Xia Xiaolan bought five train tickets to Yang City. Liu Zitao, who had just started first grade, was still considered a little kid in Grandmother Yu’s eyes, so staying at her house for a few days wouldn’t break the rules she had set.

“Listen to Grandmother Yu and don’t be naughty, understand?” Li Fengmei instructed, and Liu Zitao nodded obediently.

Liu Zitao had never been away from both parents at the same time when all the adults needed to leave. Li Fengmei was reluctant to leave her son behind, but what could she do? Both her business and Liu Yong’s career were developing. The parents’ hard work was mostly for their child’s sake. If she wanted Liu Zitao to have a better future, Li Fengmei had to steel her heart.

Grandmother Yu had a stern personality that might frighten children, but Li Fengmei knew she was straightforward and trustworthy. She felt at ease leaving her son in her care for a few days.

“Auntie, I’m sorry for troubling you. If this child misbehaves, feel free to scold or punish him!”

As the business grew larger, Li Fengmei felt increasingly overwhelmed. Even dedicating all her energy might not be enough to keep up with the business’s rapid development. From street vending to opening a shop to a booming business, Li Fengmei hardly had time to adapt. Liu Yong’s parents weren’t available to look after their grandson, and Li Fengmei’s mother wasn’t any younger than Grandmother Yu. Even if she could come to the city to help with her grandson, they’d need a place for her to stay.

The countryside couldn’t compare to the city in most aspects, except that rural homes were always more spacious – a fact that wouldn’t change even after thirty years. City apartments have varied in size over time. In the 1980s and earlier, old public housing units were tiny, with even government officials having only slightly larger spaces. Later, when commercial housing emerged, people went all out, with apartments regularly exceeding 150 square meters. Subsequently, as rural populations flooded into cities and housing prices soared, even urban residents couldn’t afford large new homes. Small units were developed again, coming full circle back to the 1980s style.

Li Fengmei couldn’t foresee these changes, but everyone has desires.

After renting the railway bureau dormitory and moving from a single-story house to an apartment building, Li Fengmei felt life had improved beyond what she could have imagined a year ago!

Human needs grow over time. Back then, just having a place to stay in the city was good enough, even if it meant squeezing a family of three into a tiny room in a single-story house. As life improved, especially given the current situation, Li Fengmei couldn’t help but dream of a more spacious home… or better yet, a house that truly belonged to their family, where she could invite her mother to enjoy city life – that would be truly wonderful.

“It’s possible. In two years, you and Uncle can buy a house in Shang City, choosing whatever floor and size you like!”

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t joking. Li Fengmei took her niece’s words seriously, as everything Xia Xiaolan had said and done so far had proven correct.

“Could that day come, when we could buy a house in the city?”

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “Forget just houses, you can even buy urban household registration. It’ll be up to you whether you want to become city residents.”

People longed to leave the countryside and become urban residents because rural life was hard, but in Xia Xiaolan’s view, with enough money, household registration wouldn’t matter much. Of course, with future educational and medical resources heavily concentrated in first-tier cities, household registration in Beijing or Shanghai would still be important for the next generation. She would be fine, but whether to bring her uncle’s family along would depend on Liu Yong and Li Fengmei’s wishes.

Even household registration could be bought.

Li Fengmei’s mouth went dry. She would have to work incredibly hard to earn money. She and Liu Yong didn’t matter, but she had to get an urban household registration for her son Liu Zitao!

The afternoon after Xia Xiaolan finished her exams, the group of five boarded the train to Yang City.

Meanwhile, in Hedong County, Liu Fang was pacing anxiously like an ant on a hot pan!

Liang Bingan hadn’t been promoted from deputy to full position and was instead taken away during the meeting.

Their colleagues couldn’t make sense of this turn of events. Wasn’t he about to become bureau chief? How did he end up being taken away for investigation?

This kind of investigation would at least strip away a layer of skin, if not worse. The original bureau chief had been taken away, which was why there were rumors about Deputy Liang’s promotion. This suggested Deputy Liang was likely finished too. Ah, what a waste of that fine Xinyang Maojian tea! The same people who had previously fawned over him now turned cold, competing to report to Deputy Liang. No, they weren’t that close to Deputy Liang.

Liu Fang knew nothing when Liang Bingan was taken away.

She had been walking on air lately, and if Liang Bingan hadn’t warned her to keep a low profile, she would have bought loads of things to celebrate.

Once Old Liang became bureau chief, she planned to get back that ten thousand yuan from Xia Xiaolan!

Beyond fear, she felt more heartache. Giving ten thousand yuan to Xia Xiaolan for nothing made Liu Fang very resentful. Since Old Liang could get promoted, it proved Xia Xiaolan’s boyfriend wasn’t all that powerful! Fan Zhenchuan’s downfall was because he had done too many bad things, but her Liang was different, working diligently and deserving of promotion. When Fan Zhenchuan was arrested and many people in Hedong County were implicated, the vacant bureau chief position became Old Liang’s opportunity.

When Liang Huan said she wanted new clothes, Liu Fang told her daughter to be patient:

“Once your father’s appointment comes through, Mom will buy you whatever you want to wear.”

Liang Huan didn’t care, “Dad’s really something, being so low-key about a sure thing.”

Everyone at school knew her father was going to be the bureau chief, and those who used to flatter Fan Han now turned to curry favor with Liang Huan. As the daughter of Chief Liang, she became even more popular at school. No wonder people said Fan Zhenchuan was a plague in the area – compared to Liang Huan’s school, Anqing County No. 1 High School had a much better atmosphere.

Were there children of officials at Anqing County No. 1 High School?

Of course, there were!

But Anqing County No. 1 High School didn’t have this culture of bootlicking. Even children of officials kept a low profile. The top student in the grade, whose presence had been diminished by Xia Xiaolan, was the son of an Anqing County leader. Hardly anyone at school knew this. Even though Xia Xiaolan was so beautiful, nobody constantly chased after her. Students could only compete academically; many boys didn’t dare talk much with girls. The students at Anqing County No. 1 High School had no experience flattering the school’s beauty.

When a place has a poor atmosphere, even high school students in their teens learn to be worldly through osmosis.

Liang Huan had enjoyed everyone’s flattery before her father’s appointment was officially announced. Now she was the bureau chief’s daughter, and since her father was still young, in a few years she might become the county chief’s daughter, and then maybe even the mayor’s daughter… Liang Huan felt that no matter how beautiful Xia Xiaolan was, she couldn’t match her circumstances. Who told Xia Xiaolan to choose the wrong parents? Starting from a lower position meant she could never catch up in life.

Liang Huan’s grandfather was the first to learn about Liang Bingan’s arrest.

Though the Liang family couldn’t compare to the Fan family in Hedong County, Liang Huan’s grandfather was still a retired government official. While no one notified Liu Fang, someone had informed Liang Huan’s grandfather.

Her father nearly had a heart attack at the time. Liang Huan’s grandmother gave him a handful of medicine, and it took a full half hour before he could speak:

“Bingan is in danger this time! Go make a call and get Bingan’s wife here.”