By the time Xia Xiaolan finished her postpartum confinement period, Liang Huan had already been dealt with.

Who handled it?

Nobody knew!

Liang Huan only had a pretty face, lacking both intelligence and emotional intelligence. Dealing with her was too easy. As a high school graduate without Beijing household registration, how could she get into a good workplace? She only got in through connections from a former boyfriend.

A good job can add value to a woman, especially one without a strong family background.

Liang Huan’s poor family background wasn’t because her father Liang Bing’an was no longer in a leadership position or that she wasn’t worthy of officials’ children. If Liang Huan herself had been excellent enough, none of that would have mattered. The main issue was that when people inquired, they discovered her father was a former official who had been dismissed by the organization for making mistakes… No one wanted such in-laws, even ordinary citizens wouldn’t want the huge liability of the Liang family!

Liang Huan had once told others that her aunt’s husband was a high-ranking official, but unfortunately, Liu Fen ignored her, and she couldn’t prove it.

In short, Liang Huan’s hand of cards wasn’t bad initially—at least she was beautiful and had secured a good job.

But she was too ambitious, always comparing herself to Xia Xiaolan, yet unwilling to put in the hard work like Xia Xiaolan did. She only wanted ready-made success, even trying to steal what Xia Xiaolan had earned—she ruined her good cards by entering a good workplace without improving her professional skills. Now that someone had reported her backdoor entry, her situation looked dire.

The workplace was willing to give her another chance, requiring her to pass a professional assessment, but Liang Huan’s mind was never on work, and the assessment results were predictable.

The workplace tried to persuade her to resign, but Liang Huan stubbornly refused.

She went to find her “ex” who had originally arranged her job, but he was already married to a pregnant wife. With a beautiful ex-girlfriend showing up at their door, under his wife’s cold gaze, how could the ex dare to openly help Liang Huan for the sake of domestic harmony?

Liang Huan cried angrily: “You clearly said you didn’t want to marry so early and didn’t want to hold me back when we broke up, how did you turn around and get married so quickly?”

Foolish girl.

When a man says he doesn’t want to marry early, it’s not that he doesn’t want to marry—he just doesn’t want to marry you.

The ex was also troubled.

They had dated, and he had even arranged a job for her before breaking up—he had done right by Liang Huan, did he have to take care of her for life?

To prevent Liang Huan from coming back again, he spoke plainly: “It’s not that I didn’t want to marry, it’s that I couldn’t marry you. Liang Huan, you definitely can’t stay in Beijing’s workplace anymore. I’ll help you one last time by transferring your job back to your hometown—don’t be stubborn, how would anyone report you if everything was fine? You must have offended someone in Beijing. I don’t know who you offended, but their intention to drive you out of Beijing is very clear!”

This finally made things clear to Liang Huan.

She hadn’t even done anything yet, but Liu Fen and Xia Xiaolan were too cruel!

Liang Huan went home cursing, and Liu Fang’s face darkened as she listened: “Huan’er, do you have feelings for Zhou Cheng?”

“I don’t! Some people must be insecure about themselves, so they’re falsely accusing me!”

This time, Liu Fang didn’t take her daughter’s side.

It wasn’t because Liu Fang had suddenly become a moral saint; she was stunned by her daughter’s stupidity.

Huan’er had truly gone mad, wanting to steal someone’s husband without weighing her chances. Just because Xia Xiaolan had become ugly during pregnancy, did Liang Huan think she could snatch Zhou Cheng away?

Even if Zhou Cheng momentarily lost his mind and did something wrong, the Zhou family wouldn’t agree.

Xia Xiaolan had just given birth to twin grandsons for the Zhou family!

Xia Xiaolan’s stepfather was also a high-ranking official!

Why would the Zhou family abandon Xia Xiaolan as a daughter-in-law and agree to Zhou Cheng being with Huan’er?

Liu Fang was utterly devastated.

She had never felt so desperate before—with Liang Huan’s intelligence, she would never marry into a prestigious family…

“Let’s go back, we’re returning to Hedong!” Liu Fang’s attitude was firm.

