Renting a young, attractive woman to take home for the Chinese New Year infuriates the entire villag

Inside the main room, the family sat around the dining table.

After a few glasses of baijiu, Jiang Chen's father's face turned rosy, and he became more talkative.

He glanced at Sun Mengjia, who was engrossed in gnawing on ribs, then at Jiang Chen, and sighed.

"Chenchen, although I shouldn't have lost my temper in front of Jiajia just now, Dad still has to say a few words to you."

"A dress costing over ten thousand yuan, is that something a family like ours can afford?"

"I appreciate your filial piety. But that's not how you live. 100,000 yuan can buy a car, and with a little more, you can make a down payment on a house in the county. You spent it all on clothes; isn't that just wasteful?"

"What kind of family do we have that we waste money like this?"

"Don't just care about saving face. Face is useless. We only know whether we're living a good life or not."

Jiang Chen was pouring wine for his father when he heard this and paused.

He looked at his father's rough hands, then at his mother's face full of heartache, and felt a pang of sadness in his heart.

indeed.

For the older generation, this expenditure was terrifying.

Even Jiang Chen himself is the kind of person who would feel the pinch for a long time if he bought a pair of shoes and clothes that cost a few hundred yuan, let alone his parents.

Thinking of this, Jiang Chen smiled and lowered his voice, saying, "Dad, actually I was lying to Second Aunt."

Jiang Chen, with a straight face, spouted nonsense: "You know my second aunt, she's a snob. If I didn't say it was expensive, would she even look at us? Would she stop bullying me?"

"Actually, these clothes are all high-quality replicas."

"Including the two down jackets that Sun Mengjia and I were wearing, the total cost was only 10,000 yuan."

Dad's eyes widened. "That's still quite a lot."

Jiang Chen laughed and said, "There are four down jackets here alone, and each down jacket costs only a thousand yuan. Although it's not cheap, it's not too expensive either. There are also so many other clothes, pants, and shoes. On average, it's not too expensive."

"It also makes me look good when I come back, and we can wear them too. At worst, we won't buy new clothes for the next few years. It's not like food that will go bad after a year. Clothes can last for ten or eight years without breaking."

"Don't worry, although it's a replica, the quality is absolutely excellent, exactly the same as the real thing."

The young woman pouted.

What do you mean "just like the real thing"? It's clearly the real thing!

She really didn't understand why they would insist on calling something fake when it was clearly real.

I've already bought it.

Can your dad eat you?

It's not his money that's being spent.

It would also allow him to go out and brag a bit, wouldn't that be great?

If his father knew that he had bought him clothes worth over 10,000 yuan, he would probably jump for joy, then ask for 100,000 or 200,000 yuan in pocket money, and even ask him to buy him a car or find him a wife.

But seeing that Jiang Chen's father's expression had clearly improved, she didn't say anything.

After hearing this, Dad was stunned for several seconds, then his tense shoulders suddenly relaxed, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

"That scared me to death."

He picked up his glass, downed it in one gulp, and finally revealed a genuine smile: "I knew it! This down jacket is exactly the same as the work uniform I get at the factory, and the same as the security guard uniform at the gate. It's not even as nice as the one your mom bought me for four or five hundred yuan. How could it cost ten or twenty thousand yuan? Is it made of gold or silver?"

"Okay! Ten thousand yuan isn't a small amount, but it's reasonable. After all, it's been so many years of clothes, enough for the whole family, so it's acceptable when split among everyone."

Dad patted Jiang Chen on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Don't buy such expensive things anymore. You still need to live a down-to-earth life. A token of your appreciation of ten thousand yuan is enough for Dad. There's no need to brag; our family doesn't do that!"

"I understand, I'll definitely be more careful with my money from now on." Jiang Chen nodded quickly.

Sun Mengjia, who was gnawing on ribs next to him, heard this and stomped hard on Jiang Chen's foot under the table.

"Hiss—" Jiang Chen gasped.

Sun Mengjia typed frantically: [Are you crazy? You're saying this is real and it's fake? If I say this $15,000 Canada Goose jacket is only $1,000, wouldn't I be considered a fashionista wearing knock-offs?]

Jiang Chen quickly replied: 【Aren't you already a "spirited young woman"?】

Sun Mengjia: [Damn it! You're driving me crazy! I finally managed to wear a designer outfit to show off, and now it looks like a knock-off.]

[If I'd known it would all end up being pirated anyway, I should have just bought a pirated copy. Five hundred yuan could have bought the exact same thing! Wouldn't it have been better to use that money to give me a red envelope?]

Jiang Chen's eyes lit up when he saw the words "save money".

However, after waiting for a long time, no system notification came.

Disappointed, Jiang Chen picked up a dumpling and threw it into the bowl of the spirited young woman.

"Just eat your food!"

Seeing Jiang Chen's exasperated expression, Sun Mengjia smiled smugly.

"Oh my, Auntie's cooking is so good! These dumplings are delicious. I've never eaten such good dumplings before."

"If you like it, eat more. I don't know what kind of filling you like, but this one is lamb, this one is pork, and this one is chives and shrimp. Try them all!"

Jiang Chen laughed and said, "Mom, your dumplings are the best. No one else's taste as good as yours. Can you make me eggplant buns tomorrow? I'm really craving your big buns."

Mom laughed and said, "Okay, I'll make it for you tomorrow."

After saying that, she glanced at Sun Mengjia again: "Jiajia, what kind of filling do you like? Auntie will make it for you."

