Principal Sun’s words were firm and decisive. He had too much free time on his hands – it was only the fourth day of the New Year, and already there was bloodshed in his home!

If he hadn’t agreed to help Xia Ziyu mediate, how could there be so many problems?

People have a subconscious tendency to shirk responsibility. Principal Sun had already forgotten that he too had agreed with Xia Ziyu’s reasoning that a complete family would allow Xia Xiaolan to focus more on her studies… What nonsense! With parents fighting and trying to kill each other, how could Xia Xiaolan study? He had doubts about Xia Ziyu’s actions now, and once a perfect image cracked, it wasn’t easily repaired.

Xia Xiaolan thought it better for this matter to explode sooner rather than later.

With Xia Dajun being cut once, he probably wouldn’t dare pester her mother about remarrying. The school leadership also knew now that she and the Xia family were irreconcilable enemies. Xia Xiaolan was sick of them taking turns coming out to upset her. If County First couldn’t prevent such harassment, she was thinking of transferring to a high school in Shangdu City.

At her level from a few months ago, that wouldn’t have been possible – she probably couldn’t have met their admission standards.

But now, after several months of review and organization, Xia Xiaolan could score above 500 on Anqing County First’s final exams. No matter which school questions they gave her, she was confident she could pass the undergraduate cutoff line. That was enough! Even a provincial key high school wouldn’t refuse to have one more undergraduate student.

“Principal, thank you for your trust and understanding. I will study harder and strive to get into a good university to repay you and the school.”

Xia Xiaolan needed to make her position clear.

Both sides had reached an agreement: Principal Sun would no longer meddle and would instead help block Xia family members from coming to make trouble for Xia Xiaolan at school. Xia Xiaolan would stay at County First and get into a good university, benefiting both sides and bringing glory to County First!

Xia Dajun’s brain capacity was only about the size of a walnut. He didn’t understand that Xia Xiaolan and Principal Sun were negotiating terms and compromising. He only knew he had been cut, yet Xia Xiaolan said reporting to the police station would be useless!

“Principal Sun, did you see her cut me or not?”

Principal Sun frowned, “Comrade Dajun, you should go to the hospital to bandage your wound. I truly didn’t see who cut you, and I’ll say the same if the police ask me.”

Mrs. Sun also urged Xia Dajun to get his wound bandaged.

“Don’t risk your life out of anger. You’re already divorced – hurting yourself won’t force two people back together!”

Xia Dajun looked at the four people in the room.

Oh, they had all taken the same side.

He felt this scene was somewhat familiar. Before, when his mother said how bad Xia Xiaolan was, everyone at home had chimed in to agree, and he naturally believed what the majority said, no matter how Liu Fen and Xia Xiaolan tried to explain – they were the minority.

Now Xia Dajun was experiencing the unfair treatment of being in the “minority.”

Pressing his wound, he rushed downstairs without a word.

The bloody shoulder looked quite frightening. Chen Qing and the others were hiding beneath Principal Sun’s building, watching as Xia Dajun finally came out, these few still holding their breath waiting.

They would only be at ease once they saw Xia Xiaolan was safe.

Xia Dajun rushed to the school gate covered in blood, where chaos had already broken out.

It turned out that when Xia Xiaolan and Liu Yong’s family arrived in Anqing County and couldn’t find Liu Fen, Old Zhao informed them, and Xia Xiaolan rushed into the school. With Wang Jianhua present, Xia Ziyu couldn’t appear herself, so she had her father go look. Xia Changzheng had given gifts to Principal Sun before and knew which building and apartment number was his.

Liu Yong and Xia Changzheng were pushing each other at the school gate. Zhang Cui had left the shop to come help, and Li Fengmei had left her son eating rice with toppings at Sister Huang’s shop while she stood with hands on hips cursing Zhang Cui viciously.

Both families were at a standoff. In terms of total numbers, Xia Changzheng’s side had the advantage – the shop had five people total, and now they even had Xia Ziyu and Wang Jianhua there too.

Although Liu Yong and Li Fengmei were only two people, didn’t they have the gate guard Old Zhao taking their side?

