“Don’t want a student to take the college entrance exam?”
This was neither a particularly difficult nor easy matter. Xia Ziyu only came up with this idea after seeing Zhao Gang. Originally, she should have used more drastic measures, but if Zhao Gang could accomplish this, she wouldn’t need to find anyone else.
Given Xia Xiaolan’s grades, preventing her from taking the college entrance exam would be destroying her future.
Zhao Gang’s eyes darted around. “This kind of thing is too risky. I won’t do it.”
Xia Ziyu smiled, “After it’s done, I’ll present a monetary gift to congratulate Teacher Zhao on winning his beauty and becoming the Son-in-law of the Sun family. Don’t take my word for it – Teacher Zhao will soon see a token of my sincerity.”
Xia Ziyu didn’t say much more to Zhao Gang.
She had five thousand yuan in her possession and took out five hundred yuan, placed it in an envelope, and slipped it through the gap under Zhao Gang’s dormitory door.
Five hundred yuan meant nothing to Xia Ziyu – Zhang Ji earned more than that in a month. “Zhang Ji” was her cash cow that provided funds for her activities. Whatever she wanted to do always required money to pave the way. Many people look down on private business owners now, but who would look down on money? Zhao Gang was a teacher at County No. 1 Middle School, earning only a few dozen yuan per month. The women with poor conditions wouldn’t look at him, yet he desperately pursued Sun Tian – wasn’t it just because he was bewitched by the idea of getting promoted by Principal Sun?
For a man to pursue a woman, he needs to be willing to spend his heart, time, and money!
Xia Ziyu decided to lend Zhao Gang a helping hand.
Now that he could easily get 500 yuan, he would naturally want more.
As long as Xia Xiaolan couldn’t take the college entrance exam, Xia Ziyu didn’t mind spending more money. She couldn’t put all her hopes on Zhao Gang though. Before leaving, Xia Ziyu had a good talk with her father:
“Those roundabout methods from before won’t work on Xia Xiaolan anymore. We need something more direct and effective. Let’s wait patiently for a few months until she lowers her guard, then we’ll act.”
Xia Changzheng was somewhat afraid. “Ziyu, Zhang Er Lai was sentenced to life imprisonment. Do you think those rumors had something to do with it?”
“Didn’t they say Zhang Er Lai was sentenced because he embezzled a huge amount of public funds? He just happened to get caught during the Strike Hard campaign. After a few months, when the campaign dies down, the street thugs will start operating again. We’re not asking for murder or arson – we just want to prevent Xia Xiaolan from taking the college entrance exam. For instance, if she breaks her hand, how can she write?”
Xia Ziyu spoke casually, and Xia Changzheng could only nod.
Not fully trusting her father’s ability to handle things, Xia Ziyu emphasized a few more points: “Don’t have direct contact with whoever we hire. We can spend more money if needed, but our family members can’t handle this personally.”
Family members would naturally be more reliable, like her uncle Zhang Manfu, but if family members did it, they feared the matter would be exposed and traced back to Xia Ziyu herself.
Xia Ziyu didn’t want to bear any stigma.
On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Xia Ziyu and Wang Jianhua bought train tickets to Ha Province together.
Wang Jianhua’s parents were sent for reform through labor at a farm in the northernmost part of Ha Province. It was a bitterly cold region with extremely harsh natural conditions, far worse than Wang Jianhua’s former life in Dahe Village. The food barely filled their stomachs, the clothing was terrible, and there was a lack of medicine – they had to tough out both major and minor illnesses… Wang Jianhua’s mother had never experienced such hardship before. After spending several years at the farm, she was sick for half of each year.
“Let’s bring more clothes and some common medicines. Your visit will boost Uncle and Aunt’s spirits – they’ll get through this difficult time.”
Xia Ziyu was also encouraging Wang Jianhua.
Wang Jianhua looked at all the things Xia Ziyu had prepared and noticed her kindness again.
