Chapter 36: The Husband-protecting Fanatic Xu Li!
In Bai Dong Shopping Mall, Ping County.
Xu Li was shopping at the mall with her daughter Jiang Xue, her mother Du Yongmei, and her younger sister Xu Sha.
Today was already the nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and Spring Festival was just ten days away.
Malls of all sizes in Ping County were decorated with lanterns and started their New Year sales.
Red lanterns were hung on trees along the streets and alleys, and the festive atmosphere of the New Year was growing stronger in the small county town.
The three women and little Jiang Xue had visited several malls in the county town for half a day.
Xu Sha bought a new outfit to wear for Spring Festival and a pair of black boots, spending over 3,000 yuan.
Du Yongmei had already bought a red dress for her granddaughter Jiang Xue a couple of days prior.
While shopping today, she saw another outfit that was even prettier than the previous one, and without a second thought, she bought it for over 500 yuan.
Jiang Xue had two new outfits for Spring Festival this year and was overjoyed.
Xu Li’s main principle was to just look and not buy.
The reason was that the red windbreaker she bought last year had only been worn a few times and looked as good as new, so there was no need to buy anything.
The group shopped until around 2:30 PM, then they all went to the food court on the 6th floor of Bai Dong Shopping Mall to eat before continuing their shopping spree.
“Sister, you’re not buying anything, not buying anything at all, what did you come here for today!”
“It’s almost Spring Festival, what’s wrong with buying yourself a new outfit? Don’t always think about saving money for Jiang Tao.”
Xu Sha, while eating her crossing-the-bridge noodles, lectured her sister with some indignation.
After all these years, Xu Sha firmly believed that her sister had married the wrong person.
She truly couldn’t stand Jiang Tao, her rural brother-in-law, at all.
Besides his good looks, he was completely useless in every other aspect!
When it came to earning money, he didn’t earn much.
He also worked in Beijing year-round, unable to give his sister much company.
If she were her sister, she would have divorced him long ago!
Although Xu Li was already 30 years old and hardly did any beauty maintenance, perhaps it was due to her natural beauty.
Her skin was very fair and firm, and her figure was well-maintained.
She didn’t look like a woman who had given birth at all.
Every time she went shopping with her mother and sister, she only needed to wash her face, apply some lotion, and put on lipstick, and she was ready.
With a little bit of grooming, she could instantly transform from a disheveled rural left-behind wife into a radiant urban beauty.
When Xu Li went out with her 6-year-old daughter Jiang Xue, she was often mistaken for Jiang Xue’s older sister.
Xu Sha was also very envious of her sister, who inherited the best qualities from both parents.
With a height of 1.72 meters and a consistent weight of around 50 kilograms, she had a physique that never gained weight no matter how much she ate.
Big eyes, a high nose bridge, double eyelids, a small face, and a slender, fair neck.
Apart from her poor judgment in choosing a partner, she was perfect in every other way!
With her sister’s conditions, even if she divorced and had a child, she wouldn’t have trouble finding a wealthy man with a house and a car!
A common phrase Xu Sha often said was, “If I had my sister’s conditions, I would definitely marry a rich man!”
Born from the same womb, Xu Sha wasn’t as blessed as her sister Xu Li.
Unfortunately, she seemed to have inherited the flaws of both parents.
Her height was around 1.6 meters, her physique gained weight easily even from drinking water, she had a round face and single eyelids.
Fortunately, neither of her parents were unattractive.
Although Xu Sha didn’t give off an immediate impression of being very beautiful like her sister Xu Li, her appearance was still above average.
Last year, she had thread-embedding done at a beauty salon in the county town, which turned her single eyelids into double eyelids.
Xu Sha’s appearance also improved significantly, and she had noticeably more admirers at school.
There were also more old classmates who wanted to rekindle their relationship with her.
But Xu Sha wouldn’t be like her sister, foolishly marrying someone poor for love.
Although she was a “face-lover,” she liked money even more!
“What do you know, you little kid? Even eating noodles can’t shut your mouth.”
“New clothes, new phones, those are all consumerism traps, understand?”
