In Pengcheng!

Pengcheng had always been a major smuggling area, so Zhou Cheng’s presence there wasn’t surprising.

Xia Xiaolan felt a tingling in her heart – knowing Zhou Cheng’s whereabouts was like having a feather tickling her heart. Though she knew Zhou Cheng had a mission and wouldn’t be wandering the streets of Pengcheng, Xia Xiaolan still held hope – what if she happened to meet him?

“Auntie, I’d like to visit Pengcheng during winter break.”

Guan Hui’e gave a soft affirmative.

Why should she oppose Xia Xiaolan trying her luck? If Zhou Guobin hadn’t stopped her, Guan Hui’e herself would have wanted to try her luck too. She missed her son – being a cadre didn’t change the fact that Zhou Cheng was barely over 20; suddenly being placed under isolation review, Guan Hui’e worried he might feel wronged.

“When do you plan to leave? Come have a meal at our home before you go – the old man said so, at his residence.”

This definitely couldn’t be postponed. Xia Xiaolan readily agreed, “Any day is fine, whenever Grandfather and Grandmother Zhou are available.”

The elderly Zhou couple didn’t work anymore – what day weren’t they free in their retirement?

However, though Old Man Zhou didn’t work, not just anyone could see him when they wanted. Even leading cadres needed to consider his mood when wanting to visit.

Even family members didn’t disturb him daily – the old man sought tranquility in retirement.

Xia Xiaolan was polite and considerate, but Guan Hui’e wasn’t quite satisfied – this was being so courteous because she didn’t consider herself part of the Zhou family yet. Well, she and Zhou Cheng hadn’t discussed marriage, their parents hadn’t met – girls should be reserved.

Xia Xiaolan not only had to dine at the Zhou family’s home, she indeed had business in Beijing. Having won the competition and finished final exams, she needed to check on her two shops.

Oh, counting the “Luna” shop, that made three.

But “Luna” was also in Xidan, so Xia Xiaolan didn’t need to go to two locations.

In the dormitory, everyone was packing. For out-of-town students, after being away from home for half a year, they were all excited to finally return.

Going home was particularly troublesome now – grabbing tickets by mobile phone didn’t exist, there weren’t even pagers, let alone mobile phones.

Regardless of wealth, whether from Huaqing or Beijing Teachers College, they could only go to the train station in person to get tickets. Carrying loads of luggage onto crowded trains, they weren’t much different from migrant workers.

“Little Six, did you get your ticket?”

Yang Yonghong burst in energetically, holding train tickets.

“I’ll go back in a few days. Big Sis, you got your ticket?”

Yang Yonghong was quite happy: “Sure did! Had I known my luck would be this good, I’d have brought my luggage. Gotta go, my train’s this afternoon, I need to get to the station right away.”

Yang Yonghong gave Xia Xiaolan a hug – her wrists were strong, bones robust, squeezing Xia Xiaolan until she could hardly breathe. After squeezing Xia Xiaolan, Yang Yonghong grabbed her two large snakeskin bags and rushed downstairs energetically.

“Big Sis, remember to take transportation, don’t save money by walking! Be careful not to miss your train!”

Xia Xiaolan shouted. Yang Yonghong waved back without turning, the large snakeskin bags seeming weightless in her hands, making Xia Xiaolan want to laugh.

Su Jing and Lu Yan were Beijing locals; they could go home after packing.

Others gradually got their train tickets. Xia Xiaolan was the last to leave the dormitory. As she locked the door, she knew the first semester of freshman year had ended.

What had she gained in these six months?

Awards seemed secondary – Xia Xiaolan had gained several lovely roommates!

Liu Yong was very attentive to the renovation here. When Xia Xiaolan brought the trophy to show him, Liu Yong kept touching it:

“Good, very good! Look everyone, isn’t my niece amazing? She’s first place in the national college foreign language competition!”

Liu Yong never bragged about his wealth or important connections; his niece was all he talked about. Old workers and new workers all knew Boss Liu’s niece was a top student at Huaqing… if their families had such a younger generation member, they too would can’t help but show off.

Liu Yong held the trophy thinking, those dogs of the Xia family, if they knew Xiaolan could even go abroad, wouldn’t they die of anger?

And that shameless Xia Dajun, actually having the Young Master Du come to look for Xiaolan. Liu Yong’s teeth itched with hatred – how could Xia Dajun forget his birth mother and brothers after getting rich? Liu Yong decided to kindly inform the Xia family.

Couldn’t find Xia Dajun? Could go to Pengcheng to find Young Master Du.

Cheng Rong Group’s project in Pengcheng had just started; Young Master Du wouldn’t leave easily.

As for whether the Xia family could see Young Master Du, Liu Yong didn’t care.

Xia Xiaolan certainly didn’t know what her uncle was thinking. She walked around the site:

“Uncle, can it be finished before the New Year?”

Liu Yong reluctantly put down the trophy: “Why not? I’ve arranged with the masters to work overtime until the end of the lunar month, everyone gets bonuses, and we’ll finish in time to go home for New Year!”

Xia Xiaolan could see it was nearly complete.

In such a short time, Liu Yong must have been rushing the work constantly.

No amount of wages could achieve this effect – only a blood uncle would be so dedicated.

“I’m not going back to Shangdu yet, need to visit Pengcheng first, then home before New Year.”

“Going to check on the building materials store’s business?”

Xia Xiaolan nodded in agreement. Zhou Cheng’s mission was confidential; even without Guan Hui’e’s reminder, she knew not to talk about it.

“Go ahead, I’ll watch things here, nothing will go wrong.”

What student worked as hard as Xiaolan, still having to worry about business during breaks? Liu Yong would help where he could.

“Don’t tire yourself too much. If construction can’t finish before New Year, continuing after is fine – no rush to open.”

Xia Xiaolan’s advice Liu Yong agreed to readily but didn’t take to heart. Beijing was colder; to catch the spring fashion season, shouldn’t they open by mid-March? How could shop renovations drag past New Year? After renovation, they still needed time to air out the smell.

After checking the shops, Xia Xiaolan felt at ease going to the Zhou family dinner.

The place where the elderly Zhou couple lived – Xia Xiaolan had heard gossip about it on forums in her previous life. She never imagined that in this life, she’d be freely entering such a place. She’d come once before with Zhou Cheng; this time she came alone.

Seeing Zhou Yi, Xia Xiaolan knew this would be a family meal. Without Old Man Zhou’s approval, Zhou Yi and others wouldn’t appear now. But Xia Xiaolan was already very composed, naturally greeting Zhou Yi as if forgetting their unpleasantness.

Zhou Yi couldn’t understand – was Xia Xiaolan truly magnanimous, or just acting?

Xia Xiaolan was neither magnanimous nor acting… she just had increasingly more confidence. Old Man Zhou’s approval and Guan Hui’e’s change in attitude allowed Xia Xiaolan to face the Zhou family members more easily.

How Zhou Yi thought had never been important from the start!

…

Wang Jianhua finished his final exams and returned home to find a drunk Wang Guangping and a red-eyed, swollen-faced Ran Shuyu.

“Jianhua, your father has been transferred to the Party History Office…”

Who would believe the Zhou family wasn’t behind this?

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t even lost a bit of skin, but the Zhou family was too cruel, too bullying!

Ran Shuyu thought of the eight bitter years on the farm and broke down crying again in front of her son.

Wang Jianhua stood woodenly.

A place like the Party History Office… what prospects did his father have left!