The next morning, Chen Xia dressed up nicely and went to the office first to tell her colleagues to help cover two classes for her.
The road was a bit far, and riding a bike would kick up a lot of dust, so she'd definitely be covered in it. Of course, she couldn't ride a bike.
She held her head high and took a car instead.
Around nine o'clock, Chen Xia arrived at the east side of Xinghai Shopping Mall.
She had never been there before; when there was a lottery event a while ago, her colleagues had invited her to join in for fun and luck, but she hadn't gone.
At this moment, the mall had already opened its doors, the indoor lights were bright, goods were dazzlingly arrayed, and dozens of customers were already browsing inside.
"This mall is so grand!"
Chen Xia had to admit that the mall in front of her was very well-decorated, and she had never seen such a magnificent mall before.
She walked around the outside of the mall once, estimating that its area was quite large.
The investment for this mall's construction, including the goods inside, must be several million yuan.
At the same time, she also saw that the west side of the mall was undergoing expansion, occupying an even larger area, which would likely require a significant additional investment.
Which big boss invested so much, after all?
She then thought of her sister-in-law's family, and no matter how she thought about it, they couldn't possibly be connected to this.
Wearing worn-out clothes, with rough and dark skin, and speaking in a dull manner—this was her younger uncle's appearance, already etched into her memory.
With doubts, she walked into the mall to browse first, and didn't see her sister-in-law or younger uncle, which made her breathe a sigh of relief.
"Hmph, I knew it! How could they possibly own a mall like this!"
Those two principals were talking nonsense and scared her to death.
Chen Xia muttered, a triumphant and relieved smile appearing on her face.
However, when she noticed the office deeper inside the mall, she saw a familiar figure standing at the door, only her attire was different now; she was no longer wearing patched-up clothes with messy hair, but a high-end wool coat, her hair seemed to have been permed, and she was wearing a pearl necklace.
Although she wasn't decked out in jewels, she looked like a noblewoman.
Was this her sister-in-law?
The familiar face, she absolutely wouldn't mistake it.
Comparing it to her own attire, her clothes instantly looked low-class and old-fashioned.
Her breathing quickened; she hoped it wasn't her!
Chen Xia still held a glimmer of hope, but when she heard the employees respectfully call her sister-in-law "Boss Lady," her smile instantly vanished.
Boss Lady?
How could that be?!
But she had to admit, the truth was right before her eyes.
Her last hope turned into disappointment; it turned out the school leaders weren't wrong after all.
But how did they become so prosperous?
Her skin seemed much better, much more moisturized, and she wasn't as haggard as before.
Seeing some staff nearby, Chen Xia still couldn't believe it and asked, "Is that person in the blue wool coat your Boss Lady?"
"Yes, Madam, what electronics would you like to buy? Our mall's product prices are very reasonable, and even our Boss Lady cannot give discounts."
"Oh, does she have a son named Fang Bai? We're somewhat acquainted." Chen Xia forced an awkward smile, though it was very strained.
"Are you looking for our General Manager Fang? He should be at school reviewing for the college entrance exam." The staff member saw that the other person's smile didn't look like a bad person's, and replied politely.
"General Manager Fang? Isn't he still repeating a year, a student? Why do you call him General Manager Fang?"
"That's what we all call him. Although General Manager Fang is still studying, he is the overall head of the company. Madam, what electronics would you like to buy?"
Chen Xia listened dumbfounded, and seeing the staff member still asking her, she came back to her senses and smiled awkwardly, "Oh, I'm not buying electronics for now. I just heard recently that 300,000 yuan was donated to Oubei No. 1 Middle School, and I came to see it out of curiosity. It's truly unbelievable."
"Haha, yes, indeed! Many people don't believe in our General Manager Fang; not only is he excellent in studies, but he's even better at business." The staff member said proudly, "Madam, there are many customers on site, so I'll be busy for now. If you need anything, just tell a sales person."
Chen Xia was repeatedly struck, and her mood was very bad. It turned out that it wasn't her younger uncle and sister-in-law who ran the business, but her nephew who supported it.
Could he be that monstrously talented?
Comparing him to her own son, she found it hard to believe.
But now, she had to believe it; the truth was right before her eyes. Over the past six months, there must have been something she didn't know.
