Chapter 89 The Watch Scandal: This guy actually relies on his wife!
When Qin Xiangxiang and his wife bought the Rolex watch, the whole residential compound was abuzz with excitement.
Many military officers and geological field workers purchase imported watches. Whether at sea or in the field, the importance of watches is self-evident, especially for sailors or naval officers and soldiers.
The Age of Exploration propelled the development of watchmaking technology, and those who sailed the seas know the absolute importance of timepieces.
Many naval officers save up to buy imported watches, not only to show off or as a store of value, but also because a good watch is of great value to them during nautical activities.
"An imported Rolex watch? And the latest model at that, my goodness!"
"Old Li is so lucky!"
"This watch is so beautiful."
The knowledgeable officers knew the watch's value, while the family members, who didn't know much about watches, were simply amazed by how beautiful it was! The transparent case back revealed intricate gears and mechanisms, as well as a skeletonized gold movement! The complex and mysterious mechanics made it seem like something out of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, or some kind of fantastical tale.
Yang Ganghua, who lived next door, was very envious and exclaimed repeatedly, "Comrade Li next door is so lucky to have married such a wife."
So a watch is not just a simple watch; it may even make a difference!
Zhong Li said, "I knew it! The baby next door was born on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. He's a little god of wealth. Look, their family is having a stroke of good fortune! We're lucky to live next door, so let's share in their good luck."
"Yes, we were lucky."
"Comrade Li is so lucky. Isn't this watch better than Chen Ruifeng's?"
"Of course! It's several hundred yuan more expensive!"
When Chen Ruifeng went upstairs, he overheard the discussion. His expression was quite subtle. He had thought that Li Jianzhi's wife had become a temporary factory director, just a simple factory with some mud houses to build. But it turned out that she had made a great contribution to the country's textile foreign trade and saved the country from a lot of losses, and had been commended and rewarded.
This man bought a Rolex watch with his wife's money!
He scrimped and saved to buy his own watch, but this guy actually relies on his wife!
"Chen Ruifeng, you're here! Come and see me!"
"This watch is absolutely gorgeous. It's the latest Rolex model from last year. Look, the case back is transparent."
"Wow, this watch is really complicated!"
Chen Ruifeng's face was grim, but he didn't turn around and leave immediately because he was also curious about what the Rolex watch looked like. He walked out with a serious expression, and when he saw the watch, his heart felt like it had been stabbed by a needle, and endless acid gushed out.
Li Jianzhi took off his watch and showed it to him, "It's imported, my wife bought it for me."
This truly is a case of fortunes changing every thirty years; the scene from last year is repeating itself.
Chen Ruifeng didn't say anything, but the people around him cheered: "If this watch were brought back to his hometown village, it would probably cause a sensation throughout the village. Who came up with the idea of a transparent back cover?"
Back home, Li Jianzhi ran up to Qin Xiangxiang and boasted, "Wife, I've completed the mission of slapping people in the face."
Qin Xiangxiang chuckled: "How did he look?"
"Of course it doesn't look good." Li Jianzhi put his arm around his wife's shoulder and suddenly felt like a villainous male lead.
Li Jianzhi: "Am I being too smug?"
"Silly girl, this is how we should be." Qin Xiangxiang said confidently. They're a perfect couple, after all. They should tease the male and female leads from time to time, which fits their character setting!
Besides, who told them to come looking for trouble? So what if they hold a grudge?
"That's right."
Li Jianzhi kissed his wife's cheek, thinking to himself, how could the male protagonist of X-point be a villain who gets his way? They are absolutely righteous and slapping people in the face.
However, being too conspicuous can also cause trouble.
Before Qin Xiangxiang could even go upstairs that day, she was stopped by the family of the neighbor on the first floor. The family's surname was Gou, and the male head of the household used to be a political commissar. Now that he was old, he was transferred to a sinecure, but everyone still habitually called him Political Commissar Gou.
His wife's surname is Zheng, and she has always been a housewife. Their family is large, consisting of the couple, an elderly woman in a wheelchair—the one who pretends to be lame—and two daughters and a son.
Commissar Gou married early, and by then all three of his children had come of age and married one after another. His eldest daughter was already married to a construction worker from the county construction company. After marriage, she moved out of the family compound and, like her mother, became a full-time housewife.
The second child is a son who is not yet married. He works as a driving apprentice in the county's automobile transportation team, earning a monthly salary of seventeen, which is not enough to support himself, and he still needs his parents' financial assistance.
The youngest daughter, Gou Jia, also got married last year. Her husband is the brother of a female classmate. He is a company commander in the army in another city, but only deputy battalion commanders can accompany their husbands to the military. Therefore, Gou Jia still lives in the family compound with her parents.
So Commissar Gou's family lived in a house with many adults, including the couple, the elderly woman with a limp, and their two adult children. Their youngest daughter's wedding room was also in this house last year.
Commissar Gou and his wife lived in the second bedroom, which was divided into two rooms, where Commissar Gou, his wife, and the lame old lady lived. This arrangement made it convenient for the daughter-in-law to serve her mother-in-law tea and water at night.
The eldest daughter had already married and moved out, so there was no need to reserve a room for her. The master bedroom was divided into two rooms: one was for the younger daughter's wedding, and the other was reserved for the son's wedding.
Gou Qiang, the son, was very anxious. His younger sister, who was younger than him, got married last year, while he, the second brother, was still single. This year, he was busy looking for a partner and meeting potential spouses.
Someone recently introduced him to a girl from Minnesota. He plans to take a boat there on Sunday to meet her. They have exchanged photos and the girl is quite pretty. Gou Qiang wants to make it happen, so he dresses up nicely before meeting her.
