My attempt to show off during Chinese New Year shocked the entire nation.

"son!"

Zhang Xiu's eyes lit up, and her face, which had been somewhat reserved just moments before, instantly broke into a smile. She quickly stepped forward and reached out to touch his arm.

"Why are you dressed so lightly? Aren't you cold in the middle of winter?"

Li Tiancheng dodged to the side, avoiding her hand.

"Mom, what do you know? This is how people in the city dress now. It's all about style."

As he spoke, he pulled out an unopened box of cigarettes from the bag tucked under his arm.

He tore open the plastic seal, took out a cigarette, and offered it to the people behind Jinxiu.

"Uncle Lao Gen, have a cigarette."

Li Laogen quickly stepped forward, took it with both hands, and smiled broadly, his wrinkles crinkling into a wide grin.

"Tiancheng's really doing well, huh? He's smoking all kinds of expensive cigarettes!"

Li Tiancheng ignored him, as if he hadn't heard him, and turned to Aunt Wang instead.

"Come here, Aunt Wang."

Aunt Wang waved her hand, a smile plastered on her face.

"Tiancheng, you're always joking with your aunt. I don't smoke."

"Aunt Wang, if you don't know how, learn it. If you really can't learn it, take it home for your old man to smoke!" Li Laogen chimed in from the side, holding the cigarette in his hand as if it were a treasure.

"Uncle Lao Gen is right," Li Tiancheng agreed, offering the cigarette to Aunt Wang again.

Aunt Wang still didn't answer, she just smiled and shook her head.

Seeing this, Li Laogen couldn't help but raise his voice: "Aunt Wang, do you know how much this pack of cigarettes costs?"

Aunt Wang blinked and casually said, "How expensive can a pack of cigarettes be? At most ten yuan or so."

Li Laogen scoffed, as if he had heard a joke.

"Keep your ten or so yuan! This is premium Zhonghua cigarettes! You'd earn enough to buy just one pack even after a day's work as a temporary worker at a cannery!"

Upon hearing this, Aunt Wang's smile faded slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.

Zhang Xiu watched from the side, unable to hide her pride. She was sure that her son's impressive appearance would spread throughout the village in no time.

When Li Tiancheng turned his gaze to Li Feng, his tone instantly turned cold.

"Isn't this the first college graduate from our Lijia Village? Where is he working now?"

"The provincial capital." Li Feng's tone was indifferent, revealing little emotion.

"In the provincial capital!" Li Tiancheng drawled, a half-smile playing on his lips.

"You must earn a lot, right? It's not easy to establish yourself in the provincial capital. Have you bought a car yet?"

"No," Li Feng paused, then added, "but it will be soon."

"Is that so?" Li Tiancheng raised an eyebrow, his tone almost overflowing with sarcasm.

"But the cost of living in the provincial capital is indeed high, so it's normal not to have a car, I understand." He then changed the subject, adding with a hint of boasting, "What about a girlfriend? You've been in the provincial capital for so long, you should at least have a girlfriend, right?"

"no."

"Don't you even have a boyfriend?"

Li Tianxiang seemed to have heard some huge joke, and sneered.

"How did you manage to become a college student? You haven't even found a girlfriend. You're not even as good as me with just a junior high school diploma."

After saying that, he gestured with his chin towards his BMW.

The passenger door clicked open, and a strikingly dressed girl got out of the car.

She had long blonde hair, wore a short down jacket that revealed her waist, and ripped jeans.

With heavy makeup on her face, standing next to Li Tiancheng, the two actually looked somewhat well-matched.

"This is my girlfriend, Wang Xiaoya."

Li Tiancheng put his arm around the girl's shoulder and raised his chin even higher.

Li Laogen and Aunt Wang exchanged a glance, their eyes widening in surprise at the same sight in each other's eyes.

This outfit is so trendy! Not only is the waist exposed, but there's also a huge hole in the pants. It looks cold even in the middle of winter.

But then she thought that since she wasn't her son's girlfriend, she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue and put on a smile instead.

"Wow, Tiancheng's girlfriend is so pretty! Look at her, she's like a movie star!"

"She looks so stylish! City girls are just different!"

Zhang Xiu's expression froze for a moment, then turned into undisguised delight.

She looked Xiaoya up and down, thinking to herself, "Why is there a hole in her pants?" and "Won't she freeze if she exposes her waist in this cold weather?" but she greeted her warmly.

"Come here, girl, aren't you cold?"

After all, she was her son's girlfriend, and she was from the city, so no matter how fashionable she was, she had to accept it.

Wang Xiaoya moved closer to Li Tiancheng, gave everyone an unnatural smile, and didn't say anything.

She glanced at Li Feng standing to the side, noticing his ordinary clothes and indifferent expression, before quickly looking away.

Seeing this, Li Tiancheng became even more smug and deliberately raised his voice.

"Xiaoya's family runs a supermarket in the county town. She's suffered since coming back with me."

Upon hearing this, Li Laogen and Aunt Wang were even more amazed, their eyes filled with envy as they looked at Li Tiancheng.

Li Feng stood aside, quietly watching everything.

Li Laogen leaned forward, a fawning smile plastered on his face.

"Tiancheng, what do you do for a living? You bought a car and brought your girlfriend home. You seem to be doing really well! Can you help out my Fuda too? That kid stays at home all the time. It'd be better for him to be with you than for him to be like this."

His son, Li Fuda, is honest and introverted.

Aunt Wang quickly chimed in, moving closer to Li Tiancheng.

"Yes, yes, Tiancheng, you should mentor my son too! He delivers food in the big city, he doesn't earn much. If you have any connections, please help him out!"

Li Tiancheng was flattered and became even more elated, raising his chin higher and patting his chest in response.

"No problem! We're from the same village, so I can definitely help with this."

He paused, then changed the subject, deliberately glancing sideways at Li Feng, "I can't guarantee they'll make a fortune, but they'll definitely be better off than some people."

Li Feng naturally sensed the barb in her words and frowned: "Li Tiancheng, what do you mean? Speak plainly, don't be sarcastic."

"Don't you understand what I mean? I can't even be bothered to explain! You're such a grown man, and you've accomplished nothing. How dare you even come back to the village?"

"Li Tiancheng, explain yourself clearly. How am I a complete failure?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Li Tiancheng scoffed, pointing with his finger. "Do you have a car? Do you have a house? Do you have a girlfriend? You can't offer any of those things, yet you dare to challenge me?"

"I have a car," Li Feng said, staring at him and enunciating each word clearly. "I'll have a house later. As for a girlfriend, I'm not in a hurry, unlike some people who use their girlfriends as something to brag about."

"Oh my god," Li Tiancheng laughed, clutching his stomach, as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world. "Where's your car? If you have a car, why are you dragging a tattered suitcase all the way back to the village? Is your car made of paper and can't even get into the village?"

As he spoke, he deliberately patted his BMW.

"My BMW isn't the best, but at least I can drive it back and show it to my mom. What about your car? Are you hiding it because you're embarrassed?"

Li Laogen and Aunt Wang watched from the sidelines, clicking their tongues in disapproval, but no one dared to intervene. Zhang Xiu wanted to pull her son away but was afraid he would lose face, so she could only stand there.

Xiaoya stood to the side with her arms crossed, a smile of schadenfreude on her lips.

Li Feng didn't say anything more, but just looked up at the road at the entrance of the village.

Just then, the sound of an engine rang out, and a yellow trailer truck drove up, carrying a brand-new car in its bed.