I turned to Jiang Jun and replied, “I haven’t stolen, robbed, or cheated. Since the money is in my hand, it has a legitimate source. I have the right to decide how to spend it. Or are you saying that as the daughter-in-law of the Jiang family, I’m not even worthy of buying a piece of jewelry?”
Jiang Jun was seething, but he was speechless. I had invoked my status as the Jiang family’s daughter-in-law; if he slapped my face now, he would be slapping his own.
Mianmian hurried to soothe him, smoothing his ruffled feathers. While doing so, she didn’t forget to pick up a nearby piece that looked low-key but carried a heavy price tag.
She said coaxingly to Jiang Jun, “Brother Jun, look, Mianmian is the sensible one. I’m not like some nouveau riche who picks flashy, gaudy trinkets. I want this one.”
Hearing that Mianmian wanted jewelry, Jiang Jun reached for his wallet without even checking the price.
However, the clerk at the register spoke up: “Sir, this set is two hundred thousand.”
Jiang Jun’s hand froze. His allowance had been cut off by Jiang Shitian; currently, he truly couldn’t even produce two hundred thousand.
He glanced at my “Magnificence” set priced at one hundred thousand, then at the two-hundred-thousand-dollar piece Mianmian had chosen. Looking embarrassed, he muttered, “Is jewelry always this expensive nowadays?”
Mianmian shook his arm, acting spoiled. “It’s not expensive! How is it expensive, Brother Jun? This set is simple yet elegant—it suits me perfectly. Just buy it. Consider it an early birthday present. It’s only a measly two hundred thousand; you aren’t losing out.”
I didn’t know the value of the birthday gifts Jiang Jun usually gave her, but seeing him waver, I guessed they were normally quite costly. Sure enough, after some mental weighing, Jiang Jun gritted his teeth and pulled out his credit card.
It was a Diamond Card supplementary card with a limit of one billion. He was going to pay for her.
I used his own words to block him, my voice cold: “Does the Jiang family have ‘extra cash’ to buy you these trinkets? And a two-hundred-thousand-dollar one at that—twice the price of mine.”
Flushed with shame and anger, Jiang Jun snapped, “Yours is too gaudy! It’s not worth it!”
I gave a light scoff. “This set is called ‘Magnificence,’ designed by Luo Yang. If you don’t understand it, keep your mouth shut.”
Jiang Jun really didn’t understand, so he could only mimic my logic, shouting blindly, “You’re the Jiang daughter-in-law and you can buy jewelry. I’m the only son; am I not even worthy of buying a piece?”
“And tell me, Mr. Jiang, is this set intended for your wife?” I stared at him, intentionally raising my voice.
Jiang Jun stammered, his face turning a deep shade of crimson. This was a grand opening event for the store, and it was crowded. Initially, no one had noticed us, but after this scene, the customers began pointing and whispering:
“Look, that’s Jiang Jun, the only son of the Jiang family. The woman in the hat and sunglasses must be the actress Mianmian.”
“Everyone knows she’s his mistress. I didn’t expect him to actually humiliate his legal wife for a mistress in public.”
“Messing around in private is one thing, but openly stepping on his wife’s head? This Young Master Jiang’s character is truly questionable!”
Seeing the situation turn sour, Mianmian didn’t care about Jiang Jun’s reputation, but she was terrified the jewelry would slip through her fingers. She snatched the Diamond Card from his hand and shoved it at the clerk.
But when the clerk swiped the card, the terminal flashed: Account Frozen.
It seemed Jiang Shitian had been ruthless; he hadn’t just cut the allowance, he had deactivated the supplementary card as well.
Desperate to flee the scene, Jiang Jun pulled out his phone, intending to pay via WeChat. However, his digital balance seemed to have only a hundred thousand left. He turned his gaze toward the “Magnificence” set in my hands.
He whispered to Mianmian, “How about we buy this one? She said it’s called ‘Magnificence’ by that Luo… someone.”
Mianmian wasn’t having it. She shrilled, “I don’t want it! This trashy set is so tacky—only a ‘nouveau riche’ like her would like it. And who even is that designer? I’ve never heard of him. You think some random nobody’s design is good enough for me? I only want big brands like Pandora, Bvlgari, or Cartier!”
Jiang Jun grew frantic, his voice a low, strained plea: “But… but my WeChat balance is only a hundred thousand…”
Mianmian went silent. Her eyes darted around. Quickly deciding that something was better than nothing, she said, “Fine, that one then.” She reached out to snatch “Magnificence” from my hands.
I didn’t budge. I held on for dear life. She could steal that trash of a man Jiang Jun, but she was not taking this jewelry.
Mianmian exploded into insults: “You shameless bitch! You’re already squatting in the position of the Jiang family’s Young Madam, and now you’re fighting me over jewelry too?!”
I walked over and delivered a sharp slap to her face.
Jiang Jun immediately grabbed my wrist to stop me from striking again. I looked at him with dark, venomous eyes. I was his wife. Even a coward like him didn’t dare get physically aggressive with me in such a public place.
Seeing she couldn’t win the physical fight, Mianmian ignored her dignity. Clutching her face and enduring the pain, she shouted at Jiang Jun, “Brother Jun, pay now!”
Then she stomped her feet at the clerk: “Take the money! What are you sitting there for, you useless thing?!”
She was nearly in tears. She thought that if they just paid first, they could claim the set.
To her surprise, the clerk let out a cold laugh. He stood up and looked Mianmian in the eye. “I’m sorry. I won’t sell ‘Magnificence’ to you. You aren’t worthy of it.”
“You!!! What kind of clerk are you? Turning away business? Where is the manager? Call the manager out, I want to file a complaint! This man must be fired!” Mianmian raved like a madwoman.
At that moment, the manager arrived. He looked at Mianmian and said, “I’m very sorry, but I have no authority to fire him. This gentleman is the owner of this store. Since it’s our grand opening, he decided to help out at the register personally.”
Mianmian’s face turned livid. She pointed a trembling finger at the owner and shrieked:
“Fine! Then take her money! If you’re so brave, take hers. Her money comes from the Jiang family too. Brother Jun is the heir. Once she pays, it belongs to the family. Brother Jun can give it to whoever he wants! Once I get it, I’ll throw it in the trash before I let her have it!”
The young store owner gave a reply that was practically lethal in its nonchalance:
“In that case, I won’t sell it. I’ll simply give it to the Jiang family’s Young Madam as a gift. Since it’s a gift to her, it belongs to her alone. None of you can touch it.”
“You!!! You’re giving it away for free?! That’s a hundred-thousand-dollar piece! You’ll go bankrupt running a shop like this!” Mianmian screamed.
The owner raised an eyebrow at the hysterical woman and said, word by word:
“I. Don’t. Care.”