Today, Grandmother Yu was completely at ease.
At bedtime, Xia Xiaolan formally discussed her plans with Grandmother Yu:
“When I say I consider you like my real grandmother – well, you know what my actual grandmother is like, just hearing about her sounds like an insult. But when my mother and I came to the provincial city, being able to rent your house was our luck and our destiny. At most after the New Year, I’ll have my mother come to Beijing, and if you’re willing, you can come too.”
Grandmother Yu remained silent.
Liu Fen held her breath.
Liu Fen didn’t want to part with the old lady either. Though Grandmother Yu had a tough exterior, she was soft-hearted and had taught Liu Fen many life lessons this past year.
Liu Fen had always been the type to return tenfold any kindness shown to her. Having faced so much malice in the past, she was especially grateful when someone outside her family showed her goodwill.
With Xia Xiaolan’s career developing, Liu Fen couldn’t stay in Shangdu forever.
But asking Liu Fen to come to Beijing alone – she would both miss Grandmother Yu and worry about her. Just take the time Grandmother Yu had fainted at home – if no one had found her and gotten her to the hospital in time, the consequences could have been severe.
Having Li Fengmei move in with Grandmother Yu wasn’t ideal – their personalities might not mesh, and Li Fengmei had her child to care for.
The best solution was for Grandmother Yu to come to Beijing.
The old lady was stubborn, but wouldn’t pay a symbolic rent to solve that?
Both of Xia Xiaolan’s suggestions weren’t spontaneous but well thought out.
Grandmother Yu had been ready to refuse – she’d watched over the Yu family house for so many years, a lonely old woman kept going by that sense of purpose. Leaving Shangdu, let alone that house seemed impossible – but she fell silent, not having expected Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen to invite her to move to Beijing.
She couldn’t understand when the landlord-tenant relationship had changed.
Well, Liu Fen was naive, and Grandmother Yu worried about her being taken advantage of.
Deep ponds hide snapping turtles – and there must be more than one horrible person like Ji Ya in Beijing. Someone like Liu Fen trying to make it in Beijing would surely be bullied to death! Xia Xiaolan might be tough and shrewd, but young people had their own business to attend to and couldn’t watch over others constantly.
Even watching wouldn’t help – Xia Xiaolan still needed to establish herself in Beijing.
Grandmother Yu felt she still had some face.
Though the Yu family had declined, surely not everyone she’d helped in the past was dead?
Having one or two grateful people could be useful in critical moments.
Grandmother Yu hesitated:
“So you mean you’ll be the landlord and I’ll be the tenant, and you’ll bully me instead?”
Xia Xiaolan rolled her eyes – so the old lady understood perfectly well how annoying she’d been before.
“I wouldn’t dare bully you! Who would dare? We’ll revere you as our great-grandmother—”
Grandmother Yu threw a pillow at her. “Watch your mouth! Only dead people get ‘revered’!”
Living people needed to stay grounded. She wasn’t Xia Xiaolan’s grandmother – what right did she have to be treated like an ancestor? Unless she could be helpful, she couldn’t live in Xia Xiaolan’s house with a clear conscience… Then it would be Xia Xiaolan’s duty to show filial respect to her!
“Let me think about it.”
The fact that she’d consider rather than outright refuse showed Grandmother Yu was tempted.
The coal burned all night, keeping the room truly warm. The next morning, Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to get up, but Grandmother Yu dragged her out of bed.
“Get up! We need to buy groceries – aren’t we hosting Mayor Tang for dinner today?”
Xia Xiaolan couldn’t cook, Grandmother Yu didn’t want to cook, and Liu Fen was the only one who could.
But Grandmother Yu could handle grocery shopping.
The neighbors discovered the empty courtyard had occupants and peeked around curiously. Xia Xiaolan greeted the uncles and aunties casually, already familiar with several she’d met frequently when visiting.
“Has your family moved in?”
“Good morning, Uncle Zhao. Not moved in yet – just staying for a few days. We’ll move after the New Year.”
