Their parting was sticky and reluctant.
Zhou Cheng tossed and turned that night, unable to sleep. When he finally dozed off, his mind was plagued with distracting thoughts. Xia Xiaolan’s face haunted his dreams all night, flushed with passion. When he woke up, he noticed his body’s unusual condition. Early in the morning, Zhou Cheng took a cold shower and washed his soiled pants. At Grandmother Yu’s doorstep, he felt nervous… But he couldn’t be blamed—it was normal for young men with vigorous energy to experience such things.
But when would he finally be able to marry his sweetheart?
If it had to be as Xiaolan said, waiting until she finished university, that would be at least four more years. Zhou Cheng felt he might go crazy from the wait.
With her future son-in-law present, Liu Fen started making dumplings early in the morning, rolling out wrappers and filling them with pure meat and green onions. Each dumpling was plump and round, stuffed so full the wrapper nearly burst. Liu Fen boiled a large plate for Zhou Cheng—how could he not finish the dumplings made by his future mother-in-law? Indeed, Zhou Cheng was at an age of active metabolism, and several dozen dumplings were nothing to him; he finished them with ease.
After putting down his chopsticks, Zhou Cheng took the initiative to bring up Fan Zhenchuan:
“Aunt Liu, I came to the capital specifically to resolve this matter. I’ll handle it today. Don’t worry—by tonight, we should have some preliminary results.”
How could Liu Fen not worry? She was extremely concerned.
“Fan Zhenchuan is very powerful in Hedong County, you…”
You’re an outsider, can you handle this?
Liu Fen wanted to advise Zhou Cheng against confrontation, but opening her mouth, she didn’t know how to express it. To ease her concerns, Zhou Cheng took out his credentials to show her.
Liu Fen didn’t quite understand the specific departmental differences, but she saw Zhou Cheng’s position.
After Zhou Cheng left to take Xia Xiaolan to Shang University, Liu Fen was still in a daze. She asked Grandmother Yu:
“…What position does that child hold?”
“He’s considered a junior leader. Not particularly high-ranking, but for Zhou Cheng’s age, it’s quite remarkable.”
To have such a position at 21… Grandmother Yu thought, could Liu Fen, who had lived half her life in meekness and timidity, really have such luck? Xia Xiaolan was indeed clever—she might not have known Zhou Cheng’s position when they first started dating, but she had a keen eye, picking out a dragon among men!
Grandmother Yu explained the rank system to Liu Fen.
Liu Fen couldn’t tell who was more powerful between Zhou Cheng and Fan Zhenchuan. She just knew that Zhou Cheng must be impressive—Fan Zhenchuan was about her age, while Zhou Cheng was only 21!
Grandmother Yu called him a “dragon among men”—the kind of son-in-law that wealthy families would have fought over decades ago.
Liu Fen thought about her family’s circumstances, unable to understand how two young people with such disparate backgrounds had ended up together.
Grandmother Yu concluded definitively: “Your worrying won’t help anything. It’s all fate—what’s meant to be can’t be pushed away.”
Likewise, what isn’t meant to be can’t be forced, no matter what methods are used. They were only dating now, and whether they would end up together remained uncertain. Though Zhou Cheng seemed very devoted to Xia Xiaolan, who knew if things might change in the future.
Liu Fen wasn’t overjoyed; she was anxious. Grandmother Yu decided not to speak the latter half and upset her further.
“You’ll still head back at 6 PM today? Will you eat lunch at the university cafeteria? I’ll come pick you up in the afternoon; I’ll stop by if I have time at noon.”
Zhou Cheng wished he could spend 24 hours a day with Xia Xiaolan, but he had taken leave to handle important matters, and his leave wasn’t long. He needed to resolve things quickly; otherwise, those annoying people would disturb his sweetheart’s peace of mind and keep his future mother-in-law on edge.
“Go take care of your business. I know how to look after myself.”
