Chapter 14: Shopping for Clothes
Chapter 14: Shopping for Clothes
Having slept well into the afternoon, Lu Jiaxin felt rather energetic that evening. The room was stuffy, so she grabbed some mosquito coils and a fan before stepping out. As she walked out, she spotted Lu Jiajie sitting under the jujube tree.
Jiaxin lit a mosquito coil and placed it under a stone chair before sitting down. "Fifth Brother, I slept too much during the day. Aren't you working tomorrow? Why aren't you sleeping yet?"
Lu Jiajie smiled and said, "I couldn't sleep either. Jiaxin, your courtyard is truly wonderful. It's not only cool but also offers a view of the stars."
He wasn't unable to sleep; his thoughts were in disarray as he reflected on Jiaxin's words. His in-laws' house was only 50 square meters, divided into three rooms. While he and his wife had their own room, which was considered good living conditions compared to many others, the house became unbearably stuffy during the summer. On top of that, he was prone to sweating and disliked the heat, making the summers especially unbearable.
Previously, it was merely a matter of enduring tough living conditions. However, some recent changes had caused his in-laws' attitudes to take a turn for the worse. Lately, he had been dreaming of getting allocated a house, but unfortunately, his work unit had a shortage of housing, and his seniority was insufficient for him to be considered.
Jiaxin didn't bring up the topic of starting a business again. She knew that some matters were best left unsaid after a subtle hint. During the early days of the reform and opening up, many people looked down on private business owners, which resulted in most businesses being run by returning educated youth and unemployed young people. If she talked too much about it, and Lu Jiajie, in a fit of enthusiasm, decided to resign from his job to start a business, Fifth Sister-in-law and her family would surely resent her. If the business failed and incurred debts, not only would their relationship sour, but Fifth Brother's standing in the Ma family would be further diminished.
Lu Jiajie also didn't mention the business idea again. Instead, he asked Jiaxin, "Why didn't you report to the police after losing your memory? Third Uncle has a friend working at the procuratorate over there. If you had reported it, you would have been home long ago."
Jiaxin had already prepared an answer for this. "Xue Mao saved another girl called Xiao Cui before he rescued me. She's a year older than me and is from a village near the ancient capital. Because of the high dowry expectations, her parents wanted to marry her off to a widower in his forties who works at a meat processing plant. That widower has a reputation for beating his wives. It's said that his previous wife was beaten to death by him, so Xiao Cui ran away because she didn't want to suffer the same fate."
Through their interactions, Jiaxin found this girl to be rather cunning and greedy, and as a result, she didn't like her. However, when they were leaving, Xue Mao said he would give their stall business to Xiao Cui, and Jiaxin didn't object. While she wasn't keen on befriending someone like her, Jiaxin understood that women needed to be a little more shrewd and selfish to get by in life.
Women from the Hua family, after centuries of indoctrination, even believed that they should sacrifice everything for their family and children. Fortunately, the younger generation gradually woke up, and girls started to pay more attention to their self-interests.
Lu Jiajie filled in the blanks in his mind: "You were worried that you might also be forced into a marriage and ran away, fearing that you'd be married off to a widower upon your return?"
Jiaxin nodded. "Luckily, I didn't go back. Otherwise, with my memory loss, Ding Jing and Zhao Siyu would have found other ways to harm me."
At the mention of those two, Lu Jiajie's face filled with disgust. "Jiaxin, those two have hearts more venomous than a serpent's. In the future, don't go back to the compound, and avoid any contact with them. If there's anything you need, find me or Big Brother."
Lu Jiaxin felt that her original self was quite lucky to have two brothers who truly cared for her and would stand up for her. She said, "Fifth Brother, Ding Jing and Zhao Siyu nearly took my life. I can't just let them get away with it."
Worried that she might do something rash, Lu Jiajie quickly said, "Jiaxin, Zhao Siyu's character is despicable, and the Fan family will never let her into their household. But if you're still angry and want to get back at her, we can spread the word about her deeds in her class when school starts. With such a reputation, both teachers and students will keep their distance."
After all, this was someone who could steal her own sister's fiance. There was no telling what else she was capable of. No one would dare to associate with someone so unpredictable and treacherous.
Lu Jiaxin felt that his method was too weak. "Fifth Brother, she's not afraid of being pointed at and gossiped about. She's good at acting pitiful, and she can always claim that I'm jealous of her for getting into university and deliberately slandering her. It's not like I can go to the university and explain the truth to everyone."
Seeing that Lu Jiajie was about to say something more, she waved her hand. "Fifth Brother, don't worry. I won't do anything illegal. They're not worth it."
The siblings chatted for over half an hour before Lu Jiajie started feeling sleepy and yawned. "Jiaxin, it's getting late. Let's head back and get some rest."
He shared a room with Xue Mao, and the bed was too small for two. Fortunately, Xue Mao had taken the doors from the three rooms in the back house to wash them, so Lu Jiajie simply took one of the doors and used it as a mattress to sleep on.
Upon returning to her room, Lu Jiaxin couldn't fall asleep either. She took out a notebook and began jotting down the major events she could recall. As the saying goes, a good memory is no match for a bad pen. She might forget some things over time, so writing them down would ensure she didn't forget.
To prevent others from understanding her notes, she used symbols that only she could comprehend. However, as a 90s kid, she knew very little about the 80s and 90s, but she had a clearer memory of the major events that occurred in the following two decades.
After writing down everything she could remember, Jiaxin glanced at her watch and saw that it was already past ten o'clock. She yawned and climbed into bed. Ever since arriving here, her daily routine had become more regulated. Previously, she would sleep after midnight, but now, she went to bed before nine every night.
Sleeping early meant waking up early, and the next day, Lu Jiaxin was up at six in the morning. After washing up, she went out to buy breakfast. Knowing that Lu Jiajie liked fried dough sticks, she bought some along with some buns. They didn't need to buy porridge as Xue Mao had already prepared it.
After buying breakfast, she saw that Lu Jiajie was still asleep, so she asked Xue Mao to go wake him up since he had to go to work.
Lu Jiajie, after washing up, spotted the fried dough sticks on the table and took a bite before smiling and saying, "Jiaxin, according to custom, we should host a few tables of guests after moving into a new house to liven up the place."
Lu Jiaxin understood that what he meant by a 'housewarming banquet' was actually a 'warming the bed' ceremony. Smiling, she said, "Let's not invite outsiders. Just you and Big Brother's family coming over for a meal will be fine."
"Okay."
After breakfast, Lu Jiajie left for work, while Lu Jiaxin took Xue Mao out to buy clothes. Instead of going to the department store, where things were too expensive, they headed to Xiushui Street.
Upon arriving, Xue Mao saw that the entire street was lined with stalls selling all sorts of things—clothes, shoes, socks, embroidered goods, and shoe soles. There was even a snack stall.
Seeing the constant stream of people at the snack stall, Xue Mao grew excited. "Sister Jiaxin, there are so many people here! If we set up a snack stall here, we'd definitely earn much more than before."
He was eager to set up their stall as soon as possible so that they could have a daily income. Previously, they often went hungry, and the fear of starvation made him anxious whenever they were idle.
Lu Jiaxin didn't object to Xue Mao's idea of setting up a snack stall, but she wouldn't let him do it here. "This place is too far from our home. If we want to set up a stall here, we'd have to rent a place to stay."
Upon hearing about renting a place, Xue Mao immediately dropped the idea. Rent was not cheap, and Sister wouldn't be around to help. He didn't feel confident about handling everything by himself.
(End of Chapter)
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