“Not surprising. That girl wasn’t focused on studying, not putting effort where she should. Why did Aunt contact you? She’s not asking you to look after Liang Huan again, is she?”

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t thought about these two for a long time.

Mainly because except for New Year’s visits, Liu Fang and Liang Huan hadn’t been constantly showing up to make their presence felt as she had expected.

After the New Year, Xia Xiaolan had been busy with many things – the Luohu Tiancheng property launch, the lawsuit, the museum design, and now being permanently stationed in HK. She couldn’t spare much energy for unimportant people.

She wouldn’t interfere with Liu Fang and Liang Huan living in Beijing, provided they didn’t cause trouble for Comrade Liu Fen.

Liu Fen shook her head: “She didn’t ask for help with that. She asked if I had your study materials. It seems Liang Huan wants to retake the exam.”

That would be her third attempt!

Xia Xiaolan frowned. Her study materials had previously been used by Shao Guangrong and were now with Zhou Cheng’s cousin, Gu Siyan.

It wasn’t that Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to help her “dear cousin.” She felt Gu Siyan was more serious about studying than Liang Huan, and the materials would be put to better use in Gu Siyan’s hands.

Giving them to Liang Huan would be a waste, wouldn’t it?

“I’ll have Little You help make a copy, and you can pass it to them. That’s all the help I can offer.”

Xia Xiaolan could never like Liu Fang’s family’s attitude of being arrogant first and submissive later. She couldn’t develop any genuine fondness for them. Even if they now seemed to be taking the right path, Xia Xiaolan still didn’t want to get closer. If Liang Huan couldn’t pass after a third year of retaking the exam, that would be too—

Liu Fen had just mentioned it in passing.

Little You quickly made copies of the materials. When Liu Fang brought Liang Huan to collect them, Liu Fang was full of thanks while Liang Huan hung her head and called out “Second Aunt.”

Liu Fen had nothing to say.

Last year, when Liang Huan fell short of the undergraduate admission score, Anqing County No. 1 High School’s teachers kindly suggested she retake the exam, only to be blamed in return.

The Liang family spent considerable money to get Liang Huan to Beijing for the retake, but this year she not only failed to reach the undergraduate score but performed even worse.

The mother and daughter wanted to stay close to Liu Fen. Previously, Grandmother Yu’s presence had deterred them, but now that Grandmother Yu was in America and Liu Fen herself didn’t like staying in Beijing, spending much time in Pengcheng… it completely disrupted Liu Fang and her daughter’s plans.

Beijing had many children of high-ranking officials and many outstanding young men.

But Liang Huan wasn’t a bureau chief’s daughter anymore – she was just a transfer student from a small provincial city. Though pretty, she had no opportunity to meet any promising young men.

She would need to either start working or get into university.

Only Liu Fang would think of trying to arrange matches for a high school girl – normal people wouldn’t do such things!

Liang Huan still hoped to “accidentally” run into Zhou Cheng in Beijing.

All the young men she knew combined couldn’t compare to Zhou Cheng.

Whether it was Zhou Cheng’s family background, abilities, or appearance… Liang Huan was somewhat obsessed.

Unfortunately, this dream was hard to realize. Liang Huan couldn’t even meet him when visiting Xia Xiaolan’s home at Shichahai – Zhou Cheng had been transferred from Beijing’s suburbs to Qiong Island, though Liang Huan knew nothing about this.

When collecting the study materials, she carefully probed:

“Is Sister Xiaolan at school? I thought since it was the weekend, she’d be home. Is she still dating Brother Zhou Cheng? I haven’t seen them at Second Aunt’s house for a long time.”

Liu Fen felt something was off.

Asking about Xia Xiaolan was one thing, but why ask about Zhou Cheng?

Liu Fen wasn’t the same person she used to be; she was more sensitive to certain issues now.

She had initially thought Liang Huan’s decision to continue retaking the exam wasn’t wrong, possibly due to not understanding proper study methods, but now she instantly felt reluctant to give her the copied materials.

“Huanhuan, you should focus more on your studies. Xiaolan and Zhou Cheng both have important work to do; they can’t always be at home. But thank you for your concern. They’re still dating, and their relationship is good. Now that Xiaolan’s graduating early, they’re planning to put marriage on the agenda…”

“Marriage?”

“Early graduation?!”

Liang Huan and Liu Fang focused on different points.

Liang Huan thought, how could they be talking about marriage? She… she hadn’t even had a chance yet, and Xia Xiaolan and Zhou Cheng were getting married!

Liu Fang forced a smile, “Second Sister, I remember Xiaolan is only in her fourth year this semester. Isn’t her major a five-year program? How is she graduating already?”