Chen Xia had countless doubts and countless confusions, she simply couldn't figure it out.
She now just wanted to personally ask her sister-in-law for a clear explanation. As she walked over, Liu Fengqing also noticed her.
"Oh, sister-in-law, you have time to go shopping at the mall, huh?"
"Uh, I just happened to be passing by. Is this your family's mall? It's quite large." Chen Xia forced a smile, but still habitually spoke with her head held high.
Liu Fengqing laughed triumphantly, "Oh, it's alright, not that big, only about a thousand square meters. Once the expansion next door is finished, the building area will be thirty thousand square meters, then it'll be about right."
Chen Xia's eyes widened, "Thirty thousand square meters? How much money would that cost? Did you and your husband invest all of it?"
"About twenty million yuan, but we didn't invest it." Liu Fengqing chuckled, "Ah Bai invested it, with some bank loans."
"..."
Chen Xia felt a slight joy at the first sentence, but at the latter, what difference was there between their son investing and them investing?
"Come in and sit for a while." Liu Fengqing still invited her into the office to sit down.
Chen Xia nodded and followed her sister-in-law into the office, while also observing the office's layout.
A thirty-square-meter office was divided into two halves; one half had several desks, likely for office staff, while the other half had only two office desks, a few safes, and an iron-barred window with a sign that read "Finance Department."
Just as she entered the room and before she could sit down, a young man in a suit and a middle-aged man came over, standing outside the window. The young man respectfully said to Liu Fengqing:
"Boss Lady, the santana car our company bought has arrived. We need you to settle the payment. This is General Manager Meng, the dealer."
"Hmm, how much was it again?" Liu Fengqing stood inside the window and asked indifferently, "Where's the invoice?"
"Boss Lady, including the procedure fees, taxes, and license plate, it's a total of 205,000 yuan. Your family's business is really good, we hope you'll continue to support our dealership's business in the future." The dealer manager in the suit said with a fawning smile, placing the invoice on the counter at the window.
"Our company has bought nine cars in total, right? We've supported you quite a lot, but I haven't seen you reduce the price by even ten thousand yuan."
"Boss Lady, you're so humorous. We've already given a great discount. General Manager Fang personally negotiated the price, you know. We don't earn much from selling one car. How can we compare to your mall, which earns tens of thousands of yuan daily? The mall is even expanding, and I heard it's an investment of tens of millions of yuan, and there's also Xinghai Plaza, which is an investment of 200 million yuan. You're already so rich, do you still care about our small profit?"
During their conversation, Chen Xia saw Liu Fengqing first look at the invoice, then open a safe and take out a small pile of hundred-yuan cash from inside. Each stack was ten thousand yuan, and she also glimpsed a large pile of neatly stacked cash still inside the safe, at least a hundred stacks, which completely dazzled her.
Liu Fengqing counted twenty stacks of cash, and then fifty hundred-yuan bills. She was so skilled at counting money, it seemed she did it often.
After the payment was settled, the dealer manager and the young man in the suit left.
That pile of cash had a huge impact on Chen Xia; it was wealth she couldn't imagine, yet for her sister-in-law, it was readily available.
And the content of the conversation just now was already beyond her reach.
How much was her monthly salary? She couldn't afford half a car in her entire life!
The dream she had yesterday might have been a premonition; they could already afford luxury cars and owned a super large mall!
Before, she indeed looked down on her sister-in-law's family.
Now, the other party was already out of her league.
Could she still salvage the relationship?
Thinking of this, Chen Xia slightly lowered her head and said with a fawning smile to her sister-in-law, "Sister-in-law, it's like this, our principal wants to invite your nephew to repeat a year at Yongjia Middle School."
"He definitely won't go. He scored 602 on the first mock exam. Maybe his grades would drop if he went there. It's much better to just stay at No. 1 Middle School." Liu Fengqing shook her head.
"How could that be? Yongjia Middle School has such good teacher resources."
"My son is very inconsistent with his studies, going to school only a few days a semester. He's always busy with business matters, so he doesn't need teachers to teach him." Liu Fengqing said very proudly, "Actually, it's the same no matter where he studies. You don't need to persuade him on this matter, and besides, there are only a hundred days left until the college entrance exam. Maintaining a stable mindset is what's important."
