Chapter 11 A Spooky Greeting Gift

At the Lu family's house, Jiang Jianni was too embarrassed to open the box to see what was inside, but judging from the thickness of the box and its weight, she guessed that there must be a lot of things inside.

The Lu family had been waiting for a daughter-in-law for so many years, and finally one of their sons brought his girlfriend home. They were overjoyed, not to mention giving the new bride a hard time.

They were subtly asking when the couple would meet with their in-laws to set the date for the ceremony.

The crowd was so large that they practically wanted the young couple to consummate their marriage today and have a baby tomorrow.

Jiang Jianni felt so unreal during the meal that she didn't come to her senses until Lu's mother enthusiastically pushed her out to play after the meal.

Once outside the courtyard, Lu Xiangyang showed her what the gifts were: "Our mom has always complained that we brothers aren't getting married, so the red envelopes she prepares get bigger every year. She even said that whoever brings a partner home first will get an even bigger one."

Unfortunately, the fourth son of the Lu family has already graduated with a master's degree and is now pursuing a doctorate, so the Lu family elders' wish has never been fulfilled.

Until Jiang Jiani fell from the sky.

Jiang Jianni was amused by his words and couldn't help but laugh: "Is it really necessary to be so exaggerated?"

Lu Xiangyang sighed: "It's not an exaggeration."

He looked at Jiang Jianni and smiled: "Before I met you, I thought I would be like the eldest, second eldest, and fourth eldest brothers, living alone for the rest of my life."

Upon hearing about the three Lu brothers again, Jiang Jianni could no longer contain her curiosity: "Why do you say that?"

Lu Xiangyang sighed, his tone tinged with unease: "It all started with my eldest brother..."

Lu Xiangdong, the eldest brother of the Lu family, for some reason, has always been impatient with playing with girls since he was a child.

While others were experiencing the stirrings of romantic feelings during their adolescence, he was single-mindedly focused on becoming a great general. Between the ages of twenty and thirty, countless women were introduced to him, but he felt that women were hindering his progress in achieving merit.

He even instilled this fallacy in his own brothers.

It's hard to say whether the Lu brothers' continued celibacy was due to the eldest brother's brainwashing.

Jiang Jianni laughed as she listened: "Our brother's ideas are quite progressive. So why did you change your mind and get a marriage certificate with me?"

Lu Xiangyang stopped talking and urged, "Take a look quickly and see if you like it."

Jiang Jianni glanced at him briefly and didn't ask any further questions.

I was shocked by the amount of money inside when I opened the red envelope.

Inside were ten 100-yuan bills.

That is a full thousand yuan.

Startled, she quickly opened the brocade box again.

This one is even scarier.

The palm-sized box had three layers and contained a complete set of gold jewelry.

Yes, you read that right.

A complete set of gold jewelry.

It includes a necklace, two bracelets, a pair of earrings, and a ring.

They are all handmade products made with high-quality materials, and they are also carved with beautiful patterns.

Jiang Jiani was so shocked that she couldn't utter a single word.

After a while, he slammed the lid shut, then looked around like a thief, quickly stuffed the item into Lu Xiangyang's arms, and said repeatedly, "No, I can't take it. You, you should take it back right away."

Putting aside a set of gold jewelry, a thousand yuan is already quite a lot.

Her monthly salary was only a little over 130 yuan, but Lu Ma gave her a cash gift that was equivalent to half a year's salary.

I had imagined the gift would be one or two hundred yuan, but I never expected it to be ten one-hundred-yuan bills plus a set of gold jewelry.

The gift was so valuable that it made Jiang Jiani's scalp tingle.

Lu Xiangyang calmly stuffed it into her bag: "It's okay, just take it."

Jiang Jianni wanted it but dared not accept it: "But this is too expensive."

Lu Xiangyang: "Don't think too much about it. This isn't just for you. Your eldest brother, second brother, and fourth brother will also get it when they get married."

He leaned closer and whispered, "Don't worry, Mom has money."

Jiang Jianni: "???"

Could this mother-in-law be a powerful businesswoman?

Perhaps because her doubts were too obvious, Lu Xiangyang explained, "Our mother is a nurse, and the highest position she ever reached was head nurse."

"But my maternal grandfather's family was wealthy; he used to be a big businessman."

"When Mom and Dad got married, Grandpa gave them a lot of nice gifts as part of their dowry."

“These gold jewelry pieces were made by Mom using her own gold. She only paid a small craftsmanship fee, so it really didn’t cost much. Don’t worry about it too much.”

Jiang Jianni: "..."

Red and bustling, dizzying.jpg

She felt like she had married into a wealthy family when she came to the retirement home with Lu Xiangyang, but when her mother-in-law and her own family showed up, she realized that she had actually married into a wealthy family.

All my thoughts and anxieties vanished when I arrived at the sales office.

The sales office was very basic.

There was no building model or product brochure, just an ordinary storefront painted with cement and whitewash, inside which sat three or four young people.

A young woman rushed over and asked, "Are you here to buy a house?"

Jiang Jianni didn't waste any words: "The house is finished, right? Can we go and see the finished house?"

The young woman was very excited as she greeted a customer for the first time: "Yes, yes, it's right behind us, let's go now."

As soon as they left, the others immediately sneered: "Two young people, they probably spent all the money they earned on themselves, right? Trying to buy a house like others, they should just go home and make a house out of paper."

The other two immediately burst into laughter, feeling that the new girl had made a wasted trip.

Fewer people are buying houses now.

Even when buying a house, it's usually parents bringing their children along; young people rarely come on their own.

no way.

Young people don't have much money, and they still need their parents to help them buy a house. Those who don't rely on their parents are basically just looking at houses without any financial support.

After working for ten days, Li Xia finally received a client and excitedly began explaining the situation on the way.

She was inexperienced, and her introduction was disjointed and incoherent, mostly focusing on how great the house was.

Jiang Jianni didn't mind and would ask a few questions from time to time, each time focusing on the key points, leaving Lu Xiangyang, who had done a lot of research, speechless.

There are quite a few apartment types in this community.

There are one-bedroom, one-living-room, two-bedroom, one-living-room apartments, and three-bedroom, one-living-room apartments.

Jiang Jiani directly requested to see a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment.

The three-bedroom apartments we have today are neither the three-bedroom south-facing apartments of later years nor the four-leaf clover apartments, but rather the two-bedroom south-facing, one-bedroom north-facing apartments with a living room in the middle that will still exist thirty years from now.

Jiang Jianni doesn't really like apartment layouts with unclear separation between living and sleeping areas, but that's how most apartments are these days, so she doesn't have any other options.

I asked Lu Xiangyang for his opinion.

Lu Xiangyang had no objection: "Whatever you like is fine."

All the three-bedroom apartments have this layout. Jiang Jianni chose an apartment on the third floor in the middle of the complex and asked Li Xia to prepare the contract.

Li Xia almost jumped for joy: "You really want to buy it?"

After saying that, he slapped himself in frustration: "Come on, let's go to the sales office. We'll have our manager prepare the contract for you there."

Then he asked again, "Are you sure you want to buy it?"

Jiang Jianni couldn't help but laugh: "Really, I'm not kidding you, it's the same thing. Let's go, let's sign the contract."

On the way, Lu Xiangyang said in a low voice, "After we sign the contract, you come with me to the bank to get the money."

Jiang Jianni's eyes widened: "What do you need the money for?"