Most of the dowry items Zhou Yun prepared for Xu Changxia were of inferior quality passed off as superior.
For instance, the fabric used for Xu Changxia’s dowry bedding cost just over thirty yuan per meter. Zhou Yun had conspired with the sales clerk in advance, deceiving Xu Fangfei into believing it was a hundred and thirty yuan per meter material—an untrained eye couldn’t tell the difference.
Zhou Yun used surplus household grain, oil, and cloth ration coupons as bribes for the sales clerk, who was more than willing to help.
As for the other items, they were even easier to fudge.
“These two watches—you bought them yourself through connections at the department store, didn’t you? My mother wasn’t there, right?” Xu Changxia picked up the pair of watches from the table and asked.
“Yes, and they were expensive! Go ask around—who gives a pair of brand-name watches as dowry for a wedding! Are you still not satisfied?” Zhou Yun frowned tightly.
“What if I don’t want them now? Purchases can be returned at the counter within thirty days. You haven’t thrown away the receipts, have you? The tags are still attached, clearly unused. Why don’t you go return them, Auntie?” Xu Changxia replied.
“Well…” Zhou Yun immediately looked troubled.
“Can’t return them, can you?” Xu Changxia sneered.
“Or perhaps these weren’t bought from the counter at all, but are second-hand items someone else used, polished up and brought here. They’d cost at most a third of the counter price.”
“What nonsense are you talking!” Before Xu Changxia could finish, Zhou Yun shouted loudly.
“Whether I’m talking nonsense or not, we’ll know once we see if they can be returned at the counter,” Xu Changxia replied calmly.
“Xiaxia! How can you slander your aunt like that?” Xu Cheng, standing nearby, rose in shock. “Besides, who returns watches just a few days after buying them? What will people think of our Xu family? Aren’t we embarrassed enough already?!”
Xu Changxia remained silent, merely looking at Zhou Yun with mocking eyes.
Zhou Yun couldn’t bring herself to meet her gaze.
She had indeed spent only a little over sixty yuan on this pair of watches, while they sold for over two hundred yuan at the counter.
But how could this ignorant little girl know about such tricks?
Xu Changxia knew Xu Cheng would defend Zhou Yun. Back then, Xu Cheng was just a poor young man, and his father was a barefoot doctor in the countryside, while Zhou Yun was a city girl who married beneath her station into the Xu family. Xu Cheng had always felt guilty for making Zhou Yun suffer by his side.
With just a few words from her, Xu Cheng wouldn’t do anything to Zhou Yun, but at the very least, her outburst today would plant a seed of doubt in Xu Cheng’s mind, making him question Zhou Yun’s character.
As for verifying whether Zhou Yun was lying, the method was simple: Xu Cheng just needed to follow her suggestion and go to the counter.
If he didn’t go now, he would surely go someday.
“Fine, let’s forget about the watches. What about the dowry bicycle and the television? Can you show us the purchase receipts, Auntie?” Xu Changxia continued.
“I don’t know what you mean! These things were bought with real money! How could they be fake?” Zhou Yun stubbornly defended herself.
“Why couldn’t they be fake?” Xu Changxia retorted unhurriedly.
That Phoenix-brand bicycle was a reassembled second-hand item.
The television set, needless to say, was from a brand with a high failure rate, piled up in the factory warehouse and completely unsellable. Zhou Yun had bought it back for less than a hundred yuan, but the news hadn’t broken yet. In two months, it would be exposed in the media.
In the early 1980s, all kinds of information lagged behind, and many clever people made their fortunes by exploiting this information gap.
“Xiaxia, let it go…” Suddenly, Xu Fangfei stepped forward from the side, tugging at Xu Changxia’s sleeve and whispering.
Xu Fangfei thought that since she and her daughter were living under someone else’s roof, it wouldn’t be good to spell things out too clearly and create a rift between Xu Cheng and his wife. They couldn’t repay kindness with ingratitude like that.
“What do you mean, let it go? That makes it sound like our family owes you and your daughter something! Do you think I would withhold Xiaxia’s betrothal gifts?” Zhou Yun, however, refused to let it go and started making a scene.
After saying this, she pointed at Xu Changxia again. “And these words—did Jiang Chi teach you to say them? Otherwise, how would you know about these crooked schemes?”
Xu Changxia smiled. “If you don’t want others to know, don’t do it in the first place.”
“So you admit it!” Zhou Yun stared at her in shock, not giving her a chance to speak further, then turned to Xu Fangfei. “Second Sister, you’re not still covering for her and letting her meet with Jiang Chi, are you?”
“Do you know how high-ranking Jiang Lianzhou is? How dare you encourage your daughter to seduce both of his sons at the same time? Even if you don’t want to live anymore, don’t drag our whole family down with you!”
“I didn’t!” Xu Fangfei hurriedly waved her hands in denial. “Sister-in-law, you can’t say such things recklessly! Xiaxia knows the rules—she absolutely hasn’t been fooling around with Jiang Chi!”
“I clearly saw Xiaxia sneak out after dinner the night before last! At the time, I thought she was just going out for a walk to clear her head, so I didn’t tell your elder brother! You…” Zhou Yun wore an expression of deep distress.
“Enough!” Just then, Xu Cheng suddenly shouted loudly.
His square face flushed bright red as he stomped two steps forward to stand in front of Xu Changxia, glaring at her intently. “Xiaxia, tell your uncle the truth. Did you meet with Jiang Chi the night before last or not?”
Xu Changxia met Xu Cheng’s gaze for a few seconds, then looked past him at Zhou Yun standing behind him.
A flicker of triumph immediately flashed in Zhou Yun’s eyes.
If Xu Changxia dared to keep pressing about the betrothal money, she would sit at the entrance of the building where Jiang Lianzhou worked, crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang herself, spreading the news of Xu Changxia’s secret meeting with Jiang Chi all over Hangzhou!
For the sake of Xu Changxia’s reputation and the Xu family’s future, Xu Cheng would absolutely not dare to argue with her about this money anymore.
Xu Changxia hadn’t expected that Zhou Yun would have witnessed that scene from the night before last and kept quiet about it until now.
It seemed she had kept it as leverage against Xu Changxia, saving it for just such a moment. And now, she was using it.
Xu Changxia even suspected that Zhou Yun had followed her and Jiang Chi that night, eavesdropping on their conversation the whole way.
This woman, Zhou Yun, had never been simple. That was why Xu Fangfei, living under Xu Cheng’s roof all these years, had been completely controlled by Zhou Yun, without any ability to resist.
After a long silence, Xu Changxia took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak to Xu Cheng. “That night, I…”
Before Xu Changxia could finish, a knocking sound suddenly came from outside the door. “Is anyone home?”
Xu Cheng understood the principle that family scandals should not be aired in public.
He jabbed a finger sharply at Xu Changxia, gritting his teeth and lowering his voice. “Wait! I’ll settle this with you in detail later!”
He turned and walked to the door, unlocking it.
The moment he saw the person standing at the doorway, he froze.
“What’s wrong?” Outside the door, Jiang Yao, dressed in a proper military uniform, smiled politely at Xu Cheng. “Uncle, with that expression, are you not welcoming me?”