My husband insists on using favors for everything—he’d never solve a problem on his own if he can ask someone else for help.

Moving should’ve been easy: pay a moving company 200 yuan and rest easy. But no, he had to round up all our relatives to help for free. In the end, we owed a mountain of favors.

He brushed it off: “Why waste money on movers? We’re family—why split hairs over cash?”

That’s when I realized his mom was just like him—even worse, in fact.

……

I never noticed how petty my husband was before we got married. No matter what it was, he’d first ask every relative and friend he knew for help. Only when they couldn’t do it would he handle it himself.

He’d rather ask his uncle to drive us home (which cost 500 yuan in gas) than spend 100 yuan on a taxi. He bought a computer from his cousin for 4,000 yuan—1,000 yuan more than the market price—and it broke after three days.

Losing money was nothing compared to the favors we owed. My mom had always taught me to be independent: stand on my own two feet, and never ask for help unless it’s a last resort.

I never imagined that just a few months into marriage, I’d discover my husband was someone who relied on favors—without any sense of limits.

We’d finally finished decorating the house we bought with a loan and were ready to move out of my mother-in-law’s place. We’d agreed to hire movers; 200 yuan would’ve wrapped everything up.

But behind my back, he’d already called several relatives to help. He snorted as he talked on the phone: “Why spend 200 yuan on strangers when we have family? That’s just throwing money away.”

I couldn’t understand his stubbornness. “Favors are more expensive than money—don’t you get that?”

My husband looked even more annoyed, shooting me a glare. “We’re family! Why be so calculating? Besides, strangers aren’t as reliable as our own people. What if the movers break our stuff?”

I tried to argue, but he waved me off impatiently, telling me to shut up. I couldn’t talk him out of it, so I had to give in and let the relatives help.

That’s when all the trouble started.