Xia Xiao Lan pushed the little rascal aside.

“Stop sweet-talking me, I need to cook.”

Tao Tao couldn’t help licking his lips.

Though Xia Xiao Lan’s cooking wasn’t exceptional, she always prepared meat or fish, never just pickled vegetables. Tao Tao was nearly drooling, and when he saw her take out chopped spare ribs from the basket, he wished she’d stay here forever.

Who was better than his Sister Xiao Lan?

Xia Xiao Lan still had Tao Tao tend the fire while she steamed some eggs – eggs were now plentiful in the Liu household.

After consideration, she decided to make sweet and sour ribs instead of braising them.

The Liu family had been using lots of oil and seasonings lately, but Xia Xiao Lan kept replenishing them. Liu Yong said the family should eat well, and Li Feng Mei didn’t object. Even the sugar was bought by Xia Xiao Lan, making sweet and sour ribs easy to prepare.

The sweet and sour ribs’ thick, rich sauce over steaming white rice made Xia Xiao Lan’s mouth water just thinking about it.

As Liu Yong’s group carried home the half-dried grain, he smiled at the aroma:

“You all worried about her selling eels, but this girl’s too smart for manual labor.”

Good business meant money for meat.

Xia Xiao Lan had done well today.

Liu Fen smiled foolishly. Li Feng Mei thought that the Xia family had misjudged Xia Xiao Lan. University was impressive, but girls eventually married. When Xia Zi Yu married into another family, even a precious college graduate couldn’t care for everyone in the Xia family! Any help would go to Xia Chang Zheng’s family and her brother – the others meant nothing.

Her sister-in-law Liu Fen said Xia Zi Yu took all 500 yuan of family savings to Beijing, leaving nothing when Xia Xiao Lan needed hospital care after her injury… This showed Xia Zi Yu’s selfishness – taking all the money to enjoy life in Beijing and ignoring her family’s struggles. Would she care about conscience after success?

Bah, they’d lost the watermelon and picked up sesame seeds.

Her niece was generous, buying Tao Tao a new schoolbag yesterday – his father swore she’d paid for it herself.

Li Feng Mei felt deeply satisfied!

“What’s Xiao Lan cooking?”

Xia Xiao Lan set down her spatula and came out, “Sweet and sour spare ribs.”

Li Feng Mei felt pained, “Why buy spare ribs? Such an extravagance.”

Everyone knew spare ribs were delicious, but they weren’t economical.

Her niece was perfect except for sometimes spending too freely. Li Feng Mei couldn’t help advising:

“Be thrifty with money. I know you love Tao Tao, but that schoolbag was too expensive… Save some money, you’ll need it in your future husband’s home.”

This was a genuine concern, not trying to squeeze all Xia Xiao Lan’s money from the Liu family.

Xia Xiao Lan felt warmth in her heart, “I understand, I won’t waste money!”

Liu Fen’s eyes itched as Liu Yong whispered while they handled the grain: “After harvest, Xia Da Jun will surely come for you. Think carefully – isn’t life better now? Don’t be too weak and just follow him back!”

Liu Fen lowered her head shamefully at her brother’s words.

Liu Yong asked in surprise, “You’re thinking of going back?”

His undisguised disappointment made Liu Fen eventually stammer: “Xiao Lan will marry someday. No one brings their mother to their husband’s home. I can’t stay at my parents’ forever… Brother, where should I go then?”

Unable to follow her daughter or stay permanently at her childhood home, fearing tension with her brother’s family and village gossip, Liu Fen felt lost about her future. She couldn’t burden her daughter or her birth family.

“Mom, do you miss Dad and want to return to the Xia family?”

Xia Xiao Lan had appeared behind Liu Fen.

Liu Fen shook her head but remained silent, clearly avoiding the question. She didn’t miss Xia Da Jun but was habitually submissive and willing to sacrifice for her daughter. If Xia Xiao Lan could have a good life, she’d endure being looked down upon by the Xia family just to survive.

Xia Xiao Lan roughly guessed her mother’s thoughts.

Thanks to her mental maturity beyond eighteen, she understood Liu Fen’s concerns from life experience.

Marriage?

Of course, she’d marry – having missed harmonious marriage in her previous life, she wanted to experience it now. But abandoning Liu Fen as a prerequisite? Any man who saw Liu Fen as a burden wasn’t worth marrying. She wasn’t that shallow!

“Mom, I earned over 20 yuan today. You don’t know how good business is in Shang Du. Once I save enough, I’ll buy an apartment there and we’ll live together. If my future husband dares look down on you? He’ll only get to live there if you’re happy!”

Buying a house was Xia Xiao Lan’s long-term plan.

Shang Du might not have real commercial housing yet, but it was 1983 – they’d appear in a couple of years. China’s first commercial housing emerged in the mid-to-late 1980s. Xia Xiao Lan remembered her Shang Du client saying their first house in the 1980s cost just over 200 yuan per square meter. Houses were built and sold to workers – most people couldn’t qualify to buy, but with enough money and proper arrangements, you could acquire purchase eligibility from others.

200-some yuan per square meter – a price that would make people laugh at their dreams in the future.

A 100m² commercial apartment would cost just over 20,000 yuan in total. She didn’t have that much now, but surely she’d earn it eventually?

This was Xia Xiao Lan’s first mention of future urban living to her elders. Liu Fen was stunned, “But we have rural household registration…”

The gap between rural and urban registration was enormous.

Factory jobs and various positions were only open to urban residents. Rural residents could only farm, with only two ways to change status: marriage or education. Marriage wasn’t reliable – even urban working families might not manage the rural-to-urban transfer! Like Xia Zi Yu, the university was the surest path, instantly transforming from farmer to destined urbanite.

Knowing how hard becoming urban was, Liu Fen couldn’t dare dream it, despite trusting Xia Xiao Lan.

But Liu Yong found it interesting.

“Moving to the city is fine – doesn’t have to be Shang Du or an apartment. A single-story house in the county wouldn’t cost much.”

In crowded Shang Du, where nobody knew them, Xia Xiao Lan’s reputation wouldn’t affect her marriage prospects. Seeing Liu Yong’s approval, Liu Fen wavered:

“Could it work?”

Xia Xiao Lan nodded firmly, “I promised you a good life – of course it will!”

Buying in Shang Du was nothing. With the extra money, she’d follow the Wenzhou property speculators’ example before the price surge, buying entire buildings in Beijing and Shanghai. That return on investment would beat any industry!