Men's Private Savings 大丈夫的私房钱

Description:

Li Yu-Wen, a senior engineer at a municipal chemical research institute, hands over his entire salary to his wife, Dr. Xia, every month, while keeping bonuses and other extra income hidden away as his private savings, without letting his wife know. When he learns that his cousin's child needs 3,000 yuan for medical treatment, he readily promises to help. His neighbor, Teacher Lu, also has 1,500 yuan in private savings — money earned from selling popsicles at school in his spare time, accumulated little by little. Teacher Lu gives this money to his younger brother, just released from a labor camp, hoping he will open a snack shop and become a self-reliant man. Teacher Lu's grandson throws a tantrum demanding a Transformer toy; the old man lies on the floor and lets the boy ride him like a robot horse, humorously calling himself a universal Transformer, just so he won't have to spend the money. Before many months pass, the enterprising brother becomes the manager of a trading department at a company. He comes to see his elder brother with expensive gifts and repays the debt on the spot. Only then does Mrs. Lu learn that her husband had private savings, and she kicks up a terrible fuss, refusing to let it go. Teacher Lu gently talks her down, and the storm finally subsides. Zhou Yun, the wife of Li Yu-Wen's colleague Liu Xing-Hua, will never allow her husband to have private savings, fearing that with money he will go philandering. Every time Liu Xing-Hua brings home his wages, Zhou Yun interrogates him in detail and makes him take off his clothes and trousers for inspection. However clever the trick, there is always a countermove: Liu Xing-Hua racks his brains to save up private money, buys shockproof earrings, and goes on a date with his lover, Sister Qin. But the good times don't last — on their next date, Liu Xing-Hua and Sister Qin are caught by Zhou Yun. Liu Xing-Hua flees, and a false rumor spreads that he was hit and killed by a car. When Li Yu-Wen and the institute's union chairman go to his home to discuss the wording of the eulogy, Liu Xing-Hua suddenly returns. To scrape together the remaining money for his cousin's child's 3,000-yuan treatment, Li Yu-Wen goes to the home of Zhao Gong-Fei, a private clothing dealer, to work as an English tutor. Zhao Gong-Fei has an unusually close relationship with Sister Qin, so the adoptive mother tells Sister Qin to obtain a fake certificate of pregnancy in order to extort money from Zhao Gong-Fei. Sensing something fishy, Zhao Gong-Fei asks Li Yu-Wen to pose as Sister Qin's lover and monitor the abortion at the hospital. Dr. Xia, inquiring about the case, suddenly discovers that Sister Qin's "lover" is her own husband, and faints from rage. Overwhelmed with shame, Li Yu-Wen finally confesses everything to his wife. After the turmoil over private savings, several couples come to realize that only mutual sincerity, understanding, and tolerance can make family life truly happy.