Zhou Cheng might find it inconvenient to take her along while handling matters, and Xia Xiaolan wasn’t the kind of immature girl who needed to cling to him constantly. What was the point of staying together all the time? Now was the time to focus on reviewing for exams. If she performed well on the college entrance exam and got into Huaqing’s Architecture Department, their time together would increase significantly. Being patient now meant more time together in the future—Xia Xiaolan could distinguish what was important.
This was also why she had asked Zhou Cheng to handle this matter. She needed to focus on her studies now, even though her current grades looked good, and getting into a regular key university wouldn’t be a problem. But how could Huaqing be compared to ordinary key universities? It was considered a top school domestically, something she hadn’t dared dream of in her previous life. This life, she had an advantage—take English, for instance: after years of diligent study in her professional life, her current level far exceeded what it had been during her previous college entrance exam.
As soon as Zhou Cheng left and Xia Xiaolan was about to enter the library, Zhuo Na suddenly appeared beside her.
“Xia Xiaolan, who was that person talking to you just now?”
“My boyfriend, who else could it be?”
Really her boyfriend?!
How did Xia Xiaolan find someone like that? Zhuo Na still tried to protest: “Then Senior Gong Yang…”
“Gong Yang is just helping my uncle draw some plans now; I’m not very close to him.”
Zhuo Na kept trying to pair her with Gong Yang, but Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t lie. She had initially been the one to contact Gong Yang, but he hadn’t returned from Beijing in a month, working with Liu Yong, meeting and communicating daily—now he was certainly closer to Liu Yong.
This news was enough to make Zhuo Na and her roommates wail in despair.
Zhuo Na felt that Xia Xiaolan had beauty but nothing else. She said she would take the college entrance exam this year, but who knew how well she would do? Whether she could even get into university was uncertain, yet her boyfriend was outstanding, having visited Shang University twice already.
In the library today, Xia Xiaolan noticed fewer stares directed her way.
Yesterday, many had been discouraged by Zhou Cheng’s presence. They weren’t as familiar with Xia Xiaolan as Zhuo Na was and couldn’t just come to ask directly. Those who managed to show up at the library today had spent considerable time building up their psychological defenses. Though they might not be as handsome, they had knowledge and depth! They were determined to change the junior sister’s view on choosing a partner!
Zhou Cheng was unaware of the group trying to steal his girlfriend from the library.
Those people couldn’t succeed anyway—he was now focused on dealing with Fan Zhenchuan. Zhou Cheng wouldn’t go to Hedong County to find him; he would make Fan Zhenchuan come to the capital. Hedong County was Fan Zhenchuan’s stronghold. It wasn’t that Zhou Cheng feared him; he worried about accidentally making too big a scene and putting too much pressure on the leader who had approved his leave.
The previous disciplinary action had been canceled—would he receive another one after such a short time?
Dealing with Fan Zhenchuan wasn’t worth it.
Zhou Cheng didn’t seek help from Shao Guangrong’s uncle or ask Shao Limin for assistance—that would mean relying on his family’s connections rather than his position. If Shao Limin helped, word would spread from the capital back to Beijing. If the Zhou family knew, how could his mother not find out? Zhou Cheng knew his family still had prejudices against Xiaolan; he wouldn’t let them continue their misunderstandings.
He still needed to ask someone for a trained dog, so Zhou Cheng had to visit the local brother unit.
It would be best to have someone reinforce Grandmother Yu’s courtyard wall, adding some broken glass—would installing electric wire fencing be too extreme?
These were all inanimate objects, not as alert and adaptable as people.
But he couldn’t post guards at the Yu household, could he? Even he didn’t have that level of authority, let alone for family members. Unless they went through unofficial channels, Zhou Cheng hesitated.
While Zhou Cheng was busy, Li Dongliang and Ge Jian, who had rushed over from Yangcheng, also arrived at “Blue Phoenix” following the address, tired from their journey.