“Xia Changzheng, who are you yelling at?”

Liu Yong immediately stood up.

Xia Xiaolan held her uncle back, slowly wiped her mouth, and then spoke with three parts surprise and seven parts mockery:

“Oh, so that’s my father? I thought Xia Ziyu was his real child… Hey, Xia Ziyu, why aren’t you at the hospital attending to him? Your Second Uncle spent quite a bit of money on your education – is this how you repay him?”

A basin of blood and more than ten stitches sounded frightening, but since Xia Changzheng hadn’t mentioned anything else, these must have been the most serious injuries. As Xia Xiaolan guessed, they were just flesh wounds.

Xia Ziyu’s family had already discussed it. Even if Second Uncle didn’t want to report it to the police, they would have to tell Grandmother Xia. Zhang Cui rode her bicycle back to Dahe Village right after leaving the hospital to fetch people. The second Uncle listened to Grandmother the most, and if Grandmother insisted on filing a police report, the Second Uncle wouldn’t have any say in the matter.

Liu Fen would be arrested by the police. Xia Ziyu was deeply distressed:

“Xiaolan, you’ve disappointed me so much. How could you let our sisterly quarrel affect Second Uncle? He only came today because he wanted to reconcile with his Second Aunt. Family matters should be discussed calmly – how did it come to wielding knives!”

Though Xia Ziyu didn’t directly blame anyone, outsiders would see her as the elder sister being tolerant of her unreasonable younger sister.

Xia Xiaolan had no interest in competing with this drama queen, nor did she plan to fall into Xia Ziyu’s familiar trap of contributing to making Xia Ziyu’s image even more perfect.

“Nobody attacked with a knife. Your Second Uncle was too emotional and started swinging the kitchen knife around, ending up injuring himself.”

Liu Fen didn’t want these people to trouble her daughter. She started to speak but remembered Xia Xiaolan’s repeated warnings that no matter what, she must never admit to injuring Xia Dajun. Even if they eventually had to go to the police station, she had to stick to this story when facing the police. Xia Xiaolan had said that if she admitted to the stabbing, both Xia Xiaolan and Principal Sun’s testimony would be considered perjury, and those who commit perjury might go to prison. Liu Fen kept her mouth tightly shut.

Xia Xiaolan had exaggerated the consequences of perjury, and Liu Fen believed her completely, so she dared not admit to anything.

Xia Xiaolan had excellent composure, telling lies with a straight face. If Xia Ziyu hadn’t heard it directly from Xia Dajun’s mouth, she might have believed Xia Xiaolan’s nonsense.

“I heard you even knew to wash off the fingerprints? But there were witnesses present – even without fingerprints, you can’t escape.”

Xia Xiaolan beckoned to her.

“Come here, I have something to tell you privately.”

Her gesture was like calling a cat or dog. Xia Ziyu found it insulting and remained where she stood.

Xia Xiaolan sighed: “If you won’t come over, don’t blame me for speaking loudly! Everyone saw your Second Uncle hurt himself – don’t you want to know why?”

Xia Dajun had already said that Principal Sun was helping Xia Xiaolan and her mother.

After thinking for a long time, Xia Ziyu could only guess it had something to do with Principal Sun valuing Xia Xiaolan’s academic performance. Principal Sun was someone who placed great importance on students’ grades – good students brought honor to the school, and First County High School’s honor was naturally Principal Sun’s honor as well.

But wouldn’t Principal Sun change his testimony?

Xia Ziyu didn’t understand why Xia Xiaolan was so confident.

“You don’t know? It’s because I brought out the love letter your boyfriend Wang Jianhua wrote to me! I told them my cousin wasn’t a good person, stealing my potential boyfriend – what evil thing wouldn’t she do? All the people from the Xia family who come looking for me just want to ruin my future, no matter how they disguise their actions as care and goodwill… Who knew reputation was such a useful weapon? When you’ve done something wrong, people will suspect you in other matters too. You taught me this trick – thank you so much!”

