Xia Xiaolan was very welcome in the Zhou family.

Even Zeng Sister, the housekeeper at Zhou Cheng’s home, liked her.

Whenever Xia Xiaolan came, the atmosphere at home would become lively.

When Guan Hui’e was in a good mood, Zhou Guobin would make sure to come home for meals. The whole family would be happy, and Zeng Sister would be affected by the cheerful mood as well.

Today, Xia Xiaolan’s visit was somewhat unexpected. She didn’t have many afternoon classes, so she cycled home first, then brought some things and cycled to Zhou Cheng’s house. When Zeng Sister saw her arrive, she felt relieved:

“Zhou Yi and the others are home.”

Zhou Yi and Zhou Cheng’s aunt-in-law were here?

The relationship between the aunt-in-law and Guan Hui’e was somewhat delicate, or rather, the aunt-in-law was unilaterally making it delicate. She would avoid visiting Zhou Cheng’s home whenever possible, so today was unusual.

As soon as Xia Xiaolan entered, she saw Zhou Yi and her mother sitting on the sofa.

Guan Hui’e sat on the other side, looking helpless.

Truth be told, even Guan Hui’e felt relieved when she saw Xia Xiaolan appear.

There were some issues Guan Hui’e couldn’t handle well, but Xia Xiaolan could provide new perspectives. At the very least, Zhou Cheng’s aunt-in-law wouldn’t make strange demands in Xia Xiaolan’s presence.

“Xiaolan’s here, why did you bring so many things again, young lady!”

Guan Hui’e stood up, taking the opportunity to change the subject.

The aunt-in-law’s expression was unpleasant as she forced a smile: “Sister-in-law, your daughter-in-law is truly filial.”

“Yes, she’s very good to us. We always tell her not to spend money, but she always brings so many things.”

Guan Hui’e wasn’t usually one to show off, but now she was willing to boast about Xia Xiaolan’s filial piety. She knew her sister-in-law didn’t like hearing such things, so she said it deliberately this time, hoping to drive Zhou Yi and her mother away.

“Aunt Guan, am I interrupting your conversation with Aunt? Sister Zhou Yi is here too.”

Though the atmosphere was off, Xia Xiaolan pretended not to notice and spoke as she normally would.

The aunt-in-law smiled stiffly, “We were just having a casual chat, there’s nothing to interrupt.”

Xia Xiaolan was truly surprised.

The aunt-in-law usually spoke with barbs, but today she was so mild. It proved she was capable of speaking properly, yet she deliberately chose to be difficult and oppose Zhou Cheng’s family. Xia Xiaolan didn’t expose this, and Zhou Yi smiled at her as if their previous friction had disappeared:

“Why didn’t you come visit during summer break? Grandmother has been missing you.”

Zhou Yi’s smile carried a hint of ingratiation, which angered her mother.

It was bad enough that she had to curry favor with Guan Hui’e, but now her daughter had to please Guan Hui’e’s daughter-in-law too?

After all, her husband was the Zhou family’s eldest son.

Just because Zhou Guobin’s position wasn’t as high, she and Zhou Yi had to suffer this indignity.

If Guan Hui’e knew her sister-in-law’s thoughts, she would have cried injustice. Who was making them suffer? It was the sister-in-law’s narrow-mindedness, always making comparisons. Comparing the Zhou brothers’ positions, regarding their children’s success – no one could control whether they had sons or daughters, and children’s outcomes were greatly influenced by their parents’ education. If Guan Hui’e had a daughter, she would never let her idle away her time like Zhou Yi.

Life treats you the way you treat it.

Whether you work hard or drift aimlessly, a day is still a day.

The difference might not show in one or two days, but after a year or two, or even ten years, two people who started at the same point would end up in completely different situations!

This was exactly the case with Zhou Yi and Zhou Cheng – same family background, same starting point.

Xia Xiaolan, unaware of the internal dynamics, refrained from commenting. When Zhou Yi asked her, she was honest:

“I spent the entire summer break in the South. It was wrong of me not to visit Grandmother Zhou, I’m planning to go in the next few days.”

