Chapter 2

But our son didn't give us any chance to refuse.

The very next day, they moved in.

Sure enough, they started policing our daily expenses.

Edwina quit her job too, just to devote herself to watching us.

When we went grocery shopping, she tagged along.

I was just reaching for the eggs when she started yelping right next to me.

"Mom, one pound of these eggs could buy you several pounds of potatoes!"

"Old people have slow metabolisms, they can't even digest the nutrients in things like eggs. You need to eat more vegetables to stay healthy."

What kind of nonsense logic was that? I couldn't even be bothered to look at her.

But her mouth kept running. "I hear the vegetables that don't sell at the morning market after twelve get sold off in bundles."

"You two don't have anything to do anyway, so come by around then from now on. It'll save you quite a bit of money."

When I got called out to play cards, she trailed after me like a shadow.

"Mom, you don't play cards for money, do you? That's gambling."

I gave her a sidelong glance. "We're all good citizens."

"Whoever loses pays for the card room, twenty bucks for an afternoon."

"That won't do either!" She pinned down the hand I was playing with.

"Twenty bucks isn't money? Twenty bucks an afternoon, that's six hundred a month!"

"What better things could you do with that money?"

She even watched us when we used our phones.

I was scrolling through short videos and saw an ad for thermal underwear, so I clicked in for a couple more looks.

She immediately leaned over, terrified I might buy something online.

"Mom, whatever you do, don't buy anything online! It's all scams online!"

I finally couldn't take it anymore and threw my phone down on the couch.

"Edwina, you never eat with us, you always order takeout, and I bet a single delivery order runs several tens of dollars."

"And when you go shopping with your girlfriends, I've seen the receipts. A single afternoon tea costs a few hundred."

"Why is it that you spend money like water, but we get monitored over buying a few eggs?"

Edwina's face changed in an instant, and her voice went shrill.

"Mom, how can we be the same?"

"I'm in the flower of my youth, exactly the time to enjoy life!"

"You two are so old, what's the point of eating well and dressing well? Fancy or plain, isn't it all the same for you?"

"At your age, you should be scrimping and saving, leaving more behind for your kids!"

I studied her calmly.

"Enjoying life at thirty? What, are you not going to live to see retirement?"

Seeing that Edwina was choked into silence, I went on.

"When your dad and I were your age, we worked from dawn to dusk and pinched every penny to support the family."

"If you've got the time to keep an eye on us, you'd be better off finding a job!"

At that, Edwina shot to her feet.

"If you insist on making yourselves suffer for no reason, what's that got to do with me?"

"We just happened to be born in a good time, in an era when parents give everything to lift their children up, so what?"

"Besides, my husband is willing to support me, so I'm just naturally blessed with a good life!"

Listening to Edwina's grating words, I didn't want to leave her any face at all.

"Right, you marrying into our family, that's your good luck."

"But our family taking you in, now that's eight generations' worth of rotten luck."

"You—you—" Edwina pointed at me, unable to get out a word for the longest time.

"Mom, your money belongs to me and Thaddeus!"

"As long as I'm here, don't even dream of spending one cent more!"

She flung out one last vicious line and went back to her room.

I may have won the argument, but I didn't sleep a wink all night.

I tossed and turned, wondering what on earth I'd done in a past life to deserve this.

To raise a son like this, and then bring in a daughter-in-law like this.