Hearing that the upstairs neighbor had bought a brand-new imported Rolex watch worth nearly a thousand yuan, he was filled with envy and decided to borrow the watch from the Li family for a blind date.
"Xiao Qin, please help my Qiangzi. His older sister and younger sister are both married, and he's the only bachelor left in the family. He's so anxious! Please lend him your watch to save face." Old Mrs. Gou, sitting in her wheelchair, asked Qin Xiangxiang to borrow her watch.
"Isn't that unnecessary?" Qin Xiangxiang thought this family was really shameless, using an imported watch to go on a blind date and lying to the woman that it was their own... Isn't that marriage fraud?
"I heard your husband, Gou Qiang, works in car transportation. His conditions aren't bad, so there's no need for such a grand display. Just how high must the woman's standards be?"
Grandma Gou: "I just wanted to leave a good impression, Xiao Qin. It's nothing serious, just help me out. When Comrade Li comes back, I'll have Qiangzi come to your house to get the watch."
Qin Xiangxiang immediately refused: "That won't do. This is a watch that my family just bought. I can't bear to lend it out. I'd be heartbroken if it got scratched or damaged."
"Comrade Qin, don't be so unreasonable. We're all neighbors, living upstairs and downstairs. We should help each other out."
Zhong Li stood on the second-floor corridor, sticking her head out of the window to look down, and said with sharp teeth, "Old lady, this isn't asking for help, this is called shamelessness! I'm asking you for a thousand yuan right now, would you lend it to me?"
"Who would ask to borrow something so expensive? Borrowing a watch like this for a blind date? Isn't that just trying to save face? How can you even have the nerve to ask?"
Zhong Li was very blunt. She had already given up on herself a couple of years ago and wasn't afraid of falling out with people. She had been a holdout for many years and was ready to transfer back to her hometown with her husband. She wasn't afraid of arguing with people at all.
Grandma Gou was angry: "Hey, you young female relatives are so rude and impolite. You're even bullying an old woman with a limp."
Qin Xiangxiang couldn't help but say, "Grandma, I saw you stand up and walk with my own eyes before."
Zhong Li: "????!!!" Holy crap, I've suddenly been hit with a hot piece of gossip.
Grandma Gou broke out in a cold sweat, her eyes darting towards Qin Xiangxiang.
Qin Xiang tried to shift the blame, saying, "Grandma, it's not just my family that has an imported watch. Chen Ruifeng's family on the third floor also has an imported Omega watch, which costs six or seven hundred. They bought it a little earlier and have been using it for a year or two. If you give them a red envelope, they might be willing to lend it to you, and it will also save face for you."
"This is a watch we just bought, and we don't want to lend it out. Please forgive us."
After saying that, Qin Xiangxiang ignored Old Madam Gou's expression and went upstairs directly. Old Madam Gou didn't dare to call her from behind. Did she really see her standing up and walking upstairs?
She did indeed stand up and pick up money when no one was looking.
This absolutely must not be known to the daughter-in-law.
Qin Xiangxiang went upstairs, and Zhong Li pulled her into her own home, whispering excitedly, "You really saw her walking? Was that old lady Gou downstairs faking it?"
"It's an act."
Zhong Li slapped her thigh: "How come there are people like this everywhere? There was one in our production team who pretended to be lame, just to avoid working."
Qin Xiangxiang remained silent: "..."
"That old lady is quite the actress!"
Having been caught red-handed, Old Mrs. Gou dared not approach Qin Xiangxiang again. Instead, she went to the couple Chen Ruifeng and Zhao Yangyang on the third floor. Chen Ruifeng accepted a five-yuan red envelope and agreed to lend the watch to Gou Qiang so he could wear it on his blind date.
Gou Qiang is a young man who also likes watches and is concerned about his image. Although his grandmother couldn't borrow a Rolex from the second floor for him, she did manage to borrow an Omega from the third floor. Once he put the watch on his wrist, he couldn't bear to take it off.
After returning from the blind date, the imported watch indeed added to his charm, so he was unwilling to return it.
"Although truck drivers earn high wages, I'm still an apprentice. Buying an imported watch that costs six or seven hundred yuan is harder than climbing to heaven. How many years would it take to save up for that?"
Gou Qiang is the only son in the family. He knows that his parents must have saved up eight hundred or even a thousand yuan, and they definitely have the ability to afford this watch. However, the money is not in his hands, and he cannot make the decision.
He also found it inconvenient to directly tell Chen Ruifeng's family that he wanted to buy his watch.
At this point, his blind date, Gao Rong, gave him an idea: "Find a way to ruin the watch, say you're sorry to his family, and then have your parents buy the watch back at the original price."
Gao Rong was a shrewd woman. Of course she knew that imported watches were valuable and held their value well. Ordinary people couldn't buy them without foreign exchange certificates, and even buying them at the original price was a profit.
Moreover, the person who paid for it was not her, but Gou Qiang's parents. The watch being on Gou Qiang is roughly equivalent to it being on his future wife and children. It's a matter of pride for a husband to have an imported watch.
Gou Qiang was stunned: "How did it get ruined?"
"For example, accidentally falling into the pigsty—" Actually, Gao Rong wanted to say accidentally falling into the manure pit, but that would be too much of a sacrifice. Pig farming smells bad, and the pigsty is smelly. Falling into the pig trough would have about the same effect.
"If people are disgusted by this, and you then say you're willing to buy it at the original price or at 20% off, then the watch is yours."
Gou Qiang: "Huh?!"
His face changed. Falling into the pigsty? How smelly would that be? But if that's the case, then the watch is his.
"Rongrong, you really have a good idea."
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