So that’s how it was.
Li Fengmei encountered Xia Dajun on the train.
Xia Dajun had a young woman by his side, and their relationship was not ordinary.
Was Li Fengmei worried about Afen seeing them?
Aunt Xiaolan was quite protective of Afen. Tang Hongen withdrew his gaze and said, “Little Wang, drive faster. It’ll be harder to get out once more people arrive.”
Tang Hongen truly wasn’t afraid of Xia Dajun – this kind of man wasn’t even comparable to Officer Ma from the capital, whom he’d only met once.
Officer Ma could at least make Tang Hongen nervous, being seen as a potential rival.
Tang Hongen asking Little Wang to drive faster wasn’t out of fear of Xia Dajun, but because he didn’t want Liu Fen to feel upset.
It was truly irritating – this kind of man shouldn’t continue appearing in Liu Fen’s sight.
Aunt Xiaolan was considerate – she must have encountered Xia Dajun on the train but hadn’t caught his attention. Her hurry to leave after getting off the train was likely to prevent Xia Dajun from seeing Afen and causing trouble… No, that’s not it – Xia Dajun now had a young woman by his side. A formerly penniless farmer who now had a young companion – wouldn’t he want to show off in front of Afen, his ex-wife?
If not for worrying about Afen’s feelings, Tang Hongen would have stayed put, letting Xia Dajun come over to show off with his woman.
Then he could have legitimately protected Afen, ensuring Xia Dajun would never dare to cause trouble again.
Tang Hongen regretted missing this opportunity, but ultimately his concern for Liu Fen’s feelings prevailed, not wanting such an unpleasant person as Xia Dajun to appear before her.
After leaving the train station, Li Fengmei also breathed a sigh of relief.
She was eager to check new goods at the wholesale market and didn’t even want to go to the guesthouse, which Tang Hongen had no objection to.
At the wholesale market, Li Fengmei looked around and noticed something different: “Afen, have you noticed the wholesale market looks different?”
“It seems cleaner…”
The usually chaotic place was now being cleaned, with people wearing red armbands patrolling.
It wasn’t like this before.
While Liu Fen and Li Fengmei were puzzled, Tang Hongen casually explained: “Any market that grows large enough needs unified planning. The Yangcheng government must have replanned this area. Yangcheng’s clothing market is impressive now, surpassing others and gaining national recognition. Previously, people would go to Shanghai for stock, only trusting Shanghai clothes, but now they’ve come to accept Yangcheng goods.”
Liu Fen and Li Fengmei listened with sudden understanding.
As expected of a high-ranking mayor, his knowledge surpassed ordinary people’s.
Little Wang kept his eyes down, feeling he’d learned another lesson. The leader spoke so seriously as if someone else had their wallet stolen at the wholesale market in July.
Of course, they needed to reorganize – how could it be acceptable when even the mayor’s wallet got stolen? What about ordinary citizens?
…
“Brother Dajun?”
Finally off the train.
Long-distance travel wasn’t enjoyable, even with a sleeper berth. Xiaoyu, being newly pregnant, felt particularly sick from the various train odors.
Having finally disembarked, Xia Dajun was trying to support her and carry their luggage, creating quite a bustle.
Yet at this moment, Xia Dajun was distracted, looking around, and Xiaoyu nearly got knocked down by someone, making her annoyed at his absent-mindedness.
Xia Dajun looked somewhat guilty, making Xiaoyu more curious:
“Brother Dajun, what are you looking at?”
“I thought I saw someone from our hometown, but I might have been mistaken!”
Why be guilty about seeing someone from your hometown? Xiaoyu narrowed her eyes. She too had gained her position through being from the same hometown as Xia Dajun and was wary of all fellow townspeople.
Female townspeople needed no explanation, but even male ones – Dahe Village was dirt poor, and anyone Xia Dajun knew would be a pauper who might ask him for money.
