Liang Bing’an’s words stirred up Liu Fang’s anger.

Indeed, she had kindly acted as a matchmaker, and although she had her motives, wasn’t she also trying to find a way forward for her Second Sister and her daughter? A divorced rural woman with a beautiful daughter of questionable reputation – wherever they went, people would try to take advantage of them. Instead of being content as the wife of an official, both mother and daughter must have something wrong with their heads!

It didn’t matter if they were mentally unsound, but now their adamant refusal to marry Fan Zhenchuan was causing trouble for Liu Fang, who had arranged the match.

Liu Fang’s mindset wasn’t something that could change overnight. She wouldn’t reflect on how she had been the only eager party from start to finish. As long as Liu Fen and Xia Xiaolan weren’t as capable as her, they should listen to her, the clever one. Liu Fang fundamentally looked down on her family members – what insights could they gain staying in the countryside? She especially despised her Second Sister Liu Fen, who had married into the impoverished Xia family only to be bullied relentlessly.

Now it was even worse – she couldn’t even stay with the Xia family, divorced and driven out with her daughter.

While Li Fengmei had managed to open her shop, Liu Fang believed that being self-employed wasn’t as respectable as being a state cadre, though she maintained a polite facade with her sister-in-law. For Liu Fang to treat someone as an equal, they needed to have either power or at least money!

Power ranked above money, and if someone had neither, she wouldn’t respect them at all.

Liu Fen and Xia Xiaolan belonged to the category of having neither. They were only living well now because of Liu Yong’s influence, not through their abilities. While her elder brother was blood-related, her sister-in-law wasn’t, and if Liu Yong gave the mother-daughter pair too much money, Li Fengmei would surely cause trouble. Liu Fang, judging others by her standards, couldn’t understand what the superficially prosperous mother-daughter pair had to be proud of!

What angered Liu Fang even more was that refusing to marry Fan Zhenchuan not only meant Liang Bing’an’s promotion prospects would vanish, but they would have to pray a hundred times to Buddha just to avoid Fan Zhenchuan’s retaliation. Moreover, she had already given her word to her parents-in-law – how would they view her if the marriage was called off now?

“She’s an ungrateful wolf! What’s the use of saying you’d give her dowry money, raising it from 2,000 to 4,000, and then to 10,000 yuan? That little ingrate doesn’t remember kindness!”

Her niece was setting her up like this, even terrorizing and confining Liang Huan – what kind of niece would do such things?

Liu Fang was indignant.

She never considered that she hadn’t maintained contact with her family for six or seven years. When she was living well, she forgot about Liu Fen’s poverty in the Xia family. After not seeing each other for years, though Liu Fen thought of her, how much affection could Xia Xiaolan have for her?

Distant relatives aren’t as close as near neighbors – relationships naturally grow distant without contact.

Having never shown care for her niece, how could she expect the girl to prioritize her aunt’s wishes above all else? It was impossible!

Liu Fang agreed with Liang Bing’an – Xia Xiaolan couldn’t marry Fan Zhenchuan. She was like an untameable wolf cub, playing their family of three for fools. Even when her aunt knelt and begged, she had thoroughly humiliated them.

But if she didn’t marry him, how would they explain it to the Fan family?

Should they make Xia Xiaolan leave Shangdu and stay far away?

This solution would only benefit Xia Xiaolan while leaving the Liang family to take the blame. Liu Fang was caught in a dilemma, while Liang Bing’an had smoked two packs of cigarettes in one night, equally troubled by this matter.

“Unless we make Fan Zhenchuan himself not want to marry her. After this blows over, we can deal with her slowly!”

Liang Bing’an viciously crushed his cigarette butt in the ashtray, the ruthlessness in his words making Liu Fang’s heart skip a beat. How would Fan Zhenchuan change his mind? Even if Xia Xiaolan married someone else now, given Fan Zhenchuan’s indiscriminate approach to women, he would still try to take her.

He didn’t care if she was married or not.

It wouldn’t be the first time he had played around with other men’s wives!

