"Alright." Hearing the woman's request, Sheng Xia smiled and agreed.
As a mother with a daughter of her own, she deeply understood this mother's feelings.
In her past life, around the time her precious daughter got married, she felt the exact same way—worrying that her daughter might be mistreated at her husband's home, even though the marriage was right in the same residential compound.
"Thank you!" Seeing Sheng Xia agree, the woman's smile grew even more radiant.
Without wasting any time, Sheng Xia picked up her makeup tools and began the process step by step.
"Yingzi, are you really going to marry Dajun? You're a proper young woman, and Dajun already has a child!" While Sheng Xia was busy, a mother and daughter were walking near the State-run Restaurant. The older woman, with a head full of white hair, pulled her daughter aside and spoke in a disgruntled tone.
"It's just a little girl, not a boy, and her former wife is raising her anyway. Once I give birth to a son, will he even care about some money-losing brat?" The two women were none other than Wang Chaoying and her mother.
Ever since things happened between her and Xu Aijun that day, Xu Aijun didn't dare refuse to take responsibility and had already agreed to marry her.
Since they were getting married, they naturally had to arrange a meeting between both sets of parents, which was why she had called her mother to Linhai City.
Hearing her mother express dissatisfaction with Xu Aijun, she rolled her eyes.
In her past life, she had listened to her mother and married a Textile Factory director. What good had it done? She still ended up laid off when the time came, and her husband, incompetent and useless, only knew how to beat her when he came home.
By comparison, in her past life, Xu Aijun had devoted his entire life to Sheng Xia alone. She had even watched their love story on Douyin; Xu Aijun was famous for his devotion and loyalty.
She deserved a man like that.
As she spoke, she rubbed her belly. She had given birth to a son in her past life, and she would definitely give birth to a son in this one.
She wasn't like Sheng Xia, a cursed barren woman who couldn't bear sons. Once she had a son, Xu Aijun would certainly treat her even better than he had treated Sheng Xia.
"Yingzi, someone introduced a man to you who is already a Textile Factory director at such a young age, and his betrothal gift was more than generous..." Wang Chaoying's mother still wanted to persuade her. No matter how good Xu Aijun was, his divorce had left him giving all his money to his former wife.
Word had it he still owed his former wife 800 yuan, so he couldn't possibly scrape together much of a betrothal gift for this marriage. And after marrying him, he would still have to hand over a third of his salary to the daughter born to his former wife.
No matter how she looked at it, he couldn't compare to a Textile Factory director—just the title sounded impressive. If her daughter hooked up with a Textile Factory director, Yingzi's younger brother wouldn't have to worry about his job either.
"Brother Jun will be much more impressive than a director in the future." The moment Wang Chaoying heard the words "Textile Factory director," she got annoyed. Knowing why her mother had taken a fancy to that man, she retorted, "Rest assured, once Brother Jun and I are married, Sheng Xia won't get a single penny. After that, I'll give you and my younger brother 20 yuan every month, and later on, I'll have Brother Jun pull some strings to find him a job."
In her past life, she had begged at their doorstep, practically kowtowing, and in the end, she had only managed to get a temporary job. Thinking back on it now, it must have been that cheap woman Sheng Xia who had meddled behind the scenes. In this life, she was going to work at the library and hand that temporary job right over to her younger brother.
She remembered that Xu Aijun would be promoted next year, and getting her brother's position made official then would be as simple as saying a single word.
That was her own flesh-and-blood brother, who would be around to back her up in the future; she naturally had to help him out.
"Dajun has that kind of capability? Good, that's wonderful!" Sure enough, upon hearing that her daughter would provide money and secure a job for her son, Wang Chaoying's mother stopped mentioning the Textile Factory director.
"Mm, when we meet the in-laws later, you need to hold your ground. A betrothal gift of 1,000 yuan—not a fen less. I'll take half of it and leave the other half for my brother to take a wife." Wang Chaoying instructed her mother as they walked toward the State-run Restaurant.