“Who says you have to buy new clothes for Spring Festival? It’s just the marketing tactics of clothing sellers.”
Although she said this, Xu Li actually quite wanted to jump into the consumerism trap and roll around in it.
Women are naturally fond of beauty.
What woman wouldn’t want to buy herself a beautiful new outfit for Spring Festival, get a nice hairstyle, and celebrate the New Year looking radiant?
Nobody wants to lose face when visiting relatives and friends during Spring Festival!
However, thinking about the more than 80,000 yuan in external debt the family had from building the house this year.
And then thinking about her husband, who worked hard outside every day.
Xu Li ultimately decided not to buy clothes or get her hair done this year.
It was enough for the family to be together and happy; there was no need to care too much about external vanity.
“Lili, it’s almost Spring Festival, just buy whatever you like. If Jiang Tao doesn’t buy it for you, Mom will!”
Du Yongmei looked at her daughter with a heart full of concern.
When Xu Li insisted on marrying Jiang Tao back then, she had been against it.
Just as her younger daughter said, her elder son-in-law was completely useless except for his good looks!
He smoked and drank, had no education, no skills, and was not worthy of her elder daughter at all!
Du Yongmei’s greatest sense of accomplishment in her life was giving birth to such a beautiful daughter as Xu Li, who was like a celestial being.
Over the years, everyone praised her, which greatly satisfied her as a mother with emotional value!
Du Yongmei also felt that with her elder daughter’s looks, even if she didn’t marry into a wealthy family.
She could at least marry a rich man in the city and live a comfortable life without worrying about food and clothing!
To her surprise, her daughter was determined to marry a poor rural boy.
Not even eight donkeys could pull her back!
Her temper was more stubborn than a stubborn donkey, and her will was harder than steel!
Seeing her elder daughter being so thrifty now, unwilling to buy this or that.
Du Yongmei, as a mother, felt heartbroken watching her.
“Mom~ it’s not what you think! My husband never minds me spending money. It’s just that I don’t want to buy anything myself, and I haven’t seen anything I like!”
Xu Li hugged her mother’s arm and said coquettishly, making Xu Sha beside them shiver with goosebumps and roll her eyes.
Her 30-year-old sister could act more like a child than her, a female university student, which was quite exasperating.
She was clearly the younger sister!
“It’s because Jiang Tao can’t earn money that you’re being so frugal.”
“Our dad is already fifty or sixty years old, and he still earns over 10,000 yuan a month.”
“Your husband is so young, only earning seven or eight thousand a month, less than an old man.”
Xu Sha grumbled in a low voice, showing no respect when mentioning Jiang Tao, and she never even called him brother-in-law.
At that time, she had also strongly opposed her sister marrying into a rural family, but it had no effect.
“Xu Sha, how can you talk about your brother-in-law like that!”
Xu Li, hearing her sister refer to Jiang Tao repeatedly as “Jiang Tao” and “your husband,” once again transformed into a protective wife and glared at her sister angrily.
“It’s the truth! If I find a boyfriend in the future, I’ll directly pass if his monthly salary is less than 20,000 yuan.”
Seeing her sister get angry, Xu Sha pouted and didn’t dare to say anything more.
“Lili, although what your sister said is unpleasant, it’s also the truth.”
“You really should talk to Jiang Tao and have him think of other ways to earn money.”
“He’s young, earning only seventy or eighty thousand a year, what’s that enough for!”
“Your Aunt Liu’s son-in-law reportedly earned 150,000 this year.”
“Aunt Gao upstairs’s son is only 26, and he reportedly earned over 200,000 this year.”
Du Yongmei also sighed and shook her head.
Mentioning this elder son-in-law always agitated her.
How come other people’s sons-in-law and sons could earn money.
Why did her elder son-in-law work all year and not earn much!
Because of Jiang Tao, her elder son-in-law, she always felt a bit ashamed in the residential area.
As soon as Du Yongmei finished speaking, the phone screen on Xu Li’s dining table suddenly lit up.
Clink!
First, there was the sound of gold coins falling.
Immediately followed by a payment notification: 【Alipay received 200,000 yuan! 】
