Liu Zhilan had been waiting for her to ask. She immediately replied gleefully, “Hewen is a college student and a permanent railway employee. How could he possibly be interested in her?
“She married some poor country bumpkin.”
Zheng Qiuju was surprised and felt a little sorry for Jiang Xingyao.
“Really? Yaoyao, even though you don’t have a job right now, you’re so beautiful. How could you possibly have been foolish enough to marry someone from the countryside?”
Jiang Xingyao smiled. “Auntie Qiuju, if you’re curious, I’ll tell you everything.”
She carried the things into the house, then brought out a stool, a cup of tea, half a plate of sunflower seeds, and several pieces of candy.
She sat down right beside the washbasin.
Since Zheng Qiuju’s hands were covered in laundry-soap suds, Jiang Xingyao kindly peeled a piece of candy and popped it into her mouth.
Seeing this made Liu Zhilan even more jealous and furious.
Jiang Xingyao continued, “Auntie Qiuju, this marriage wasn’t something I wanted. It was arranged years ago by Grandpa Shen and Grandpa Xie.
“The Shen family looked down on the fact that the Xie family was from the countryside and couldn’t bear to let Shen Jiaoli marry into it. They were even hoping that Shen Jiaoli could marry the son of the steel mill director.
“So they made me marry into the Xie family instead. I thought, since I’m the Shen family’s biological daughter, then I’ll be the one to marry. After all, I was raised by the Jiang family, and ever since I was little, my parents taught me that a person should keep their promises and never be ungrateful.
“But I married someone on behalf of the Shen family. Isn’t it only right that I ask my own mother for 2,000 yuan as my dowry?”
Zheng Qiuju nodded repeatedly. “Of course! Of course it is! You even saved the life of the Shen family’s second son. Besides, your biological father earns more than 300 yuan a month, and your biological mother must be earning eighty or ninety yuan a month too. You’re marrying off your daughter to the countryside, so 2,000 yuan isn’t much at all.”
Liu Zhilan was seething with anger, but she couldn’t very well argue with that.
All she could do was follow Jiang Xingyao’s line of reasoning.
“Life in the countryside is hard. I gave you that much money so you could settle down and live comfortably.
“I didn’t give it to you so you could buy this and that for the Jiang family and spend money so recklessly. Sooner or later, you’ll regret it!”
“Don’t worry. My husband won’t let me suffer.”
With that, Jiang Xingyao deliberately pulled the gold necklace she had just bought from her pocket.
“Auntie Qiuju, look at the necklace I bought for my mother. Do you think it’ll make her look too old-fashioned when she wears it?”
Zheng Qiuju’s eyes instantly widened.
“My goodness! It’s gold! Whenever I see other people wearing gold, it’s usually just a thin chain. You went straight for a huge peony for your mother! How luxurious! It doesn’t look old-fashioned at all.
“Yaoyao, you’re such a filial daughter. I wouldn’t even dare dream that my daughter would buy me a gold necklace.”
“Don’t worry, Auntie Qiuju. You have two daughters. Just wait and enjoy the good life in the future.”
“Ah, I doubt I’ll even get to enjoy a piece of tofu. I don’t count on them. As long as they have good lives in the future and can help their younger brother out a little, that’s enough.”
As the two women chatted, the clothes in Liu Zhilan’s hands suddenly hit the ground with a loud slap.
“Jiang Xingyao, what do you mean by that? You used my money to buy Xu Xiangmei a gold necklace! I’ve worked hard my whole life and don’t even have a gold ring. What right does Xu Xiangmei have to wear a gold necklace? She’s a housewife who didn’t even finish elementary school. Does she deserve it?”
Hearing her shouting, Xu Xiangmei also came out of the house.
“Yaoyao, what happened?”
“Nothing, Mom. I just bought you a gold necklace, and Liu Zhilan is so jealous she’s gone crazy.”
As she spoke, Jiang Xingyao stood up and put the necklace around her mother’s neck.
“Yaoyao, this is too expensive. I’m already fifty. Wearing something like this would just be a waste. You should keep it for yourself.”
Jiang Xingyao smiled. “People always say that women get more beautiful as they grow older. The older we get, the more we should dress ourselves up. Young people like us will have plenty of chances to wear nice things later. In a few days, I’m going to buy you a gold bracelet and gold earrings too.”
Zheng Qiuju didn’t have a job either, and Liu Zhilan had often made snide remarks at her, both openly and behind her back.
Now that she had the chance to see Liu Zhilan suffer a loss, she naturally wanted to rub salt in the wound.
“Sister-in-law Xiangmei, all that love you’ve given Yaoyao was worth it! She’s even more filial to you than a biological daughter! Sister-in-law Zhilan, don’t be angry. Just have Jiaoli buy you a gold necklace someday. With your family’s financial situation, it’s not as though you can’t afford one.”
Liu Zhilan was so angry that her chest hurt, but she still had to make sure she got the upper hand.
“Of course. There are five people in my family, and all five of us are permanent employees. If we wanted to buy a gold hat and wear it, we could afford it.
“It’s just that we’re practical people who know how to live within our means. We’re not interested in buying these flashy things.
“As the saying goes, those who don’t plan ahead will suffer worries in the near future. Jiang Xingyao has been walking down the road to her own destruction this whole time.”
“Bang!”
Jiang Xingyao kicked over the basin Liu Zhilan had been using to wash clothes, splashing water all over her.
“Ah!” Liu Zhilan screamed. “Jiang Xingyao, what are you doing?”
“If you dare insult me again, I’ll beat you so badly you’ll end up in the hospital.”
Liu Zhilan’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
“You dare! I’m your mother!”
“You’re not my mother.”
Jiang Xingyao thought for a moment before saying, “Liu Zhilan, you said the hospital mixed me up with Shen Jiaoli back then. But did they really mix us up? What proof do you have that I’m your biological daughter?
“I think you only said that because you wanted to trick me into donating bone marrow to Shen Chaoyue. In reality, I’m my parents’ biological daughter!
“Just look at the kind of offspring you and Shen Yunfeng produced. They’re all ugly and worthless, with terrible character.
“There is no way you two could possibly have given birth to a daughter as beautiful and kind as me!”
To prevent the Shen family from pestering her endlessly after she became wealthy in the future, she absolutely had to insist that she was not the Shen family’s biological daughter.
Never mind that DNA testing didn’t exist on the mainland in this era. Even if it did, a DNA test conducted without the person’s consent would have no legal validity.
She was determined to have absolutely nothing to do with the Shen family!