Grandmother Xia’s eyes were full of daggers, but when Fan Yu glanced sideways at her, she still lacked confidence and avoided eye contact.

Fan Yu let out a soft snort.

Just an old woman who bullies the weak and fears the strong!

Fan Yu didn’t even show such filial piety to her mother, let alone Grandmother Xia. This type of old woman couldn’t be pleased – give Grandmother Xia an inch, and she’d take a mile. Only by showing her no courtesy would she behave properly… Fan Yu had seen plenty of this in the countryside, where mothers-in-law would act up if they sensed weakness in their daughters-in-law.

To be bullied or to bully others?

For Fan Yu, this choice posed no difficulty at all.

While Grandmother Xia didn’t dare confront Fan Yu directly, Xia Dajun happened to return home from work at 2 PM, his face filled with exhaustion.

“Dajun, can’t you control your wife? The child is still so young, yet she’s always running around flirtatiously. Aren’t you afraid she’ll run off with someone!”

That’s how a mother talks! Without even asking if Xia Dajun had eaten lunch or if he was hungry, she immediately started tattling.

Only Xia Dajun could tolerate this.

No, after a long time, even Xia Dajun had his complaints.

He was extremely tired now, just wanting to play with his son and get some good sleep.

“Mom, can you stop picking on Young Yu all the time? I know why she goes out! She says the child is too young, and will need to attend school in the provincial capital later, and will definitely work and settle down there. Aren’t I working myself to exhaustion every day to save money for the child? Young Yu is truly committed to our life together – otherwise, when I lost my job in Pengcheng, she would have left long ago! She’s going out to find work; both of us need to earn money to make life a bit easier.”

Money was easy to make in Pengcheng.

It was even easier when working for Young Master Du.

Having almost made it big, only to fall back to their original life, Xia Dajun was also depressed.

In Shangdu, long-distance driving brought high income – compared to ordinary urban workers, that is, but it was far less than what he earned working for Du Zhaohui.

Working for Du Zhaohui, the places he went and the people he met were all beyond what ordinary people could access.

Young Yu was right – they needed to save more money. Owning their truck would be better than being someone else’s driver. With this goal in mind, Xia Dajun completely supported Young Yu going out to work. He was convinced that Young Yu was devoted to him, and they were both working hard for their son.

His mother’s provocations irritated him, and combined with his fatigue, he increasingly didn’t want to talk, brushing her off with a few words before heading to his room for a nap.

“She—”

Grandmother Xia was anxious. With Fan Yu’s coquettish manner, what decent job could she find?

Grandmother Xia suspected that Fan Yu was taking advantage of Xia Dajun’s frequent absences, claiming to go out for work but meeting other men.

Grandmother Xia’s face twisted, unable to convince her son. In her anxiety, she couldn’t control her drooling. Fan Yu was inside, supposedly putting her son down for a nap, but she had been awake and heard everything Grandmother Xia said clearly.

Old hag, always trying to poison others’ minds!

Fan Yu’s desire to work at the Municipal Party Committee Guesthouse wasn’t for the monthly salary – she already controlled all of Xia Dajun’s income, being generous only to herself while strictly rationing money to Grandmother Xia and Xia Junbao.

It wasn’t about the money; Fan Yu had other plans.

She had a strong impression of the Municipal Party Committee Guesthouse – it was where Fan Zhenchuan had been taken away.

The place was frequented by leading cadres… Fan Yu wasn’t content with mediocrity. Having been with the powerful Fan Zhenchuan and experienced life with the wealthy Liu Tianquan, she believed that the world was as big as one’s heart!

With broadened horizons, Fan Yu couldn’t accept living an ordinary person’s life anymore.

If Xia Dajun was still earning several thousand a month like when they first met, Fan Yu might have been content to live with him for a few years.

But now, they had been forced to leave Pengcheng.

Fan Yu really couldn’t see any great future for Xia Dajun.

This man could neither become Fan Zhenchuan nor Liu Tianquan; he didn’t seem capable of achieving great wealth and status.

At just over twenty years old, Fan Yu wasn’t ready to give up and wanted to take a chance.

When Xia Dajun entered the room, Fan Yu gently patted their son, “Dajun, I gave someone gifts today. You know I’m a woman and shouldn’t get too close to male officials who can help. Why don’t you rest for a while now, and tonight we’ll go to the Municipal Party Committee Guesthouse together? You’re the man of the house; it would be more appropriate for you to ask for favors.”

How could Grandmother Xia compete with Fan Yu?

In front of Xia Dajun, Fan Yu was a proper, principled woman who even knew to keep her distance from other men when giving gifts to find work!

Xia Dajun had no objections to Fan Yu working, but her chosen workplace made him uncomfortable:

“Work doesn’t have to be at the Municipal Party Committee Guesthouse. I’m not comfortable with you being a servant to others.”

Fan Yu threw down her clothes:

“You think I want to serve others? We’re both countryside people who came to the city, without any foundation here, still holding rural household registrations. I just thought that working at the Municipal Party Committee Guesthouse might help us get familiar with some officials who could help solve our household registration problems… Xia Dajun, have you no conscience? Don’t think I didn’t hear earlier – your mother was badmouthing me again!”

The household registration issue Fan Yu mentioned struck a nerve with Xia Dajun.

A rural household registration meant being a second-class citizen at this time.

Xia Dajun once thought he had a chance to solve this problem by buying a house in Pengcheng. When he was earning three to four thousand a month, buying a house and settling down seemed possible.

But…

Well, never mind the past. It was fine that they hadn’t bought a house in Jinsha Pool – that complex might have been built by Liu Yong.

Though some said it was built by Xia Xiaolan, Xia Dajun refused to believe that.

He’d rather believe the houses were built by Liu Yong.

The day Jinsha Pool opened for sale, Xia Dajun and Fan Yu had gone to look secretly, then sheepishly packed their bags and returned to Yunan.

They couldn’t afford a house, and couldn’t establish themselves in Pengcheng.

Back in Yunan, Fan Yu couldn’t possibly follow Xia Dajun back to the countryside, and Xia Dajun himself was unwilling to return to Dahe Village. Everyone thought he had made his fortune outside; returning would be too embarrassing. Besides, just as Fan Yu had experienced wealth, hadn’t Xia Dajun as well?

Now he wouldn’t agree to return to farming in the countryside either.

Actually, in a few years, many places would relax their rural-to-urban household registration conversion quotas. With just a few ten thousand yuan, one could directly convert from rural to urban residence registration, but Xia Dajun had no way of foreseeing this.

Pengcheng still had policies for obtaining household registration through house purchase – it was a special economic zone, pioneering these policies nationwide!

Shangdu had no such policies.

Shangdu wasn’t even ready for commercial housing yet.

When Fan Yu mentioned wanting to solve their household registration problem, Xia Dajun compromised.

He could earn good money driving trucks, but what connections could he make? He had no access to officials who could help. Even with money for bribes, he couldn’t find the right doors to knock on!

“Fine, let me sleep for a while, then I’ll go with you to the Municipal Party Committee Guesthouse.”

Since Young Yu had already made connections with others and just needed him to handle the negotiations, Xia Dajun had to make this trip.