That year the flowers bloomed 1981

Chapter 1509 Which of you has a Beijing hukou (household registration)?

"No matter what kind of car he drives, he's still a division-level official in his thirties. Isn't my uncle's biggest dream in life also to be a division-level official?"

Ji Xiangmin's words almost left Ren Fangfang speechless.

What a woman loves to show off most is her husband and son.

Ren Fangfang's husband was quite successful when he was young. He was eloquent, handsome, and was promoted to section chief at a young age. At that time, he was much more successful than her brother-in-law who was a teacher.

Especially shortly after getting married, Ren Fangfang's brother-in-law became the ninth member of the X family, while her own husband took advantage of her excellent eloquence, which made Ren Fangfang feel that her sister was inferior to her in every way. Her brother-in-law, Ji Guowei, had even climbed the social ladder by marrying into the Ren family.

But fortunes change, and next year, just as Ren Fangfang reached middle age, the wheels of history turned back again.

In the past ten years or so, her brother-in-law Ji Guowei has risen through the ranks, his position has long surpassed that of Ren Fangfang's husband, and he is also the leader of a certain research direction in the school, which gives him a lot of face in front of the principal.

Ren Fangfang's husband, however, has been stuck in the same place all these years, unable to cross the threshold of the division-level cadre position.
Because the division-level position is not as simple as the section-level position. It's not something you can get promoted to just by being eloquent and good at flattery. You need both connections and ability.

However, Ren Fangfang's husband has only focused on honing his verbal skills over the years, neglecting his professional abilities. In addition, he offended people due to his arrogance in previous years, so he basically has no chance of advancing further in his life.

That's why Ren Fangfang has been so critical and disdainful of her sister's family all these years. She believes that if she can find fault with her sister's family, it proves that their life isn't going well either.
This is actually using PUA tactics to perpetuate the superiority that their family had over their sister's family in previous years.

This is similar to how, even though the Great Qing Dynasty has long since died, some people flaunt their "Heavenly Pattern" to prove that everyone else is a country bumpkin and that they are the true nobles.

So when Ren Fangfang arrived at the restaurant today, she once again unleashed her skills on her sister, listing all of Zhao Meiwen's faults.

Ren Fangfang's son hasn't even found a girlfriend yet! But Ren Miaomiao's son is going to marry a beautiful girl?

Pah! What good is it if a country girl is pretty? She must be despised, utterly despised.

But today, Ren Fangfang's signature move completely failed her; her older sister, Ren Miaomiao, simply didn't react, leaving Ren Fangfang to punch nothing at all.

When Ren Fangfang came out to vent her anger on her nephews and nieces, she was instead rebuked by her nieces. How could she bear that?
However, just then, Li Ye and the others' car arrived at the restaurant entrance, and Ji Xiangyu also called his sister, brother-in-law, and their family out. Ren Fangfang couldn't make a scene on the spot, so she could only endure it for the time being and prepare to find a suitable opportunity to make sarcastic remarks to vent her dissatisfaction.

The first Volga stopped in front of the restaurant. Ji Xiangyu hurriedly led his sister, parents, and grandmother to greet it, but when the car door opened, four girls got out, each one more youthful and beautiful than the last.

After getting out of the car, Zhao Meiwen quickly explained, "Uncle, Aunt, Grandma Liu, my mother doesn't know the way, so we're leading the way. My parents and grandparents are in the car behind."

"Oh, oh, oh, the car behind us!"

Only then did the Ji family members look at the Crown car behind them.

Today, Wu Juying asked Li Ye and Li Yue to "keep a low profile," so she had Li Juan bring over the family's "veteran driving school car." However, she didn't make the same request of her aunt, Li Mingxiang.

After all, the main character today is the Zhao family. If the main character is low-key, then why should the supporting characters be low-key?

The Crown in the 1990s was still quite high-end, and the people on Lao Ji's side immediately began to have doubts.

Whose Crown car is that? Zhao Meiwen's cousin's?

"No way! Look at the license plate, it's from Dongshan!"

[Isn't Zhao Meiwen's father a county-level bureau chief? How could his official car be this high-end?]

"Uncle, Aunt, Grandma Liu, this is my mother, this is my father, this is my maternal grandfather, this is my maternal grandmother."

When Li Mingxiang, the younger sister-in-law, got out of the driver's seat, and Zhao Meiwen introduced them one by one, the Ji family members were even more surprised.

