Chapter 31: Account Balance 5,170,000 Yuan
"SOB SOB SOB..."
Mrs. Meng pushed open the door to the room and saw her daughter slumped over the desk, sobbing. She felt a mix of heartache and helplessness.
"Weiwei, don’t cry anymore. Come out and eat something. After you eat, get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, go meet the blind date your sister told you about. I’ve met the young man twice. His character and talent are no less than the Lu family’s third son. He has a good job, too—he’s a geography researcher."
Meng Wei lifted her head. Her eyes were red and swollen, like two wild peaches.
"Mom, I just can’t accept this! Even if he doesn’t like me, he shouldn’t have found someone so... so unpresentable."
At this, Mrs. Meng’s stomach also churned with frustration.
The fact that her daughter liked the Lu family’s third son was practically common knowledge among their relatives and circle of friends.
She could accept that Lu Cheng didn’t like her daughter.
But for Lu Cheng to turn around and find someone who couldn’t compare to her daughter in any way was a clear slap in their family’s face. It even caused her daughter to become a laughingstock.
This was an insult she couldn’t swallow either.
"A bad wife brings misfortune for three generations. Weiwei, you just wait and see. Sooner or later, Lu Cheng will regret not choosing you."
Mrs. Meng’s intention was to comfort her, but Meng Wei came to a different conclusion.
’Lu Cheng has just been temporarily bewitched. Once he recognizes Jiang Moli’s awful true nature, he’ll see the error of his ways and come back.’
’What I need to do is watch coldly from the sidelines and patiently wait for the right moment.’
...
Lu Tingting’s father was named Lu Yuan, and he was Lu Cheng’s nominal older brother.
The reason he was "nominal" was because Lu Yuan was the adopted eldest son of Lu Deyao.
Lu Yuan was stationed year-round on the Sino-Russian border, while his wife and children lived in Rongcheng.
Lu Tingting was the eldest, with a younger brother and sister. Including their maternal grandparents, the family had six people in total.
Lu Tingting was utterly disgusted by the fact that Jiang Moli was becoming her Third Aunt. At her own family’s dinner table, she aired out every last bit of Jiang Moli’s dark past.
Disgust Value +5. 50,000 yuan credited.
Hearing the notification that Disgust Value had been credited, Jiang Moli asked the system, "How much Disgust Value do I have now?"
Mission Progress: 517/10,000. Host’s Personal Account Balance: 5,170,000 yuan.
Earning over 400 Disgust Value points and banking over four million yuan in a single day, Jiang Moli found it hard not to laugh out loud.
At that moment, the Jiang family was gathered around the dinner table.
Jiang Dahai and Li Hongying were discussing the items they needed to buy for the dowry and the wedding banquet, while Jiang Peng was in charge of taking notes to make sure nothing was missed.
Jiang Moli was munching on a slice of watermelon with great relish.
Jiang Qing was shut away in the inner room, and no one knew what she was up to.
When the Jiang family heard Jiang Moli suddenly burst out laughing, they thought she was just happy about getting married.
Jiang Dahai chided her, "Don’t just sit there grinning like a fool. The banquet is in two days, help out with things."
Li Hongying thought of something. "Moli, did Lu Cheng say he would prepare a wedding dress for you?"
Jiang Moli brought out the floral-print fabric she had bought that afternoon. "I couldn’t find a ready-made one, so I bought fabric. I’ll find a tailor to make it tomorrow."
Li Hongying picked up the fabric and looked at it, then said happily, "Don’t bother with a tailor. I’ll make it for you. What style do you want?"
Although Li Hongying wasn’t educated, she was a master with a sewing machine.
She made most of the family’s clothes, hats, shoes, and socks.
Jiang Moli didn’t mind. She took a pen and paper and drew a rough sketch of a mamianqun, emphasizing the details.
"Like this. Can you make it?"
Although Li Hongying thought the skirt she drew was strange, she nodded. "I can. This is a half-skirt, right? What about the top?"
"I’ve already got a top."
She had picked out an apricot-colored blouse at the department store that afternoon, specifically to go with the mamianqun.
Then she would pin a red silk flower to her chest, which would be more than enough for the wedding banquet.
