“Cousin!”
Before Sun Lanlan even arrived, her voice rang out first.
A warm smile was plastered across her face, while her eyes swept rapidly across the courtyard as though appraising its value.
Qin Lan paused in the middle of picking green beans. She quietly sized up the uninvited guest before glancing at the unruffled Ruan Wen beside her.
“Cousin,” Ruan Wen greeted as she stood up and dusted off her hands. Her attitude was polite but far from enthusiastic.
“Oh, Cousin, you’ve finally settled down here.”
Sun Lanlan hurried forward and reached for Ruan Wen’s hand. Her gaze landed on the slightly worn blue work pants Ruan Wen was wearing, and a trace of contempt flashed through her eyes.
“Look at you. Why are you still wearing rough clothes like these? You suffered enough in the countryside. You really should treat yourself better.”
As she spoke, she deliberately raised her wrist, revealing a delicate Plum Blossom brand wristwatch.
“Look. Guoan had someone buy this for me in Shanghai. It cost nearly half a year of his allowance! He said that if I was following him, he couldn’t bear to let me suffer even the slightest grievance.”
Standing nearby, Qin Lan nearly burst out laughing.
The clothes Ruan Wen was wearing had been altered by her own hands. There were still two bolts of brand-new Dacron fabric waiting to be made into new outfits at home.
And yet this woman had come all the way here to show off a wristwatch?
Ruan Wen’s gaze lingered on the watch for a moment before she smiled warmly and sincerely.
“Brother-in-law really treats you well. I’m so jealous. I don’t have anything that special. Just a bracelet Grandpa Jingheng gave me a few days ago. He said it was a family heirloom and insisted I wear it.”
As if only just remembering, she rolled up her sleeve and revealed the white jade bracelet on her wrist.
The bracelet was of exceptional quality.
Under the sunlight, it glowed with a soft radiance, making her slender wrist appear even fairer.
Its understated elegance and sense of heritage instantly made Sun Lanlan’s shiny wristwatch look like a cheap tin toy.
The smile froze on Sun Lanlan’s face.
“Come in and have a seat, Cousin.”
As though oblivious to her expression, Ruan Wen naturally led her inside.
The moment she entered the living room, Sun Lanlan’s eyes darted everywhere.
Red brick floors.
Whitewashed walls.
A somewhat worn wooden sofa set.
A portrait of the Chairman hanging on the wall.
To her, the place looked plain and shabby.
Her sense of superiority immediately returned.
Reaching into the mesh bag she had brought, she pulled out a package wrapped in oil paper and placed it on the table with great ceremony.
“Cousin, I know the food here isn’t very good, so I brought you some pastries. My mother-in-law had someone buy them from the most famous pastry shop in Beijing. Give them a try.”
Qin Lan happened to be carrying two cups of malted milk.
Hearing this, she glanced at the package and smiled.
“What a coincidence. Our Wenwen doesn’t like food from outside. She thinks it’s not clean. She only likes the homemade dishes I cook.”
Turning to Ruan Wen, she handed over one steaming cup.
“Here, Wenwen. Drink some malted milk. I just made it for you.”
As for the second cup, Qin Lan didn’t even look at Sun Lanlan.
She simply set it down on the corner of the table.
The message could not have been clearer.
Sun Lanlan’s face turned green, then white.
Refusing to give up, she cleared her throat and changed the subject.
“By the way, Cousin, Guoan has been performing very well lately. He’s about to be promoted. Once that happens, we’ll move directly into a family housing compound in the city.”
She smiled proudly.
“Unlike this place, which is so far from town. Buying anything is such a hassle.”
“Really? That’s wonderful news.”
Ruan Wen sipped her malted milk leisurely before looking up.
“If I remember correctly, the Huo family is from the countryside, right? Once Brother-in-law gets promoted, all those relatives will benefit too.”
She tilted her head innocently.
“When you move to the city, they won’t keep showing up every few days asking for favors, will they?”
The smile on Sun Lanlan’s face finally shattered.
Those peasant relatives of Huo Guoan’s were the deepest thorn in her heart.
She had thought marriage would free her from them.
Instead, they swarmed around her like flies around meat, constantly showing up to borrow money and take advantage of her.
Most of her dowry had already been drained by them.
“That… that’s our family’s business,” she said stiffly. “No need for your concern.”
“I’m only worried about you.”
Ruan Wen looked completely innocent.
“Oh, right. A few days ago, I wrote a letter to Father and told him everything is going well here. Jingheng and his family have treated me wonderfully, so he doesn’t need to worry anymore.”
She paused.
“Cousin, have you written to Auntie to let her know you’re safe? Living alone can’t be easy for her.”
“You—!”
Sun Lanlan shot to her feet.
Ruan Wen had struck directly at her most painful wound.
After Liu Shufen had been publicly denounced, her reputation had been utterly ruined.
Nobody even knew where she had been sent away to suffer.
“Well now, this child sure loses her temper quickly.”
Lu Yongjie suddenly emerged from the study.
No one knew how long he had been standing there.
In his hands was the restored Huanghuali chair, which he was carefully polishing with a soft cloth.
“Wenwen, come look. I cleaned up the chair. Doesn’t it look impressive sitting here?”
Sun Lanlan’s attention immediately shifted to the chair.
Though she knew nothing about wood, even she could tell it was extraordinary.
Its antique design and rich glow made it look vastly superior to the peeling furniture in her in-laws’ house.
“This is…?”
“Oh, Wenwen found it at a secondhand market a few days ago.”
Qin Lan picked up the conversation, her voice brimming with pride.
“Our old master said it’s called Huanghuali. Apparently it’s a treasure that came out of the imperial palace of the previous dynasty!”
Sun Lanlan’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
“I—I just remembered I have something to do. I should go.”
She could not stay another second.
Grabbing her mesh bag, she fled as though her clothes had caught fire, not daring to look back.
Watching her retreating figure, Qin Lan burst out laughing.
Taking Ruan Wen’s hand, she felt immensely satisfied.
“She’s definitely not going to sleep well tonight.”
Ruan Wen simply smiled.
She lowered her head and continued drinking her malted milk.
Though it had cooled slightly, its sweetness still warmed her all the way to her heart.
Sun Lanlan practically fled the compound.
The brand-new leather shoes she had been so careful with on the way there now stomped angrily across the cinder road.
Dust clung to the toes.
A black scuff mark appeared on one shoe.
It perfectly matched her mood—dirty, frustrated, and miserable.
She had traveled all this way.
Spent money on pastries.
Spent money on tickets.
Her goal had been to flaunt her successful marriage and make Ruan Wen see how wonderful her life was.
And what happened?
She had been slapped repeatedly with invisible blows from nothing more than a bracelet and an old chair.
Her face had been completely lost.
Why?
Why did Ruan Wen deserve all this?
A capitalist’s daughter whose engagement had been broken off—how had she suddenly become the cherished treasure of the Lu family?
The more Sun Lanlan thought about it, the more jealousy gnawed at her heart like countless ants.
She stormed home.
Kicking the door open, she threw her mesh bag onto the table with a loud smack.
The expensive pastries from the famous Beijing shop rolled out of the package and scattered everywhere across the floor.