Young couple make contract about peaceful division of housework

"If I cook, she will wash the clothes, and if I wipe the table, she will clean the floor. No one is privileged, it is fair!" The post-80s couple, who does similar jobs and is independent in character, agreed to divide the housework equally.

Zhou and his wife Anan live in Xueyafangling community in Hongshan District, and work at the same institute. They were married in 2008 during the National Day holiday. "We have lived together for more than one year before we got married. At that time, we rented a house, and we were both lazy. We didn’t clean the house until it was so messy that we could no longer stand it. We ate at the institute's cafeteria when we were working, and we ate out when we were not working."

After decorating their house, which was bought for the marriage, they plan to improve their quality of living while at the same time saving money. For equality, the couple divided the housework equally: Zhou buys vegetables and cooks on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Anan cooks on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. During the cleanup they do every week, Zhou cleans the living room and toilet, while Anan bedroom and kitchen. If one breaks the rules, the other will be entitled to eat a delicious meal at a restaurant.

"Rules that are too strict will hurt our relationship, and it is very humanistic to divide the housework equally." Anan said that she will do all the housework when her husband's friends come for a visit, and her husband only chats and boasts. She will also do it all if her husband works overtime or becomes ill. If it is her friends who come to visit, then her husband should also volunteer to do all the housework.

As they have been doing the equal division of housework for more than one year, the couple said that they have gotten used to the system. "The rules are just designed to remind the couple to share the burden of housework. The wife should not be capricious and the husband should not always leave the house for any reason. Now we have even cooked our own "signature dishes", which added more fun to our life."