The person turned out to be Xia Xiaowan’s classmate, Chen Lili.
She usually rarely spoke to Xia Xiaowan, but she was Xia Xiuxiu’s good friend.
“Xia Xiaowan, what are you doing here?” Chen Lili asked angrily, folding her arms as she glared at her.
Xia Xiaowan had noticed Chen Lili long ago, so she was not surprised at all by the sudden attack.
She turned her head. “What? Am I not allowed to come here?”
“That’s not what I mean. I heard you married the son of the richest man in Peony City. I suppose that’s why you have money to come here and buy a wristwatch? But Xiuxiu already told me everything. You only had the chance to marry Liu Xun because he was someone she didn’t want…”
After Chen Lili finished speaking, she smugly raised her arm and turned to leave.
—Chen Lili was no good.
Back when Xia Xiaowan lived at her uncle’s house, Chen Lili and Xia Xiuxiu had bullied her plenty of times when they were together. A child without parents to protect her, combined with her weak and gentle nature—how could she possibly avoid being bullied?
Having been reborn in this life, Xia Xiaowan secretly swore that everyone who had bullied her in the past would get what they deserved!
After paying, she took the receipt and returned to the counter. She put the wristwatch box into her handbag and fastened the watch around her wrist.
Chen Lili had not affected her good mood in the slightest.
It was wonderful to have a wristwatch. Now she could tell the time and no longer had to ask the people around her what time it was!
After leaving the department store, Xia Xiaowan remembered that her mother-in-law had asked her to buy a few outfits. She truly could not bear to part with the money. She made a full circuit around the women’s clothing section on the second floor, but even the cheapest clothes cost more than five yuan. One had to know that in the cities during the 1980s, many people’s wages were not very high.
She had spent several years making handicrafts before saving up thirty yuan. She earned only one fen for folding a matchbox, and she had never even bought a popsicle that cost five fen.
The money in the envelope her mother-in-law had given her yesterday was the most money Xia Xiaowan had ever seen in her life. She absolutely could not spend it carelessly.
Xia Xiaowan had been closest to Xia He, the youngest daughter of her uncle’s family. Xia He not only studied well, but whenever Xia Xiuxiu bullied Xia Xiaowan, she always protected Sister Xiaowan by standing in front of her.
Once, Xia Xiuxiu had secretly eaten the eggs in the house. When she refused to admit it, she claimed that Xia Xiaowan had stolen and eaten them instead. Enraged, Wang Xiumei had beaten Xia Xiaowan.
When Xia He came home from school that day and saw her older cousin covered in wounds, she threw down her schoolbag, dragged Xia Xiuxiu out, and gave her a sound beating.
Wang Xiumei punished her by making her kneel for half the night and ordered her to admit that she had been wrong, but Xia He stubbornly refused to say a single word.
Xia Zhiyuan believed that Xia Xiaowan had been wrongly accused and that Xia He had been right.
But the uncle was not the one who ran the household, and no one listened to anything he said. He could only huddle there like a quail.
Her aunt did not like this younger daughter at all, but Xia He studied well and was diligent. Even Wang Xiumei, no matter how much she disliked her, could not find any reason to scold her.
Let alone beat Xia He.
Before Xia Xiaowan got married, she had heard Xia He say that she liked drawing and calligraphy, but watercolors and paintbrushes were rare things.
Ordinary working-class families simply could not afford them.
They could only watch enviously as children from families with better financial circumstances painted away.
The department store stood right next to Xinhua Bookstore, which had many books and stationery items.
After leaving the department store, Xia Xiaowan entered Xinhua Bookstore.
Xinhua Bookstore was a state-run bookstore with three floors. The first floor already had brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Xia Xiaowan walked toward the counter and lowered her head to look at the calligraphy brushes inside.
There were many kinds of brushes. Wolf-hair brushes were made from the tails of weasels. They were highly elastic and suitable for calligraphy and painting.
Goat-hair brushes were made from the wool of sheep. They could absorb a great deal of ink at once, allowing one to write for a long time, and were suitable for running script and cursive script.