Uncle Zhao, carrying his birdcage, secretly glanced at Grandmother Yu.
This old sister had a presence. He’d said Xia Xiaolan wasn’t from an ordinary family – being able to pay several tens of thousands for a courtyard house but not living in it meant they weren’t short of money or housing. When outsiders settled in Beijing and bought such a large courtyard house right away, who would believe they had no background?
…
As Grandmother Yu took Xia Xiaolan shopping, the neighbors assumed they were grandmother and granddaughter.
While they were enjoying themselves, the Ji family wasn’t having such a pleasant time.
The Ji family had been left waiting at the Beijing Office last night. Tang Hongen had spent an hour or two taking Xia Xiaolan and the others home, and the Ji family couldn’t shamelessly wait at the office forever.
Tang Hongen was angry, and the Ji family was equally unhappy because they hadn’t achieved their goal of reconciliation!
Ji Ya was going crazy, and Ji Lin shared her confusion: Was something wrong with Tang Hongen’s head?
Crushing the Ji family for the sake of Xia Xiaolan and her mother – no matter how badly the Ji family had offended Tang Hongen, Ji Jiang Yuan was still his son.
Ji Lin hadn’t considered having Ji Ya remarry Tang Hongen – he still had that much pride.
But for Tang Hongen to favor some rural women – outsiders would laugh at Tang Hongen, and by extension, at the Ji family too.
“Old Ji, do you think that girl’s words carry weight?”
Tang Hongen had said if Ji Jiang Yuan chose to stay and complete his undergraduate studies in China, and if the Ji family agreed, he would half-reconcile with them – apart from restricting Ji Ya from leaving the country, he would temporarily leave the Ji family alone.
Ji Lin’s wife worried about the Zhou family.
Without reaching an agreement with Tang Hongen, how could they ask for his help?
Both matters could have been resolved last night, but Ji Ya was just too stubborn. Ji Lin’s wife wanted to slap her. If it had been her sister, she definitely would have – but unfortunately, it was her sister-in-law.
Ji Lin forced a smile: “We don’t need to worry about that side. Young people can’t stand provocation – she’ll hold the Zhou family back.”
If she wanted to challenge the Ji family herself, they’d have a long wait.
Thinking about it this way, Ji Lin felt the trip hadn’t been wasted. Two major troubles plaguing the Ji family were resolved, leaving only the minor issues of Ji Jiang Yuan studying domestically and Ji Ya temporarily unable to leave the country – much better than their previous situation.
“What about that Aunt Yu matter?”
Throwing out Grandfather Ji’s name, cursing until Ji Lin dared not talk back – Ji Lin’s wife was shocked too. Who was this old lady that the Ji family owed such a great debt to?
Despite the cold weather, beads of sweat appeared on Ji Lin’s forehead.
“I don’t know much about the specifics. We should discuss this with Uncle Ning.”
Ning Yanfan was right – Tang Hongen hadn’t wanted to do anything to the Ji family, he just wanted an attitude from them. Though last night hadn’t gone entirely as hoped, Ji Jiang Yuan’s choice to study domestically had greatly eased the tension between the Ji family and Tang Hongen.
As for handling the Grandmother Yu situation, Ji Lin still wanted to hear Ning Yanfan’s opinion.
Ji Lin honestly recounted the evening’s events, naturally describing them from a perspective favorable to the Ji family.
On the other end of the line, Ning Yanfan sighed imperceptibly – if they couldn’t handle even this small matter, what would become of the Ji family?
“Your Aunt Yu indeed showed great kindness to the Ji family. You’re right to be cautious about this.”
Ning Yanfan’s words were dry.
What did having shown great kindness matter? Ji Huaixin couldn’t repay it while alive – did they expect the Ji family to repay it after his death? But the world was indeed small – who knew that young Miss Xia would know that stubborn old lady.
What kind of relationship was it? She was even willing to leave Shangdu and come to Beijing for Xia Xiaolan and her mother.