“…What kind of fate is this!”

Wang Jingui muttered to herself, unable to accept the situation.

Even old theater plays wouldn’t dare write such a plot – first marriage to a farmer, second marriage to a high official. How is this fair? Is there any justice left in this world?

Should she dump Xia Hongbing too?

But she didn’t dare confront Liu Fen about it.

Even the village chief of Dahe Village used to keep Wang Jingui in line. Above the village chief was the township head, then the county head, and only then the city mayor.

Wang Jingui had never imagined she’d have a chance to deal with such high-ranking officials. She had no experience and was intimidated. She couldn’t fathom just how powerful the Mayor of Pengcheng was but knew it was someone she couldn’t afford to offend.

Wang Jingui didn’t even dare ask what benefits there were in helping Xia Xiaolan. Just thinking about Liu Fen marrying the mayor, and their past grievances, terrified her. The night Xia Hongxia told her about it, Wang Jingui came down with a fever.

The next day when she needed to set up her stall, Wang Jingui lay helpless in bed, unable to get up.

Xia Hongxia ground her teeth in anger.

“Fine, fine! You stay in bed, I’ll go by myself!”

Xia Hongxia was distracted while manning the stall, waiting for someone to approach her, seeing Xia Ziyu’s people in every passerby.

Just when she thought no one would come, near closing time, she heard that voice again:

“Have you made up your mind?”

Of course, she had!

A permanent storefront, business license – everything Xia Xiaolan had promised her was beckoning!

Xia Xiaolan had even said that if they tried to bribe her, she could ask for any amount!

Xia Hongxia was quite brazen:

“I’ve decided, but the money you gave last time was too little. How could my Sister Ziyu be so stingy? She used to treat me the best back home… Give me more money, or I won’t believe you!”

Greed oozed from Xia Hongxia’s face.

The messenger thought, just as expected.

“You can certainly have more money, but what value can you provide? I want all the information about Liu Fen after she left Dahe Village. Can you tell me that?”

They weren’t sure how much they could get from Xia Hongxia.

They just knew this family was foolish and easy to manipulate.

Following Xia Xiaolan’s instructions, Xia Hongxia said: “Give me enough money and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. Without money, I know nothing – you must be a fraud! Or have Sister Ziyu come talk to me herself.”

Xia Hongxia was being deliberately difficult. If there weren’t others around, the messenger would have liked to hit her.

Still, they tossed her an envelope, thicker than the last time!

Sure enough, Xia Hongxia answered every question. Some things she knew firsthand, others were what Xia Xiaolan had told her.

The questions were strange though.

“Between Liu Fen and Xia Dajun, who proposed the divorce? Tell me the details of that situation again?”

“After she left the Xia family with Xia Xiaolan, did she ever return?”

“How did she…”

All sorts of confusing questions, almost made Xia Hongxia break into a sweat.

“Is she a completely different person from before?”

This one Xia Hongxia could answer without coaching.

“They’re like two completely different people. She used to never talk back when scolded, but last time when we cursed at her, she had us all sent to the police station. We were locked up for quite a while before being released.”

This incident left a deep impression on Xia Hongxia because it wasn’t something Xia Xiaolan had told her – she’d experienced it herself.

However, when the messenger asked many questions about how Liu Fen conducted business, Xia Hongxia wasn’t clear on the details and just made things up according to Xia Xiaolan’s instructions.

“After leaving the Xia family, I heard she sold deep-fried pork rinds, then clothes. She made especially good money selling clothes!”

Who could have imagined making money selling pork rinds back in the village?

Only after coming to Pengcheng did Xia Hongxia realize that people could make money from any small business – it was just a matter of how much. But back home, no one could imagine it. Everyone just knew to farm honestly, as if their eyes were covered with yellow mud.

Liu Fen selling pork rinds after leaving the Xia family – she had no choice but to find ways to make money.

What was truly strange was her eldest uncle’s family secretly opening a small restaurant in the county town.

With Xia Hongxia’s limited mental capacity, this oddity flashed through her mind briefly, and she didn’t dwell on it.

The questioner finally left satisfied.

Xia Hongxia opened the envelope – it was full of Hong Kong dollars, a full ten thousand.

“So generous… the Du family must be really rich!”

Just to say a few words, she got ten thousand Hong Kong dollars. Even the stingy and frugal Xia Ziyu was willing to spend this much money, showing she really wasn’t short on funds now.

If Xia Ziyu could give someone 10,000, she must have 100,000, or a million… could she even have 10 million?

Xia Hongxia dared not think too deeply – thinking too much could lead to mistakes.

Money was truly wonderful – you could do so many things with it.

But you need to be alive to spend it.

She still needed to make a living in Pengcheng – how could she dare offend the Mayor?

And there was that demon star Xia Xiaolan – both were existence she couldn’t afford to provoke.

Xia Hongxia’s limited mental capacity couldn’t sort it all out.

“Being a mistress in Hong Kong might be shameful, but at least you’d have endless money to spend. Why come back looking for trouble?”

If she hadn’t come back, Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t have gone to Hong Kong to catch her.

Xia Hongxia used to think Xia Ziyu was especially clever, but now she thought herself smarter.

Xia Ziyu might have gotten into university, but if she had studied harder back then, maybe she could have gotten into Huaqing or Jing University too!

…

Xia Hongxia cooperated with them.

The messenger made three or four trips before she opened up.

People are like this – information gained too easily is suspect, but information obtained with some effort seems more valuable.

Besides investigating in Pengcheng, they also went back to Yunan to inquire.

They had no idea they were like a mantis stalking a cicada, unaware of the oriole behind them. Xia Xiaolan was just waiting for them to return with their harvest – after all, the painstakingly gathered information would have to be reported to those above.

Who was above them?

Following the trail would reveal who was working with Xia Ziyu.

Xia Xiaolan waited patiently.

Ge Jian quickly reported back:

“…It’s Ye Xiaoqiong.”

It was Ye Xiaoqiong.

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t particularly surprised.

Ye Xiaoqiong’s staying in Pengcheng wasn’t just about revenge against Yuan Han.

There were many ways to take revenge on Yuan Han, but Ye Xiaoqiong chose the most satisfying yet most complicated method!

“They think this way they can occupy most of my attention. Whatever Ye Xiaoqiong does in Pengcheng, I’ll assume it’s because of Yuan Han.”

And indeed it was so.

Even if Ye Xiaoqiong wanted to investigate her and the Zhou family, that would be normal.

It followed naturally that she would discover Xia Ziyu’s identity.

Then Ye Xiaoqiong told Du Zhaoqi, and the Du family’s second branch cleverly used this information to turn Xia Ziyu – so Xia Ziyu allied with the Du family’s second branch. A smart choice!

But one thing didn’t make sense. When Xia Ziyu left the mainland, she didn’t know her mother had married Tang Hongen. Being suddenly shocked by this news and wanting to confirm if it was true… that was normal human behavior.

But did it need to be investigated so thoroughly?

In Pengcheng, those who knew her mother married Old Tang weren’t many, but weren’t few either. If others couldn’t find out, how could Xia Ziyu and the Du family’s second branch working together not know?

So, what was the real reason?