If Xia Xiaolan had given Wang Jianhua renewed confidence to strive forward, Xia Ziyu’s encouragement was tangible material support. How could Wang Jianhua not know the Zhang family’s circumstances? The small restaurant was run as a partnership between Xia Ziyu’s parents and her uncle and aunt, hidden from the Zhang family, with profits split between the two families. Rural people favored sons over daughters, and Xia Ziyu had a younger brother still in primary school – how much money could Xia Changzheng and Zhang Cui spare for their daughter?
Wang Jianhua held Xia Ziyu’s hand:
“My parents will like you.”
Wang Jianhua guaranteed that his parents would like Xia Ziyu.
Zhou Cheng thought the same way.
His wife was so wonderful – his parents would surely like her when they met her in person. Zhou Cheng only had that brief half-day off during the entire Spring Festival and couldn’t see Xia Xiaolan. He couldn’t even sleep at night thinking about her.
Especially after the New Year, when Old Fang from his work unit brought his blind date partner to the workplace, with everyone calling her “Sister-in-law,” Old Fang was practically walking on air. This guy was particularly annoying, bringing his partner to show off in front of Zhou Cheng:
“Feifei, this is Zhou Cheng, quite promising and young, at the same rank as me.”
Old Fang was very proud. His partner Gao Fei was 24 years old, from a medical family background, and a medical university graduate currently interning at a hospital. Gao Fei’s family conditions were good, and she wasn’t bad-looking. Both her education and appearance were presentable. She was the best match Old Fang had been introduced to in terms of overall conditions, and Gao Fei herself had certain preferences – she was quite satisfied with Old Fang at their first meeting.
If Old Fang wasn’t compared to Zhou Cheng, he would be considered one of the unit’s young talents on his own.
But he went overboard by bringing Gao Fei, whose relationship wasn’t yet stable, to meet Zhou Cheng.
Gao Fei could hardly believe it. “How old are you? You’re already at the same rank as Old Fang?”
Zhou Cheng had no interest in other women – his mind was full of thoughts about his wife. He perfunctorily called her “Sister-in-law” and strode away on his long legs. Old Fang thought Zhou Cheng was discouraged, but Gao Fei was quite unhappy.
“This Zhou Cheng is quite arrogant.”
“Young people are naturally proud. He’s just jealous that I found such a good partner. Feifei, you’ve made me look good!”
Old Fang’s excitement was written all over his face. His straightforward praise made Gao Fei smile again.
Old Fang had delayed dating until now because he was focused on his career. Gao Fei knew that many people had tried to introduce partners to Old Fang before, but he hadn’t agreed. She must be his first partner. A man at 30 was in his prime, and Gao Fei was quite satisfied with Old Fang as well.
She wanted to find an official, and her family introduced Old Fang – wasn’t it love at first sight?
However, while she originally thought Old Fang was excellent enough, after seeing Zhou Cheng, Gao Fei felt some regret. Old Fang was 30, but Zhou Cheng wasn’t even 21 yet… Gao Fei stared at Zhou Cheng’s back – this was truly an outstanding young talent.
She asked casually, “Zhou Cheng is so young, he probably doesn’t have a partner yet, right?”
Old Fang pursed his lips, “Who knows? I heard he’s dating someone from out of town. She often sends things to Zhou Cheng, but nobody has seen her in person.”
From out of town?
How could someone like Zhou Cheng end up with an out-of-town woman?
Gao Fei was from Beijing, from a good family background, and had good conditions herself, so she didn’t think much of people from other places. However, she didn’t say this in front of Old Fang, because he was also from out of town – this was Gao Fei’s only dissatisfaction with him.
“What about Zhou Cheng? Where is he from?”
Gao Fei’s questions kept revolving around Zhou Cheng, making Old Fang somewhat unhappy. Why was she so interested in Zhou Cheng? Whose girlfriend was she anyway?
Bringing Gao Fei to meet Zhou Cheng was truly a bad move. Old Fang had gotten carried away and forgotten how popular Zhou Cheng was. Those women tried every possible way to get close to Zhou Cheng, and here he was, personally bringing his girlfriend to meet him… Old Fang wanted to slap himself twice!