According to Xia Ziyu and Xia Dajun’s version, Xia Dajun and Liu Fen’s marriage had no major problems – it was all internal family conflict. Xia Xiaolan, being quick-tempered, had convinced Liu Fen to leave the Xia family. As mothers usually can’t resist their children’s wishes, this naturally led to the divorce from Xia Dajun.

If the couple were to remarry, Xia Xiaolan would be the obstacle.

Xia Dajun suggested that he and Liu Fen meet privately, reconciling under Principal Sun’s witness, bypassing Xia Xiaolan entirely. She might be upset for a few days but would eventually have to accept the reality.

Principal Sun’s wife had nearly worn out her eyes trying to signal him, but he completely missed her hints.

After seeing off Xia Dajun and Xia Ziyu, his wife exploded:

“You’re even managing students’ family affairs now – why don’t you just go work at the street office instead!”

Principal Sun found this puzzling.

“I just want Xia Xiaolan to study without worrying about living expenses and tuition fees!”

The principal’s wife sneered: “Do you know how much courage it takes for a rural woman to ask for a divorce? You just listen to whatever Xia Xiaolan’s father says. If a couple argues for months, they should cool down naturally. Parents are supposed to guide their children, but when have parents ever let their daughters stop them from remarrying? Those are Xia Xiaolan’s biological parents – if her father were good, why would she oppose their reconciliation?”

Women and men think differently, considering problems from completely different angles.

The principal’s wife felt the root of the problem lay with Xia Dajun. The fact that Xia Xiaolan and her mother would rather live with their uncle than return home couldn’t be explained away by just “being stubborn.”

Principal Sun was thoroughly berated by his wife, but he still felt that Xia Ziyu genuinely cared for his cousin, and Xia Dajun seemed like an honest rural man. If the situation could be resolved as Xia Ziyu described, wouldn’t he be doing a good deed? Wasn’t there an old saying that “Better to demolish ten temples than destroy one marriage”?

Principal Sun had his plans, but his wife was so angry she could spit blood. She turned to Sun Tian, who had been standing nearby, for judgment.

Sun Tian had a gentle, shy personality and wasn’t good at contradicting others. While she felt something was oddly off about the whole situation, her limited life experience meant she couldn’t see things as clearly as the principal’s wife. She hesitated before saying:

“Aunt, I can’t say who’s right or wrong, but from what I know of classmate Xia Xiaolan, she’s in good spirits, which shows she’s very satisfied with her current life. Since her parents’ conflict has been temporarily set aside, why not wait until after her college entrance exam to address it?”

Xia Xiaolan was clearly in a stable state now – why dig up her parents’ conflict again?

It would be fine if they could resolve it, but if the conflict escalated, wouldn’t it affect Xia Xiaolan’s mood? With only five months until the college entrance exam, this wasn’t the time to take risks – they should prioritize stability before seeking improvement.

With both his wife and niece seemingly disagreeing, Principal Sun’s confidence wavered.

“Well, maybe we could just talk to Xia Xiaolan’s mother privately, without letting Xia Xiaolan know. Whether it works or not won’t matter much!”

Principal Sun compromised, but his wife was still unhappy, though knowing her husband’s personality, she reluctantly agreed.

They wouldn’t need to specially summon Liu Fen – an opportunity to talk would come soon. The third-year students and repeaters at County No. 1 High School would return tomorrow, and on the fourth day of the New Year, there would be a parent meeting. The school would invite the students’ parents for a pre-exam mobilization meeting, though it was aimed at parents rather than students… It was to emphasize the importance of the college entrance exam. With only five months left before this life-determining test, families shouldn’t disturb the students with household matters – even the most important family affairs should give way to the college entrance exam!

