Tang Hongen wasn’t exaggerating – he was stating plain facts!

By telling Liu Fen ahead of time, he was letting her gradually adjust to the idea.

People were lining up to curry favor with Tang Hongen; his position meant power. Businessmen like Liu Tianquan who tried to get close to Mayor Tang weren’t the first, nor would they be the last.

It wasn’t just businesspeople – even officials within the system wanted to earn Tang Hongen’s recognition.

If Liu Fen became his wife, half of the attention Tang Hongen enjoyed would naturally extend to her.

She might even become more popular than him, as those who failed to get through to Tang Hongen would be eager to try the wife’s connection… dealing with everyone would exhaust Liu Fen.

Tang Hongen didn’t need Liu Fen to be socially adept – he didn’t want to accept favors from people, so Liu Fen wouldn’t need to deal with them at all.

As Tang Hongen spoke seriously, Liu Fen’s cheeks flushed.

“What do you mean…”

“Exactly what you’re thinking. When I say anyone, that naturally includes my ex-wife’s family and even my relatives. No one can control you – you should live without constraints!”

This was a modern socialist country in 1985, not 1885. Why should a second wife still have to observe traditional customs before the first wife?

Liu Fen shouldn’t have to lower herself before the Ji family, feeling nervous and avoiding them whenever they met – what justification was there for that?

If anything, it should be the other way around.

The Ji family had severed their ties with him first; Tang Hongen had no desire to maintain connections with them.

Once he and Fen were together, his in-laws would be the Liu family!

Seeing Liu Fen’s silence, Tang Hongen left the topic there.

Chief Ma wasn’t a real threat, Tang Hongen thought as he dropped Liu Fen off at Shichahai, but he couldn’t help asking:

“Are you busy tomorrow? If not, would you accompany me to Xiangshan? I have something to do.”

Xiangshan?

Liu Fen asked straightforwardly, “What is it? Is it important?”

Tang Hongen nodded seriously: “Of course it’s important. Young couples need to date. I thought the Great Wall would be too sunny, and the Forbidden City too boring, but Xiangshan would be nice and shady. What do you think?”

She didn’t think much of it.

Liu Fen wanted to say this, but looking at Tang Hongen’s face, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

The future Tang Hongen described, where she could disregard most people, wasn’t something Liu Fen yearned for.

But when Tang Hongen told her she could live without constraints, Liu Fen knew he was serious… Grandmother Yu actively tried to match her with Tang Hongen, fearing she wouldn’t find someone with such good conditions again.

Perhaps Tang Hongen’s best quality wasn’t his position as mayor, but his maturity and tolerance.

“Alright.”

Liu Fen agreed.

Tang Hongen suddenly called out loudly: “Xiao Wang, haven’t finished your bitter gourd porridge? Hurry up and drive me back, I need to rest early tonight so I can pick someone up early tomorrow!”

Xiao Wang’s face looked like a bitter gourd itself.

His leader was truly acting strange, seemingly afraid others hadn’t heard about his date with Comrade Liu Fen at Xiangshan, shouting so loudly – wasn’t this deliberately disturbing the peace?

Xiao Wang’s thoughts were written all over his face, and Grandmother Yu gave him a big eye roll:

“Young man, there’s a reason he became mayor. Learn from him while you’re by his side. Do you think your leader is foolish? He’s the smartest of all!”

Without that shout, how would the neighbors know Liu Fen was spoken for?

If they were going to date, it should be open and aboveboard. Being secretive would only invite gossip, making neighbors think Liu Fen was single. Seeing a middle-aged woman living with an elderly person and a daughter, suddenly able to spend tens of thousands on a house, now adding a car, and having become familiar with the neighbors after moving in just a few months – some were already trying to play matchmaker for Liu Fen!

There were plenty of clever people in this world, but you can never truly know someone’s intentions. Who knew if those men had designs on both the person and their wealth?

With Tang Hongen having Xiao Wang drive by several times, the neighbors would know Fen had a partner. Those who couldn’t match Tang Hongen’s conditions should stay away from Fen!

Xiao Wang nodded glumly, and Grandmother Yu stopped him:

“Don’t be a third wheel tomorrow. Come home for dinner instead. What would you like to eat?”

Xiao Wang nearly tripped, weakly suggesting, “Anything but bitter gourd porridge.”

Grandmother Yu glared, “Young people shouldn’t be so picky. What’s wrong with bitter gourd porridge? I’ll add some meat for you tomorrow.”

She had bought a lot of bitter gourds at a bargain price, and even Fen, who wasn’t picky, had grown tired of them. Fortunately, they had a refrigerator, or in this weather, they would spoil in two or three days. Having caught Xiao Wang, Grandmother Yu naturally wanted to make full use of him.

Young people just didn’t like vegetables. Besides bitter gourd porridge and cold bitter gourd salad, Grandmother Yu planned to add stewed bitter gourd with meat for Xiao Wang – that counted as meat, right?

Watching Xiao Wang grimacing as he left, Grandmother Yu particularly missed Xia Xiaolan.

Having spent so much time with Xia Xiaolan, Grandmother Yu had the illusion that all young people were as clever and likable as her. After spending a day with Xiao Wang, Grandmother Yu’s dream was shattered – there was only one Xia Xiaolan; most young people were rather simple.

…

The clever Xia Xiaolan received Harold’s invitation.

Harold only had someone mention “Stinking Bamboo Valley,” and Xia Xiaolan, as if her tail had been stepped on, went to see Harold voluntarily.

“Xia, you’re so hard to invite!”

He was quite the liar too.

A small piece of land wasn’t the issue, but the nature of Xia Xiaolan’s deception was particularly egregious.

Harold had never been so thoroughly deceived by a woman before. He hadn’t even touched a finger of hers – thinking about it made him even angrier.

Xia Xiaolan smiled pleasantly, “It’s not that I’m hard to invite, I’ve just been really busy lately.”

“Naturally, after getting information from me, you’ve been busy buying land and planning to build houses, hoping to make a big profit!”

Harold looked at Xia Xiaolan in disbelief.

How many houses could be built on 23 mu of land? How much money could be made?

Would it even amount to 100,000 US dollars?

Did Xia Xiaolan know how many people would willingly pay 100,000 dollars to be his friend, because the benefits of being his friend were worth more than that amount? Only Xia Xiaolan, when given the opportunity, didn’t know to cherish it, repeatedly rejecting his goodwill, treating his olive branch as a shortcut to make money… Hah, Xia Xiaolan’s unforgivable sin wasn’t secretly buying land, but hurting Harold Wilson’s rare moment of sincerity.

A rich person’s sincerity, even just a trace, couldn’t be measured in mere monetary terms.

In short, Harold was very angry now.

Xia Xiaolan’s hot temper was only held in check because she feared Harold would interfere midway.

The land approval had already been submitted to the city government by Shangbu District, and nothing could go wrong now. That’s why Xia Xiaolan immediately came running when Harold summoned her:

“Harold, I don’t want to make excuses. I chose that piece of land partly because I knew you were building a golf course there, but even without your golf course, I would still develop residential properties around Xiangmei Lake. Limited by my funds, I could only take advantage of your large investment in Futian to get my project approved by the city government. I admit this wasn’t entirely honorable.”