Xia Xiaolan truly had unparalleled thick skin, not only bringing up private matters on the street but also taking out a love letter from her pocket, looking like she was about to read it aloud for everyone to hear.

Xia Ziyu knew nothing about this past event!

She had never discussed this with Wang Jianhua, and given his personality, Xia Ziyu found it hard to believe he would write love letters to women… But it wasn’t that he couldn’t write them – he just hadn’t written them to her! Xia Ziyu couldn’t describe how she felt. The man she had schemed so hard to get didn’t love her as a man loves a woman; he was only with her out of a sense of responsibility.

Even though Wang Jianhua had said they would marry after graduation, when had he ever spoken a word of passionate love?

No, she didn’t regret it.

What she wanted was Wang Jianhua’s future. Even if he had once liked Xia Xiaolan, that was in the past!

But Xia Ziyu still walked over – she couldn’t let Xia Xiaolan read the love letter aloud in public.

“Xia Xiaolan, don’t go too far!”

Xia Ziyu threatened in a low voice through gritted teeth.

“Oh, not playing the generous and kind one anymore? What do you think you can threaten me with? At worst, I won’t study at First County High anymore – if I change schools, where will you find me? Your father isn’t the number one leader in Yunan Province – you can’t control everything here! We’re both daughters of peasants, we used to bathe naked together as kids – I know everything about you! Xia Ziyu, I see you haven’t taken my words from that day to heart… I’m getting a little angry!”

Xia Xiaolan said she was getting a little angry.

When Xia Xiaolan got angry, she wasn’t scared at all. Her face remained beautiful and charming, even more flawless up close.

Xia Ziyu had the urge to scratch that face. Xia Xiaolan’s words had hit her hidden insecurities. What made her most insecure was being born into a rural family like the Xias, where everyone was useless, not only unable to help her but also holding her back. Even running a small food shop had to be done secretly, requiring careful scheming to please Principal Sun just to get the storefront and maintain the business near First County High’s entrance.

If Xia Changzheng had been even a minor official with some power, Xia Ziyu wouldn’t have had to work so hard.

She didn’t want to steal the man Xia Xiaolan liked, but in her world, there was no better choice than Wang Jianhua!

“Xia Xiaolan, you truly are beyond help. You’ve already angered me.”

She had thought Xia Xiaolan had gotten smarter, but she was still so stupid. Xia Ziyu stepped back two paces. “You’ll regret this. You don’t know the consequences of making me angry. You missed out on Wang Jianhua, and I’ll make sure you miss out on much more.”

Her gaze swept over Liu Fen.

Who knew Xia Xiaolan was so filial? Xia Ziyu decided that no matter what was necessary, she would send Liu Fen to prison. Liu Fen’s impulsive stabbing of Xia Dajun was practically a gift-wrapped handle for Xia Ziyu – if she couldn’t seize this opportunity, she’d consider herself useless! Liu Fen was as timid as a mouse; even without witnesses, once the police questioned her, wouldn’t she confess everything?

Xia Xiaolan frowned, wondering why Xia Ziyu harbored such hatred toward her when she was supposedly the “victim” whose potential boyfriend had been stolen.

When Xia Xiaolan couldn’t immediately understand something, she didn’t dwell on it. She had stayed here only to confirm Xia Dajun’s injuries.

Knowing he wouldn’t die was enough!

“Uncle, Aunt, let’s go. If we can’t fight against a college student, we can at least avoid her, right?”

There was no point in arguing with idiots. Xia Xiaolan’s family was planning to return to Shangdu today.

Xia Changzheng and Zhang Manfu’s couple blocked their way, saying nobody could leave before the police arrived. Xia Xiaolan didn’t want children to witness adults’ conflicts, so she let Li Fengmei take Tao Tao and Liu Fen away first: “I’ll stay here with Uncle to handle this.”

“My brother is lying in the hospital. Nobody’s leaving today until the police arrive!”