Visiting His Wife's Family
To be honest, Chen Pingsheng himself admitted that he had acted a little impulsively.
But there was a reason for it. Every time he visited his mother-in-law's house over the past few years, his unglamorous job had caused even Song Yanxi to be looked down upon.
With only two days left until the New Year, he wanted to buy his wife a good car—just to show everyone.
To prove that he, Chen Pingsheng, was indeed a man worthy of trust for a lifetime.
As for everything else, that could wait.
Song Yanxi had gotten her driver's license a long time ago, but she rarely drove, so she wasn't very skilled. Crawling along the road at 30 km/h, she moved at a snail's pace.
Meanwhile, little An'an was even more excited than her mother, bouncing around in the backseat. Her almost entirely missing baby teeth were visible as she grinned nonstop.
She clung to her father, bombarding him with questions.
"What's this button for, Daddy?"
"What does that do?"
"Can this big car play cartoons?"
That last one had to be arranged. He planned to buy her a little iPad as a New Year's gift.
"Honey, where did you get another few hundred thousand yuan?"
Once she got used to driving, her nerves eased a bit, and Song Yanxi finally voiced the question that had been bothering her.
"Of course, I made it selling durians."
Chen Pingsheng explained, "You wouldn't believe it—I invested 190,000 yuan to stock up, and the very next day, a blizzard hit. With no new durians coming in, the prices skyrocketed, so I seized the opportunity and made a decent profit."
Song Yanxi didn't doubt him. As long as her husband could make money, she was happy.
"But you spent all the money on the car. What about the house?"
"No rush for that. An'an won't start first grade until next June."
Chen Pingsheng held his daughter in his arms. "Since we're going to buy a house, we should get a bigger one. Once my income stabilizes next year, we can even have another child."
Another child?
Song Yanxi didn't object. If the family's finances allowed, one child did seem too few.
She hadn't dared to think about it before, but now, the idea didn't seem so far-fetched.
When they got home, his childhood friend Shaoshuai even brought a long string of firecrackers, tying a red ribbon onto the new car and setting off a loud celebration.
Of course, red envelopes were a must.
In the countryside, buying an Audi A4L outright would be a big deal.
But in Beijing? Not so much.
Chen Pingsheng planned to sort out the house situation within three months. Once the New Year passed, durians wouldn't be as profitable, so he had to think of other ways to make money.
---
The Day Before New Year's Eve
Song Wu was still busy attending a classmate gathering.
She was only two years younger than Song Yanxi. Unlike her older sister, who was raised by their grandparents in the countryside, she had been brought to Beijing in middle school and had lived with their parents ever since.
Growing up in the capital, she naturally developed a sense of superiority.
Truthfully, their family was at most middle-class in Beijing.
Her mother was a native Beijinger, but her father wasn't. With support from the older generation, they had managed to settle down in the capital.
Their home wasn't large—a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment totaling 120 square meters. After deducting shared spaces, the usable area was barely 100 square meters.
The main reason Song Wu looked down on her country-bumpkin brother-in-law was this ingrained Beijing snobbery.
To her, outsiders were inherently inferior.
And then there was his profession—just the thought of it was humiliating. If she became a big star in the future and people found out her brother-in-law was a durian vendor, wouldn't that ruin her image?
That was why she had been trying to persuade her sister to divorce him.
"Hey, Xiaowu, check out your sister's social media post!"
"What's there to see? It's either her husband or An'an."
Song Wu felt her sister had been living in the countryside for too long, developing a rustic habit of posting about family life.
Unlike her—her posts were all about high-end restaurants and afternoon tea.
"Your sister bought a car."
Their father, Song Dad, actually liked Chen Pingsheng, but his opinion never held weight in the household.
Their mother, a true Beijinger, was the one in charge.
"What kind of car could she afford?"
Song Wu dismissed it, but when she clicked on the post and saw the Audi she liked, she immediately sat up straight.
"Strange… Did she just take a picture of someone else's car?"
"Do you think your sister is like you?"
Song Dad scoffed, "Pingsheng is hardworking. He's been saving up for years—buying an Audi A4 isn't surprising."
"He probably just put down a 20-30% down payment."
Song Wu remained indifferent. Many of her classmates drove luxury cars. A little Audi A4 was hardly impressive.
Once she became a famous actress, a single scene would earn her enough to buy several of them.
"Your sister will be home soon. Drop the attitude and be polite to your brother-in-law. Their life isn't easy."
Song Dad tried to reason with her.
Song Wu pouted, not listening at all.
How could she possibly respect a street vendor selling durians?
It was just embarrassing. She couldn't even bring herself to mention him in public.
---
The family set the table and prepared dishes for the New Year's Eve dinner.
This time, Chen Pingsheng brought a lot of gifts—two cartons of premium BJ cigarettes, a pair of Feitian Maotai bottles, and two large durians.
By 8 AM, he had arrived with his family.
Song Dad had already prepared a full feast for the reunion dinner.
"Pingsheng, why did you bring so many gifts again?"
Their houses weren't far apart, but since his mother-in-law and sister-in-law never treated him with respect, Chen Pingsheng only visited during the holidays.
Only Song Dad truly regarded him as family.
"It's just a little something, nothing much."
He wasn't the type for empty pleasantries.
Song Dad gestured for him to sit beside him, while Song Mom rolled her eyes the moment he walked in, dragging her daughter aside for a chat.
"Sis, I heard you bought a car. How much was the down payment?"
When Song Wu was little, it was her sister who took care of her in the countryside. But after moving to Beijing, she had changed.
"There was no down payment. Your brother-in-law paid in full."
No matter what, Song Yanxi always stood by her husband.
Song Wu frowned, not believing it. "He could afford to pay in full?"
"What's so strange about that? Your brother-in-law earns a decent income."
If it weren't for the holiday, Song Wu would've snapped, He's not my brother-in-law!
She had never acknowledged him.
"Daughter, you're not lying to me, are you? Did he really buy it outright?"
Paying in full and taking out a loan were completely different. Song Mom needed to confirm.
"Mom's not lying. Daddy bought it in full."
Little An'an pouted and chimed in. Despite her young age, she instinctively sided with her father.
Song Mom snorted. "After all these years, he finally did something decent. But you spent all your money on a car—what about a house? You can't just keep renting in Beijing forever."
"Of course not."
Song Yanxi disliked coming home because her mom and sister were always so harsh toward Chen Pingsheng.
No matter what he did, they still looked down on him.
This time, she decided to lay everything out.
"Mom, I know you've never thought highly of Pingsheng, but you've seen how he's lived in Beijing all these years. Has he ever been lazy? Not once, right?"
"At his age, without relying on parents, supporting a family while saving for a house and car—that's not easy."
"Now that he's bought me a car, you're still looking at him with judgmental eyes. You're just worried he can't afford a house, right? Even if we rent forever, our life won't be bad. I still have tens of thousands in savings—money he worked tirelessly to earn. What more do you want?"
As she spoke, tears welled up.
It wasn't about anything else—just the injustice of not being understood by her own family.
"Mommy, don't cry."
Little An'an obediently handed her a tissue.