Liang Bing’an’s words were trying to make up for Liang Huan and Liu Fang’s behavior.

He also felt Liu Fang was causing unnecessary trouble. The money was her idea, and he’d offered 2,000 yuan for Liu Fang’s face in front of her family. But after the words were spoken, Liu Fang and Liang Huan undermined it. Now they’d have to spend the money without earning any gratitude – Liang Bing’an thought this was foolish.

“No, no…”

Liu Fen waved her hands desperately.

She hadn’t expected help from her sister and brother-in-law, especially since Liu Fang hadn’t contacted the family for years. Liu Fen was incapable – she had no financial freedom in the Xia family, and Xia Dajun wouldn’t accompany her to the neighboring county. She had secretly saved eggs twice to send to her sister’s family, but besides that, there was no other contact.

Finally, this year Liu Fang brought her family home – it wouldn’t be right to argue during New Year’s.

While Liu Fen believed in family harmony, Liu Yong exploded:

“Liu Fang, speak clearly – why can’t Xiaolan wear new clothes? Is only your Liang Huan precious while other girls are worthless?”

With Liang Bing’an watching her, Liu Fang didn’t dare fan the flames further. Though Liang Huan feared her father, she felt Uncle Liu Yong was biased. Her “straightforward” personality matched Liu Fang’s exactly:

“Uncle, we’ve all heard that Second Aunt divorced Uncle because of Cousin Xiaolan, and Second Aunt brought Cousin to live at your house… We just wanted to help Second Aunt, that’s why Mom came back. But seeing how Cousin doesn’t care about you and Second Aunt at all, I shouldn’t have said that in front of others, I just found it strange…”

If not standing next to Xia Xiaolan, Liang Huan was also a graceful young beauty.

She had fine features, and Liu Fang never made her do housework and spent freely on her clothes. Liang Huan was every bit the delicate city girl.

Liu Yong couldn’t bring himself to yell at his niece, so he explained seriously:

“Your cousin’s clothes weren’t bought by your uncle or your Second Aunt – she earned the money herself.”

Though Liu Yong was unreliable, Liang Bing’an knew this brother-in-law never bothered lying.

Before Liang Huan could question it, he asked, “Did Xiaolan get a formal job?”

Having lost touch with Liu Fang’s family for years, besides hearing about Liu Fen’s divorce from Xia Dajun, Liang Bing’an wasn’t clear about Xia Xiaolan’s situation. Since she was earning money, she must have work. Jobs open to rural residents were rare – perhaps Xia Xiaolan had caught a good opportunity, plus with her looks… Liang Bing’an guessed she might be a department store sales clerk.

That would explain Xia Xiaolan’s changes – working at a department store would naturally make one more fashionable.

Having a job was better.

Liang Bing’an was satisfied. Xia Xiaolan finally found a chance to speak, “Uncle, I’m not formally employed – I’m self-employed.”

Ah, self-employed?

Before Liang Bing’an could process this, Liu Fang instinctively shrieked: “How could you be self-employed? How embarrassing! If people knew you were my niece, how could I show my face in public!”

Well, with that one statement, Liu Fang had offended Xia Xiaolan, Li Fengmei, Liu Yong, and Liu Fen.

They were all self-employed.

Xia Xiaolan reminded her seriously, “Aunt, don’t worry. Others don’t know I’m your niece, and if we meet on the street in the future, I’ll stay far away.”

Meeting only once in six years, Xia Xiaolan didn’t think she could embarrass Liu Fang.

Liang Bing’an was angry – Liu Fang kept interrupting today. This was what happened when you married a woman with only looks – years of no help to his career, it was already lucky if she didn’t drag him down.

“Is that how an aunt should act? Xiaolan and Second Sister are in a special situation, being self-employed is to solve their financial difficulties. If we’d known their situation earlier… Now that we know, we should help – then she wouldn’t need to be self-employed.”

As expected of an official, Liang Bing’an could always smooth things over.

His words made everyone feel better. Though Xia Xiaolan thought her uncle’s words were just diplomatic, you couldn’t slap a smiling face, so she remained polite to him.

“Uncle, I think being self-employed is quite good…”

“Ahem, Xiaolan, have you graduated high school? I’ll see if there are any job opportunities, though you’d have to work in Hedong County where we live. Would you be willing?”

Liang Bing’an interrupted Xia Xiaolan’s refusal. She wasn’t sure what her aunt’s family was planning.

They hadn’t kept in touch before, but suddenly appeared offering to help with house building and arranging work – what was their real intention?

It wasn’t likely that Liu Fang pitied them. The Liang family was well-off while the Xia family struggled, and Liu Fen was at the bottom of the Xia family hierarchy. Liu Yong barely made ends meet himself, yet whether through honest means or not, he squeezed out money to help Liu Fen and her daughter.

What about Liu Fang?

She could fight with Liu Yong and cut contact for years, never caring how her second sister lived in the Xia family.

Xia Xiaolan decided to wait and watch:

“Uncle, I graduated from middle school.”

She didn’t mention that she was currently in her final year of high school, preparing for college entrance exams in July.

Liang Bing’an’s expression stiffened slightly. Liang Huan didn’t hide her contempt. Only middle school? What use was that? Even in towns, so many middle school graduates couldn’t find work. If not a technical school, shouldn’t she at least finish high school?

“Middle school… well, we can try, though we’ll need to look for opportunities…”

Liang Bing’an could arrange a job if he wanted, but he couldn’t make it sound too easy. Agreeing too readily wouldn’t showcase the value of this favor.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to keep dancing around with her bureaucratic uncle.

Liu Fang grew more anxious, “Second Sister, let me be honest. I came back today not just to reconcile with Big Brother, but because I heard you and Xiaolan’s father divorced, and the Xia family drove you both out. I worried you couldn’t manage. I didn’t expect the village would allocate you land and a house foundation, but you’re both women – without a man’s labor, how will you farm the allocated land yourselves? You know how I speak, but my heart is in the right place. When Huan Huan’s father offered 2,000 yuan for your house, I agreed… If it’s not enough, I’ll add another 2,000. You don’t need to repay it, just use it with peace of mind.”

No one expected such heartfelt words from Liu Fang.

This was just like her – she could speak kindly when she wanted to.

Offering 4,000 yuan to help her sister build a house in 1984, with no repayment required – regardless of the Liang family’s wealth, this was quite generous. If Liu Fang had appeared a few months earlier, during Xia Xiaolan and her mother’s most difficult time, it would have been crucial help.

Now, months later, it was just icing on the cake. Though Liu Fen didn’t need the money, she was still moved by her sister’s gesture.

“Xiaofang, we really don’t need money for the house. We’re not building until after July, and we should have enough by then…”

They could actually start building now – the mother and daughter had the money, just not the time.

Liu Fang dismissed this, “You’re just being stubborn. Can pride feed you? Even a few rooms of red brick house costs thousands. Isn’t Xiaolan just running a small business? How much can she earn? Besides, Old Liang wants to arrange a job for Xiaolan, so she can’t keep being self-employed. With a proper, comfortable job, the monthly salary is fixed – how long would it take to save enough for a house? You and Xiaolan can’t keep living at Big Brother’s forever, right?”

This touched a nerve, and Li Fengmei quickly spoke up:

“Of course they can stay forever. Xiaofang, you come back just to cause trouble, offering money – what are you really planning?”