Children can hold grudges too.

Fan Han was particularly vengeful. His father had an affair that drove his mother to suicide, yet that homewrecker lived comfortably in the Fan household – nominally as Fan Zhenchuan’s housekeeper, but actually as his lover!

Fan Han was only 12 when his mother took poison to kill herself. His grandmother claimed to love him but only pretended to scold Fan Zhenchuan a few times.

Fan Zhenchuan showed no remorse, and Fan Han’s grandmother didn’t seem to care that Fan Han’s mother had died. Fan Han hated not only his father but the entire Fan family. But he didn’t know how to get revenge – he was too young, and Fan Zhenchuan controlled everything in Hedong County. Fan Han could only self-destruct, becoming a good-for-nothing son.

Unexpectedly, Fan Zhenchuan was going to marry again!

Even without Liang Huan saying anything, how could Fan Han not know? The wedding banquet date was already set. Though Fan Han didn’t get along with his father, he was still Fan Zhenchuan’s only son. Someone had already curry favored by telling Fan Han – he hated his father to the bone. Why should Fan Zhenchuan get to marry again when his mother had been driven to suicide?

Fan Han wasn’t a good person either – he planned to deal with his father’s new wife.

The day of Fan Zhenchuan’s wedding banquet would be when Fan Han would cause chaos at the Fan house! But before he could carry out this plan, someone came to him, saying the woman didn’t want to marry his father at all. Fan Han wanted to laugh out loud – not every woman in the world was like that homewrecker in their house who would jump into bed with Fan Zhenchuan.

“What’s the use of not wanting to marry? Fan Zhenchuan has forcibly taken many women, even those with husbands and children!”

Fan Han was utterly ashamed of Fan Zhenchuan.

The visitor looked at Fan Han for a long while. “You hate him?”

Hate him? He hated him to death!

When Fan Han was young, Fan Zhenchuan barely took care of him, busy fighting for power and playing with women. Fan Han was raised entirely by his mother. When she drank pesticide to kill herself, it didn’t kill her immediately – her death was extremely painful. That image was burned into Fan Han’s mind, impossible to forget.

He no longer considered Fan Zhenchuan his father. If someone could kill Fan Zhenchuan, Fan Han wouldn’t just oppose it – he would applaud and celebrate!

It was because of Fan Han’s help that they were able to gather more evidence in the shortest time. The housekeeper Xiao Yu didn’t know where certain confidential account books were hidden, but Fan Han did… No matter how estranged they were, he was still the son. Fan Han knew his father’s habits from when he lived at home, and they hadn’t changed much over the years.

Zhou Cheng had asked Xia Xiaolan to buy time while waiting for the evidence to reach Shao Limin, letting the leaders make their decision.

People had been waiting at the Municipal Party Committee Guesthouse, just waiting for Shao Limin’s order to move in and apprehend Fan Zhenchuan. At the guesthouse meeting, Fan Zhenchuan thought it was just about jealousy and humiliating a rival – he had no defenses up. Taking him to the guesthouse faced almost no resistance and wouldn’t cause upheaval in Hedong County. Fan Zhenchuan’s illegal activities certainly weren’t his alone – arresting him was just the first step. Pull up a radish and dirt comes with it – many people in Hedong County would be finished.

Zhou Cheng hadn’t explained these details to Xia Xiaolan, and she didn’t ask.

As long as she knew Fan Zhenchuan likely couldn’t force her to marry him, Xia Xiaolan was relieved.

“I had them bring the dogs, but we still need to deal with the courtyard wall.”

Though Fan Zhenchuan himself was under control, it wasn’t certain if the whole Fan family would fall. A cornered beast fights hardest – Zhou Cheng worried some family members might make desperate moves. The chance was low, but he couldn’t put Xia Xiaolan at risk.

Returning to Grandmother Yu’s house, Xia Xiaolan saw the two dogs Zhou Cheng mentioned.

