Chapter 146 This Money Must Be Spent Where It Counts Most

Thanks to the bustling preparations of the two sisters, Du Zhi and Du Yun, the dinner in the county town turned out remarkably well, even though they had cooked it themselves at home.

"This is so delicious, really delicious! I have never eaten food this good and satisfying at home!" Young Du Yang, who had rarely enjoyed a decent meal in town, was practically bursting with high spirits.

"You child!" Du Song reached out and gave him a light pat on the head. Working as a shop assistant meant learning to say what people wanted to hear depending on who was in front of you; how could he just blurt out his inner thoughts so plainly?

"There's nobody here except our own family, why shouldn't I speak the truth?" Du Yang muttered. Seeing that Du Yun and the others did not react negatively, his cheerfulness returned in full force. He picked up a piece of braised pork belly, cooked until tender and melt-in-the-mouth, popped it into his mouth, and ate with absolute contentment.

After finishing the meal and washing the dishes, it was time for sleep. Du Song and Du Yang, the two brothers, gathered their pillows and went off to borrow space to sleep in another room, leaving only the sisters Du Yun and Du Zhi behind.

Weighing down the events of the afternoon, Du Yun felt a subtle knot of unease in her heart. She looked at the items bought from Zhan Ji resting on the bed and reached out to take them out one by one.

"Sister, come here!" Hesitating for a moment, Du Yun decided she needed to clear the air properly. After all, they were blood sisters, and she didn't want this tiny incident to leave a lingering resentment in her older sister's heart.

"Xiaoyun, what is it?" Seeing the bright red dress and the fabric gleaming under the electric light on the bed, Du Zhi vaguely guessed what Du Yun wanted to say, and she walked over to her sister with a hesitant step.

"Sister, you were wronged at Zhan Ji today." Looking into her sister's gentle face beneath the lamplight, Du Yun said in a low voice, "I acted on impulse back then because I wanted to win back your dignity, without ever stopping to think that my actions might have made you feel even more uncomfortable."

"Silly girl, what are you thinking? Is your sister someone that fragile?" Meeting Du Yun's lowered gaze, Du Zhi smiled gently, wrapped her arm around Du Yun's shoulder, and offered comforting words.

In truth, what Du Zhi had experienced at Zhan Ji that afternoon was unprecedented, and the blow to her self-esteem had been massive. Yet Du Zhi was inherently gentle, and faced with her younger sister, who was already consumed by guilt, she naturally could not bring herself to speak the raw truth.

"Sister," Du Yun raised her head, looking up at her sister's gentle, smiling face, and felt her heart swell with the warmth of being understood by her family. She said softly, "The dress we bought this afternoon—I intend for you to wear it on your wedding day. As for the fabric, half of it will be used to make clothes for our family, and the other half will go with you as part of your dowry to the Tang family."

"We can't possibly do that! The clothes and the fabric together cost almost forty yuan!" Although Du Zhi had half-suspected that Du Yun might make such an arrangement, hearing it out loud still made her feel that it was simply far too extravagant.

"Sister, don't rush to refuse me just yet. Let me finish." Du Yun sniffed, pressed firmly and reassuringly on her sister's shoulders, and began to speak at a measured pace.

"Didn't I go to grandmother's house the day before yesterday? Mother and I took the opportunity to quietly ask around about the Tang family. The Tang brother is a good person, and the Tang mother is also kind. You shouldn't suffer much hardship after you marry into their family. But to live a better life and win over a mother-in-law, you have to cater to her preferences, don't you?"

"When I met the Tang mother, they happened to have a guest over. Do you know what kind of clothes the Tang mother was wearing? A cheongsam! Even though the style wasn't particularly modern and the fabric wasn't top-tier, it was unquestionably a cheongsam, paired with high-heeled black velvet cloth shoes."

"Sister, I haven't been to the city much and my horizons are narrow, but looking at the Tang mother's outfit, it is definitely not something a village person would even think of wearing, let alone own. The Tang family are newcomers from elsewhere; almost nobody knows where they came from or what they used to do before. But just by looking at the Tang mother's demeanor and style, you can tell she definitely didn't come from a peasant background."

"How much importance the Tang mother places on clothing is obvious just by looking at herself. If you were to get married wearing the old red padded jacket you made earlier, how could you avoid being completely crushed into the dirt compared to the Tang mother?"

"When our family was poor before, we had no choice. But now that I can earn money, why shouldn't I buy you a nice dress? Why shouldn't I let you hold your head high and live with dignity in front of your mother-in-law?"

"I've thought it all through. When the wedding day comes, you'll wear this red dress, and Mother, I, and the others will each make a new outfit out of the new fabric. I guarantee it will give you plenty of face. The remaining fabric can go with you as part of your dowry; when it's time to give a gift to your mother-in-law, you can present her with a length of it. She is bound to love it."

Du Yun talked on and on, chattering away about everything she had observed in Hexishui Village. When she finally trailed off and fell silent, the room plunged into absolute quiet.

"Sister?" Receiving no reply after pouring her heart out, Du Yun hurriedly propped herself up to look at her older sister. To her surprise, Du Zhi was lying on her side, silently weeping as tears streamed down and soaked her face.

"Sister, why are you crying!" Seeing Du Zhi's tear-streaked face, Du Yun immediately leaned over and busied herself wiping away the tears.

"You silly child, even if your sister had walked into that marriage wearing ragged clothes, I could still have lived a good life afterward. Money must be spent where it counts the most. How wonderful it would be if you kept this money to build a house and help the eldest brother and the others find brides..." Du Zhi's voice choked with sobs, and it took her a long time to string a full sentence together.

"Sister, your happiness matters too! If spending this money can ensure you live well after marriage, then it is well spent—it is spent right where it counts!" Du Yun urged hastily. Seeing her sister weeping uncontrollably, she could do nothing except offer a steady stream of comfort and keep wiping her tears.

"You child, the moment you get a little money you spend it recklessly, and you spent it all on me! What are you all going to do in the future?" Du Zhi's low, muffled sobs escaped as she buried her face in her hands, as if afraid of being overheard by the people next door.

At that moment, Du Zhi could not quite name the exact feeling in her chest. Knowing that her younger sister was devoting herself so entirely to her made her feel overwhelmingly warm, as though something scorching hot had been pressed against her heart. Yet, the thought of how much money Du Yun had spent on her—leaving fewer funds for the family to build a house in the future—made Du Zhi ache with distress.

"Sister, sister, don't cry. I can earn plenty more money in the future, so don't you worry. Later on, our family will build many, many big houses—we'll build them all with sturdy tiled roofs, or like Zhan Ji, we'll build a small Western-style villa. Then we'll string up electric wires, turn on electric lamps, and buy a television and a refrigerator. When summer comes, we can freeze watermelons to eat—won't that be wonderful?" Knowing that her sister's emotional knot had been untied, Du Yun felt a heavy stone lift from her chest as she smiled and painted a picture of the future.

"A refrigerator, freezing watermelons—you're too full of grand ideas!" Du Zhi burst into laughter, teased by Du Yun, and accepted her sister's gesture with deep gratitude from the bottom of her heart.

With the emotional hurdle cleared, the sisters' spirits lifted significantly. As they looked at the clothes and fabric spread across the bed, their innate love for beauty reasserted itself, and they began discussing how best to cut the cloth and sew the garments.