“No need to rush. Tina will get us the invitations herself. Since she mistook you for a bodyguard, and I already told her you’re my brother, she’ll be too embarrassed to bring just one invitation. We’ll both be able to go.”

Xia Xiaolan felt uneasy.

At times, she felt that Tina and Fahn were the bait, hooking her like a fish that refused to let go once it bit. Other times, she felt she was the bait. Perhaps even Cui Yiru, who was attending the ball and had been out of contact for 19 years, was also bait.

If Cui Yiru had remarried with her children, how hard would it have been to send a letter to her former mother-in-law? She could have simply written that Xu Zhongyi had died or gone missing and that as a lone woman with children in America, she had no choice but to remarry. Grandmother Yu might have understood.

What could a lonely old woman do even if she disagreed? Could she have come to America to bring them back? During the final years of the Cultural Revolution, someone like Grandmother Yu who had been subjected to criticism sessions couldn’t possibly have gone abroad!

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t figure out Cui Yiru’s actions. Was she under coercion, or had she simply forgotten about Xu Zhongyi and was content living with Zhang Jiadong?

Some women could remain faithful for decades, but such cases were rare. Most women were ordinary people, and past affections often couldn’t compare to present circumstances… Regardless of which type Cui Yiru was, Xia Xiaolan had no right to criticize her choices.

If everyone was bait, then Zhang Jiadong’s target fish must be Xu Zhongyi.

Would Xu Zhongyi appear?

Xu Zhongyi could send a paper note reminding Grandmother Yu to return to China, but all this time, he hadn’t sent a single word to Xia Xiaolan.

She couldn’t help but suspect that Xu Zhongyi, hiding in the shadows, couldn’t contact Cui Yiru and her three children himself, but might be pleased about her making contact with them.

In all these years, had Xu Zhongyi never tried to contact Cui Yiru even once?

Zhang Jiadong wasn’t exactly keeping a low profile either, with his company in Los Angeles and position as a city councilor.

If Xu Zhongyi couldn’t find his wife and children under these circumstances, Xia Xiaolan felt like lighting a candle for him – he must be doing terribly!

While Xia Xiaolan waited for Tina to get the invitations, she also waited for Xu Zhongyi to contact her.

Meanwhile, tired of waiting for Chen Qing to have a conscience, and worried he might make up more excuses to deceive Chen Wangda, Xia Xiaolan made an overseas call to Qijing Village.

When the international call came through, Chen Dasao thought it was her son Chen Qing calling, but it turned out to be Xia Xiaolan.

Because Chen Qing had previously asked for tuition money, Chen Wangda had asked the Chen family members to pool together 80,000 yuan for him. Chen Dage felt ashamed that Chen Wangda had to spend his burial savings and that all the siblings had to empty their coffers. He had originally expected to take over Chen Wangda’s position as Qijing Village’s chief, but now he couldn’t sit still… The Chen family worried that this tuition request was just the beginning – what would they do if Chen Qing asked for more money?

Being village chief had many hidden benefits, but in terms of earning money, it wasn’t as good as going south to work as others did. Chen Dage had also gone to Pengcheng and now worked at Yuanhui.

With her husband working at Xia Xiaolan’s uncle’s company, Chen Dasao couldn’t be too proud anymore.

She now did odd jobs at the village committee, earning enough for living expenses. When she received Xia Xiaolan’s call, Chen Dasao suppressed her mixed feelings and chatted warmly:

“Xiaolan, I didn’t expect it to be you. It’s good you called – I have something to tell you. Your Aunt Liu Fang has been coming to the village frequently lately. She says Liang Huan’s college entrance exam results came out, and it seems she didn’t get in. But Liang Huan wants to study in Beijing, so your aunt wants to get in touch with you and your mother. Looks like she’s hoping you can help!”

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help but laugh in frustration:

“Oh, Liang Huan took the college entrance exam this year? Aunt, do you know how many points she scored?”

“I heard from Liu Fang it was 397 points.”

397 points?

This was somewhat unexpected for Xia Xiaolan, who had thought Liang Huan would score below 300. She hadn’t expected her to reach almost 400.

“That score isn’t bad, if she had been careful with her college applications, she could have gotten into a vocational college at least. How did she not get in anywhere?”

Chen Dasao didn’t know much else, but having raised a college student, she understood something about college applications. She raised her voice: “That’s right! She could get into a vocational college – it’s not a bad score! But Liang Huan was too ambitious, she only applied to universities in Beijing. I don’t know if she even applied to any vocational colleges, but anyway, she didn’t get in anywhere.”

Xia Xiaolan was speechless.

With those scores, applying to a provincial vocational college would have given her a better chance of acceptance.

Applying to vocational colleges in Beijing? That was the capital! Students from all over the country wanted to squeeze into the capital, and good vocational colleges had higher admission scores than regular universities… If Liang Huan had tried to get into a university with vocational college scores, forget about getting lucky – that was a guaranteed failure.

“Aunt, what exactly does my aunt mean? She didn’t consult anyone before submitting the applications, but now that Liang Huan didn’t get in, she’s looking to us for help. I’m just a student myself – how could I possibly get Liang Huan admitted through the back door?”

Chen Dasao pursed her lips.

Isn’t that exactly what they were thinking?

Liu Fen had married a high-ranking official, and Xia Xiaolan herself was engaged to someone from a good family. Even Chen Dasao thought they could pull strings. It just depended on what Xia Xiaolan and her mother thought about it.

What Liu Fen thought didn’t matter – they probably all listened to Xia Xiaolan anyway.

Judging from Xia Xiaolan’s tone, she seemed unwilling to help. This wasn’t Chen Dasao’s business though – she was just passing along the message:

“From what your aunt says, getting her admitted would be best, but if that’s not possible, she wants to send Liang Huan to Beijing to repeat her final year. She says Anqing County First High School didn’t teach well and held Liang Huan back… Don’t worry, I haven’t given her your contact information without your approval.”

Xia Xiaolan felt like she was choking.

Anqing County First High School didn’t teach well?

Setting aside the fact that she had retaken the college entrance exam with memories from her previous life, even Xia Ziyu and Chen Qing had gotten into university from Anqing County First High School.

Moreover, after 1984, she became Yunan Province’s top science student, and both provincial and city educational resources had been directed toward Anqing County First High School. The current Anqing County First High School could only be better than before.

Just take the school library for example.

Xia Xiaolan had previously donated over 10,000 yuan worth of books in her name, and later, as she earned more money, she donated tens of thousands of yuan worth of books to Anqing County First High School in the name of Qihang Real Estate.

She had also established the Qihang Scholarship at her alma mater, specifically to support high school students from poor families.

She had done this before going abroad. When Qihang wanted to start an educational support program, Xia Xiaolan naturally favored her alma mater, and Anqing County First High School was the first beneficiary.

Principal Sun and others didn’t know that Qihang Real Estate was established by Xia Xiaolan, but that didn’t matter much – Xia Xiaolan only needed to know that Anqing County First High School was better than before. Therefore, she strongly disagreed with Liu Fang’s statement. While Liang Huan’s score of 397 was slightly better than Xia Xiaolan had expected, blaming Anqing First High School for not getting into university made Xia Xiaolan want to protest on behalf of Principal Sun and the others.

Principal Sun and his colleagues were dedicated to education, only wanting to improve students’ scores so everyone could get into university – that would make them happiest.

“Aunt, I understand the situation now. I’ll discuss how to handle this with them myself. Is Grandfather Chen there now? I have something I’d like to discuss with him.”