Because they had already vaguely guessed a certain possibility—Zhao Meiwen's casual remark about "my mom selling home appliances" might not be as simple as just using Zhao Yuanchao's status to resell ten or eight color TVs; the business might be much larger.

Ji Xiangyu's grandmother greeted Wu Juying first.

"You're Wu's sister, right? Hello, hello! I've heard from my Xiangyu that your cooking is especially delicious, much better than mine. I was thinking that for our generation, cooking is all about adding more meat, right? I didn't do anything wrong, hahaha."

"Oh dear, sister-in-law, you've misunderstood your grandson. She's just saying that to make me look good! All I do when I cook is make it oily and meaty."

Ji Xiangyu's mother and sister then greeted Li Mingxiang.

"Hello Aunt Li, I'm Xiangyu's second sister. I was supposed to pick you up today, but Meiwen said you drove here yourself. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience."

"Hey, what's the big deal? Since the child knows the way, we can come by ourselves. My parents always taught us that the less strict the rules at home, the happier we are, so let's not worry about being neglected."

"Yes, yes, yes, that's what my grandma said too. She especially likes Meiwen. She's smart, sensible, and generous. She's obviously very satisfied with her."

The adults from both families met for the first time, and the atmosphere was very harmonious. After Li Juan, Li Ying, and Fu Yiruo got off the bus, they obediently stood on the outside as background figures.

They were all "forced" to come here today, hoping to be "ignored" by everyone. But the more they tried to remain "invisible," the more they were targeted.

Unable to get a word in edgewise with the elders, Ji Xiangyu's aunt called him over and gestured towards the three girls with her chin.

"Xiaoyu, who are those girls? Are they also relatives of Zhao Meiwen?"

Ji Xiangyu slowly shook his head: "I don't know, I've never seen it."

"Don't know? Why don't you just go and ask?"

Ren Fangfang approached Fu Yiruo and the others with a smile and said cheerfully, "Hello, are you all relatives of Zhao Meiwen?"

The three girls looked each other over, then nodded in unison, but none of them said a word.

Because at this moment, Ren Fangfang looked exactly like those matchmakers at the entrance of the alley.

Ren Fangfang immediately felt contempt for him.

[These three blockheads have no basic manners; they're clearly from the countryside, all show and no substance.]

In fact, Ren Fangfang had her eye on Fu Yiruo and the others as soon as they got out of the car.

The three girls were in the prime of their youth, dressed in fashionable custom-made clothes, and always followed Wen Leyu around. Their image and temperament stood out among their peers.

Ren Fangfang's son doesn't have a girlfriend yet! If the parents of these three girls were as well-off as Zhao Meiwen's parents, it wouldn't be impossible to consider marrying them into the family.

But after only exchanging one sentence, Ren Fangfang was already displeased; she didn't want to marry a mute daughter-in-law.

Ren Fangfang then asked, "I saw Meiwen's mother driving just now. Was that a private car?"

The three girls looked at each other again, then nodded in unison, and like three curious cats, stared at Ren Fangfang with their big eyes.

Ren Fangfang suddenly felt uncomfortable all over.

She felt that Li Juan, Fu Yiruo, and others were unruly, and that they seemed to be watching a spectacle.

Ren Fangfang narrowed her eyes and asked again, "Did you come with Meiwen's mother? It must have been a long and tiring journey from Dongshan to Beijing."

The three girls paused for a few seconds, then shook their heads in unison.

Ren Fangfang was furious.

Where did these three silly little devils come from?

Just then, Zhao Meiwen broke free from the elders' "praise" and quickly walked over.

"What's wrong, Auntie?"

"Oh, Meiwen! I noticed your three girlfriends seem a bit shy around strangers, so I thought I'd come over and chat with them. Are they all relatives from your hometown?"

"Relatives from my hometown?"

Zhao Meiwen paused for a moment, then shook her head and said, "No, my three younger sisters all live in the capital."

"They all live in the capital?"

Ren Fangfang was taken aback for a moment, then hurriedly asked, "Which of them has a Beijing household registration?"

Zhao Meiwen was stunned again, finally realizing that something was wrong.

But the next moment, little Li Ying raised her hand and said, "Auntie, I don't have a Beijing household registration."

Fu Yiruo smiled and said, "Yes, I'm not a Beijing resident either."

Li Juan was left alone at the scene, unsure of what to say next.

[Damn it, so I'm the only one with a Beijing residency permit?]

Sure enough, Ren Fangfang's gaze instantly focused on Li Juan.

　Staying by the bedside, Chapter Two will be updated tomorrow at noon.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)