## Chapter 11

Locking the shop door and tidying everything up, Xu Jin returned home, it was almost eleven o’clock. Exhausted, she pushed open the door and saw that the light in Xu Ru’s room was still on. It was extinguished with a “pop” as she entered.

Xu Jin ignored her, heading straight to the kitchen. She found that the stove was still warm with hot water, a wave of warmth instantly surged through her heart.

Xu Xin had become increasingly considerate these past few days.

After preparing the footbath water and soaking her feet, Xu Jin changed into the new sandals she bought yesterday and got up to go to her room.

She stopped in the middle of the yard and glanced towards Xu Ru’s room before continuing with a light step towards her own room.

Xu Ru, behind the window, was startled and instinctively took a step back. Her gaze, however, followed Xu Jin uncontrollably.

Since yesterday, Xu Ru had felt something was amiss.

She felt like her elder sister had become a completely different person. Not only was she no longer considerate of her younger siblings, but she had also become selfish.

Shouldn’t that beautiful green shirt be worn by her? After all, her elder sister was just a hairdresser, what was she doing wearing such a beautiful shirt? Shouldn’t it be worn by her, who was still in school?

And those pencil pants, Xu Ru knew they were the latest style this year. Li Na, a classmate, had worn a pair, and she had heard her say they cost twenty-nine yuan each.

What Xu Ru couldn’t understand was the sandals on Xu Jin’s feet. When she was shopping with her classmates earlier, her classmate had mentioned that her mother had a pair, saying they were made of calfskin and had beautiful roses twisted on the shoe surface. She had asked the price at the time, and those sandals alone cost as much as the pencil pants.

Yet, her elder sister bought such expensive things and just wore them on her feet. If she had so much money, why was she so stingy with her and her brother? She wouldn’t even let her buy the latest double-layer stationery box she had been eyeing for the past month!

In the past, Xu Ru would have made a fuss. Today, she didn’t dare to say anything. After all, she had seen with her own eyes how Xu Guoqing, the family’s precious son who everyone dared not provoke, was chased out. She knew that when they met at school this morning, Xu Guoqing had proudly told her that Xu Jin would come to beg him to return home personally today.

Xu Guoqing’s biological parents, her uncle and aunt, had learned about his elder sister’s bullying and had promised Xu Guoqing last night that they would come to the house today.

Xu Ru was also a little afraid of her uncle and aunt.

Her father listened to her uncle the most, and her aunt was not ordinary fierce. Xu Ru had seen her arguing or fighting with neighbors more than once, rolling on the ground covered in dirt and mud, throwing tantrums.

Now that Xu Jin had beaten Xu Guoqing and chased him out, her uncle and aunt would definitely not be happy. They would surely give Xu Jin a good scolding today.

When she came back home in the evening, Xu Ru was still thinking about flattering Xu Guoqing and going home with him. That way, she would definitely be able to take advantage of the situation and eat some good food.

After being scolded by her uncle and aunt, wouldn’t Xu Jin want to make some delicious food to apologize? Maybe she could even take this opportunity to get her elder sister to give her all the new clothes she had bought.

But as soon as she got out of school, she saw Xu Guoqing being taken away by her aunt. Didn’t that mean Xu Guoqing wouldn’t be staying home tonight? So her uncle and aunt didn’t come to settle the score with Xu Jin after all?

She returned home with a head full of questions, only to find that Xu Jin wasn’t there. Even the yard was the same as when she left for school in the morning, not looking like there had been any conflict.

Xu Ru went to wake up Xu Xin, who was already asleep, and learned from her that Xu Jin had been busy at the hair salon all day. She even bought her beef noodles for dinner, and they weren’t the two-yuan-a-bowl kind they usually ate. They were twice as expensive because her elder sister had asked the owner to add more beef!

Xu Ru was so annoyed.

What was going on? Her uncle and aunt didn’t come to find Xu Jin to avenge her brother? What was even more infuriating was that her elder sister suddenly became so nice to Xu Xin, the little brat, but ignored her. She didn’t get any beef noodles, and she didn’t even cook for her for breakfast or dinner.

It was all so unfair. In her anger, Xu Ru couldn’t sleep. She decided not to sleep and wait for Xu Jin to come back so she could confront her. But as soon as Xu Jin entered the door, she cowered. Especially when she saw Xu Jin walking in from outside, wearing such beautiful clothes and with a bun she had never seen before, but looked so beautiful, she didn’t dare to go forward.

She was still so thin, but Xu Ru didn’t know why, she suddenly felt a little ashamed of herself.

The anger she had finally mustered up completely dissipated. The next morning, when she got out of bed, she still didn’t see the shadow of the person who used to get up for them, no matter the scorching summer or the bitter cold of winter. Xu Ru didn’t dare to ask a single word, just walked to school dejectedly.

She didn’t know when Xu Jin would stop acting crazy. She really missed her elder sister, who used to think of her all the time and gave her all the good things.

After breakfast, Xu Jin went to the shop and wrote “Closed for the day” on the door with chalk.

As the saying goes, everyone has a love for beauty. After seeing Li Ying’s new hairstyle yesterday, three or four people wanted to come and have Xu Jin style their hair. Although Xu Jin had already told them that she had something to do today and would be closing the shop for the day, she could imagine that others would still come to her because of her reputation.

She had just finished tidying up the shop when Li Ying’s father’s jeep arrived.

Through the window, Li Ying waved happily to Xu Jin.

