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n“Auntie, why don’t you say something? Why aren’t you saying anything!” Kong Li said as she sat down beside Xu Lan.

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nIt was not a big deal that she sat down, but the sofa suddenly made a loud sound.

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nXu Lan’s heart skipped a beat. This sofa was bought by her eldest son, Xia Wen, when he got married. It was an imported item and was especially expensive.

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n“Are you feeling full yet? If you don’t feel full, then ask them to make something for you outside. If you’re full, then take a rest,” Xu Lan said in annoyance.

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nKong Li thought that Xu Lan was telling her to eat whatever she wanted. She did not realize that Xu Lan was telling her to shut up.

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nAt this moment, Xia He suddenly received a call.

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n“Hello, who is this?” Xia He asked.

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n“Elder sister, it’s me! I’m Qiao Mei! Tell them you have something on and come out quickly!” Qiao Mei said.

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nWhat a clever person!

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nXia He smiled gently and said, “Yes, yes, I understand. Okay, I’ll go now.”

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nAfter hanging up, she took her bag and prepared to go out.

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n“Where are you going!” Kong Li shouted.

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n“There’s some issues at the art troupe. They want me to go over,” Xia He said as she ran out.

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nAfter Xia He ran out of the courtyard, she saw Qiao Mei, Xia Zhe and her aunt at the road junction.

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nXia He walked over and smiled brightly. She hugged Qiao Mei and said, “How did you come up with this plan?”

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n“I reckon you’ll feel very tired at home and I think it’s better for you to come out and relax with us,” Qiao Mei said with a smile.

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nXia He nodded and said agreeably, “Let’s go, let me bring you shopping. I’ll buy you anything you like today!”

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nXia He hugged Qiao Mei and they walked in front, chatting and laughing.

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nQiao Mei realized that Xia He looked really beautiful when she smiled. Her smile was so dazzling and felt as warm as a little sun.

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nIf she had not married the wrong person, perhaps she would be living in a better and brighter world.

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nAt the thought of this, Qiao Mei smiled and turned to look at Xia Zhe.

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nFortunately, she had Xia Zhe and she did not marry the wrong person.

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nWhen they arrived at the mall, Xia He found out that Qiao Mei and Xia Zhe were going to stay at the old house and decided that they would need a lot of supplies.

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nShe bought everything for them, from small items like pots and pans to big items like a dining table and furniture. She ordered three sets of bedding items for them, as well as a coffee table, chopping board, oven, water heater, and so on.

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nXia He paid for everything. Even before buying everything that they would need, she had already spent more than 1,500 dollars.

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nAt this time, an amount of 1,500 dollars was equivalent to the salary of two people over a year and a half. For people in this era, their salary was only around tens of dollars a month.

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nIt would take two people more than a year without eating or drinking to save 1,500 dollars.

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nHowever, Xia He was a rich woman. She was a member of an art troupe that often went out to perform. With the performance fees, salary and bonus, she could earn a few hundred dollars a month.

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nThis was the reason why Old Madam Kong kept bullying Xia He. She wanted to make use of the Xia family’s prominence in the capital and also wanted Xia He to give her money every month to pay for her expenses.

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nThey always argued about the same thing.

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nInitially, Old Madam Kong wanted her to hand over all her salary to the family. At first, Xia He was willing to do so, but after knowing Old Madam Kong’s character, she became unwilling to do it.

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nOld Madam Kong felt indignant and brought this matter up with her son.

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nKong Lu was a biased person. He felt that his mother had raised him and his brother alone in the past, so he should be filial to his mother now.

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nTherefore, Kong Lu handed over all his salary to his family and he did not give Xia He a single cent. Furthermore, Kong Li even asked Xia He to give her more than 100 dollars every month.

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nKong Lu seemed not to know about these things. It was not as if Xia He had not told him about what happened before, but he did not really care to listen and only felt that his mother and younger sister would not do such things.

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nOn the other hand, when Kong Li complained to Kong Lu about Xia He every day, Kong Lu listened to her.

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nFor 80% of the time when he was home, he would scold Xia He, saying that she did not take good care of his family and made them suffer. As time passed, Xia He became no longer willing to explain herself to him.

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nShe had chosen to get married to this person and she had never regretted it. However, she did feel a little sad and could not understand how things had ended up like this between Kong Lu and her.

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nWhere had all the previous love and affection gone?

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nEverything had long been worn down by these trivial matters. The love and affection from the early days had long been forgotten. They had been married for a long time and the first few years of their marriage were still marked with anniversaries. Now, Kong Lu could not even remember Xia He’s birthday.

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