Xia Ziyu knew how to win over Principal Sun, and Zhang Cui knew to send pork legs to the principal’s home, but who had ever cared about Old Zhao? In their eyes, a gate guard was just someone who watched the school gate – to put it bluntly, wasn’t he just like a watchdog kept by a rural family?

Liu Yong’s family had come to the school gate to chat and laugh with Xia Xiaolan, so Liu Yong was one of their own.

Old Zhao saw Zhang’s Snack Shop had many people, so he held his baton with particular authority:

“You want to fight people at First High’s gate? I’ll report to the police station immediately!”

Who wasn’t afraid of the police station? The Strike Hard campaign wasn’t even over yet.

Even thirty years later, ordinary citizens wouldn’t want to go to the police station, with many civil disputes being settled privately with compensation without involving the police. In ’84, who wouldn’t be scared when the police station was brought up?

Xia Ziyu watched from the shop, smiling bitterly at Wang Jianhua:

“How can I dare show my face? That day at White Stream Temple, Xiaolan showed such hostility toward me.”

When Wang Jianhua heard “White Stream Temple,” he remembered the scene of Xia Xiaolan demanding he return money. Although Xia Xiaolan had been troublesome before, she had never done anything like that to him. He had originally thought of finding a chance to comfort Xia Xiaolan, hoping she would move past their history, but now knowing his words probably wouldn’t work with Xia Xiaolan, Wang Jianhua gave up that thought.

“Don’t get involved, this is her parents’ family matter.”

In Wang Jianhua’s opinion, even Xia Changzheng and Zhang Cui shouldn’t have gone – blocking the school gate like this was inappropriate.

Yet he and Ziyu couldn’t show themselves, fearing they would provoke Xia Xiaolan and make things even uglier in public.

If others knew of Xia Ziyu and Wang Jianhua’s “dilemma,” they might say they were being “dramatic” – if you choose to be a whore, don’t try to be virtuous too. If they truly wanted Xia Xiaolan to move past the shadow of the past, they shouldn’t appear before her at all, should take wide detours even in chance encounters, and with time passing, become mere passersby in each other’s lives… If not for being dramatic, how could they view their importance in Xia Xiaolan’s heart so heavily?

Of course, even if they wanted to have no more connection with Xia Xiaolan, now it depended on whether Xia Xiaolan agreed!

Xia Dajun appeared in view clutching his bloody shoulder. Xia Changzheng pushed past Liu Yong:

“Dajun, what happened to you?”

“Quick – get to the hospital!”

Zhang Cui was also frightened – weren’t they just meditating at Principal Sun’s house? Even if the couple couldn’t reach an agreement, how did it come to knives? Zhang Cui hadn’t thought it was Liu Fen, but Xia Xiaolan had just run into the school – could Xia Xiaolan have done the cutting… How vicious! Unfilial and rebellious! Many thoughts ran through Zhang Cui’s mind, and suddenly she had a new idea:

“Dajun, were you… cut by Xiaolan?”

A daughter cutting her father – such a thing had never been heard of for miles around, even more, shocking than Xia Xiaolan rolling in the hay with a man in broad daylight!

Cutting someone was against the law, right?

In the neighboring township, someone had argued with their neighbor over a chicken and threatened to cut them, and when they did, the police came to arrest them. They had to compensate the injured neighbor with everything they owned and still got sentenced to 5 years.

If they reported it, how many years would Xia Xiaolan get?

Then she could forget about university!

Zhang Cui’s words had ill intent. Xia Changzheng still had some brotherly feelings and said they should take Xia Dajun to the hospital first to bandage the wound.

Li Fengmei and Liu Yong’s hearts were also in their throats – Xiaolan did have a bad temper, she hadn’t cut Xia Dajun in a moment of impulse, had she?

“You’re talking nonsense – which dog eye of yours saw Xiaolan cut anyone?”

“Dajun, who cut you?”

How could Xia Dajun say in public that Liu Fen had cut him?

His face was deathly pale, looking like he had lost too much blood. Xia Changzheng worried that his blood would run dry with his padded jacket so soaked, and shouted at Zhang Cui: “What useless talk! Go get money from the shop and take Dajun to the hospital!”