Chapter 312 - 177: Not Returning Home in Glory Is Like...

Chapter 312: Chapter 177: Not Returning Home in Glory Is Like...

"What’s that our sweet Momo is wearing? It’s so shiny and sparkly, is that a leather jacket?"

"And look at Tieying’s ears, now *that’s* what you call glittering gold. She’s not wearing gold earrings, is she?"

The women whispered among themselves.

Hearing this, Gao Cuihua craned her neck, her rear end lifting right off the stone bench. When she saw the golden earrings sparkling on Zhao Tieying’s ears, she flopped back down, a sour feeling welling up inside her.

"Tieying, you’re back," her neighbor, Li Hongyan, called out.

Zhou Miao squeezed the brakes, and the bicycle came to a stop under the large tree.

"Finished with your meals and setting up the Dragon Gate Formation here?" Zhao Tieying said from the back seat. She smiled, tucking a non-existent strand of hair behind her ear. The earrings swayed gently, flashing gold.

"You’re wearing such big gold earrings now! You must’ve struck it rich!" Li Hongyan exclaimed.

"Oh, you know, Zhou Miao said I didn’t have any nice jewelry," Zhao Tieying said with a beaming smile. "The last time we went to the department store, he insisted on buying me a pair of gold earrings. They’re from Laofengxiang, too."

"He’s so good to you!"

"At least he knows how to dote on his wife, unlike my good-for-nothing husband who only knows how to play cards all day!"

"Mine’s no different. That bastard just chugs cheap booze as soon as the sun goes down, then passes out. I can’t even get a single word out of him."

The women’s faces were filled with envy. They seized the opportunity to grit their teeth and thoroughly criticize their own husbands.

"Is that a new Shanghai watch on his wrist?" Li Hongyan, ever sharp-eyed, had spotted something else. "Those cost over a hundred yuan!"

All eyes immediately shifted to Zhou Miao’s wrist.

And indeed, there was a shiny new Shanghai brand watch.

"Not quite a hundred. The price dropped, so it was only seventy," Zhao Tieying said with a laugh. "Zhou Yan bought it for his old man. He said that since his dad loves fishing and always loses track of time, a watch would be more convenient."

"A watch just for fishing? Wow, Zhou Yan is really rich and a good son," Li Hongyan remarked with a sigh.

The others all nodded in agreement, while criticizing silently in their hearts.

’A seventy-yuan watch, just to go fishing!’

"Is that a leather jacket on little Momo? It looks so fashionable," Li Hongyan said, her gaze shifting to Zhou Momo.

"Hello, Mrs. Li," Zhou Momo greeted her politely.

"Yes, a friend of Zhou Yan’s bought it for her from Xiangjiang. I don’t know what brand it is, I wouldn’t recognize it anyway. It’s real leather, though. It feels so comfortable, completely different from a cotton-padded jacket," Zhao Tieying said, beaming. "This hat was also a gift from his friend. It’s called... a newsboy cap, or something like that."

"It’s from Xiangjiang!"

Hearing this, the women’s eyes went wide.

Li Hongyan leaned in to feel the jacket herself. "The leather is so soft!" she exclaimed. "It’s even softer than that jacket I saw at the department store that cost over a hundred yuan!"

"Yuyan gave it to me. She’s very pretty," Zhou Momo said.

"How does Zhou Yan know a pretty girl from Xiangjiang? And one who brings such a nice leather jacket for Momo, too," someone asked curiously.

"Well, our Zhou Yan is an excellent Chef. He’s handsome, and he’s so charming and capable. A lot of customers who try his food want to become his friend." With a proud expression, Zhao Tieying held out the magazine in her hand. "Look, his dish even made the cover of a magazine. There’s a whole feature interview inside. I heard only First-level and Special Level Chefs get into this magazine."

"In a magazine?"

"A feature interview?!"

The women were dumbstruck. They all stared at the magazine cover in Zhao Tieying’s hand, which showed a pot of beef soup in a Blue and White Porcelain Bowl.

"Isn’t that the hot pot from our Zhou Village?" Li Hongyan asked in surprise.

"It’s the Kneeling Beef that Zhou Yan makes," Zhao Tieying said, beaming as she flipped to Zhou Yan’s interview. "See? They even took his picture."

The women peered at it intently.

"It really is Zhou Yan!"

"He looks so dapper in the picture!"

"That boy has really made something of himself! Getting into a magazine! The only people who get their names in print are the ones who’ve made it big."

"Tieying, you’re so blessed. Your husband dotes on you, and your son is so successful. You must be the happiest woman alive."

"Seriously. That useless lump at my house just lies in bed all day like a lazy toad. He won’t move unless you poke him."

This time, the women under the tree were truly and deeply envious.

’No matter how generous a husband is, it’s still just family money he’s spending.’

’But a capable and filial son... that’s something every mother dreams of having.’

’And now...’

’Zhao Tieying’s dream has come true!’

’Wait, sis?’

’How did you get to live a life like this?’

’Your own mediocrity is one thing, but your best friend’s success is what really keeps you up at night.’

Nearby, Gao Cuihua’s face was twisted with jealousy.

Zhao Tieying took in everyone’s expressions, unable to keep the smile off her face.

"Alright, alright, that’s enough chatting. We’ve got things to do at home. Everyone should come visit me in town when you have time to hang out," Zhao Tieying said, beaming as she tucked the magazine away.

Zhou Miao immediately started pedaling the bicycle toward the village.

He left behind a group of women practically sick with envy.

"Look at her, soaking it all in! People who get into university aren’t even that smug with their acceptance letters. You’d think her Zhou Yan just became the top scholar in the imperial exams!" Gao Cuihua spat, her voice dripping with jealousy.

"Well, Zhou Yan’s dish did make the cover, and he’s featured alongside a bunch of First-level and Special Level Chefs. A top student is a ’top scholar of letters,’ so I guess that makes him a ’top scholar of cooking’!" Li Hongyan laughed.

"Exactly! If my son were that capable, I’d cut two eye holes in that magazine and wear it like a mask. I’d parade through the village every morning and every evening."

"We’re all part of the extended Zhou Family, aren’t we? Their ancestral tomb must be burning with good fortune. How come none of that luck rubbed off on us?"

The women chattered on, the word "envy" having been repeated so many times it had lost all meaning.

Gao Cuihua’s fists clenched and unclenched. Gritting her teeth, she stormed back home.