Chapter 46: Chapter 36: The Forsaken Wife of the 50s (36)
Wang Xianbing nodded in agreement. Only families of regimental commanders or higher could afford a nanny, and a 24-hour live-in one started at forty or fifty yuan a month.
***
Mrs. Chu had specially taken the day off to come to the factory grounds. Although her son and daughter-in-law were participating in the collective wedding, their marital home still needed to be decorated and stocked with all sorts of odds and ends. Plus, sheâd heard there were two families in this very building celebrating a wedding.
âWhen their colleagues come over to celebrate, wonât they inevitably make comparisons?â
Mr. and Mrs. Chu both worked in the education system, but Mrs. Chu came from a military family. And since the Bright Machinery Factory was a former military unit that had been collectively transferred to civilian work, she had her own channels for information.
Knowing her son had been a victim of a scheme, she felt a little inadequate in front of her future daughter-in-law and was determined to make up for it in other ways.
Guo Meiyun was a soldier in the militaryâs art troupe and the least attractive of the so-called "Six Golden Flowers." However, her father was the director of a parts factory, her mother was a head teacher at the high school affiliated with the machinery factory, and her grandfather was a retired senior official.
This time, Guo Meiyun had shot herself in the foot. Gritting her teeth, she accepted the marriage, but she was also very good at fighting for her own interests. She made an exorbitant demand, telling the Wu family to pay a bride price of 1,900 yuan, plus a television, a sewing machine, a bicycle, and a watch. If they didnât, she would accuse Wu Quanquan of raping her.
The Wu family only had one son, but with five older sisters and several paternal aunts chipping in, each household contributing one item was enough to gather everything.
What Mrs. Chu had found out was that today was the day the Wu and Guo families were moving the big-ticket items into the young coupleâs new home.
âHow could I possibly vent my frustrations if I donât upstage them during such a high-profile event?â
She knew the atmosphere in the residential compound all too well. The women living in the same building compared everything: clothes, jobs, salaries, family backgrounds, husbands, and children. Naturally, a headline-grabbing bride price was part of the competition!
She hadnât come alone; she had her son invite his fiancĂ©e as well.
As soon as they arrived at the foot of the building, Zhu Yunâs eyes lit up. She suddenly felt a surge of excitement, as if from the Three Kingdoms period. Three factions had converged in one place, and their gazes clashed in an invisible battle that raged for five hundred rounds.
Her love of beauty was bone-deep. Even though she worked in the cafeteria every day and was fully covered in her work uniform, her personal style was always meticulous.
She wore a red-and-white checkered, waist-cinching, short-sleeved blouse, a navy blue over-the-knee cotton skirt, and white knee-high socks. On her feet were black, low-heeled, woven leather sandals with buckles. Her jet-black, shoulder-length hair was styled in a loose French braid, adorned with two homemade sunflower hair clips.
She wore a wide-brimmed, natural-straw hat tied with a small floral bow. Her whole look was incredibly chic and artistic, as if she were the daughter of a 1930s warlord, attending school and stepping right out of the hazy summer heat of a bygone era.
Not to mention her fair, smooth skin and delicate, beautiful features. When she smiled, her eyes curved into crescents, revealing a pair of sweet dimples that could leave anyone captivated.
"Oh my," Old Mrs. Wang exclaimed, spotting the familiar face from a distance and rushing over enthusiastically. "This must be my beautiful daughter-in-law from the art troupe, right? Youâre even prettier than in your picture! Just gorgeous! Look at that skin, as white as a snowflake..."
Chu Shenyu stepped in front of Zhu Yun, blocking her from the old woman. He looked at Wang Xianbing, his expression displeased. "Mr. Wang, what is the meaning of this?"
Wang Xianbing was stunned for a moment. He grabbed his mother and pointed to the person who had come downstairs after hearing the commotion. "Mom, Lin Jin is over there."
Lin Jin was wearing a floral dress. She was gaunt and haggard from not eating well, which made her cheekbones look especially prominent. Her ear-length hair was frizzy and dull.
Her four- or five-month-pregnant belly strained the fabric of her dress into a semicircle. With one hand on her lower back, she deliberately pushed her stomach forward, possessing none of her former stylish flair.
The old woman glanced over at Lin Jin and muttered, "I thought she was supposed to be the prettiest one?"
Mrs. Chu was also taken aback, but having studied Zhu Yunâs features carefully before and now seeing her sonâs protectiveness, she immediately took Zhu Yunâs hand. Her own face relaxed into a wide smile. "My dear comrade, you have the wrong person. This is my daughter-in-law, Zhu Yun. Sheâll be living right across the hall from you."
âWhat the hell?â
Everyone was stunned, including the residents holding their children who had run over to watch the commotion. âIs this Pig Feifei?â
Meanwhile, those who had seen Zhu Yun before couldnât help but say to the people next to them, "See? Now you believe me, donât you? Pig Feiâno, I mean, Chef Zhu is a great beauty. I heard Mr. Wangâs mother originally came to propose marriage precisely because of her reputation as the âvillage beauty.â"
"Sheâs worlds prettier than Lin Jin. I guess this means Mr. Wang must be truly in love with Lin Jin. What man could possibly resist Chef Zhuâs beauty? Even a married woman like me with a gaggle of kids wants to pull her into a hug!"
"No wonder Mr. Chu, the untouchable âflower on a high peak,â suddenly announced he was getting married..."
Hearing everyone praise Zhu Yunâs appearance, the mother and son from the Chu family beamed with pride. In contrast, Wang Xianbing, Wu Quanquan, Guo Meiyun, Lin Jin, and Old Mrs. Wang could only stare, clearly unable to accept the reality of her stunning transformation.