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Chapter 412
The second day at lunchtime, Su Ying came to find Zhi Xia and said, “Although this permed hair looks good, it’s too hard to take care of it by myself. Didn't someone give us a free salon treatment? Let's just go get it done this afternoon, so it looks nice for the auction tonight.”
“Alright, let's go after we finish eating.” Since it takes a long time to do hair, it won't be too late to come back and change clothes after we're done.
Speaking of which, these kinds of evening parties and banquets have only become popular in the last couple years, brought back by those who fled to Hong Kong before.
Now that people have money, they care a lot more about reputation, whether their charity is genuine or not. If you do it, there will always be people who benefit.
After lunch, Zhi Xia told Pei Jing and then went out with Su Ying. If Su Ying and Zhi Xia had known they would run into Liu Ling at the door, they probably wouldn't have chosen to come here together today.
"Sister-in-law..." Zhi Xia and Su Ying greeted her politely.
Liu Ling also nodded at them. She was with a teacher, a colleague from her school. Since the kids were all in elementary school at the one where Liu Ling worked, they were familiar with most of the teachers there.
Liu Ling started chatting with her colleague again, her attitude toward the two of them remaining cold from start to finish.
Zhi Xia and Su Ying looked at each other, both feeling very helpless.
Liu Ling's colleague was also puzzled, nudging her arm and whispering, "Isn't that your little sister-in-law? You two used to get along well before, how come you're so cold now?"
"How can you compare it to the past? Ever since our second brother married his wife, they haven't stayed home for long. It used to be just me as the sister-in-law around, and now there's another one, isn't there?" Liu Ling said.
Hearing this, the other woman instantly understood.
But with family matters like these, between the sister-in-law and little sister-in-law, it was hard to judge right and wrong, so she chose to keep quiet and change the subject.
Zhang's wife hurried over to greet the two girls. It wasn't the weekend today, so there were only a couple people coming in for haircuts, not too busy at all.
After Zhi Xia and Su Ying got their hair done, even though Zhi Xia didn't want to, she still went up and said, "Sister-in-law, Su Ying and I are finished, so we'll head back first."
"Mm." Liu Ling nodded.
Once they got outside, Zhi Xia let out a long sigh, rolling her eyes in frustration.
Su Ying wasn't hot-tempered, and she often had to deal with all sorts of people in business, so she operated with a smile to greet others.
But after being stifled like this today, she really felt dissatisfied. As soon as they got outside, she couldn't hold back. "We've done everything we should on our end. If sister-in-law is still unhappy in her heart, there's nothing we can do. We can't tiptoe around her emotions at the expense of making ourselves uncomfortable."
She and Zhi Xia lived close by, so they ran into each other coming and going, greeting each other several times a day.
Plus, Zhi Xia needed to attend banquets, and she knew more about the kind of clothes and things the family wore, so the two often interacted.
Was Liu Ling going to insist on nitpicking this point, refusing to let her and Zhi Xia speak from now on?
"Let's go back and get changed for the auction," Zhi Xia said, not venting her unhappiness to Su Ying. She was the little sister-in-law and Liu Ling was the sister-in-law, but between her and Su Ying they were sisters-in-law, and conflicts tended to arise more easily between sisters-in-law than aunt and niece. Zhi Xia's closet at home had gone from one unit to a whole row. Plus, with the kids getting bigger, they each had their own rooms now. The children's things had gradually been removed, leaving her with more space of her own.
Opening the closet, it was filled to the brim with her clothes. And this wasn't even that many - most were still in her storage space, along with the clothes and accessories gifted by her interspatial girlfriends.
Zhi Xia chose a more formal black ankle-length dress, with a thin overlay of gauze. On her feet were some pearl-set high heels that complemented her figure.
For accessories, she selected a pearl set that seemed to match the outfit best.
The lights were just coming on for the evening. Looking at Zhi Xia's shoes, Su Ying said, "Sometimes I don't get it - where do you buy so many nice shoes from? Each pair is so beautiful, yet uniquely different from the others."
Of course she didn't know these came easily for Zhi Xia through the interspatial trading hub.
Zhi Xia had also given her several pairs of shoes that Su Ying loved wearing.
She worked in fashion herself, so she had a keen eye for stylish things like this. Good clothes needed good shoes to complete the look, but even having gone to Shanghai and Hong Kong herself, she still felt many things didn't measure up to Zhi Xia's in either quality or flair.
"An overseas client helped source them for me. They don't cost much anyway, so whenever she finds nice ones I have her buy them for me to collect," Zhi Xia could only explain it like this.
For others, each pair might be exorbitantly priced, but for her they came extremely easily.
Just from the resources her zombie girlfriends had given her over the years, there were many luxury goods included, though some brands didn't exist in this world, so they weren't conspicuous here.
But in terms of workmanship, quality, and style, things were naturally better in more advanced societies.
"No wonder. If it's convenient, could you also buy some pairs for me? I'll pay," Su Ying said. "I can design the clothes myself, but I can't make shoes - embroidered shoes are fine, but that's it."
Zhi Xia agreed to get some for her in a while.
She wasn't petty about money herself. She valued relationships, and her brothers all treated her well, so she treated their wives like her own sisters.
Even with her second sister-in-law living far away, she would often send gifts to them and the kids, lest distance strain their ties. And they would send local specialties back, the value mattered less than the thought behind it.
Otherwise, without contact over long distances, feelings would inevitably grow weaker.
But she truly hadn't expected to somehow develop this baseless conflict with Liu Ling, over reasons that didn't even count as reasons.
Cars from 1986 were still rare, but not as rare as before.
Pei Jing had dropped them off, and after the two got out, he went to his own appointment.
The Ji Auction House had been very famous in the Republican Era, even continuing into the early PRC days. But during the special period after, they were forced to close down, and the Ji family, young and old, left this place.
It wasn't until two years ago that they moved back as a family. Leaving in defeat, but returning in glory, swiftly making a name in Jincheng under the banner of charity.