Shen Shuyue had never looked down on poor people.
But she did look down on poor people with crooked intentions who were always looking for trouble.
Sure enough, the moment she finished speaking, the faces of the women who had been gossiping about her turned ugly.
Those women had disliked her for a long time. After hearing what she said, one of them pointed at her and cursed, “Shen Shuyue, what are you so proud of? So what if you have a little money? Does that make you so great?”
“Let me tell you, thrift and frugality are traditional virtues in our society. With the way you squander money and live so extravagantly, sooner or later you’ll be criticized and punished for it.”
“Besides, your father was a capitalist, wasn’t he? A few years ago, capitalists were sent to prison.”
“All your possessions should be confiscated.”
“If you keep acting so arrogantly, sooner or later someone will report you. When that happens, someone will naturally deal with you.”
The woman who had delivered this indignant speech was Zhao Pandi, a woman from the Zhao family.
Her husband was a platoon leader.
Zhao Pandi had one daughter who had just started kindergarten.
Most of the other women in the family compound either had three sons, two sons, two daughters and a son, or one son and one daughter.
In short, everyone else had sons.
She was the only one without a son, and she had always harbored resentment over it.
Then Shen Shuyue married into the compound, and when her belly remained flat for a long time, Zhao Pandi suddenly felt much more balanced. She even felt superior to Shen Shuyue.
No matter how beautiful Shen Shuyue was, without a child, her husband would never truly love her.
That was why she dared to openly challenge Shen Shuyue in front of so many people today.
Shen Shuyue smiled even more brightly when she heard this.
If she hadn’t transmigrated here from the future, Zhao Pandi’s words might really have frightened her.
“Capitalist? Are you stupid, or are you still living in the past and haven’t come back to your senses? Reform and opening up began several years ago. Do you still think we’re living in the old society?”
“The leaders are already advocating equality between men and women, and you’re still throwing around the word ‘capitalist’?”
“You’re basically saying you don’t recognize the leaders.”
“The policies have changed. The country now encourages people to do business and supports ordinary citizens in becoming self-employed.”
“And you’re still going on about ‘capitalists’ and ‘being punished’? In my opinion, you’re the one who should be criticized. You’re the one who deserves to go to prison.”
The women standing nearby instinctively moved farther away from Zhao Pandi.
After hearing Shen Shuyue’s words, Zhao Pandi suddenly seemed a little suspicious.
If they stayed too close to Zhao Pandi and something happened, they could end up in prison too.
Their husbands might even be implicated.
Zhao Pandi’s face turned from green to white and back again.
She had only said a few things. How had that suddenly become disrespect toward the leaders?
Had Shen Shuyue gone crazy lately?
She had never been this fierce before. But recently, she had become unbelievably aggressive, as though she would explode at the slightest provocation.
“Shen Shuyue, don’t talk nonsense. When did I ever say anything disrespectful toward the leaders?”
“Didn’t you waste money and resources? Is there anyone else in this entire family compound who lives like you do, doing nothing but eating, drinking, and having fun all day?”
“You don’t even cook. You don’t wash Battalion Commander Qiu’s clothes.”
“When you’re hungry, you know how to go outside and eat. Why don’t you buy groceries and cook for yourself?”
“Look at all the women in the family compound. Who dresses up and shows off like you do every single day?”
Shen Shuyue sneered.
This Zhao Pandi was clearly trying to set a trap for her and make her offend everyone in the family compound.
Did she really think Shen Shuyue was stupid?
“Don’t drag the entire family compound into this just to use them as your shield.”
“You’re the most arrogant one here. You’re also the one who’s always trying to stir up trouble.”
“I have money to buy new clothes and delicious food. That’s my business. Do you expect me to be like you, saving every penny and eating nothing but radishes and potatoes every day?”
“My father worked hard to earn money so I could live a good life, not a miserable one.”
“If you love living a hard life so much, it’s because you don’t have the money to live well—not because you don’t want to.”
Those words struck Zhao Pandi right in the heart.
Of course she wanted to live a good life.
She wanted pretty clothes too. She wanted to eat meat every day.
But she simply didn’t have that much money.
The women around them remained silent.
Surprisingly, they felt that Shen Shuyue actually had a point.
Zhao Pandi was about to say something else when one of the women beside her spoke up.
“I’d better go home and do the laundry.”
She clearly didn’t want to stay and listen anymore.
Another woman said, “I’m going to buy some groceries. The kids at home have been clamoring for meat, so I’ll go buy some.”
Another woman chimed in, “I’ll go with you. My husband said he wants to eat fish, so I’m going to buy some.”
One after another, the women left.
Soon, only Zhao Pandi remained standing there.
She had originally intended to have a big argument with Shen Shuyue, but seeing everyone leave one by one, she couldn’t bring herself to continue.
She had thought these women were on her side.
She had assumed they would agree with everything she said.
Who would have thought that one wanted to buy fish, another wanted to buy meat, and another wanted to buy groceries?
Just moments ago, she had been lecturing Shen Shuyue about how being thrifty was honorable.
Although she hadn’t explicitly said that living a hard life was something to be proud of, that was clearly the implication behind her words.
And now…
It turned out that she was the only one actually living a hard life.
The others weren’t suffering at all.
When Zhao Pandi looked up again, Shen Shuyue was no longer standing by the window.
She could only swallow her anger and return home.
…
After arguing with Zhao Pandi, Shen Shuyue no longer felt like sleeping.
While washing up, Shen Shuyue looked at the pile of clothes she hadn’t washed and immediately felt lazy.
Summer clothes were easy enough to wash.
But what about winter clothes?
And there wasn’t even an electric fan in the house. She really couldn’t understand what the original owner had been thinking.
Wait…
When the original owner married Qiu Chengyue, it had been winter.
Of course they hadn’t needed an electric fan then.
Before May, the weather wasn’t particularly hot, and there was no need for a fan at night.
It was only recently that the weather had become hotter and hotter each day.
In her previous life, Shen Shuyue had been accustomed to sleeping with the air conditioner on.
Now that she didn’t even have an air conditioner, she really wasn’t used to it.
Air conditioners weren’t very common in this era, so installing one probably wasn’t realistic.
She needed to buy an electric fan.
Shen Shuyue was a woman of action.
After washing up, she put on a pretty dress and drove into the city to buy an electric fan.
Having money in her hands made her feel secure.
After getting something to eat and filling her stomach, Shen Shuyue bought two electric fans.
Just as she was getting ready to leave, she suddenly craved braised fish.
So she went to the market and bought a fish, along with some vegetables and other ingredients.
In her previous life, she had been an ordinary office worker. Cooking had simply been part of everyday life for her.
That evening, when Qiu Chengyue returned home, he found two brand-new electric fans in the house.
And that domineering woman was now dressed in ordinary clothes, wearing an apron as she cooked in the kitchen.
Qiu Chengyue: “?”
Had this woman finally returned to normal?
After throwing her weight around for several days, was she finally willing to cook for him?