“They’re at the guest house. There’s nowhere else to rent nearby, and I don’t want to break Grandmother Yu’s rules. The old lady is getting on in years and feels insecure, and worried about outsiders invading her space or squatting in her house. I understand.”
Grandmother Yu’s strictness had its reasons.
Having lived there for several months, Xia Xiao Lan had heard the neighbors’ gossip.
People said the mother and daughter suddenly appeared to live at Yu’s house because they coveted her property. While Grandmother Yu refused others, she rented to Xia Xiao Lan, so Xia Xiao Lan had to consider the old lady’s feelings. Though Grandmother Yu appeared cold on the outside, she was warm-hearted – despite her harsh words, didn’t she help offer suggestions? With Xia Xiao Lan’s trouble, what ordinary person would dare let her continue staying in their home?
Grandmother Yu now had income from her shop rental and didn’t really need the 20 yuan monthly rent. Just over 200 yuan a year – perhaps she used to need that money, but after receiving 2,000 yuan for the shop’s annual rent, she wasn’t as financially pressed.
Xia Xiao Lan believed tenants and landlords should respect each other – just because Grandmother Yu had empty rooms didn’t mean Li Dong Liang and Ge Jian should move in. While Xia Xiao Lan was speaking of contract spirit and principles, Zhou Cheng found his woman kind-hearted and wanted to pat her head.
He did it, reaching out to touch the top of her head.
“It’s alright, things will be resolved soon. Tomorrow someone will bring the dog.”
As long as they weren’t staying far away, it was fine. After running around all day, Zhou Cheng was confident about dealing with Fan Zhen Chuan. When Xia Xiao Lan told him about tomorrow’s meeting with the Fan family, Zhou Cheng was pleasantly surprised: “We’re of one mind – if you hadn’t arranged to meet Fan Zhen Chuan, I would have sought him out myself. Tomorrow, you go first with Li Dong Liang and the others. Fan Zhen Chuan won’t dare act up at the City Committee Guest House. I might be a bit late, but don’t be afraid – I’ll resolve this quickly.”
Xiao Yu was already packing her belongings.
Fan Zhen Chuan had told her to move out soon, and she had been delaying. She hadn’t heard anything about canceling the wedding or about Xia Xiao Lan running away. Xiao Yu felt deceived – after all those firm promises, Xia Xiao Lan must have changed her mind, swayed by Fan Zhen Chuan’s power.
Xiao Yu was terrified.
She feared her visit to Xia Xiao Lan would be exposed – Fan Zhen Chuan would surely make her pay!
Fortunately, Fan Zhen Chuan showed no signs of knowing – had Xia Xiao Lan kept quiet? That little vixen must be plotting something. Xiao Yu was so anxious she had lost weight in just days. Fan Zhen Chuan thought Xiao Yu’s weight loss was from heartbreak over their separation, which nicely satisfied his male ego.
Men like Fan Zhen Chuan were considered life’s winners – the night before meeting his future bride, his mistress was still helping him prepare clothes.
“Zhen Chuan, you really like her, don’t you?”
Xiao Yu held up a tie to compare, and Fan Zhen Chuan sneered: “Any woman I set my eyes on can only enter the Fan family.”
Like or not? Who wouldn’t like a beautiful woman? Xia Xiao Lan’s face and figure were truly rare specimens. Fan Zhen Chuan collected women-like stamps, and Xia Xiao Lan was the rarest and most beautiful stamp so far. Until he had her, the itch wouldn’t stop. Moreover, now that someone was trying to compete for this stamp, Fan Zhen Chuan was even less likely to let go.
With a hint of showing off, Fan Zhen Chuan casually mentioned that Xia Xiao Lan had a previous boyfriend who had come to Shang Du to challenge him. Xiao Yu felt envious. Back then, when her relationship with Fan Zhen Chuan wasn’t public, there were just rumors in their hometown. Her fiancé hadn’t put up any fight – he’d hurriedly broken off the engagement at the mere mention of Fan Zhen Chuan’s name. It was quite amusing – while Xia Xiao Lan would rather die than marry Fan Zhen Chuan, and Zhou Cheng would fight Fan Zhen Chuan to the death, Xiao Yu had been half-willing. She’d already become Fan Zhen Chuan’s mistress; her fiancé just didn’t want to live the rest of his life wearing a green hat. What was wrong with him choosing to break the engagement?
Perhaps from spending too much time with Fan Zhen Chuan, Xiao Yu was no longer the simple country girl she once was – her values had been twisted by him.
After helping Fan Zhen Chuan coordinate his clothes, he stared at her:
“You’ve moved most of your things these past few days, found a place to stay, and can report to your arranged job anytime. You can move out now.”
Now?
It was past nine at night, and Fan Zhen Chuan wanted her to move out!
No matter how much Xiao Yu pouted, Fan Zhen Chuan wouldn’t budge. She left his house with her luggage, feeling wronged. To make matters worse, it started raining, leaving her soaked. Rather than hating Fan Zhen Chuan for his callousness, she hated Xia Xiao Lan’s appearance for disrupting her comfortable life.
“City Committee Guest House?”
Water dripped from Xiao Yu’s cheeks as she decided to go watch – to see Xia Xiao Lan’s boyfriend forced to give her up in the face of Fan Zhen Chuan’s power. That scene would surely be interesting. Xia Xiao Lan said she didn’t want to marry Fan Zhen Chuan but would end up doing so anyway – Xiao Yu wanted to see her eat her words!
“Mom, are you and Dad going tomorrow too?”
Liang Huan pestered Liu Fang for inside information. After being locked in the darkroom by Xia Xiao Lan, she was quite wary of her. But wouldn’t Fan Han’s father be there tomorrow? With Fan Zhen Chuan present, Liang Huan wasn’t afraid of Xia Xiao Lan anymore.
Liu Fang didn’t want to go – she and Liang Bing An now wanted to distance themselves from the situation.
But as the matchmaker, how could she not attend tomorrow?
Liang Bing An’s parents knew nothing about the marriage’s complications. Learning about tomorrow’s meeting, they were quite happy. Liang’s mother had hinted to her daughter-in-law several times about wanting to come along, but Liu Fang dared not respond. If fighting broke out during tomorrow’s meeting, all her bragging to her in-laws would be exposed.
“You’re going to school tomorrow like a good girl. The meeting is adults’ business!”
Liang Huan protested, “Xia Xiao Lan isn’t much older than me. I’m skipping school tomorrow – I won’t be satisfied until I see her bow her head to the Fan family!”
Liu Fang hesitated.
Lately, Liang Huan had been having nightmares, even with her mother sleeping beside her. During the day, she wasn’t as cheerful as before, often spacing out, sometimes having terrible temper tantrums, and sometimes crying. Liu Fang wondered if she’d been traumatized and wanted to take her to the hospital, but Liang Bing An wouldn’t allow it, fearing people would think his daughter had mental problems.
Liu Fang had indirectly consulted a doctor. Mental health specialists were rare then, but one doctor said Liang Huan had “psychological trauma” – abroad, they would encourage patients to face the cause of their trauma. Liu Fang was confused, so the doctor explained it in familiar terms: get back up where you fell.
“When a child is bitten by a dog, they’ll always fear dogs. But if someone beats the dog away in front of them, they’ll learn dogs can be defeated.”
Liu Fang found this reasonable, and remembering the doctor’s words now made her waver about forbidding Liang Huan from going.
If Liang Huan saw with her own eyes that Xia Xiao Lan was powerless against Fan Zhen Chuan, would it stop her nightmares?