Black backs with grayish-brown bodies didn’t look particularly strong at first glance. They eagerly stuck their tongues out at Xia Xiaolan, appearing quite dopey.

However, after Zhou Cheng demonstrated how to command them to attack, Xia Xiaolan realized how formidable these dogs were. Their dopey appearance was just a facade – they were lethal weapons. Li Dongliang said if he tried to climb over the wall unawares, even he couldn’t handle these two dogs… ordinary people would have even less chance.

Now Grandmother Yu’s wall wasn’t easy to climb either.

Xia Xiaolan had only been gone one morning, but the top of Grandmother Yu’s wall had changed. Many sharp spikes and glass shards alternated, glinting dangerously in the sunlight, their cement foundations not yet dry.

Between the dogs being delivered and the wall being modified, Grandmother Yu’s house had the neighbors quite curious.

Grandmother Yu’s courtyard hadn’t seen changes in many years, but since Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen moved in, things changed daily. Why mysteriously add things to the courtyard wall? Grandmother Yu was a street sweeper – didn’t everyone know how much she made monthly? Acting as if someone would steal from the Yu family – who were they guarding against?

Hu Yongcai’s wife stood on Xia Xiaolan’s side, cracking melon seeds as she chimed in:

“Isn’t there a beautiful young lady there? Her boyfriend is capable and worried some thugs might cause trouble. That’s why they’re not just putting spikes on the wall but keeping big dogs in the yard – no one can bully a household of women.”

So this was gossip about Xia Xiaolan?

This girl didn’t like visiting neighbors, only close to Hu Yongcai’s family, rarely seen otherwise.

But she was truly beautiful – even without going out, Xia Xiaolan couldn’t be ignored. Neighbors with unmarried young men didn’t mind catching an extra glimpse of her.

So she had a boyfriend?

Hu Yongcai’s wife had received instructions from Liu Fen, who was truly frightened by her sister’s family’s shamelessness. Afraid someone like Fan Zhenchuan might come along again – originally there was nothing worth showing off about Xia Xiaolan and Zhou Cheng’s relationship, but Xia Xiaolan also didn’t want others to misunderstand that she was single. She didn’t want more presumptuous matchmaking attempts, so she agreed to let Hu Yongcai’s wife spread some gossip.

Deliberately letting the neighbors know Xia Xiaolan had a boyfriend.

Liu Fen already saw Zhou Cheng as her future son-in-law – they would marry sooner or later, so mentioning it early wasn’t a problem.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t think much of it – if things didn’t work out with Zhou Cheng, weren’t they allowed to break up? People could remarry after divorce, wasn’t breaking up normal too? They were only temporarily staying at Grandmother Yu’s house, so let people know if they found out.

Zhou Cheng didn’t know his woman was so “open-minded” – as for Xia Xiaolan announcing his existence to others, Zhou Cheng thoroughly approved with both hands and feet.

“Xiaolan, you’re so good to me.”

Xia Xiaolan was puzzled. “How am I good to you?”

Zhou Cheng was truly good to her. Fan Zhenchuan’s arrest seemed simple when mentioned, but what efforts Zhou Cheng had made behind the scenes, Xia Xiaolan could only guess. No matter how capable Zhou Cheng was, he wasn’t from Yunan – he must have faced many constraints handling matters here.

Zhou Cheng’s eyes were bright, and Xia Xiaolan’s heart softened:

“I know about Zhang Er’lai’s matter, and now Fan Zhenchuan’s case. Zhou Cheng, I’m very happy and grateful for everything you’ve done for me.”

Above all else, the most basic thing between two people is “trust.”

If Zhou Cheng had been needlessly jealous and believed every rumor, he and Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t have gotten together. Zhou Cheng had trusted her from the beginning – he never asked a single question about Xia Xiaolan’s previous bad reputation.

Xia Xiaolan felt quite embarrassed – although those foolish things weren’t done by her, Zhou Cheng and others didn’t know that!