about who gains or loses?”
Li Fugui had said these things countless times throughout Gu Wan’s childhood.
Gu Wan’s ears were practically calloused from hearing them.
Wasn’t this just emotional blackmail?
Well, she had no morals to blackmail.