Liu Fen thought to herself that Little Fang hadn’t wasted her time in Beijing, even investigating Xiaolan’s academic situation.

What, did they want Liang Huan to apply to Huaqing’s Architecture Department?

It wasn’t that Liu Fen looked down on her niece, but Liang Huan didn’t seem cut out for it.

“She completed all her required studies at school, and with the school’s approval, she’s graduating two years early. She just got her diploma a few days ago. She and Zhou Cheng have been dating for quite a while, so, naturally, they’re getting married… What, do you have any objections?”

Liu Fang and Liang Huan quickly shook their heads.

“No objections, how could we have any objections? These are all good things!”

Yes, they were all good things, but why did Liu Fen notice their smiles seemed so forced?

Under Liu Fen’s scrutinizing gaze, Liu Fang and Liang Huan quickly took the study materials and left.

Liu Fen silently shook her head. It wasn’t that she was hard-hearted, but with a younger sister who still harbored ulterior motives, she couldn’t let her guard down.

Liu Fang never thought what she did before was wrong; she only turned around to curry favor with her and Xiaolan because the Liang family had fallen from grace.

…

Xia Xiaolan returned to school for her defense and waited two more days to receive her diploma before leaving.

Grandmother Zhou wanted to ask about the wedding date but was stopped by Old Master Zhou when she got home.

“Zhou Cheng and Xiaolan have their plans. As elders, we’ll make arrangements after the young couple decides. Why put so much pressure on them? Young people have their careers to focus on. If their schedules don’t align, how can they get married?”

Now that Xiaolan had graduated early and no school regulations were preventing it, what about Zhou Cheng’s work unit?

Zhou Cheng would need to file for marriage approval first, and only after getting approval from above could they make arrangements.

Even if they weren’t planning a grand wedding, the Zhou family still needed to prepare everything that others would typically have for Xiaolan.

After stopping his wife, the old master called his sons Zhou Guobin and Guan Huie to discuss:

“As parents, what are your plans for this?”

Guan Huie didn’t hide anything, “In July, Zhou Cheng called me to help prepare a small courtyard house in Beijing. That’s when I learned Zhou Cheng had bought several courtyards in Beijing. Except for this one, the others are all under Xiaolan’s management.”

Old Master Zhou nodded:

“It’s right to let Xiaolan manage the properties. Don’t try to take this away from her – she’s better at handling these things than the Zhou family members. Besides, she’ll be Zhou Cheng’s lifelong partner, so Zhou Cheng’s things should be entrusted to her! Zhou Cheng has his plans, so this courtyard must be the marriage home he’s preparing. It’s been over a month now, how are the preparations coming along?”

Guan Huie had never thought about taking control of these things. She and her husband had high salaries, didn’t lack food or clothing, and lived in state-allocated housing. They wouldn’t scheme for their child’s assets:

“I saw that Xiaolan’s uncle runs a renovation company, so I asked his company to help with the renovations. The courtyard was well-preserved to begin with. We replaced the leaking tiles and termite-damaged beams, made necessary repairs, and reinstalled the drainage and electrical systems. Her uncle’s workers were very attentive. I think it will be finished in about half a month.”

Zhou Guobin also had preparations: “Since Zhou Cheng handled the marriage house himself, Huie and I will use our savings for the renovation and furnish it with appliances and furniture. What do you think?”

The old master thought it was passable.

Grandmother Zhou finally caught on.

“Well! So I was the only one worrying while you two were quietly preparing? What appliances and furniture? You two can’t make all the decisions. We should invite Xiaolan’s mother to look together. Who would know better than her mother what Xiaolan likes?”

That meant the parents from both families needed to formally sit down and discuss the marriage.

Liu Fen wasn’t a problem, but Zhou Guobin felt that dealing with Tang Hongen would be quite challenging!

But for the sake of his son marrying his daughter-in-law soon, Zhou Guobin had to reach an understanding with Old Tang.

“I’ll arrange a time to go to Pengcheng. We can’t expect Xiaolan’s family to accommodate us for the marriage discussion.”

One should have the proper attitude when taking a daughter-in-law.

Zhou Guobin showed good awareness, and the old master finally felt at ease, though he had his thoughts:

“I like Xiaolan as a granddaughter-in-law. Since we’re going to discuss marriage, we might as well make it more formal. Once you’ve arranged your work matters, your mother and I will go to Pengcheng with you.”

This surprised Zhou Guobin and Guan Huie.

How many years had it been since the old master had traveled far?

One reason was his physical condition couldn’t handle it, and another was that as an old revolutionary, he received protocol treatment wherever he went, and he didn’t want to trouble others.

But for Zhou Cheng’s marriage, the old master was willing to make the trip personally.