However, Guan Hue’e couldn’t let go of her worry:

“You’re asking about someone’s family background while doing business with them?”

Could there be some conflict with the Huo family? Xia Xiaolan had always been reasonable and generous in her dealings. If there was any conflict, it must be the Huo family bullying her with their power!

If that was the case, they should try to resolve the conflict if possible. But if it couldn’t be resolved, she couldn’t just stand by and watch Xia Xiaolan being bullied.

Guan Hue’e contemplated getting Zhou Guobin to step in. If Zhou Guobin couldn’t handle it, she’d go ask the Old Master.

They needed to reason with the Huo family – why were they bullying a young girl? Was it because they thought Xia Xiaolan had no background?

If that was the case, Guan Hue’e would have plenty to say if this reached Old Song!

Guan Hue’e was completely unaware that she had become the stereotypical overprotective parent, automatically assuming that whenever there was a conflict with Xia Xiaolan, it must be the other party’s fault – her child could do no wrong.

While Guan Hue’e was deep in thought, Xia Xiaolan quickly explained:

“It’s just business. Uncle Tang wants to cooperate with Old Song’s grandson, and my uncle’s renovation project also has some connection with Old Song’s grandson, so I wanted to learn more to feel more at ease.”

Since Liu Fen and Tang Hongen’s matter wasn’t yet confirmed, Xia Xiaolan felt strange bringing it up directly, so she could only explain it to Guan Hue’e this way.

Guan Hue’e didn’t understand much about business matters, and since Xia Xiaolan spoke sincerely, she believed her:

“So business matters are this complicated. No wonder you’ve been too busy to be seen. Zhou Yi is right – when you have time, you should visit the Old Lady soon. She can’t see Zhou Cheng, and now she can’t see you either. She’s been talking about you constantly.”

Xia Xiaolan nodded obediently.

Grandmother Zhou had been very good to her. Earlier, when she and Zhou Cheng agreed to cool things down because of the Shi family matter, Xia Xiaolan felt very reluctant.

It wasn’t just about her feelings for Zhou Cheng – it was hard to find such open-minded elders as the Zhou family.

The Old Lady had even given her half of her life savings, both out of love for Zhou Cheng and fondness for her.

After Zhou Guobin returned home, they had dinner together, and Xia Xiaolan stayed at the Zhou house to watch some TV before returning to school. Zhou Guobin didn’t let her ride her bicycle back since it was late, instead had his driver take her.

“We’ll put your bicycle in the trunk and take it along.”

Xia Xiaolan didn’t make a fuss: “Alright, thank you, Uncle Zhou!”

After Xia Xiaolan left, Guan Hue’e couldn’t hold back: “Xiaolan came today to ask me about Old Song’s matters. What’s Mayor Tang’s intention? Isn’t he getting too close to Xiaolan? He’s treating her like an insider, but is it appropriate to involve a young girl in these matters?”

Zhou Guobin couldn’t understand it either.

Tang Hongen didn’t seem like someone who would act thoughtlessly.

But Tang Hongen was too familiar – Xia Xiaolan was the Zhou family’s daughter-in-law, why did someone with the surname Tang need to care so much?

“Tang Hongen’s son is Xiaolan’s classmate, right? Could it be that he sees how outstanding Xiaolan is and wants to personally steal her away from Zhou Cheng?”

Guan Hue’e’s eyes widened, “What you’re saying makes a lot of sense, that must be it!”

If not for this reason, nothing else made sense.

Why would he randomly introduce Old Song’s grandson to cooperate with Xiaolan? Wasn’t this just revealing all his background resources to her?

If anyone should be doing this, it should be the Zhou family. This Tang person was going too far!

Auntie Zeng silently wiped dishes in the kitchen.

As a housekeeper, she couldn’t say much, but she vaguely remembered that Guan Hue’e used to be very resistant to Xia Xiaolan. She had grabbed Zhou Guobin countless times to complain about it, saying she couldn’t accept such a match for Zhou Cheng – but somehow, at some point, Xia Xiaolan had become someone the Zhou family specially cared for.

