The clothes she was wearing now were several years old, patched over and over again.
After living a second life, she finally understood something everything else was fake; only having money to spend on herself was real.
Thinking back to her previous life, she had scrimped and saved, always giving her son Lu Yuan the best food and drink first. In the end, he repaid her by helping outsiders bully his own mother.
Someone like that didn’t even deserve to be born.
And if he was born, he was nothing but an animal.
Shen Wei walked to the clothing section and immediately spotted a purple dress.
Unlike in her previous life, when she only bought it after her friend Li Na strongly persuaded her, this time she took the initiative to ask the price.
“Comrade, I want to buy this purple dress. Could you take it down so I can have a look?”
The sales clerk sized her up. Seeing her patched clothes and that she was asking for the most expensive dress, she couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
“This dress costs forty-five yuan. If you touch it and don’t buy it, how are we supposed to sell it afterward?”
Shen Wei knew service here wasn’t like in later years, so she didn’t waste words. She directly took out a small stack of large banknotes from her pocket again.
“Take it down.”
Only then did the sales clerk reluctantly take the dress down, muttering, “Who knows if that money was stolen or not…”
If she really had money, why would she be wearing such tattered clothes?
“Is your manager here?” Shen Wei no longer wanted to endure this. There were plenty of people in this world who bullied the weak and feared the strong.
Enduring would not bring peace it would only give herself health problems from anger.
The sales clerk rolled her eyes again. “Why are you looking for our manager?”
“Of course, to complain about you.”
At that moment, a middle-aged man heard the noise and came out from the back room.
“Comrade, I am the manager of the department store. My surname is Wu. What can I help you with?”
“I have a complaint. Your employee not only disrespected customers, but also accused me of using stolen money to buy clothes. Is this how your store trains its staff?”
“I apologize on behalf of our store,” the manager said, already aware of this clerk’s temperament. He immediately added, “How about this everything you buy today will get a 20% discount.”
Shen Wei was satisfied with this solution. She looked at the clerk, who had her head lowered.
“That works. And she should apologize to me.”
The clerk bit her lip, feeling wronged. She had never met such a difficult customer.
Back when she worked at the supply and marketing cooperative, her attitude had been even worse, and no one had ever dared to say anything. Yet this person wouldn’t let it go.
“It’s necessary,” Manager Wu snapped coldly. “If you still want to work here, apologize now.”
“I’m sorry,” the clerk said through gritted teeth, nearly crying.
Fearing the customer might still be dissatisfied, Manager Wu decided to personally assist Shen Wei.
“You said you want to buy a lot today. Do you offer home delivery here?”
The manager thought for a moment. “According to regulations, if you spend over 200 yuan, we can deliver the goods.”
He still couldn’t help wondering could this girl in patched clothes really afford that much?
After buying the purple dress, Shen Wei also picked up two shirts and two pairs of cotton trousers for easier wear when doing future work.
She also bought a pair each of old-fashioned lace-up white shoes and plastic sandals.
For cooking at home, she purchased a coal stove, soup pot, wok, pots and bowls, oil, salt, soy sauce, seasonings, and three large bags of flour.
She planned to sell steamed buns, so she needed to buy two coal stoves.
“Two?” Manager Wu was stunned.
Just moments ago he was worried she couldn’t even spend 200 yuan, but now it looked like she would need several hundred at least. Truly, one couldn’t judge a book by its cover.
“Yes, two coal stoves! Also, I want your largest steaming pot!”
“And two insulated food boxes.”
“Got it!” Manager Wu, happy to have met a big customer, quickly got busy.
Shen Wei also bought two bedsheets, one thin quilt, two pillow towels, two towels, two washbasins, shampoo, laundry detergent, and toothpaste powder.
She bought two bottles of Olay face cream and two new sanitary belts.
She also bought a stack of toilet paper.
Shen Wei bought everything she could think of. After all, everything was 20% off today she wouldn’t get such a discount again later.
In the end, the total came to 820 yuan. After the discount, it was 656 yuan an absolute bargain.
Shopping in this era felt really satisfying. After all, all these things would cost several times more in later years.
Manager Wu arranged a van to deliver her goods. Shen Wei sat directly in the passenger seat to guide the way.
The sales clerk who had looked down on her felt extremely bitter. She never expected that a “country bumpkin” wearing patched clothes would actually have so much money.
Spending six or seven hundred yuan without hesitation she and her husband had been married for years and didn’t even have that much savings. Even if they did, she would never spend it so recklessly.
A woman who didn’t know how to manage money like that would definitely be scolded to death by her in-laws in the future!
When Shen Wei returned home, she briefly organized her things and it was already getting dark.
There was a knock on the door. She guessed who it was, but didn’t open it immediately.
“Shen Wei! Open the door! I know you’re in there!” Shen Jianguo shouted angrily. He had heard from neighbors that Shen Wei had spent a lot of money buying things, and even a van from the department store had delivered goods for her. He was furious.
How could someone from the Shen family be such a wasteful girl? It was outrageous.
“Who’s shouting at my door?” The couple next door, Liu Jun and his wife, came out. “If you dare damage my door, you’ll pay for it!”
Shen Jianguo immediately stepped back in fear. These two were notoriously difficult and unreasonable.
“I’m here to find my niece!” he said, stiffening his neck.
Only then did Shen Wei open the door. “What are you looking for me for?”
“You sold the house to someone else and came here to rent a place what exactly are you trying to do?”
He couldn’t understand it. In the past, their whole family lived together how lively and good it was.
But Shen Wei insisted on making things like this, turning the whole Red Flag Street into a laughingstock.
Now, every time he stepped out of the house, he could feel people pointing and whispering about him.
“Xiao Wei, come back with uncle,” he said earnestly. “If you don’t want to find a partner now, then don’t. Just move back. We’ll be a family again like before, okay?”
“Like before?” Shen Wei found his words amusing. “You mean like before when I was your family’s maid?”
“Who treated you like a maid?” Shen Jianguo felt his face burning in front of Liu Jun’s family. Shen Wei’s words were too harsh.
Liu Jun’s wife, Shuanghua, smiled faintly. “Exactly. Even worse than a maid. Maids at least get paid for washing clothes and cooking.”
“I’ll ask you one last time,” Shen Jianguo said, feeling his dignity trampled underfoot. “Are you coming back with me or not?”