Chapter 17: Why Her?
"Uncle Jiang, here’s 888 yuan. This is my betrothal gift for Jiang Moli."
That was 388 more than the 500 Jiang Moli had asked for.
He had originally intended to make Jiang Moli happy, but as it turned out, she wasn’t home.
But that was fine. Pleasing his future father-in-law first was just as good.
Jiang Dahai’s hands trembled with excitement as he took the money.
It was a thick stack of bills, each one crisp and new, and even wrapped with a red paper band. The level of thought that went into it was clear.
To Jiang Dahai, the care and importance the Lu Family placed on this matter were far more valuable than any money or gifts.
The Zhang family was stunned.
The red envelope Mrs. Zhang had given Jiang Qing contained 8.8 yuan, which was the Zhang family’s betrothal gift to her.
The Lu family’s betrothal gift was a full 100 times more than the Zhang family’s!
The neighbors all gasped in shock.
yuan!
This was the highest betrothal gift ever seen in the history of the mechanical factory’s family quarters!
Two years ago, when the director of the mechanical factory married off his daughter, the groom’s family gave a betrothal gift of 666 yuan, a sum people still talked about with relish.
And now, Jiang Dahai’s daughter had actually received a betrothal gift of 888 yuan.
But why her?
For a good-for-nothing like Jiang Moli, who was gluttonous, lazy, scorned the poor, and fawned over the rich, it would only be natural for her to remain unmarried and unwanted. How had she managed to snag such a prize?
So unfair!
It’s so infuriating!
If it had been any other family’s daughter who married so well, people might have been envious and jealous for a few days.
But for such good fortune to fall upon Jiang Moli, everyone just felt an immense sense of anger and resentment.
The system watched the "Disdain Value" skyrocket, completely unable to understand.
Host, why is this happening? You clearly haven’t said or done anything to annoy people today. How are you harvesting so much Disdain Value?
Jiang Moli stroked her chin. "I suppose... maybe... it’s possible... I’m reaping what I sowed."
"Humans are social creatures. When they’re bored, they like to get together and gossip. Maybe the conversation turned to me and the wicked things I’ve done in the past. Through word of mouth like this, people who originally didn’t know me, or didn’t understand my true nature, have also started to hate and resent me, thus contributing to my Disdain Value."
I see! Host, you’re so smart.
’It’s not that I’m smart. Gossiping is just human nature.’
’It’s just that the system doesn’t understand humanity.’
In just a short while, Jiang Moli had gained over 50 Disdain Value points, and the number was still climbing.
For every 1 point of Disdain Value she earned, 10,000 yuan was deposited into her account.
’Getting paid to do nothing feels amazing,’ Jiang Moli thought.
...
「At the Jiang residence.」
An Hui sized up the Jiang family’s home. Seeing that everything was neat and tidy, her impression of the family improved a little.
’They seem to be a respectable family, at least.’
What An Hui didn’t know was that the only unrespectable thing about the Jiang family was Jiang Moli herself.
But that unrespectable thing would soon become her Lu family’s problem.
An Hui didn’t know what Jiang Moli looked like, so when her eyes fell on the poised and quiet Jiang Qing, she couldn’t help but secretly speculate.
Jiang Qing was a sharp person and guessed that An Hui had mistaken her for Jiang Moli. A bitter, sour feeling filled her heart.
’Why does Jiang Moli get to have such good fortune in both lifetimes?’
’After losing one Zhang Jia Ming, she somehow picked up Lu Cheng, who is even better and more outstanding.’
’And I’m the one who orchestrated this good luck for her! That feels even worse than dying a miserable death in the countryside in my past life.’
Noticing An Hui’s gaze, Jiang Dahai hurriedly made introductions.
Upon learning that Jiang Qing was the stepdaughter, An Hui withdrew her gaze and asked about Jiang Moli.
"Moli went out. Xiao Peng... oh, that’s Moli’s younger brother, has already gone out to look for her. She should be back soon."
Jiang Dahai explained apologetically, afraid that An Hui would get upset and leave in a huff. He personally brewed tea for her as he spoke.
Hearing that Jiang Moli wasn’t home, An Hui felt a flicker of displeasure.
’What could possibly be more important than meeting me, her future mother-in-law?’
Jiang Dahai glanced at Jiang Xiaoguang, who was standing beside Lu Cheng, and asked uncertainly, "Is this Xiao Lu’s younger brother?"
’If he’s a guest, I should get him a stool and pour him some tea, treat him well.’
"Xiao Guang is my father’s security aide."
Everyone was startled to learn Jiang Xiaoguang’s identity.
Someone who rated a security aide was no ordinary official.
Jiang Qing felt as if a cat was clawing at her heart. She desperately wanted to ask Zhang Jia Ming what kind of high-ranking leader Lu Cheng’s father was to have his own security aide.
Jiang Dahai’s voice trembled. "Xiao Lu’s father is..."
An Hui said calmly, "Just a regular old cadre. He’s getting on in years, so the organization assigned him a security aide as a courtesy."
"Oh, I see."
Jiang Dahai nodded repeatedly, but he thought to himself, ’A ’regular’ cadre who gets special ’care’ from the organization is definitely not regular at all.’
An Hui paused for a moment before adding, "My husband is very stubborn. He and our son had a fight a couple of days ago, and he’s still sulking and refused to come. That’s why it’s just me and Xiao Cheng visiting today. I hope you’ll understand."
On the surface, she was explaining why Father Lu hadn’t appeared, but the amount of information she revealed was actually quite significant.
As the saying goes, don’t air your dirty laundry in public.