"Eh, don't you worry!" Wang Chaoying's mother grinned from ear to ear. "You really are my daughter, so capable. Not only did you manage to return to the city on your own, but you also—"
"What is it?" Mid-sentence, she suddenly noticed Wang Chaoying had stopped, a strange look on her face.
"Sheng Xia." Wang Chaoying had spotted Sheng Xia setting up her stall right outside the entrance of the State-run Restaurant. "She's actually out here running a street stall, haha..."
She suddenly burst into laughter. In her past life, Sheng Xia had been so proud and beautiful in front of her, yet after the divorce, she had actually turned into a petty vendor.
Let's see how proud she could be from now on. She looked down at her own hands; without a man, Sheng Xia would end up just like her in the past life—hands covered in calluses, a face full of wrinkles, and hair full of white hair.
"What? You said Dajun's former wife, Sheng Xia? Where is she?" Wang Chaoying's mother asked in surprise, peering toward the entrance of the State-run Restaurant.
"Stop looking, let's go!" She grabbed her mother and turned around. "We'll meet the in-laws at home this time."
"What? Didn't you say it was at the State-run Restaurant? Meeting at home isn't nearly as respectable as at a restaurant, and your mom hasn't eaten at a State-run Restaurant in ages." Wang Chaoying's mother sounded somewhat dissatisfied.
"If you want me to have a proper wedding and get my betrothal gift, shut your mouth and do as I say!" Wang Chaoying's face was dark as she thought of Xu Aijun. Although he had agreed to marry her, he had been sluggish and indifferent lately.
She couldn't let Xu Aijun see that Sheng Xia had become a street vendor. What if he saw how miserable she was, felt a pang of pity, and let it affect their marriage?
Seeing how grim her expression was, Wang Chaoying's mother finally said no more, though she still couldn't resist her curiosity and glanced back over her shoulder.
Sure enough, she saw Sheng Xia busy applying makeup. With noon fast approaching, the weather was somewhat warm, and tiny beads of sweat dotted her face. Crystal-clear, they reflected her face in the sunlight as if she were glowing.
"All done!" Sheng Xia finally finished putting makeup on the first customer's daughter and handed them a mirror to take a look. In that instant, the reflection in the mirror caught the retreating figure of Wang Chaoying.
She didn't take it to heart. The State-run Restaurant was a public place where anyone could come.
Since she had chosen to set up her stall here, she had already anticipated running into acquaintances.
So what if they saw her? Earning money with her own two hands was nothing to be ashamed of.
"It's so pretty! Comrade Sheng Xia, how did you grow hands like these? You're so talented!" The mother and daughter looked at their faces in the mirror, overjoyed, and showered Sheng Xia with endless praise.
"Here's 1 yuan. Once I nail down the wedding date, you'll have to do my makeup again!" The daughter pulled out a handkerchief containing two twenty-fen coins, a ten-fen coin, and a fifty-fen coin, handing them over to Sheng Xia together.
"If the wedding date is this month, no problem." Sheng Xia smiled, reached out to take the money, and replied.
She didn't know yet what kind of stall-keeping task the System would assign her next month; chances were high it wouldn't be makeup. If the wedding was next month, she wouldn't be able to do it.
"It's this month." The girl didn't think much of it and replied immediately.
"Alright then." Since it was confirmed for this month, Sheng Xia made no further objections.
With this makeup session finished, Sheng Xia's morning work came to an end. She tidied up briefly and walked into the State-run Restaurant to have lunch. As she ate, she found herself hoping that next month's task would be selling food.
Otherwise, living out in the village and coming into the city to run a stall made having lunch terribly inconvenient. In half a month's time, the grain coupons she had brought from home when she divorced were almost entirely used up.
Almost all the other private stalls were located near the docks, which was inconvenient for her to get to.
After wolfing down her meal in a few quick bites, Sheng Xia resumed her busy afternoon work.