Wang Jianhua had many thoughts, but as a man, how could he spread rumors about a woman behind her back.
“Mother, please stop asking. It’s other people’s business, and you shouldn’t keep mentioning these things in front of Ziyu!”
After Wang Jianhua finally managed to say this, Ran Shuyu was far from pleased.
Her son seemed to have taken the wrong medicine, always protecting Xia Ziyu. Ran Shuyu couldn’t understand it at all.
Why didn’t Xia Ziyu want to hear these things? They were simply facts.
Ran Shuyu’s curiosity wouldn’t subside—Xia Ziyu’s words implied something. Ran Shuyu already felt both jealous and envious of the Zhou family, who didn’t want to associate with her. Since Xia Ziyu and Xia Xiulan had conflicts, Ran Shuyu wouldn’t mind seeing the Zhou family become a laughingstock.
Looking at the old bed sheets, Ran Shuyu offered a rare explanation:
“You know our family’s situation. Most of Jianhua’s father’s back pay went to settling debts. We haven’t had any savings these past few years, and we’ll need money for Jianhua’s wedding in a couple of years. Whatever other sons have, I won’t shortchange Jianhua. His father and I save wherever we can. The things in the house are a bit old, so please make do.”
Xia Ziyu’s expression improved slightly.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t endure hardship—she had felt the Wang family didn’t value her. With Ran Shuyu’s explanation, and in front of Wang Jianhua, they both needed a way to save face.
“Auntie, that’s not what I meant. I decided to stay over suddenly, so you weren’t prepared.”
Ran Shuyu indeed didn’t care much about clothes and appearances. At the social gathering, Xia Ziyu had noticed that Ran Shuyu was dressed the most poorly.
Ran Shuyu wouldn’t spend over a hundred yuan on a wool coat. The Ministry of Education was considered a modest department, with benefits inferior to other ministries, and the Wang family wasn’t well-off.
Xia Ziyu hadn’t followed Wang Jianhua for money anyway.
Money could be earned, but power wasn’t easily obtained. Xia Ziyu believed power was above money—the wealthy didn’t necessarily have power and could still be bullied. Those with power not only commanded respect from everyone, but wouldn’t they find it easy to get money too?
Thinking this way, Xia Ziyu felt more balanced.
Seeing her expression wasn’t forced, Ran Shuyu marveled inwardly.
She didn’t think Xia Ziyu was sensible; she only thought her son Wang Jianhua was capable, of finding someone who couldn’t be driven away no matter what.
Xia Ziyu’s attitude was correct—with their family’s poor conditions, if not for Jianhua’s insistence, Ran Shuyu could introduce someone better to Wang Jianhua in a minute. The Zhou family only required their daughter-in-law to be beautiful and intelligent, regardless of family background, but how could the Wang family be the same? The Zhou family hadn’t been affected during the turmoil, while the Wang family’s foundation had been destroyed, forcing them to start over.
Her son Jianhua chose Xia Ziyu, who couldn’t help them at all—Ran Shuyu found it hard to be happy about this.
When she wasn’t happy, she wanted others to be unhappy too. It seemed she needed to coax Xia Ziyu properly, to get her to clarify what she had meant earlier.
Wasn’t Guan Huie’s cold attitude toward her because she looked down on her husband’s low position?
If the Zhou family were to face major embarrassment through their future daughter-in-law, that would be interesting.
“Ziyu, get some rest. If anything’s inconvenient, just let me know.”
Ran Shuyu rarely showed a smile, which even Wang Jianhua found strange. After Ran Shuyu left, Xia Ziyu’s face showed a bitter smile: “Jianhua, what do you think Xiulan is thinking? Even if I want to ignore her, she keeps appearing in our lives. How can we live like this in the long run?”
Xia Ziyu’s face had grown thinner.
Her originally oval face now had a pointed chin. Though not as pretty as Xia Xiulan, she had a pitiful charm about her.
Wang Jianhua knew Xia Ziyu was under tremendous pressure.
As long as Xia Xiulan was with Zhou Cheng, situations like today would certainly continue.
Not only was Xia Ziyu under pressure, but Wang Jianhua himself also felt it. He couldn’t help comparing himself to Zhou Cheng, wanting to compete, to prove he was better. Yet he temporarily couldn’t match up—this was the source of Wang Jianhua’s pressure.
Wang Jianhua put his arm around Xia Ziyu’s shoulders:
“What are you trying to say? Ziyu, I know you’ve suffered many grievances being with me. A lot has happened lately, and my parents misunderstand you, but time will reveal your true worth—they’ll eventually know how good you are.”
No matter how difficult things got, he couldn’t abandon Xia Ziyu.
She had chosen him during difficult times, hadn’t that proven his potential?
Wang Jianhua needed this validation, and besides, he and Xia Ziyu were already intimate as husband and wife. If he abandoned her now, how could she ever marry anyone else?!
Wang Jianhua couldn’t do such a thing.
Xia Ziyu lay against his chest, her tears dampening his sweater:
“…If only she wasn’t staying in Beijing, or if she wasn’t dating the Zhou family’s son. Couldn’t she just stay far away from our social circle?”
Not staying in Beijing?
That would be difficult to arrange unless they could manipulate Xia Xiulan’s job assignment after graduation to send her to another city.
But the idea of preventing her relationship with Zhou Cheng made Wang Jianhua pensive—this might be feasible!
“Let me think about it.”
Wang Jianhua held Xia Ziyu’s shoulders, “There must be a solution.”
…
That night, Xia Xiulan slept well.
The Zhou family’s bed was certainly softer than the dormitory’s, and the heating was adequate, keeping her warm. Xia Xiulan woke up early, not sleeping in at the Zhou home. Her biological clock was used to early rising, and weekends weren’t an excuse to stay in bed, especially at someone else’s home.
During breakfast, Zhou Guobin asked about her plans for the day. Xia Xiulan swallowed her food before answering:
“Uncle Zhou, isn’t there any way we can help Zhou Cheng?”
Zhou Guobin shook his head, “Zhou Cheng’s unit has its investigation procedures. We can’t interfere administratively.”
“What if we found Pan Baohua?”
Xia Xiulan hadn’t intended to trade Pan San for Zhou Cheng’s safety. To understand what had happened, if they couldn’t reach Zhou Cheng, wouldn’t approaching the other party involved be viable?
Zhou Guobin fell into deep thought.
He had considered contacting Pan Baohua, but the timing was too sensitive.
“Xiulan, right now we can only remain steady amidst changes. The more we do, the more mistakes we might make. If any of us approaches Pan Baohua, it would become evidence of Zhou Cheng’s connection to him. Since you believe in Zhou Cheng, I can only follow you and your Aunt Guan in trusting that the investigation’s results will favor Zhou Cheng!”
What did it matter if Zhou Cheng had contact with Pan Baohua?
If no one investigated, even if Pan Baohua was smuggling, it wouldn’t mean much.
The trouble would come if someone refused to let it go.
If Zhou Cheng really had obtained intelligence from smugglers, it would be a great help in combating coastal smuggling crimes.
The higher-ups investigating Zhou Cheng suspected this intelligence exchange was two-way—that Zhou Cheng had also leaked information to Pan Baohua, allowing him to evade capture—so, was Pan Baohua a smuggler?
This seemed to have become the key question.
Zhou Guobin believed that every problem had a solution. As long as they grasped the key point, they could unravel the truth thread by thread!