Just then, Dad glanced at Jiang Chen and said, "Eat less, you'll need noodles later. They say dumplings before you get on the bus and noodles after you get off, so you should at least eat a little."

Mom added, "Oh right, I almost forgot about the noodles. Your dad made them for you himself. I'll cook them for you now."

……

After the meal.

The family was enjoying a happy time together. Mom cleared away the dishes and urged Dad to get ready.

"Old man, hurry up and try on that leather jacket Chenchen bought you. I was so busy getting angry that I didn't get a good look at it."

"What's the point of trying? It's all fake..."

My dad said no, but his body language betrayed him. He happily picked up the leather jacket, put it on, and stood in front of the mirror in the wardrobe, looking at himself from left to right.

"I have to say, this fake is actually quite well made; the leather feels really soft."

"The craftsmanship in the South is just so good."

Just as the family was feeling happy...

The door to the main room was pushed open.

A gust of cold wind blew in.

My second aunt and second uncle walked in with fake smiles on their faces, followed by Da Bao, who was sniffling.

"Hey, brother, sister-in-law, trying on clothes?"

My second aunt grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and started hitting my dad with them.

"Oh my, so this is the leather jacket that costs over ten thousand yuan. Let me see what a ten-thousand-yuan garment looks like. I've never seen one before."

My dad is an honest man. He knew these were counterfeit designer brands, but he didn't lie. He just waved his hand dismissively.

"Hey! Don't listen to the kid's nonsense. There's no way it's over ten thousand. The kid's just bragging to save face."

Auntie paused, "What? You're just bragging?"

"you do not say!"

Dad tugged at his leather jacket, looking quite frank: "They say it's a high-quality replica, but this whole pile only cost ten thousand yuan. But you know what, even though it's a replica, the quality is really good, and it's quite warm."

this sentence.

They lit the fuse of the powder keg right away.

Upon hearing this, the second aunt's face, which had initially shown a hint of jealousy, instantly became incredibly interesting.

She stuffed the sunflower seeds in her hand into her pocket, straightened her back instantly, and the sour expression on her face instantly turned into undisguised contempt and mockery.

"I knew it! Chenchen isn't rich, how could she afford clothes costing tens of thousands?"

"I was really scared just now. I was wondering what kind of windfall Chenchen had made."

She stepped forward, pretended to touch her father's leather jacket, and clicked her tongue twice: "Tsk tsk, brother, this leather isn't good either, it's so stiff. Buying a bunch of fakes for ten thousand yuan, you must be out of your mind."

As she spoke, she proudly shook out her down jacket:

"Look at this Bosideng shirt I'm wearing. It may only cost a little over a thousand yuan, but it's genuine, bought from a high-end department store!"

"When it comes to clothes, you have to wear the real thing. Wearing fakes will make you a laughing stock; they smell like plastic and can only fool people who don't know anything about clothing."

"I can tell it's artificial leather just by touching it. It'll start peeling after only two days of wear."

"They said it cost over ten thousand yuan apiece, but I think all of these together don't even cost ten thousand. This leather jacket is only fifty yuan."

"People aren't afraid of being poor, they're afraid of being poor and pretending to be poor."

"Chenchen, it's not that your aunt is criticizing you, but buying these fake goods to deceive your parents is unfilial! You'd be better off buying them some decent brand-name items, even if they only cost a few hundred yuan."

The air in the room froze instantly.

The smile on Dad's face froze, and his hand awkwardly stopped on the button, unsure whether to take it off or put it on.

Jiang Chen's fist hardened.

Sun Mengjia, who was sitting next to her playing on her phone, slowly raised her head.

Jiang Chen will be patient for the sake of family harmony.

But Sun Mengjia is never one to suffer a loss.

He was already upset because he couldn't show off, and now his second aunt was taking advantage of his kindness, so she stood up abruptly.

Seeing the look in the young woman's eyes, Jiang Chen knew things were going badly and quickly pulled her away.

"Just bear with it."

They're just old women from the village, and besides, her father and second uncle are still alive, so there's no need to make things so tense.

Whether I'm doing well or not, I know it myself; there's no need to prove it to these people.

However, how could a young woman like her care about such things?

To hell with it!

"How dare you step on my man?"

"Bang!"

Sun Mengjia kicked the chair that was blocking her way. The chair made a piercing scream as it scraped the ground and crashed to the ground with a thud.

She turned and rushed into the bedroom.

A moment later, holding the stack of shopping receipts that he hadn't thrown away yet, he opened his phone and rushed out like a gust of wind.

"Snapped!"

A crisp sound.

The stack of receipts was slammed onto the table, making the teacups jump.

"Open your dog eyes and see clearly what this is!"

"Damn it, you're so shameless."

"My father-in-law said it was fake to save face for you, so you wouldn't be envious and jealous. But you've really gone too far!"

She then took out her phone and opened the payment screenshot that Jiang Chen had given her.

I originally intended it to show off to my girlfriends, but I never thought I'd have to use it again.

"Fuck you, look carefully! The payee is Jiangcheng Goose Specialty Store, and the payer is Jiang Chen!"

"Four down jackets cost over 50,000 yuan!"

"And this leather jacket, did you see the transfer record?"

"You're acting like an expert here, talking about how tough it is, and how it's made of artificial leather, and it's fifty-one pieces."

"From the first moment I saw you, I knew you were a snobbish, opportunistic jerk. Jiang Chen and his parents aren't going to stoop to your level, but I'm not going to put up with you!"