That wouldn’t do – all of Xia Dajun’s earnings belonged to her.
Now she controlled his salary, which was perfectly justified since they were officially married.
“Brother Dajun, you probably saw wrong. Let’s hurry back to Pengcheng. You need to return to work soon, and we should tell our families about our marriage.”
The trip home had taken over ten days, and now calculating, Xiaoyu was about three months pregnant – perfect timing to announce the good news!
Xia Dajun put the earlier incident out of his mind. He thought he’d seen Liu Fen’s sister-in-law and recognized her in the train car, but with Xiaoyu beside him, he feared Li Fengmei might make a scene and Xiaoyu might overthink things, so he hadn’t dared to greet her.
Fortunately, Li Fengmei had pretended not to see him either.
He had deliberately delayed getting off the train, but while helping Xiaoyu disembark, he happened to see Li Fengmei getting into a car and leaving.
Having been around Du Zhaohui, Xia Dajun was used to luxury cars, and compared to the young master’s vehicle, the car Li Fengmei got into was certainly ordinary.
But it was still a car.
With Li Fengmei there, could Liu Fen have been in the car too?
Thinking of his ex-wife who was involved with the clothing store owner, Xia Dajun’s head ached.
Just for the sake of riding in a cheap car, she’d abandoned all shame. He’d never realized Liu Fen was that kind of person!
That woman had acted in front of him for twenty years, appearing wooden and honest, like a downtrodden victim… it was all fake!
Never mind, as long as she didn’t appear before him, not everyone knew she was Xia Dajun’s ex-wife, so the shame wouldn’t fall on him. It would shame Xia Xiaolan – why didn’t she control her mother? Hadn’t she found a partner from a good family? When his family learns about Liu Fen’s impropriety, they’ll surely disapprove of Xia Xiaolan!
Xia Dajun remained resentful about Guan Hui’e threatening him and Xia Xiaolan cutting ties with him.
His original guilt towards Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen had changed since Xiaoyu came along. Why keep thinking about an ungrateful daughter? Xiaoyu would soon bear him a son to continue the family line.
Xia Dajun’s spirits lifted as he took Xiaoyu through customs from Yangcheng back to Pengcheng.
That evening, the whole family gathered, and Xia Dajun even spent money for Wang Jingui to buy roast goose as an extra dish.
Old Mrs. Xia spoke with a crooked mouth: “Dajun, why were you gone so long? Any sensible person wouldn’t ask you to take leave for her father’s fiftieth birthday celebration. What’s there to celebrate at fifty? Be careful not to use up your good fortune with too much enjoyment…”
What’s worth celebrating? She, his mother, hadn’t even had a birthday celebration yet, but this little vixen knew how to charm people.
Xia Dajun had just picked up a piece of roast goose for Xiaoyu. Xiaoyu pretended not to hear the old woman’s sour remarks, but as soon as she brought the goose to her mouth – although she usually loved this dish – now even the smell made her want to vomit. Xiaoyu retched twice and ran out of the room covering her mouth.
Old Mrs. Xia was nearly furious, “I just said a few words, who’s she putting on this act for?”
Xia Dajun slammed down his chopsticks:
“Mom, we should be happy tonight. Why do you keep criticizing Xiaoyu? We went home to get our marriage certificate. Xiaoyu is pregnant – you’ll be holding your grandson soon. Don’t make her do so much work from now on. Aren’t you happy to wait for her to safely deliver the child?”
Xia Dajun’s eyebrows were dancing as he spoke, and everyone at the table fell silent.
What?
Married and pregnant?
What’s there to be happy about? What’s exciting about holding a grandson? The Xia family already had three grandsons. Old Mrs. Xia had been excited three times before, and nothing was exciting about a fourth time. But seeing her second son so happy, Old Mrs. Xia’s face twisted as she forced out a smile that looked more like crying:
“You got married without even telling your mother? Dajun, what kind of decent woman would sleep with you before getting married!”