Zhang Cui was willing to spend a few hundred yuan annually to distance herself from the rest of the Xia family. Xia Chang Zheng also felt relieved – he couldn’t bear the thought of not supporting his birth mother. He cared about his reputation and couldn’t stand people gossiping behind his back about such things.

Though they had more money than they could spend, it wasn’t time to be extravagant with family members yet – wasn’t a few hundred yuan per year enough? After repeated arguments between both families, Xia Hong Bing decided not to farm Xia Chang Zheng’s family’s land anymore.

This wasn’t a concern, as they could lease the fields to other villagers who would pay in rice or wheat, with Xia Chang Zheng’s family bearing the responsibility for grain taxes and other fees. Though Mother Xia was unwilling and threw tantrums, no one paid attention. The family division was finalized, with agreements signed in front of village officials.

The village officials praised Xia Chang Zheng’s conscience, noting that few would provide an elderly woman with 30 yuan monthly living expenses, plus grain and oil – five jin of oil per month, more than Xia Hong Bing’s entire family could consume!

“Your son and daughter-in-law are so filial – one providing money, the other labor. You’re blessed.”

Mother Xia nearly fainted from anger.

If they were truly filial and she was truly blessed, they would have taken her to enjoy life in the city instead of abandoning her in the countryside. But what could Mother Xia do? The truly filial son she could control wouldn’t submit to her wishes, and even Xia Chang Zheng wouldn’t yield to her tantrums.

The village officials agreed these were good support terms. Zhang Cui was genuinely generous in this regard – no fault could be found. Once the agreement was signed and fingerprinted, Zhang Cui immediately gave Mother Xia a full year’s payment.

The promised dowry money for Xia Hong Xia was given to Wang Jin Gui.

The grain and oil were converted to cash. Both Mother Xia and Wang Jin Gui wanted this money, so Zhang Cui, hoping the mother and daughter-in-law would fight at home constantly, gave it to Mother Xia.

If they wanted advantages, they could pester Mother Xia – as long as they kept the old woman in check, the third brother’s family could benefit. Zhang Cui’s intentions were malicious, but she was craftier than Liu Fen, capable of handling both her difficult mother-in-law and her lazy sister-in-law.

With this, the Xia family division was complete.

The couple’s relationship had suffered greatly, with their conversations now cold and distant. Zhang Cui wanted to restart her business – the grass had grown between the stone slabs in front of Zhang’s shop, and their landlord wanted to speak with her.

“Your shop is constantly filled with fighting. We can’t rent to your family anymore. Here’s your remaining rent – take your broken tables and chairs away!”

They had originally secured the shop through Principal Sun’s influence, paying only a nominal rent without any breach of contract clauses. With Principal Sun’s backing, who would have breached? But now that Principal Sun no longer wished to be Zhang’s shop’s patron, the couple was helpless.

The returned rent was insignificant – the renovation costs had exceeded the rent. Xia Zi Yu had already taken 5,000 yuan, leaving Zhang Cui with just a few thousand in savings. They hadn’t opened for two months due to fighting, and she couldn’t freeload at her parents’ home. Money was dwindling, and she had spent nearly another thousand to rid herself of Mother Xia.

Now she had less than 4,000 yuan to her name!

Compared to before selling snacks, this was still a considerable sum. But compared to Zhang Cui’s peak, it was far too little – she had quietly become a “ten-thousand-yuan household,” but now her savings had shrunk dramatically with no income. How could she not be anxious? Nothing salvageable remained in the shop – even the large iron wok was damaged during the fighting. Zhang Man Fu felt guilty about this, as he had broken it during those two days when Xia Hong Bing and Wang Jin Gui were running the shop.

Not a single table or chair remained intact, and all the bowls were broken.

All they could take were some daily necessities from the back room.

“Elder Sister, will we reopen the shop?” asked Jiang Lian Xiang uncertainly. After two months of fighting with the Xia family, they had destroyed their livelihood. Zhang’s shop was destined to close, leaving her and Zhang Man Fu wondering about their future.

Xia Chang Zheng winced, not daring to speak. Though Zhang Cui hadn’t divorced him, she barely acknowledged him now.

He still couldn’t understand how things had gotten to this point.

Wasn’t it just because the business had declined and they wanted Xia Hong Xia to return to the countryside? Now things were worse – business hadn’t just declined, they had no shop at all!

Zhang Cui knew they had offended Principal Sun and the teachers and students of County First Middle School. The quick-service restaurant run by Sister Huang across the street was thriving, and even if Zhang’s shop found a new location, it would never recapture its former success.

“Of course, we’ll reopen! But not in Anqing County – we’re going to the provincial capital!”

Why worry about not finding a shop? They could start with a simple street stall and build up from there.

When she first started with a stall, she had only a few dozen yuan in capital. Wasn’t several thousand yuan enough now? Being far from Anqing County would also prevent Xia Hong Bing’s family from bothering them. The more Zhang Cui thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

She planned for Zhang Man Fu and Jiang Lian Xiang to run one snack stall while she and Xia Chang Zheng ran another. With both families operating separately, they would surely establish their snack shop in the provincial capital!

Zhang Cui was the backbone, and everyone followed her lead.

Having to start over after establishing a business made Zhang Cui furious.

Tracing today’s situation back to its source, it all began on the fourth day of the New Year at the County First Middle School entrance, because of Xia Xiao Lan. Someone like Zhang Cui wouldn’t have had many schemes against Xia Xiao Lan, but she remembered Xia Xiao Lan’s counterattack clearly. She blamed everything on Xia Xiao Lan – it was all Xia Xiao Lan’s fault. If not for her, Zhang Cui would still be running Zhang’s shop, earning several hundred yuan monthly, without needing to start over!

“Don’t forget what Zi Yu asked you to do.”

Xia Chang Zheng nodded, “Going to the provincial capital is good. We can find some unfamiliar faces there – no one will suspect us.”

This time, there could be no softness of heart!

“Zi Yu, are you coming to eat?”

Xia Zi Yu tucked the telegram into her book and smiled, “Let’s go. What would you like to eat today? My treat.”

Xia Zi Yu was very frugal at school, harsh even with herself. She would eat steamed buns while buying braised pork for Wang Jian Hua, making everyone envious of his considerate girlfriend. Some classmates felt Xia Zi Yu was too sacrificing, but they admired her character. Knowing she came from a poor rural background, how could they let her treat them?

Her classmates generally thought well of her, not considering her stingy.

Though strict with herself, she wasn’t miserly with others, occasionally buying small gifts that didn’t cost much.

Hearing she wanted to treat them, her roommates laughed in agreement:

“Great! I want buns – with meat filling!”

They would repay her kindness in other ways, so there was no need to feel awkward. Seeing Xia Zi Yu in such a good mood was rare, and her roommates wanted to share in the joy.

The family troubles were temporarily resolved – her mother had telegraphed about going to the provincial capital to set up a stall, which could be seen as an upward move. More importantly, her father mentioned remembering their task, and with the college entrance exam approaching, they wouldn’t let Xia Xiao Lan take it smoothly – naturally, Xia Zi Yu was pleased.

She didn’t have much money left. Only after her parents established themselves in the provincial capital would she receive further support.

Though Xia Zi Yu wanted to start a small business in Beijing, she was simply too busy – maintaining her studies, managing relationships with classmates, investing time in her boyfriend Wang Jian Hua, and watching out for potential romantic rivals… Her schedule was full.

In such a vast city as Beijing, she wondered what could bring easy money.