After meeting Cui Yiru, Xia Xiaolan also told Zhou Cheng about the past few days’ events.

Zhou Cheng maintained his original stance – Xia Xiaolan should keep an appropriate distance from the Zhang family.

“You’re helping Grandmother Yu search for her relatives. They used to be part of the Xu family, but now they’re part of the Zhang family. People’s feelings develop over time. Cui Yiru has been married to Zhang Jiangdong for 17 years now, which is longer than when she married Xu Zhongyi. No one can truly know another’s heart, so who knows whose side she’ll take in the future.”

Xia Xiaolan had naturally considered this point.

“I understand, so I’m taking everything Cui Yiru says with reservations. I just wanted to let you know that if Cui Yiru returns to China, I might make a trip back as well.”

This news genuinely surprised Zhou Cheng.

“You can get leave to return to China?”

“For a few days, yes. Cornell University mainly cares about students completing their required credits. I took extra credits in the first half of the year, and my two-month internship evaluation scores were very high. I don’t have many credits left to complete. One course is with Professor Wen, and with some schedule adjustments, taking a few days off shouldn’t be difficult.”

Viewing Cornell as a checkpoint, Xia Xiaolan had already cleared most of it through her intense efforts during the previous semester and her internship at the GMP firm. If she hadn’t wanted to learn more, this semester would have been much easier for her.

Learning that Xia Xiaolan might return to China was perhaps the happiest news Zhou Cheng had received lately. While he couldn’t travel abroad again, he would find a way to meet with Xiaolan when she was in China!

“Keep me updated, and be careful.”

“Don’t worry, Third Brother Pan is here with me.”

Indeed, if Pan Bohua hadn’t been in America, Zhou Cheng would have taken a much firmer stance, forbidding Xia Xiaolan from approaching Cui Yiru and the others. It was precisely because Pan Bohua was in America, and Zhou Cheng knew he had brought several capable people with him – Pan Bohua called it “delivering goods,” and while Zhou Cheng hadn’t asked for specifics, he knew everyone accompanying Pan Bohua was highly competent!

This was the true source of Zhou Cheng’s peace of mind.

After chatting sweetly for a few minutes, Zhou Cheng was still smiling when he hung up the phone.

The Regiment Commander happened to see him: “Did you collect your allowance? Look how pleased you are, how ambitious!”

The allowance the Commander mentioned referred to Zhou Cheng’s salary increase after becoming Deputy Regiment Commander. Regular Captains and Deputy Regiment Commanders had different pay scales. According to the State Council’s national administrative salary standards, a Major at Captain rank received a Level 16 salary of 113 yuan monthly, while a Major at Deputy Regiment Commander rank received a Level 15 salary of 127 yuan monthly… Though the monthly increase was only 14 yuan, its significance was quite different.

What significance? For instance, now when the Regiment Commander spoke with Zhou Cheng, it felt more like speaking to a peer.

Zhou Cheng spoke more naturally with the Commander as well: “I haven’t collected the allowance yet. It’s about my girlfriend – she might be coming back to China soon.”

The Commander responded with an “Oh”:

“Your studying-abroad girlfriend is coming back… Zhou Cheng, you’re just waiting for me to ask so you can request leave again!”

Zhou Cheng looked completely innocent, “Commander, you brought it up yourself.”

The Commander wanted to slap himself.

Why was he so loose-tongued?

Why did he care whether Zhou Cheng collected his allowance? Looking at Zhou Cheng’s appearance, he wasn’t short on money, so why worry about it?

Now he’d learned about Zhou Cheng’s girlfriend coming back, and Zhou Cheng was looking at him expectantly – should he approve the leave or not? Loose-tongued, truly loose-tongued!

The Commander lightly slapped his mouth:

“Pretend I never asked. I have work to do, I’m leaving.”

“Commander!”

Zhou Cheng followed him, “Look, Old Fang’s daughter is already crawling, and I’m not even married yet. If my girlfriend Xiaolan runs away, will you be responsible for finding me a new girlfriend as excellent as her?”

The Commander didn’t respond.

Fang Shizhong was already over 30, so what was strange about his daughter crawling?

If they were comparing, why not compare who got promoted faster?

Taking advantage and still acting cute – what was with young comrades these days, why were they so eager to get married? Could they still talk about dedication and sacrifice?

No approval!

This leave request absolutely would not be approved!

…

Tina had been hiding at Columbia University for several days recently.

Hiding from whom?

Hiding from her brother Fawn and her mommy Cui Yiru!

Her feelings for Harold had become known to Fawn and Cui Yiru, and both strongly opposed it.

Harold was young and promising, with substantial family wealth – by all accounts a golden bachelor. However, he was more than ten years older than Tina. While Tina was innocent and naive, Harold was a playboy who had dated many women and showed no signs of settling down.

What did it matter if he was wealthy?

Money couldn’t mask the fact that Harold was an experienced womanizer. Both Fawn and Cui Yiru strongly rejected such a golden bachelor. If anything happened between Tina and him, it must have been Harold’s seduction – how despicable, manipulating a barely adult young girl—

These were Fawn and Cui Yiru’s thoughts, and no matter how Tina tried to explain, neither would believe her.

Cui Yiru even wanted an explanation from Mrs. Wilson – she had entrusted her daughter to her care, not for her to match Tina with Harold.

Tina found the whole situation so embarrassing that she refused to attend any balls.

Later, she heard that before the ball even started, her mommy had said a lot to Harold, and during the ball, her brother Fawn had gotten into a fight with Harold… Such excessive protection had humiliated Tina, and this time she was truly angry, directly ignoring both Fawn and Cui Yiru.

Only Zhang Jiangdong could get her to leave Columbia University.

“Daddy, are you coming to New York?”

“Of course it’s true. You’ve been studying in New York, but I haven’t visited you yet. I heard you fought with your mommy?”

“Daddy, this time Mommy went too far, and Fawn too!”

Tina complained coquettishly, and Zhang Jiangdong patiently listened to all her grievances before consoling her: “Alright, we’ll discuss everything when I get to New York. If your mommy and brother are in the wrong, I’ll take your side.”

Tina cheered jubilantly.

With this premise, she was especially happy when Zhang Jiangdong arrived in New York, setting aside her grudges to join Cui Yiru and Fawn in picking him up at the airport.

Zhang Jiangdong was nearly fifty but looked quite young.

It was mainly his scholarly temperament and the way he greeted everyone with a slight smile that made people feel goodwill toward him.

Although he had flown first class to New York, he was very polite to the flight attendants and ground staff – this city councilor was consistently down-to-earth. Tina ran over and threw herself into Zhang Jiangdong’s arms:

“Daddy!”

Zhang Jiangdong’s eyes were full of love, “Tina, why have you gotten a bit thinner? Have you been following others in dieting again? You’re already thin enough. Those trendy concepts encouraging young people to diet are all wrong. You don’t need to change yourself to cater to others’ aesthetics – you’re my daughter, Zhang Jiangdong’s daughter.”

Looking up to see Fawn, Zhang Jiangdong nodded slightly.

“Let’s go get Tina a good meal first, fill her stomach, and then our family can sit down and discuss this matter in detail.”

Tina thought they would be discussing the Harold situation.

However, Fawn and Cui Yiru knew that what Zhang Jiangdong wanted to tell Tina was about her true identity.