On the second day of the New Year, Liu Fang didn’t stay at her maiden home. As a cadre’s wife, New Year was when Liang Bing’an was busy, and she needed to pay New Year’s visits to leaders. She left after lunch, having come by bicycle… In this era, not just cadres’ wives but most cadres themselves were very down-to-earth. Few had cars for work, and even those of sufficient rank rarely used official vehicles for personal use during off-hours. Wherever they needed to go, they would just pedal their bicycles!

Liang Bing’an wasn’t even at the rank to be assigned a car – only county-level cadres got cars. He happened to manage the unit’s official vehicles, which was why he could drive his family to Qijing Village that day.

Liu Fang didn’t have such privileges, so she wouldn’t stay for dinner, worried about riding in the dark.

After chattering away at the Liu family home for half a day, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they could finally see her off.

Liu Fang still held onto Xia Xiaolan’s hand reluctantly, “Come visit your aunt more often, my home isn’t far, your mother knows the way!”

More visits would help build their relationship.

Xia Xiaolan nodded vigorously, repeatedly promising not to forget her aunt. Liu Fang felt satisfied with completing her mission for the day and contentedly rode away on her bicycle. The honest Liu Fen was still nervous after her sister left:

“How would I remember the way? I only went there once when she had Liang Yu.”

Indeed, Liu Fang had married up, and before the Liang family could say anything, she was afraid of poor relatives from her maiden family attaching themselves to her. She hadn’t even invited Liu Fen to her wedding or when Liang Huan was born. It was only when Liang Yu was born that the Liang family elders were so happy they told their daughter-in-law to invite her maiden family for a gathering, allowing Liu Fen to finally step into the Liang household.

“Don’t worry, when we go, we can just ask for directions using the address.”

Xia Xiaolan had figured out her aunt’s nature – she was the type who wouldn’t let go until she got what she wanted, only seeking relationships when she needed something from others. Whether her mother remembered the way or not didn’t matter, as Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t have time for her aunt’s emotional drama anyway… After the fourth day of the New Year, Xia Xiaolan and the others would return to Shangdu to continue their business. Between business and studies, where would she find time to visit relatives in Hedong County?

Even if Liu Fang came looking for them, she would only find closed doors.

While villagers knew Xia Xiaolan’s family was in the provincial capital, none knew the address. Unable to find them, Liu Fang’s enthusiasm for matchmaking would naturally fade.

Why wait until the fourth day to return to the provincial city?

On the third day, Li Fengmei would visit her maiden home, and on the fourth day, Liu Fen needed to attend the “parent meeting” for third-year students at the school!

Xia Xiaolan was supposed to go too, but Liu Fen told her to stay home and study: “Look at Chen Qing from Uncle Da’s family, he’s always holding his books.”

Liu Fen wasn’t saying Xia Xiaolan wasn’t working hard, just feeling that family matters were holding her child back. It was only because Xia Xiaolan’s test scores kept improving that Liu Fen agreed to let her continue running the Yangcheng business.

Now with their shop, the business was much easier to manage. Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t need to travel to Yangcheng as frequently, and like last time, they could have goods shipped directly from there.

“Xiaolan, what should we plant in spring in our allocated fields?”

Liu Fen was used to discussing everything with Xia Xiaolan. They had received their land allocation after missing the winter wheat planting season. The cold winter temperatures meant nothing else could survive except winter wheat, and the soil was too hard even for plowing.

Xia Xiaolan was completely at a loss, knowing nothing about farming.

In her previous life, she had no experience with it, and in this life, the original “Xia Xiaolan” had been lazy about farm work, never taking it seriously.

Xia Xiaolan wanted to suggest renting the fields to others, just to prevent them from lying fallow, but Liu Fen took this very seriously. During the day, she liked to walk around their fields, clearly wanting to properly manage the land under her and Xia Xiaolan’s names.

What could they plant in spring?

Even if they planted radishes and vegetables, Liu Yong’s family couldn’t eat them all.

“You decide, Mom. You’re in charge of these things in our family.”

Unable to offer constructive suggestions, Xia Xiaolan decisively passed the responsibility to her mother.