There were also some rarer brushes. Chicken-hair brushes were made from chicken feathers, while purple-hair brushes were made from rabbit fur.
“Comrade, what kind of brush would you like? I’ll get it for you!” the salesclerk behind the counter asked, a smile at the corners of her mouth.
In that era, “smiling service” was being promoted.
Xia Xiaowan looked for a while. “Please get me one wolf-hair brush and one goat-hair brush. Do you have any better paper for painting?”
“We do. They’re all new styles that just came in, but they’re a little expensive!” Seeing that Xia Xiaowan sincerely intended to buy something, the salesclerk began introducing them to her earnestly.
After explaining a great deal, Xia Xiaowan ultimately bought two calligraphy brushes, ten sheets of rice paper, and ten sheets of stiff paper for painting.
After buying all of that, there was still a great deal of money left in the envelope.
Xia Xiaowan found an empty place and counted it. After subtracting the one hundred and sixty yuan she had spent, she still had three hundred and forty yuan left. So the envelope had originally contained five hundred yuan.
Xia Xiaowan found a bank nearby and deposited all the remaining money into a savings account. She carefully put the bankbook into the pocket of the clothes close to her body.
In her previous life, Xia Xiaowan had not enjoyed a single good day in the Jiang family. The money in several of her bankbooks had been secretly withdrawn by the children and spent recklessly.
When she grew old and became ill, she went to the bank to withdraw money, only to learn that the children had taken it all long before. The anger triggered a heart attack, and she eventually died miserably at home.
In this life, Xia Xiaowan no longer trusted anyone. Only by protecting her own property could she safely make it through her life.
When she returned to the Liu family, Auntie had already prepared lunch and placed it on the table in the living room.
“You’re back. Come and eat. None of them will be coming home at noon. Director Liu and his wife eat at the factory cafeteria, and Liu Xun is still asleep at this hour. He only eats with everyone at dinner. I’m sorry, Xiaowan.” Auntie stood there awkwardly, looking at Xia Xiaowan, who had just come in.
Xia Xiaowan smiled. “Auntie, you can eat with me.”
Auntie shook her head. “I already ate in the kitchen. Besides, I’m only the auntie. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to sit at the table and eat in the Liu family.”
Xia Xiaowan had only just arrived at the Liu family and still did not understand some things, so she could only sit down and eat. The lunch was very sumptuous: four dishes and a soup, with white rice steamed until it was fragrant and sweet.
She was already very happy to have so many dishes to eat all by herself.
Unlike in her previous life at the Jiang family, where, besides herself, only one younger sister-in-law helped prepare the food. More than ten people ate there. Later, after that sensible younger sister-in-law got married, Xia Xiaowan was left alone in the kitchen, busy cooking.
By the time she came to the table to eat, no one had saved even the first dish for her. The people in the Jiang family were all animals. Not one of them had ever thought about whether Xia Xiaowan had eaten. That Jiang Cheng had simply pretended not to see anything.
Thinking of this, Xia Xiaowan cherished her current life even more. She ate her lunch seriously. After finishing one bowl of rice, she served herself another bowl of soup.
She drank the soup slowly.
So fresh and sweet!
“I’m hungry. Is there any food left?” A handsome man with an exceptionally beautiful face appeared in the living room. As he spoke, he walked toward Xia Xiaowan.
He sat down opposite her and looked at the dishes on the table. “Are you a pig? You ate all four dishes?”
The speaker was Liu Xun, the eldest son of the Liu family. After saying this, he crossed his legs and looked at her with undisguised disdain.
Auntie was startled. “I’m sorry. You usually eat outside or sleep, so I didn’t prepare anything for you.”
“What? Can’t I eat at home now? This is my home, not this woman’s home?” After Liu Xun finished speaking, he glared viciously at Xia Xiaowan. If he disliked her, then he disliked her. There was no need to keep pretending.
Xia Xiaowan looked at Auntie. “I’ll go rest first. Call me if you need anything.”
Her face remained calm, without the slightest trace of displeasure.
Liu Xun had originally thought that this woman would shout and make a scene. He had never expected his punch to land on cotton.