While Guan Hue’e and Zhou Guobin were earnestly criticizing Mayor Tang who was far away in Pengcheng, Auntie Zeng held back her laughter as she wiped the plates.

These two were quite amusing. If according to their guess, it was wrong for the mayor to personally try to steal away their son’s girlfriend, but weren’t they now also planning to step in to help Zhou Cheng keep his girlfriend?

Auntie Zeng wanted to laugh because she was watching these two intelligent people’s IQs dropping rapidly.

Guan Hue’e’s attention had been completely diverted by Xia Xiaolan’s visit, and she could no longer focus on the annoying requests from Zhou Cheng’s aunt from these past few days. Why bother with an unlikeable sister-in-law? It wasn’t interesting. Better to think about how to counter Mayor Tang’s shameless tactics!

The next day, Xia Xiaolan went to visit the Zhou elderly couple again.

Grandmother Zhou wouldn’t let go of her hand, making Xia Xiaolan feel quite guilty – she should visit the elderly more often.

“That’s enough fussing. Young people have their studies and careers to busy themselves with. If someone had time to visit you every day, they must be idle and unsuccessful!”

Old Master Zhou’s comment nearly made Zhou Yi, who had just reached the doorway, trip.

That was quite hurtful – was it wrong that she frequently came to visit her grandparents?

Though she was somewhat idle.

Zhou Yi felt inexplicably guilty, standing at the courtyard entrance unsure whether to go in or not.

In the courtyard, Xia Xiaolan was coaxing Grandmother Zhou: “I’m going to visit Zhou Cheng this weekend. You could come along – I can drive slowly.”

Grandmother Zhou was tempted, but Old Master Zhou opposed it, so the Old Lady had to regretfully decline: “You young people are dating, wouldn’t an old lady like me just get in the way? No, no, you go by yourself.”

Missing her grandson was one thing, but she couldn’t be inconsiderate about it.

Zhou Cheng already had limited time to meet with Xiaolan at work, and young people needed private time to talk when they met. How could dating include bringing along a grandmother?

Grandmother Zhou missed her grandson and wanted to see him settle down, but she didn’t want to be a burden to the young people.

Xia Xiaolan stayed chatting with the elderly couple until it was eight in the evening before leaving.

As soon as she stepped out, she noticed something dark moving by the wall. The black shadow was moving, which startled her so much that she nearly pulled out her Taser to give it a strong shock.

“Don’t shout, don’t shout, it’s me, my legs are numb from squatting…”

The voice from the shadow was quite familiar – it was Zhou Yi, whom she had just seen yesterday.

Xia Xiaolan was speechless: “Sister Zhou Yi, why didn’t you go in?”

If she hadn’t suddenly remembered this was Old Master Zhou’s residence and there couldn’t be bad people lurking around, she would have already tasered Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi was hissing in pain, her legs really were numb from squatting, and that tingling sensation was too intense for her to answer Xia Xiaolan’s question. Zhou Yi felt quite wronged – why didn’t she go in? Wasn’t it because Xia Xiaolan was there? She was afraid of going in and being compared to Xia Xiaolan by her grandparents, only to have her, their granddaughter, be deemed worthless again.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Xia Xiaolan still helped Zhou Yi up.

“Do you look down on me a lot?”

This came out of nowhere, Zhou Yi suddenly blurting out such a question.

What kind of provocation had Zhou Yi experienced? Xia Xiaolan felt they weren’t close enough to discuss such matters.

“What right do I have to look down on you? Your grandfather is impressive, your father is impressive, your uncle is also impressive… Even after twenty years of my struggle, I might not catch up to you.”

This brutally honest response from Xia Xiaolan made Zhou Yi clutch her chest:

“…Do you even know how to comfort people?”

Xia Xiaolan pulled Zhou Yi’s arm to help her stand straight. The light was too dim for Xia Xiaolan to see Zhou Yi’s expression.

“I wasn’t trying to comfort you in the first place. Tell me, what’s going on?”