An Hui could have easily made up another excuse for her husband’s absence, but she specifically chose to mention the fight between the father and son.
Arguing isn’t a big deal; every family has its squabbles.
But no matter how bad the fight, it shouldn’t get in the way of important business, right?
Unless... the two of them were fighting about this very marriage.
’It seems Xiao Lu’s father looks down on our daughter.’
Jiang Dahai didn’t blame him. If Jiang Moli weren’t his own flesh and blood, he’d find her disdainful too.
...
Jiang Peng searched the entire route of the number 2 bus, but he couldn’t find Jiang Moli anywhere.
On his way back, he was bursting for the toilet. Spotting a public restroom in the distance, he ran toward it.
From a distance, he thought the person guarding the restroom door looked an awful lot like his sister.
’Am I hallucinating from searching for her for so long?’
When he got closer—holy crap, it really was his sister!
"Sis! What are you doing here?!"
Jiang Moli tossed a stack of folded coarse paper into a cardboard box and shot Jiang Peng a look. "Could you use your brain before you ask a question? What else would I be doing here? Waiting for dinner to be served?"
Jiang Peng forgot all about his urgent need to pee. He grabbed Jiang Moli and started to pull her away.
"Sis, you need to come back with me right now!"
Jiang Moli pushed Jiang Peng away. "I’m not going back. I have to work."
Jiang Peng was completely confused. "Work what job?"
Jiang Moli pointed to the public restroom sign. "This place. As of today, it’s under my management."
Jiang Peng was dumbfounded.
Jiang Moli waved her hand dismissively. "You go back. Don’t interfere with my work. I had to pull a lot of strings to get this job."
Jiang Peng gritted his teeth. "I’ll cover your shift. You go back."
"Okay."
Jiang Peng: "..."
’I was just being polite, and you took me up on it without a second thought.’
...
After telling Jiang Peng what he needed to do, Jiang Moli dusted off her hands and left.
She’d been smelling crap and piss all morning and had been wanting to throw up for ages.
Toilets in this era weren’t like the flush-after-every-use ones of later generations. The entire facility was just one long, open trench. You could see everything, whether someone was taking a crap, pissing, or had diarrhea. The waste would pile up until it reached a certain level, at which point water would be released to flush it into a septic tank. One can only imagine the smell inside.
Just thinking about it made her want to GAG.
...
As soon as she entered the family courtyard, Jiang Moli noticed all the neighbors were staring at her.
Unlike their usual disdain, their gazes were... how to put it... two parts envy, three parts jealousy, and five parts disgust.
Unfortunately, most of these people had already contributed to her Disdain Value.
So, on her entire walk home, Jiang Moli only managed to collect a total of 8 Disdain Value points.
But adding that to this morning’s haul, her total for the day had broken into the triple digits.
This was her best-performing day ever.
Jiang Moli was in a "nice" mood and started humming the tune of "Good Day" as she walked.
However, her good mood didn’t last long.
Because she saw ’Zhang Jia Ming’ standing at her gate.
The man wore a military uniform that made him look exceptionally tall and straight. His short hair was neatly trimmed, and beneath a broad forehead, his eyes were sharp and handsome.
As she sized up Lu Cheng, he was also staring at her intently.
’Unlike the charming and alluring woman from last time, his wife-to-be today looked more like a little girl who hadn’t grown up.’
’She wore a faded floral blouse and blue trousers. She was so thin that the legs of her pants swayed when she walked.’
’Her shoulder-length hair was coiled into a bun at the back of her head, held in place by half a pencil. The loose strands at her forehead and ears were damp and plastered to her skin with sweat.’
’Her palm-sized, heart-shaped face was flushed red, like a ripe peach.’
’Her almond-shaped eyes were moist and glistening as she stared at him, as if trying to steal his soul.’
Without realizing it, Lu Cheng walked up to her. "Where’d you run off to? You were gone for so long, I thought you’d run away from the wedding."
"None of your damn business."
Rolling her eyes dramatically, Jiang Moli bypassed Lu Cheng and entered the courtyard.
The moment she stepped inside, she was stunned.
A bicycle, a sewing machine, a radio, a large ham, cigarettes, liquor, candy, tea, boxes of pastries, and canned fruit were spread out in a dazzling display that filled the yard. Several young soldiers stood in a line by the courtyard wall, all staring at her without blinking.
’As expected of the male lead,’ Jiang Moli thought. ’Even his marriage proposal is this impressive.’
"You child, where did you run off to? The family has been looking for you all morning."
Jiang Dahai chided her while looking her up and down, feeling very dissatisfied.
’She can’t meet her future mother-in-law looking so disheveled.’
"Quick, go inside and change into some nice clothes, comb your hair, and wash your face."
Then, he lowered his voice. "And put on that lipstick Xiao Peng bought you. Hurry up."
"What’s the point of dressing up? I’m not ugly. Only ugly people need to rely on clothes to look good."
This remark was clearly a dig at Jiang Qing.
After all, anyone could see that Jiang Qing had taken great care to dress up today.
’Technically, Jiang Qing stole the original owner’s man, but since I’m using this body now, rounding up, that means she stole my man.’
’It’s perfectly reasonable for me to insult her a bit to earn some Disdain Value, right?’
But she had miscalculated; no Disdain Value points were credited to her account.
’Looks like I wasn’t obnoxious enough.’
Jiang Moli walked over to the canned fruit, wanting to open the net bag and take one out to eat.
But the net bag was tied in a dead knot. She tugged at it for a long time but couldn’t get it open. Just as she was about to go to the kitchen to find a knife and hack it open, a large hand reached out.