"What about a hair flower? Did you buy a hair flower?"
Seeing Jiang Moli shake her head, Li Hongying quickly said, "I’ll go buy one tomorrow. I’ll get one for Xiao Qing at the same time."
Jiang Dahai gestured for Jiang Peng to write it down in the notebook.
Li Hongying breathed a sigh of relief.
Her daughter had stubbornly said she didn’t want a dowry, and she could feel that Jiang Dahai was angry.
Her suggestion to buy a hair flower for her daughter was also a way to test Jiang Dahai, to see if he was still willing to provide a dowry for his stepdaughter, Jiang Qing.
In the inner room, Jiang Qing was counting her savings.
Although she had lost her official job at the sugar factory, she had saved some money over the past two years by working odd jobs.
Including the red envelope Jin Yulan had given her, she had over 60 yuan on hand.
She knew Li Hongying also had some money tucked away. It wasn’t much, but it would definitely be enough to get her to 100 yuan.
This money was the source of her confidence in refusing Jiang Dahai’s dowry.
’With this money, plus her and Zhang Jia Ming’s diligence and competence, their lives would surely get better and better.’
’As for Jiang Moli, even if she married a military officer, she wouldn’t be able to escape her fate of going downhill!’
...
After finishing her watermelon, Jiang Moli nudged Jiang Peng with her foot. "Help me carry a bucket of bathwater to the washroom."
Jiang Peng said with disgust, "Carry it yourself. Don’t you have hands?"
Jiang Moli held up a slender, pale index finger. "Ten cents."
Jiang Peng was unmoved.
"How much money was in the red envelope Lu Cheng gave you this afternoon?"
Jiang Dahai shot a fierce glare at his son. "You took a red envelope from your brother-in-law?"
"What red envelope? There was no red envelope! I’m going to help my sister carry her bathwater!"
Watching Jiang Peng scurry away faster than a rabbit, Jiang Moli curled her lips in satisfaction.
’You little brat. You think I can’t handle you?’
With Jiang Peng gone, Jiang Dahai turned to lecture Jiang Moli. "You, too. Making someone else carry your bathwater. Don’t be so lazy when you’re married. Be more diligent in front of your in-laws. Don’t get sent back after two days. I can’t afford to lose that much face."
"What’s there to be afraid of? You’ve pretty much lost all your face over the years. This one time won’t make a difference."
Jiang Dahai: "..."
’I must have done something truly wicked in my past life to end up with such a little debt collector.’
But then another thought occurred to him: this little debt collector would soon belong to the Lu Family. And for some reason, he felt a little excited.
...
Before going to bed, Jiang Moli gave the Jiang family a special warning: no one was to disturb her the next morning, or they shouldn’t blame her for getting nasty.
Unsurprisingly, Jiang Moli still didn’t get to sleep in.
Early in the morning, people from the Educated Youth Office showed up at their door.
Jiang Moli, already irritable from having her sleep disturbed, immediately started arguing with one of the cadres.
"I respect the Party and love my country! I haven’t done a single thing that’s illegal or against discipline. How is my thinking ’improper’?"
The cadre was so flustered by her tirade that his face turned red. "You’re simply coarse and barbaric!"
"Oh, so you’re not barbaric? You people randomly grab others, you’re just like black-hearted radishes—rotten to the core!"
"Utter nonsense! You’re evading your countryside assignment, and you think you’re in the right?"
"Is it wrong for me to register my marriage? The Marriage Law states that any female youth aged 20 or over can register for marriage as long as both parties consent. What, is your authority greater than the law? You can stop people from getting married?"
"You’re just twisting words and forcing logic! You could have gotten married any time, but you chose to do it right now. You know exactly what your intentions are!"
"Marriage is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Of course I had to be picky and find someone good."
The people from the Educated Youth Office took turns arguing, but none of them could win against Jiang Moli. They were all red-faced and fuming.
"There’s no need to talk to her so much. Drag her out for a public shaming parade! The eyes of the masses are sharp as snow..."
At the thought of the massive wave of Disgust Value that was about to come her way, Jiang Moli found it harder to suppress the smile on her lips than to hold down an AK-47.