Ping County, inside Baidong Mall.
Xu Li was shopping with her daughter Jiang Xue, her mother Du Yongmei, and her younger sister Xu Sha.
Today was already the 19th of the twelfth lunar month, just ten days away from the New Year.
The large and small malls in Ping County were adorned with festive decorations and lights, launching grand New Year promotions.
The trees along the streets and alleys were also hung with red lanterns, and the festive atmosphere in the small county was growing thicker by the day.
The trio, along with little Jiang Xue, had been wandering through several malls in the city for half a day.
Xu Sha bought a new outfit for the New Year and a pair of black knee-high boots, spending over 3,000 yuan.
Du Yongmei had already bought her granddaughter Jiang Xue a red dress a couple of days ago.
Today, while browsing, she spotted an even prettier one, and without hesitation, she bought it too, spending over 500 yuan.
Jiang Xue was thrilled to have two new outfits for the New Year.
Xu Li, on the other hand, stuck to her principle of looking but not buying.
When asked, she'd say the red coat she bought last year had barely been worn and was as good as new, so there was no need to buy anything.
The group shopped until around 2:30 p.m. before heading to the food court on the sixth floor of Baidong Mall, ready to eat and continue their shopping spree.
"Sis, you're not buying this, not buying that—what's the point of coming today?"
"It's the New Year! What's wrong with getting yourself a couple of new outfits? Stop always thinking about saving money for Jiang Tao."
Xu Sha, eating her Yunnan rice noodles, tried to persuade her sister with a hint of frustration.
For years, Xu Sha had firmly believed her sister married the wrong man.
She genuinely couldn't stand her rural brother-in-law, Jiang Tao.
Other than his decent looks, he was utterly useless in her eyes!
When it came to earning money, he barely made anything.
He was always away in the north, drifting, unable to provide much companionship for her sister.
If she were in her sister's shoes, she'd have divorced him long ago!
Even though Xu Li was already 30 this year and didn't bother much with skincare, she was probably just naturally beautiful.
Her skin was fair and taut, and she maintained an excellent figure.
She didn't look at all like a woman who'd given birth.
Whenever she went out shopping with her mom and sister, all she needed was to wash her face, apply some moisturizer, and put on a bit of lipstick, and she was good to go.
With a little effort, she could transform from an unpolished rural stay-at-home wife into a radiant urban beauty.
When Xu Li took her 6-year-old daughter Jiang Xue out, people often mistook her for Jiang Xue's older sister.
Xu Sha was quite envious of her sister, who seemed to have inherited the best traits from both their parents.
Standing at 1.72 meters tall, Xu Li maintained a weight of around 50 kg, with a metabolism that kept her slim no matter how much she ate.
Big eyes, high nose bridge, double eyelids, small face, and a long, fair neck.
Other than her questionable taste in men, she was perfect in every way!
With her sister's looks, even if she got divorced and had a kid, Xu Sha was sure Xu Li wouldn't struggle to find a wealthy man with a house and a car!
Xu Sha often said, "If I had my sister's looks, I'd definitely marry a rich guy!"
Born from the same parents, Xu Sha wasn't as fortunate as her sister in the looks department.
Tragically, she seemed to have inherited all their parents' flaws.
At around 1.6 meters tall, she had a body that gained weight just from drinking water, a round face, and single eyelids.
Fortunately, their parents weren't bad-looking.
While Xu Sha didn't have the striking beauty of her sister Xu Li, her looks were still above average.
Last year, she had thread-lifting done at a beauty salon in the county, turning her single eyelids into double ones.
Her appearance improved significantly, and she noticed more guys at school pursuing her.
Even some old classmates who wanted to "rekindle" things started showing up.
But Xu Sha wasn't like her sister, foolishly marrying a poor man for love.
She might be a sucker for good looks, but she loved money even more!
"You're just a kid, what do you know? Can't even keep your mouth shut while eating noodles."
"All this talk about new clothes and new phones—it's just a consumerist trap, got it?"