Li Ying’s father was also in the car. He had something to do in the provincial capital, and today was the day of Li Ying’s blind date, which happened to be with his comrade’s son.

Yesterday, his comrade had called specifically to say that he had accidentally learned about this from his daughter-in-law and was very excited. He enthusiastically invited him to come over and sit together. It didn’t matter if the two families became in-laws, but old comrades should at least meet.

Seeing Xu Jin walking over, Li Ying’s father also smiled and nodded. He hadn’t seen Xu Jin in several years. He had heard his wife complain that the girl was a good girl, but she had been worn down by the heavy burden of the Xu family. Now, looking at her, she was indeed very thin, but her spirit was good, especially her eyes, which were full of confidence. Her movements were unrestrained, without any hint of petty bourgeois mannerisms, and she looked very comfortable.

“Uncle, hello,” Xu Jin smiled and greeted Li Ying’s father, then was pulled to the back seat by Li Ying.

Li Ying’s father withdrew his gaze, his expression clearly very satisfied.

His daughter was simple-minded, and this Xu family girl seemed alright. She wasn’t the kind of person who would fawn over his daughter for personal gain.

They left early, and when they arrived in the provincial capital, it was only a little past nine o’clock.

The three of them got out of the car, and Li Ying’s brother, Li Yong, and his wife, Tan Yun, were already waiting.

When the car stopped, Tan Yun was whispering to Li Yong:

“Yesterday, when my mom was talking to me on the phone, it suddenly cut off. From what my mom meant, Yingying’s haircut wasn’t very good…”

Yesterday, her mother-in-law was talking about her younger sister going out to get her hair done. She said it was a dilapidated hair salon in a small town. According to her mother-in-law, the hairdresser, although a classmate of her younger sister, hadn’t gone to a proper hairdressing school. She had only been an apprentice in the city for a while before opening that shop.

The only people who would go to that shop were old women in the countryside. Anyway, the price was low, and the skills were better than the village barbers…

She was still talking when she heard her mother-in-law exclaim, and then the phone hung up. Tan Yun was still thinking, wondering what kind of terrible hairstyle her younger sister had gotten that scared her mother-in-law, who had worked in the Women’s Federation for many years and had seen all sorts of things.

As she was talking, she saw a car stop. She saw her father-in-law getting out of the front, and Li Yong and Tan Yun hurried to greet him. The next moment, the back door of the car also opened, and Li Ying and Xu Jin got out of the car.

“Yingying?” Tan Yun was clearly stunned, staring blankly at her younger sister, her gaze glued to Li Ying’s hairstyle, almost unable to look away.

Her younger sister’s hairstyle was so beautiful, so stylish, it was rare even in the provincial capital. She had been so worried before, thinking that her younger sister was too rustic and that the man would dislike her, but now, looking at her, how could she be rustic? She looked even more fashionable than her, who was born and raised in the city.

“Sister-in-law,” Li Ying smiled and greeted Tan Yun.

“I almost didn’t recognize you,” Tan Yun exclaimed in surprise. After a while, she remembered something and shook the makeup bag in her hand, “I brought the things you mentioned.”

Earlier, Xu Jin had said that she would help Li Ying with a simple makeup look. But in this era, few people had the concept of makeup, and neither Xu Jin nor Li Ying had any of the necessary items. Even Tan Yun had to borrow them from a friend who worked in the theatre company.

“What do you need these things for?”

“Xu Jin said she’ll help me with a simple makeup look,” Li Ying said nonchalantly.

“Makeup?” Tan Yun was stunned, her expression filled with disapproval.

She had heard the word “makeup” before. For example, some time ago, a female comrade who was responsible for representing her unit in a speech had made a joke. In order to look more energetic during the speech, she had specifically asked someone to help her put on makeup. But as soon as she stood on the podium, she annoyed the judges and was given the lowest score ever. The final comment was blunt, saying that the female comrade’s lips looked like she had eaten a dead child, almost accusing her of immoral behavior.

In Tan Yun’s opinion, her younger sister’s hairstyle was already perfect, there was no need to put on any makeup. After all, the man’s family was also very traditional. If she put on makeup and looked like a monster, it would inevitably backfire.

But she was her sister-in-law, so she didn’t want to criticize her younger sister in front of outsiders. As for Li Ying’s father and Li Yong, they were clearly a little confused about the word “makeup” and were talking to the driver.

Xu Jin looked around and pulled Li Ying into a nearby hotel that looked relatively upscale.

“Hey…” Tan Yun was stunned, thinking that she was really a young and inexperienced person. This hotel was a chain hotel that had been brought in by the provincial capital through investment promotion two years ago. It had only been open for half a year, and because the decoration was too luxurious and the food and drinks were not cheap at all, ordinary people didn’t dare to go in. But the two girls just walked in so casually.

Just as she was stunned, Li Ying’s father finished talking to the people in the car and turned around. He didn’t see Li Ying and Xu Jin, so he was a little puzzled.

“Where are Yingying and Xu Jin?”

Although she didn’t agree, Li Ying didn’t want to embarrass her younger sister, so she helped cover for her.

“They went to the bathroom. Let’s go in too.”

It was a coincidence that the blind date location agreed upon by the man was in this hotel.

She asked Li Yong to take Li Ying’s father there first, while she nervously stood in the lobby waiting.  She was really worried that Yingying would be turned into a monster by her friend. She had to take her there and wash her face. Otherwise, not only would the man laugh at her, but even her father-in-law, who was so old-fashioned, would scold her younger sister.