"Alright, then." Chen Xia heard about the 602 score and knew she had missed out on a key university student back then. This time, only seven people from Yongjia Middle School scored above 600.
She regretted it immensely!
However, she knew she regretted it, but she just couldn't say the words "I'm sorry" to her sister-in-law.
After a while, someone else came to settle a bill. Chen Xia felt that her sister-in-law didn't seem to welcome her; she hadn't offered her tea when she came in, nor had she mentioned giving her family any appliances. She was just busy with her own affairs, which made Chen Xia feel very awkward, so she quietly left, glancing back at the mall with a complex mix of emotions.
Liu Fengqing saw her second sister-in-law leave and didn't say anything, just curled her lips and smiled triumphantly.
In the evening,
As the family ate dinner, Liu Fengqing grumbled to her son, "Your second aunt came to the mall today and saw things she shouldn't have."
Fang Bai said "Oh," "What shouldn't she have seen, Mom? Why did she come to find you?"
"Judging by her expression, she probably just found out the mall is ours. The look on her face was so awkward, hehe.
She probably wanted you to go study at Yongjia Middle School. She must have found out your score from the first mock exam from somewhere."
Fang Bai blurted out, "My goodness, how is that any different from trying to freeload!"
Liu Fengqing immediately glared, "Go where? You're not allowed to go!"
"I didn't say I was going. I'd have to be crazy to go."
"Oh, I thought you were going there. But if you think the teachers there are good, you can go, but I feel like you often miss classes, so going wouldn't make much difference." Liu Fengqing didn't like the idea of her son going from the bottom of her heart; wouldn't that just give her second sister-in-law a boost?
"Mom, don't let our teachers hear that, or they'll be sad."
"Did I say something wrong? Your teachers have it easy, they won't be sad, hehe." Liu Fengqing laughed happily, "Your teachers would love to have more students like you."
"Mom, you keep showing off. I'm going to read." Fang Bai took a sip of soup and went back to his room, too lazy to listen to his mother gloat.
After the first mock exam, the second mock exam was after May Day. Before 1989, the preliminary exam was held around this time. If one didn't pass the preliminary exam, they wouldn't even be qualified to take the college entrance exam.
Starting in 1989, there was no such thing as a preliminary exam in Jiangzhe Province, but the university admission rate remained low.
The third mock exam was in mid-June, and the college entrance exam was in July. There were still 101 days left!
This afternoon, the principal found him and asked him to go on stage tomorrow to give a speech as an outstanding student for the 100-day pledge for the college entrance exam. As the top student in his grade, Fang Bai couldn't really avoid it. If he didn't go, other students would be too embarrassed to speak on stage.
After he left, Liu Fengqing hadn't finished gloating and started grumbling about old times with Fang Shi.
"Oh, at the end of the day, we're still family, but this has become..."
"They didn't acknowledge us before, you know. When I worked as a janitor at the school and greeted them, they would avoid me from afar.
Now that our family is prosperous, they want to latch on. I won't acknowledge them, hmph." Liu Fengqing remembered these past events, but she didn't want to grumble about them in front of her children.
Now that her children were sensible, she could say what she wanted. As for her son, she used to be afraid of him being led astray, but now she was afraid of her son leading his father astray.
"Alright, alright, I know, whatever you want. If you don't acknowledge them, then don't." Fang Shi felt that seeing them was indeed a bit annoying. Now, he guessed his brother and sister-in-law would probably feel awkward seeing him, and no longer look down on their own family.
Thinking of this, Fang Shi felt his back straighten.
At this moment,
Chen Xia was also having dinner with her husband. She hadn't said much all afternoon, and she didn't even have an appetite for dinner.
She didn't want to tell her husband what she had heard and seen today, but holding it in was too painful.
When she went to bed that night, she felt wronged today, and with a complex mood, she couldn't sleep. She started crying and wailing, waking Fang Lei, who asked what was wrong again.
Chen Xia couldn't help but tell her husband what she had seen today, and Fang Lei listened as if he were a clay or wooden statue.
That night, both of them suffered from insomnia, filled with regret and jealousy.