Beijing really wasn’t suitable to stay in anymore. She wasn’t just afraid of Liu Fen and Xia Xiaolan dealing with Liang Huan; mainly, she had lost confidence in staying.

Liang Huan naturally didn’t want to leave, but this time Liu Fang wouldn’t indulge her.

If Liang Huan wouldn’t leave, she would leave alone. Without Liu Fang’s care, Liang Huan was just helpless.

And so, Liang Huan was forcibly dragged back to Hedong by Liu Fang.

The ex kept his word and arranged a job for Liang Huan in Hedong County. Of course, it wasn’t as good as the Beijing position, nor as comfortable as the work in Beijing. They had to give Liang Huan something to do to keep her settled in Hedong County—the ex didn’t want Liang Huan showing up at his door again someday.

Liang Huan couldn’t accept mediocrity. After returning to Hedong, she repeatedly failed at matchmaking. Gradually, others learned of her high expectations and lost interest in introducing potential matches to her.

Eventually, Liang Huan got involved with a wealthy man in Hedong County. He didn’t care about her inner qualities or family background; he was only attracted to her pretty face.

The wealthy man treated Liang Huan well, gave her proper status, and bought her cars and houses, letting her live a life of luxury… But sugarcane isn’t sweet at both ends—this man was several years older than Liang Bing’an, and not only had sons from his first wife but also children with mistresses outside. As soon as Liang Huan entered the family, she had to become a stepmother and a primary wife, since her husband hadn’t completely cut ties with his mistresses!

Liang Bing’an had now become spineless, not even minding that his son-in-law was older than himself. His son-in-law gave him a small factory to manage, and Liang Bing’an experienced a second spring in his career after years of obscurity.

Only Liu Fang broke down crying while holding her long-neglected son Liang Yu: “Karma, this is all karma!”

She couldn’t understand Liu Fen’s feelings before, when marrying Xia Xiaolan to Fan Zhenchuan was a good thing, yet Liu Fen wasn’t grateful.

Now that Liang Huan had married an old man, Liu Fang could finally empathize. Others congratulated her on Liang Huan’s good marriage, but she couldn’t express her bitterness!

…

By the time Xia Xiaolan had regained her pre-pregnancy figure and her pregnancy spots had almost disappeared, she finally thought of her cousin Liang Huan.

But by then, Liang Huan had already left Beijing.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t ask who had driven Liang Huan away.

She and Zhou Cheng were immersed in the joy of first-time parenthood—the twins could lift their heads, roll over, and babble, all of which brought Xia Xiaolan happiness.

Though Tang Hong’en looked upon his son-in-law unfavorably, he doted on his two grandchildren. Whenever he returned to Beijing, he would voluntarily take care of the children.

Zhou Siyi learned to say “papa” first, pronouncing it as “baba,” calling everyone this way. Zhou Cheng was quite proud, but Xia Xiaolan had to correct him repeatedly. When Tang Hong’en came back to hold the child, Zhou Siyi also called him “baba,” while secretly watching Xia Xiaolan’s reaction.

Was this child too clever?

Xia Xiaolan felt her younger son was doing it deliberately. She took Zhou Siyi from Old Tang’s arms and lightly spanked him: “Your father Zhou Cheng is at school. This is Mom’s father, your grandfather. Don’t call him wrong!”

Zhou Siyi, thick-skinned as he was, didn’t cry when spanked. Instead, he poked his mother’s face with his chubby hand and called Xia Xiaolan “baba.”

Tang Hong’en was stunned.

Xia Xiaolan felt a bit embarrassed: “I… I’ve wanted to change how I address you for a long time but never found the right opportunity…”

Old Tang was truly her father!

Everything a father should do, Old Tang had done it all.

Xia Xiaolan softly called out “Dad,” and Zhou Siyi, as if encouraged, kept calling “Baba” non-stop.

After a long while, Tang Hong’en finally came to his senses.

“Yes, Dad’s right here.”

—Previously, he thought it didn’t matter that Xia Xiaolan called him uncle, knowing she respected him in her heart. But when Xia Xiaolan suddenly changed to calling him Dad, Tang Hong’en found this title even more touching!

—What should he do? He was truly so happy now.