"Who says you *have* to buy new clothes for the New Year? It's all just marketing schemes by clothing stores."
Though Xu Li said this, deep down, she secretly wanted to indulge in the consumerist trap and roll around in it.
Women naturally love beauty.
Which woman doesn't want to buy a gorgeous new outfit for the New Year, get a stunning hairstyle, and celebrate in style?
No one wants to lose face when visiting relatives and friends during the holidays!
But then she thought about the 80,000 yuan debt they took on to build their house this year.
And her husband, working hard every day out there.
In the end, Xu Li decided not to buy clothes or get her hair done this year.
As long as the family was together and happy, there was no need to care about superficial vanities.
"Lili, it's the New Year. If you like something, just buy it. If Jiang Tao won't buy it for you, Mom will!"
Du Yongmei looked at her daughter with eyes full of heartache.
Back when Xu Li insisted on marrying Jiang Tao, she had strongly opposed it.
As her younger daughter said, her eldest son-in-law had nothing going for him except his looks!
He smoked, drank, had no education, no skills—completely unworthy of her eldest daughter!
The proudest achievement of Du Yongmei's life was giving birth to a daughter as beautiful as Xu Li, who looked like a fairy.
For years, everyone who saw her praised her, and as a mother, she felt emotionally fulfilled!
Du Yongmei always thought that with her eldest daughter's looks, even if she didn't marry into a wealthy family, she could at least marry a rich city guy, live comfortably, and enjoy a decent life!
But who would've thought her daughter would stubbornly insist on marrying a poor rural guy?
Eight donkeys couldn't have pulled her back!
Her temper was stubborner than a mule, her resolve harder than Iron Man's armor!
Seeing her eldest daughter now scrimping and saving, reluctant to buy this or that, Du Yongmei felt heartbroken.
"Mom~ It's not like that! My husband never complains about me spending money. I really just don't want to buy anything, and I haven't seen anything I like!"
Xu Li hugged her mom's arm and spoke in a playful, coquettish tone, making Xu Sha, sitting nearby, get goosebumps and roll her eyes.
Her 30-year-old sister was acting more coquettish than her, a college student. It was ridiculous.
She was supposed to be the younger sister!
"It's exactly because Jiang Tao can't earn money that you're being so frugal."
"Dad's in his fifties or sixties, and he still earns over 10,000 a month."
"Your husband's young and only makes seven or eight thousand a month—less than an old man."
Xu Sha muttered under her breath, her eyes showing no trace of respect when mentioning Jiang Tao. She didn't even call him "brother-in-law" once.
Back then, she had also fiercely opposed her sister marrying into a rural family, but it didn't work.
"Xu Sha, how dare you talk about your brother-in-law like that!"
Hearing her sister call him "Jiang Tao" and "your husband," Xu Li, the maniacal husband-protector, glared at her sister angrily.
"I'm just stating facts! When I look for a boyfriend, if he earns less than 20,000 a month, he's an automatic pass."
Seeing her sister get mad, Xu Sha pouted and didn't dare say more.
"Lili, your sister's words might be harsh, but they're true."
"You really should talk to Jiang Tao and get him to find some other way to make money."
"He's young, and only earns seventy or eighty thousand a year—what's that enough for?"
"Your Aunt Liu's son-in-law supposedly made 150,000 this year."
"And Aunt Gao's son upstairs, only 26, reportedly made over 200,000 this year."
Du Yongmei sighed and shook her head.
Mentioning her eldest son-in-law always got her a bit worked up.
How come other people's sons-in-law and sons could make money?
Why was it that her eldest son-in-law worked hard all year and barely earned anything?
Because of Jiang Tao, she always felt a bit embarrassed in the neighborhood.
Just as Du Yongmei finished speaking, Xu Li's phone screen on the table suddenly lit up.
*Clink!*
The sound of coins dropping rang out.
Then came a payment notification: **[Alipay received: 200,000 yuan!]**