Chapter 130: A Sense of Superiority

"Let's walk from here; leave the car parked right where it is," Xu Fang said.

"Alright," Mo Han replied, pulling the car over to the side of the road.

To be honest, in a small county town like Xiuwen, luxury cars worth over a million are quite rare. Mo Han’s vehicle quickly drew a crowd of onlookers who began pointing and whispering.

After parking, Xu Fang took the lead. As people nearby recognized her and then noticed the car she had arrived in, their expressions turned to envy. Some who knew her even approached to greet her with great enthusiasm.

Seeing the envious gazes of the crowd, Xu Fang’s vanity was immensely satisfied; she felt as if she were walking on air.

"Second Aunt, Sister An'an, you’re here!"

As they reached the entrance of the Xu family home, a young girl of about seventeen or eighteen ran up to greet them.

"Xiao Qiong, where are you headed?" Xu Fang asked.

The girl, Xu Qiong, was the daughter of Xu Fang’s third younger brother—her niece.

"I’m just going out to buy a few things."

Xu Qiong glanced at Mo Han, unsure of how to address him, so she said to Xu Fang, "Second Aunt, you go on inside. I’m going to run my errands."

"Go ahead," Xu Fang nodded and headed toward the main courtyard of the Xu residence, where she soon met the old matriarch.

The old woman was delighted to see Xu Fang and her family. At over seventy years old, she never knew how much time she had left, and seeing her married daughter’s family return brought her indescribable joy.

This was the first time the old woman had met Mo Han. She had heard of him before and had felt it was a pity for her granddaughter, but seeing Mo Han today, he appeared calm and well-mannered, which left her feeling a bit puzzled.

After chatting with the old woman for a while, she received a call from an old friend and stepped out. Mo Han and Li An’an stayed behind to keep the matriarch company.

Soon, Xu Qiong came to summon them for dinner.

"An'an, is this your husband?" Xu Hong, Li An’an’s eldest aunt, asked while sizing Mo Han up.

"Yes, Aunt, his name is Mo Han." Li An’an introduced him, "Mo Han, this is my eldest aunt."

"Aunt," Mo Han nodded toward Xu Hong.

Xu Hong shifted her gaze from Mo Han to Li An’an and sneered, "An'an, you’re such a beautiful young woman. Why on earth did you lose your mind and marry such a loser? Why don't I introduce you to someone better later?"

Xu Hong had always been sharp-tongued and biting.

"Really, with your looks, in our Xiuwen, there would be a line of wealthy young masters waiting to chase after you. How could you let a fool like him marry you?" Ignoring Li An’an’s awkward expression, Xu Hong continued.

Mo Han looked at Xu Hong, a hint of mockery appearing in his eyes.

Li An’an’s face darkened. "Aunt, Mo Han is not a loser. He has helped our family..."

"An'an, don't be hypocritical. When you two got married, it caused quite a stir all over Qiancheng; even here in Xiuwen, plenty of people were talking about it. Really, let me have Young Master Zhang come over tonight so you can meet him. The Zhang family is one of the wealthiest in Xiuwen; they have a fortune. If you marry him, your whole family would be stepping into high society." Xu Hong spoke with flair.

"Yes, An'an. Your aunt isn't lying to you. The Zhang family is the richest in Xiuwen, with assets in the hundreds of millions, and Young Master Zhang is still single. Given your qualities, he would surely be very fond of you."

Just then, Li An’an’s eldest uncle’s wife, Li Xue, walked out carrying dishes. She glanced at Mo Han, and seeing him remain silent, she simply shook her head.

Li An’an was about to lose her temper, but Mo Han held her hand, signaling her to ignore them.

At that moment, Li An’an’s eldest and second uncles returned, along with some neighbors who had been helping with the gravesite work. Li Xue went to pour water for them to wash their hands, while Xu Hong helped bring out the dishes.

Soon, everyone took their seats. Li An’an had wanted to introduce Mo Han to her uncles, but she decided against it.

"An'an, are you two the only ones who came?" asked the eldest uncle, Xu Kai.

"My mom came too, but she had some business and stepped out. I called her, and she said she was waiting for a taxi," Li An’an replied.

"I have to say, An'an, is your family so strapped for cash now that you can't even afford a used car? You can get one for just a few tens of thousands, and it would make getting around so much easier," Xu Hong interrupted.

They knew Li Xiande had long since fallen out of favor with the Li family and had no money. Xu Hong was simply being malicious, eager to display her sense of superiority in front of them.

Back when Li Xiande was successful, he was the pride of the Xu family. Every time they visited, the whole family would revolve around them. Xu Fang used to be generous, bringing gifts and giving out large red envelopes to the younger generation. Xu Hong had always resented Xu Fang for that, especially since Xu Fang had married into the wealthy Li family in the provincial capital while she had only married a low-level civil servant with no real power.

Every time she saw the glamorous Xu Fang, Xu Hong was consumed by jealousy. But in recent years, since Li Xiande had been discarded by the Li family, Xu Hong felt she had finally turned the tables. With her own son making a little money from his small business, she took every opportunity to show off. Now, she couldn't wait to flaunt her status in front of Li An’an’s family.

"Big Sister, you know how it is. Li Xiande isn't valued by the old man of the Li family anymore; he’s been finished for a long time. They still haven't even paid back the ten thousand yuan they borrowed from us last year. How could they afford a car?" Li Xue interjected from the side.

"That’s true. With no income, even the largest savings can't last. Sister-in-law, I’m afraid you’ll never see that ten thousand yuan again. I knew back then that Li Xiande would never bounce back, so I never lent them a dime," Xu Hong said, completely disregarding Li An’an’s feelings.

Li An’an frowned, deeply uncomfortable. She felt that her aunt and uncle’s wife were deliberately targeting her. The neighbors helping with the gravesite looked on with curious, prying eyes, which only made Li An’an more frustrated.

Just as she was about to say that they had come specifically to pay back her uncle, her uncle frowned and said, "Can’t you two just keep it down for once?"

"By the way, Xu Kai, didn't you want to buy a used car? How about I sell you mine? I’ll give it to you for just fifty thousand, how’s that?" Xu Hong asked with a smile.

Xu Kai was speechless. His eldest sister had been competitive since childhood. Having been overshadowed by Xu Fang for years, now that the Xu Fang family had fallen on hard times, she was desperate to show off. He didn't know what to say.

"That sounds good. Are you planning to buy a new car then?" asked Li Xue, who had just brought out the final dish.

"Yes, my son Liang has his eye on a new Volkswagen. It’s about 150,000. I think it’s time we upgraded," Xu Hong said proudly, deliberately glancing at Li An’an. Seeing Li An’an’s furrowed brow gave her a sense of satisfaction.

"150,000 for a car—that’s impressive! You rarely see cars like that in this area," one of the helpers chimed in.

"It’s just alright, I suppose. Of course, it can’t compare to those million-dollar luxury cars," Xu Hong said with a modest smile.

"Let’s eat, let’s eat," Xu Kai said, wanting to get the meal over with so they could head back to the gravesite, not wanting to deal with Xu Hong anymore.

Just then, a man in his fifties walked in. As Xu Kai was about to invite him to eat, the man asked, "Which one of you owns that Audi A8 outside? Could you please move it? We need to use that space."