There were too many rumors about Fan Zhenchuan in Hedong County – this was why Liu Fang refused to marry Liang Huan.

Unless Xia Xiaolan could marry someone more powerful than Fan Zhenchuan before May, someone Fan Zhenchuan couldn’t touch even if he wanted to.

But was that possible?

Someone capable of dealing with Fan Zhenchuan wouldn’t be easily accessible to Xia Xiaolan – Liu Fang thought the chances were too slim. But you never knew – Xia Xiaolan wasn’t stuck in a poor village anymore, she was in the provincial capital where the chances of meeting important people were much higher. In the countryside, the highest-ranking person Xia Xiaolan might meet would be the village head, or at best, the township head. In the provincial capital, who knew what kind of people she might encounter? Liu Fang herself had escaped her peasant status through her looks, marrying Liang Bing’an.

Xia Xiaolan was even more beautiful than Liu Fang had been in her youth.

And her starting point was higher.

At least Xia Xiaolan was living in the provincial capital now. For Liu Fang back then, even dating someone like Liang Bing’an had been a stroke of luck.

“Old Liang, if we want Fan Zhenchuan to give up voluntarily, it would have to be someone with more power than him. But if that ungrateful wolf gets such backing, looking at her attitude today, we won’t get any advantage and might even have to worry about her revenge…”

This solution wouldn’t work.

Liang Bing’an sneered, “Then tell me, why does Fan Zhenchuan want to marry her?”

Liu Fang blurted out without thinking, “Because she’s beautiful.”

Beauty was Xia Xiaolan’s greatest advantage. Liu Fang wasn’t completely foolish and quickly understood Liang Bing’an’s implication. If she wasn’t beautiful anymore, wouldn’t Fan Zhenchuan give up on his own?

Liu Fang’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest.

“Old Liang, you can’t get involved in something like this, we can’t do such things…”

Women are timid – they might talk tough, but they’re far less ruthless than men. Someone like Xia Xiaolan was already considered ruthless, with her relentless determination that had led to success in her previous life and was quickly opening up opportunities in this one. Liu Fang was a social climber who looked down on the poor and favored the wealthy, but she was just a housewife. She could scheme for small gains and nitpick about family benefits.

But when it came to doing anything illegal, Liu Fang was truly scared.

Liang Bing’an clearly understood this about her, “I’m just talking, what are you afraid of? I wouldn’t risk my future career!”

Faced with this situation, even Liang Bing’an was being cautious. He was a civil servant, not skilled in violent matters. He couldn’t exactly hire someone to slash Xia Xiaolan’s face, could he? If anything went wrong, it would destroy his career prospects. Being unsatisfied with being a deputy bureau chief was one thing, but what if he couldn’t even keep that position?

Liang Bing’an felt they needed to think this through carefully.

Liu Fang was anxious and confused, alternating between grinding her teeth in hatred of Xia Xiaolan and feeling that Liang Bing’an’s suggestion wasn’t feasible. What should have been a good thing had turned into potential enmity between the families because her sister’s daughter and her mother couldn’t recognize a good opportunity.

“Old Liang! I just remembered, your briefcase is still in the courtyard with the ten thousand yuan inside – we can’t let that ungrateful wolf keep it!”

The ten thousand yuan had been offered because Xia Xiaolan was supposed to marry Fan Zhenchuan.

If she wasn’t going to marry him, why should they give her anything?

Ten thousand yuan wasn’t a small sum these days – Liu Fang had only been willing to pay it for the sake of Liang Bing’an’s career prospects. Now that Xia Xiaolan had pulled this stunt, Liang Bing’an’s career was up in the air. Liu Fang wouldn’t be willing to give her money now – why should they fund her escape? Ten thousand yuan was enough to run to America!

Liang Bing’an had only thrown the briefcase because Liang Huan was in Xia Xiaolan’s hands at the time.

Liang Bing’an was also thinking about the ten thousand yuan.

They had to get the money back, but how? Report to the police that Xia Xiaolan had stolen it. With such a large amount, three to five years in prison wouldn’t be enough to settle it.