What could Xia Xiaolan say?
Tang Hong’en was now clearly a suitor, subtle in his methods but firm in his attitude.
Xia Xiaolan couldn’t chase away her own mother’s suitor, especially since Tang Hong’en had no major flaws. Of course, she wouldn’t entirely agree that Tang Hong’en’s circumstances were perfect – nobody had only virtues without faults, and Mayor Tang had a difficult ex-wife… If her mother ended up with Tang Hong’en, Ji Ya would likely cause trouble!
She wasn’t sure if Liu Fen could handle such complications, so Xia Xiaolan maintained a neutral stance toward her mother’s relationship with Tang Hong’en, neither interfering nor encouraging, letting things develop naturally. When the time wasn’t right, no amount of outside urgency would help; when it was meant to be, even the most difficult obstacles could be overcome through mutual effort.
After Tang Hong’en left, villagers finally dared to visit the Liu family again.
Now nobody tried to matchmake for Liu Fen. Among the villagers, like Sister Chen, introducing a city worker would be quite good – they had no access to better marriage prospects.
One couldn’t say these people all had ill intentions; their limited perspective wasn’t entirely their fault.
When Li Fengmei returned to her maiden home, those who had previously scorned her second marriage now had their faces slapped. Liu Yong might lack responsibility, but he wasn’t a bad person and was clever – he’d seized his opportunity to rise. For women of Li Fengmei’s generation, choosing a marriage partner was truly a gamble.
The difference was that some women endured bad marriages their whole lives, making themselves sick from endurance.
Li Fengmei chose to start anew.
Now when she visited her maiden home, she could talk about her shop in Shang City. Since the business partnership with Xia Xiaolan had been split into two parts, the Shang City shop belonged entirely to Li Fengmei, so she didn’t need to hide it from her family.
Her sister-in-law teased her:
“Did you know Liu Yong would get rich?”
Li Fengmei shook her head, “No.”
She couldn’t tell fortunes – how would she know if Liu Yong would become wealthy? At thirty, no woman would marry him, and he had various issues, but Liu Yong treated his two sisters well. Li Fengmei felt such a man couldn’t be too bad. In the village, men exploiting their sisters was common – someone like Liu Yong was rare.
“A man who’s good to his sisters won’t be too bad to his wife.”
Li Fengmei’s sister-in-law didn’t know how much she earned. Li Fengmei said the business succeeded thanks to her niece, but her sister-in-law thought about rumors of Liu Fen finding a high-ranking official. People should be kind – if during Liu Fen’s divorce, Li Fengmei hadn’t allowed Liu Yong to bring his sister and niece home, she wouldn’t be where she is today:
“Good deeds bring good fortune!”
Though her sister-in-law’s words were flattery, Li Fengmei felt no guilt. She hadn’t known then that Xia Xiaolan would become the top scorer in the college entrance exam, or that Liu Fen would have such fortune. She’d been kind to Xia Xiaolan and her mother because of Liu Yong and felt sympathy for her sister-in-law Liu Fen’s similar circumstances.
Li Fengmei’s visit home was to convince her mother to move to Shang City to help watch Liu Zitao.
With Xia Xiaolan about to take Liu Fen to Beijing, Li Fengmei would be managing the shop alone. She had hired help, but what about Liu Zitao when she went to Yang City for stock?
“Mom wouldn’t need to do anything else, just watch the child. I’ll hire someone for housework. The house is spacious enough for comfortable living.”
Her sister-in-law clicked her tongue, “Hiring help? You’re living well!”
Tao Tao’s grandmother wasn’t young anymore – how could they let the old lady handle city life alone? Of course, they needed to hire help. Li Fengmei’s arrangement meant hiring a nanny to care for the child, with Tao Tao’s grandmother living there to supervise. Otherwise, Li Fengmei wouldn’t feel secure – what if they hired a bad nanny who secretly hit her son or didn’t feed him properly?
Once people’s mindset broadens, they easily accept new things.
Hiring shop assistants cost so much; a nanny couldn’t cost more. Spending that money to solve daily hassles without tiring out Tao Tao’s grandmother, letting Li Fengmei spend time with her son instead of doing housework… it seemed worthwhile from every angle.
Of course, she earned enough and didn’t need to rely on Liu Yong’s money to afford this.
If not for being tied down by housework, Li Fengmei’s sister-in-law would have wanted to be that nanny herself.
Li Fengmei arrived with many packages and explained her difficulties about lacking time to care for her child, and her family could only agree to let Tao Tao’s grandmother move to the city.
Liu Yong was grateful to his mother-in-law, who despite her age was helping his family. Reciprocating the kindness, he specifically told Li Fengmei:
“If your elder brother’s family needs anything, especially money, don’t be stingy. Money can be earned, but family relationships only exist in this life – having a true family isn’t easy. Ask at home if anyone wants to come to work with me in Peng City, they can come out this year.”
It was natural they hadn’t liked him before – he blushed thinking about his previous idle lifestyle. No wonder his brothers-in-law hadn’t liked him!
If Li Fengmei’s family was unreasonable and tried to take advantage, Liu Yong would resent it.
But Li Fengmei understood boundaries, never excessively favoring her maiden family, and Liu Yong couldn’t watch his wife’s family suffer in poverty. Working with him meant hard-earned money, but if he could bring villagers out to work, he could bring Li’s family too.
Of course, while bringing Li’s family members was fine if anyone proved lazy, Liu Yong wouldn’t support them – he wasn’t afraid to send them back home!
Being good to Li’s family, with Tao Tao’s grandmother moving to Shang City – who could object to that?
Li Fengmei pinched him, “You’re so calculating!”
Despite the pinch, Li Fengmei also wanted her maiden family to live well. Those willing to work hard could go with Liu Yong; for those unwilling, Li Fengmei wouldn’t support them freely. She and Liu Yong endured living apart to earn money for their son Liu Zitao – she couldn’t bear to give it away to her family members.
…
With Tang Hong’en spending New Year with the Liu family, Liu Yong, as the only male family member, naturally had to accompany him.
Only after Tang Hong’en left could Liu Yong accompany Li Fengmei to her maiden home.
When Chen Wangda came to their home, only Xia Xiaolan could meet him.
Chen Wangda came about Tian Laosan’s matter, “Tian Laosan might be locked up for two years. The Tian family definitely won’t dare cause trouble now. Tian Xiaoyan and her brother will be sent to school. Xiaolan, what do you think about this?”
Tian Dalong had visited Tian Laosan in detention and came back sick with fright.
Xia Xiaolan knew the Tian family was terrified. Tian Laosan wouldn’t be locked up too long – child abuse wasn’t a serious crime, especially since they were his children.
Xia Xiaolan had initially felt some sympathy for Tian Xiaoyan, planning to privately arrange village support for the siblings… but while Tian Xiaoyan’s first kneeling could be attributed to Tian Laosan’s forcing, kneeling again on New Year’s Eve was certainly her own choice.
The girl’s character wasn’t right, and Xia Xiaolan didn’t like it, so she dropped the matter – fate had given Tian Xiaoyan a chance, just one chance. Xia Xiaolan wasn’t a saint; why should she still care about Tian Xiaoyan?
“Uncle Da, however, Tian Laosan is handled, I’ll accept it. About the fields under my name – since my household registration has been transferred, should I return them?”