Xia Xiaolan spoke seriously while Liu Fen listened in confusion.
“Aunt Liu, all you need to know is that no one from the Fan family will bother Xiaolan anymore. Fan Zhenchuan did something wrong, and the organization will deal with him. He can barely protect himself now.”
Zhou Cheng’s words were straightforward, and Liu Fen finally understood!
Amitabha Buddha, truly believed that Xia Xiaolan shouldn’t marry into Hedong County. Zhou Cheng was such a good young man; how could Xiaolan marry Fan Zhenchuan? Liu Fen couldn’t tell whether Fan Zhenchuan was more powerful or if Zhou Cheng held a higher position. She didn’t consider such things when choosing a son-in-law; she prioritized Xia Xiaolan’s wishes and the man’s character. Zhou Cheng’s character needed no explanation – he was Liu Yong’s lifesaver, and Xiaolan liked him too.
Liu Fen didn’t even ask about Liu Fang’s situation.
She had grown cold-hearted toward her younger sister. Even a cornered rabbit would bite, and Liu Fang trying to marry Xia Xiaolan into the Fan family had touched the normally mild-mannered Liu Fen’s reverse scale. What kind of aunt would arrange for Liang Huan to marry a man twenty years her senior, planning the marriage behind the Liang family’s back?
Liu Fang hadn’t treated Xiaolan as a real niece but as something to be traded for benefits, so why should Liu Fen treat her as a real sister?
Stabbing Liu Fen would be one thing – she was used to enduring pain. But no one could harm a hair on Xia Xiaolan’s head. Liu Fen felt she had been useless in the Xia family, letting Xiaolan suffer greatly. She would do anything for her daughter… forget about being a warm jacket, Xia Xiaolan was her life!
Even more embarrassing was that Zhou Cheng knew about this situation. Liu Fen was furious, worried that Zhou Cheng would think poorly of Xiaolan because of her relatives’ behavior.
“From now on, don’t associate with your aunt’s family. Even if you see them face to face, don’t greet them. These are my words, and even if your grandparents are angry in the afterlife, I’ll explain it to them personally when I join them!”
It was rare for Liu Fen to speak so firmly. Worried about her mother’s health, Xia Xiaolan quickly hugged Liu Fen’s shoulders:
“It’s all in the past. My aunt is just materialistic. You’ll see, she’ll have plenty of reasons to envy you in the future!”
For women, what was there to compare? They compared husbands and children.
Regarding marriage, Liu Fen had been unlucky, entering a blind marriage – who knew she’d encounter the whole bunch of extreme characters in the Xia family?
While Xia Xiaolan couldn’t say much else, regarding children, unless Liang Huan’s intelligence and emotional quotient improved dramatically, Xia Xiaolan would eat her hat if her cousin ever did better than her!
Her and her mother’s lives would only get better, and for the materialistic Liu Fang, seeing people she once looked down upon thriving would be more painful than a slap to the face. Xia Xiaolan had met many such people and knew exactly how to handle them.
Xia Xiaolan then took Liu Fen to see the two large dogs, demonstrating newly learned commands. Liu Fen was surprised to see how obedient they were. These weren’t just dogs – they were as smart as young children.
Forgetting her anger, she thought about how much Zhou Cheng had done for Xia Xiaolan, and she liked him more and more.
“Young Zhou, look at you, such a high-ranking cadre, yet still doing all this…”
Who could match Zhou Cheng’s thoughtfulness toward women? One call from Xia Xiaolan, and he came rushing from Beijing, showing no official airs, serving her food first, rolling up his sleeves to cook – what more could one ask of a man?
Xia Dajun had certainly never done such things.
Liu Yong and Li Fengmei had a good relationship, though they argued when first married, but Liu Yong never served Li Fengmei food in public.
Even Liu Fang, who had married up into the Liang family, had to serve Liang Bing’an. If he hadn’t liked her, how could she have entered the family? But in public, Liu Fang still had to attend to Liang Bing’an.
With Zhou Cheng, everything was reversed. How could Liu Fen not like this young man?
Receiving his future mother-in-law’s approval, Zhou Cheng felt his chances of marrying his beloved had improved. What use would putting on airs as Zhou Yanwang be in front of Liu Fen? Could showing off help him marry her daughter? His approach was correct – if he wanted to marry their daughter, he had to sincerely treat Liu Fen as an elder.
Treating her like his own mother wouldn’t be appropriate – Zhou Cheng wasn’t even this careful with his mother, and could a birth mother be angry with her son?
“Aunt Liu, I’m not some big leader, I’m just a minor cadre. There are many leaders above me at work, and I have to answer to them too. No matter what position I hold in the future, Xiaolan will always be my leader – that will never change!”
Zhou Cheng’s few words made Liu Fen beam with joy.
His words were so sweet that Xia Xiaolan wondered where he’d learned such tactics – it wasn’t just her mother who was caught up in it; even she felt pleased hearing it. Liu Fen busied herself hosting Zhou Cheng, who had a housekeeper cooking for him at home but seemed happy tending the fire in Grandmother Yu’s kitchen for Liu Fen.
His mother would cry if she knew – forgetting mother for wife, and he wasn’t even married yet! Zhou Cheng acted as if he’d forgotten his surname was Zhou; strangers might think he was Liu Fen’s son.
“Xiaolan, we’re out of soy sauce, go get some.”
“Okay.”
Liu Fen discovered they were out of soy sauce while cooking.
Why say “fetch soy sauce”? At this time, soy sauce was sold in bulk – in 1984, a jin of soy sauce cost only 0.16 yuan, and you could just take a bottle to the grain store to fill it.
As Xia Xiaolan grabbed the soy sauce bottle, Zhou Cheng watched her. Liu Fen, remembering her sister-in-law’s words, quickly asked Zhou Cheng to go along:
“We’re also out of eggs. Young Zhou, go with her and help carry some eggs back.”
Zhou Cheng responded enthusiastically, more excited than being praised by leaders during military exercises.
He even grabbed the soy sauce bottle from Xia Xiaolan’s hands, as if a glass bottle could tire her out. As soon as they left the house, Xia Xiaolan pinched his soft waist:
“Where did you learn to be so smooth-talking? You’ve almost fooled my mom silly!”
“I’m just telling the truth – you are my leader. What are your orders, leader?”
Zhou Cheng looked down at her, his lips curving upward. For some reason, being with Xia Xiaolan made him incredibly happy. Never mind being asked to fetch soy sauce and eggs – if she asked him to take up a hoe and dig the earth, he’d probably have endless energy for it.
He confidently held Xia Xiaolan’s hand as they walked to the grain store, swaying happily. He placed the soy sauce bottle on the counter:
“Auntie, one jin of soy sauce and twenty eggs, please.”
Everyone who shopped at this grain store was a resident. Zhou Cheng stood out in this female-dominated space – tall, handsome, and holding Xia Xiaolan’s hand.
So this was the young man Hu Yongcai’s wife had mentioned!
Only a beautiful girl like Xia Xiaolan could find such a one-in-a-million match. Things that most men wouldn’t bother doing, this cadre did naturally. Xia Xiaolan was the envy of all the women in the grain store!
“You’re Xiaolan who lives at Grandmother Yu’s house, right? Your boyfriend is so handsome! Which unit does he work in?”
And there it was – someone striking up a conversation, not to steal him away, but to ask if Zhou Cheng had any suitable colleagues to introduce. With Zhou Cheng’s profession, as long as someone had good character, they’d be welcome. Of course, if they were half as handsome as Zhou Cheng, that would be even more satisfying!