Zhou Yi nodded. She wasn’t trying to dig deeper, as they weren’t close and could only exchange pleasantries.

Zhou Yi wasn’t lying – Grandmother Zhou did miss Xia Xiaolan and often mentioned her. Xia Xiaolan spoke of it lightly, unaware that many people envied her easy access to the Zhou family elders!

Zhou Yi then asked about Xia Xiaolan’s family’s clothing store: “Are you starting to sell autumn clothing? My friends and I are waiting to buy new clothes.”

One shouldn’t reject friendly overtures, and Zhou Yi had indeed changed her attitude.

Xia Xiaolan smiled and explained: “It’ll be a few more days. This summer has been exceptionally hot, so the store is delaying the autumn collection.”

It was partly due to the weather, and partly due to their previous cash flow issues.

But things were better now. Her mother didn’t need to hurry to gather money for loan repayments. Once Ying Jinchuan handled the loan matters, they would have over ten million in capital to work with, and all three of Liu Fen’s clothing stores could stock autumn collections simultaneously.

Though the aunt-in-law looked down on private businesses, she knew Xia Xiaolan’s family wasn’t ordinary. Zhou Yi had told her after shopping at Blue Phoenix that Xia Xiaolan’s mother even drove an imported car!

Zhou Yi’s family could afford to buy a house if they emptied their savings – the aunt-in-law had calculated this when Xia Xiaolan’s family bought their house.

But nowadays, imported cars cost more than houses. The Citroën that Liu Fen drove was something Zhou Yi’s family could never afford. If they could, Zhou Wengang’s financial conduct would be questionable.

Thinking of this, the aunt-in-law began to sour again:

“Xiaolan’s family clothing business must be doing well, I heard your mother even drives an imported car. Xiaolan, don’t mind your aunt’s words, but for families like ours, it’s not appropriate to be too flashy. Even if you have money, you don’t need to spend it all, right? Outsiders might gossip about the Zhou family, they might think Zhou Yi’s uncle has done something improper… Look at my mouth, always saying the wrong things.”

If she knew her words were unwelcome, why say them? Was it so hard to keep quiet?

Guan Hui’e and Zhou Guobin had no objections, yet the aunt-in-law was overstepping.

Xia Xiaolan smiled: “Let outsiders talk if they want. Uncle Zhou is upright and blameless, how could this reflect on him? If we worry about everything, it only shows our guilty conscience! Besides, outsiders should get used to it, there will be more things like this in the future.”

If they couldn’t even drive a Chevrolet, well, when she made money, she’d buy her mother an even better car.

When Xia Xiaolan said outsiders should get used to it, she meant the aunt-in-law should get used to it and stop meddling!

The aunt-in-law, who had been frustrating Guan Hui’e all afternoon, couldn’t handle Xia Xiaolan’s sharp tongue. Being talked back to by someone younger, her forced politeness crumbled, and she left with Zhou Yi, refusing to stay for dinner.

Xia Xiaolan gave Guan Hui’e an apologetic smile: “Aunt Guan, is it okay that I drove her away like that?”

Guan Hui’e waved it off, “I should thank you. She’s been talking my ear off today, and it’s not her first visit. Now that you’ve upset her, I’ll have peace for several days.”

Xia Xiaolan got straight to the point, “Aunt Guan, I wanted to ask you about someone. You know I’m acquainted with Mayor Tang, and he mentioned having a highly respected elder, his former leader who always supported and looked after him. Do you know about this?”

It might have been better to ask Zhou Guobin, who at his level should be well aware of who belonged to which faction.

Xia Xiaolan was just trying her luck, but surprisingly, Guan Hui’e did know: “Why is a young person like you inquiring about such matters?”

Guan Hui’e became somewhat vigilant. It was fine for Xia Xiaolan to do business – if she ran into trouble, the Zhou family could handle it.

However, inquiring about internal system matters didn’t suit Xia Xiaolan’s age and status. Guan Hui’e was concerned for her!