Xia Xiaolan didn’t waste time arguing with her. In such hot weather, rather than dealing with this person, she’d rather find those elderly ladies with their thermoses. The market for popsicles and ice cream was monopolized by these older folks. They sold ice pops wholesale from the ice cream factory, kept them in thermoses covered with damp towels, and hawked them through the streets.
Thinking of the taste, Xia Xiaolan licked her lips. She wasn’t a child anymore, so why crave ice cream? It must have been that cream popsicle Old Wang treated her to that sparked her craving.
Without any guilt, she blamed it all on Old Wang. Xia Xiaolan not only ate ice cream herself but also treated Li Dongliang and Ge Jian. It was odd for two grown men to eat such things, but in the scorching heat, the crackling bites melting in their mouths sent cooling sensations through every pore… well, it was truly a pleasure.
After finishing the ice cream, Ge Jian finally couldn’t help but step forward:
“Miss Xia, should I…”
While the thugs who tried to disable Miss Xia were just pawns, her uncle was the mastermind behind it all. Who didn’t want to prevent Miss Xia from taking the exam? Ge Jian wanted to settle things once and for all by dealing with Xia Ziyu. Of course, Xia Ziyu wasn’t like those thugs or street vendors – she was a university student. The police would certainly take such a case seriously. If Ge Jian acted against Xia Ziyu, he was prepared to leave Shangdu, knowing he might even be caught if he returned to Yangcheng. It all depended on his luck.
Ge Jian felt both indebted and guilty – Xia Xiaolan’s injury was due to his negligence, so he should help her resolve these ‘troubles.’
Xia Xiaolan shook her head, “You think breaking her arms and legs would settle things?”
It wasn’t that simple.
Xia Xiaolan rarely wanted to resort to violence. Violence was a double-edged sword – once you taste its effectiveness, you’re tempted to try it again. Getting away with it once didn’t guarantee future success. She had been so angry that she let Ge Jian break those thugs’ hands and took revenge on Xia Changzheng… She had crossed that “line.” While she didn’t exactly regret it after calming down, she didn’t plan to rely on simple violence to solve problems anymore.
Li Dongliang and Ge Jian were here to protect her, not to help her run a gang.
Xia Xiaolan hoped to become a legitimate businesswoman with a clean record and solid foundation.
When Xia Xiaolan rejected Ge Jian’s suggestion, Li Dongliang felt relieved. Miss Xia was a good employer who treated her bodyguards as people, not believing that money could buy their lives.
“Miss Xia, returning from the Special Zone, my junior wanted me to tell you she’s secured the shop space.”
Nobody had sent telegrams, knowing Xia Xiaolan was preparing for exams. Even her uncle Liu Yong hadn’t disturbed her.
Bai Zhenzhu certainly wouldn’t discuss business at such a crucial time. Though Li Dongliang had returned to Shangdu before the exams, he waited until after score estimation and application filling to deliver this message. The people around Xia Xiaolan were all very considerate – the money could be earned anytime, and a few days’ delay wouldn’t matter, but the college entrance exam only came once a year.
Xia Xiaolan was pleased to hear the shop had been rented.
After receiving the bank loan, Liu Yong’s financial pressure eased, and he immediately wired 50,000 yuan back to Xia Xiaolan.
Though Xia Xiaolan had given her uncle more than that, she wasn’t in a hurry.
With these 50,000 yuan, she could proceed with building the house in the countryside and invest in new business with Bai Zhenzhu and Kang Wei. Building the house required upfront material costs, while business investment needed money for shop renovation and inventory – neither required all the money at once. Hearing that they’d secured the shop in the small commodities market, Xia Xiaolan wanted to make a big move, but although they’d estimated scores and filled out applications, the actual results wouldn’t be out for a few days.
Xia Xiaolan wanted to use this time to prepare for the house construction.
Once the exam results were published, she could head south to Pengcheng – the timing would be perfect.
Neither Li Fengmei nor Liu Fen understood matters like score estimation and application filling. Among the people they knew, only Xia Ziyu was a university student, but they obviously couldn’t ask her. While other parents could offer advice, Xia Xiaolan’s elders truly couldn’t help.
Still, she had to tell her family about her estimated score of 584 points.
Grandmother Yu was more knowledgeable than Liu Fen and Li Fengmei. Hearing about the 584-point estimate and application to Huaqing University, she praised Xia Xiaolan’s promise!
“Huaqing University, eh? In the old dynasty, those who wanted to study in America had to study at Huaqing first! Now it’s even more prestigious – one of the best universities in the country. If you get into Huaqing, it’ll bring great honor to the family!”
Getting into any university would help shed that rural household registration.
But that wasn’t enough. Grandmother Yu recalled Zhou Cheng’s manner – his family must be extraordinary. It wasn’t enough for Xia Xiaolan to be somewhat exceptional; she needed to prove she was the best. Family background was certainly a gulf, but throughout history, had family background ever completely limited someone? How could there be a fixed class of nobles and officials? Zhou Cheng’s family might be well-off, but that was due to his parents’ or grandparents’ efforts. Grandmother Yu believed that for a young woman to prove her excellence, she should excel in whatever position she occupies.
As a student, surpassing hundreds of thousands of examinees nationwide and entering the best university would prove her excellence.
Grandmother Yu saw things clearly – no matter how high the threshold, if Xia Xiaolan could enter Huaqing University, nothing else would be a problem.
Liu Fen was rather simple-minded, and Li Fengmei was only marginally better. Grandmother Yu was exasperated – she wasn’t even Xia Xiaolan’s real grandmother, so why was she concerning herself with this? Seeing the two just mindlessly rejoicing, she felt quite helpless.
Xia Xiaolan’s thoughts weren’t as complex as Grandmother Yu’s, but since Grandmother Yu genuinely believed in her promise, Xia Xiaolan appreciated it.
“Let’s celebrate after the actual scores come out. I’ll go find Gong Yang at the Business University to draw up some plans – we should start preparing to build the house in the village!”
If not for her injured hand, Xia Xiaolan could have drawn the plans herself.
Since she was going to study architecture anyway, she could have treated it as practice. How complex could a two-story house be? It didn’t need to be fancy, just practical while maintaining some aesthetic appeal. But with her injured hand, she needed Gong Yang’s help. Xia Xiaolan figured that by the time the house design was ready, the exam results would be out too.
Though the Business University was on summer break, Gong Yang hadn’t gone home.
Determined to earn money with Liu Yong and Xia Xiaolan, he naturally wanted to become more proficient in his work, striving to independently produce design proposals without Xia Xiaolan’s input. As soon as the guesthouse renovation contract was signed, Liu Yong gave him 500 yuan as payment. Liu Yong wasn’t stingy – forget about Hong Kong designers, even those doing design proposals for Huajian only got a few dozen yuan bonuses beyond their basic salary. Apart from stability, their income couldn’t compare to Gong Yang’s.
Gong Yang eagerly absorbed new knowledge every day. When Xia Xiaolan pulled him out of the library, he asked what day it was, then suddenly realized: “Today’s for estimating scores and filling applications, right? How did you do?”
Xia Na was also at the library borrowing books, secretly listening in.
When Xia Xiaolan mentioned her estimated score, the exhausted Gong Yang suddenly became energetic, while Xia Na dropped her books in shock – surely this was bragging, estimating 584 points? Last year’s science stream provincial champion in Yunan had scored just that, and everyone knew how difficult this year’s math questions were. She didn’t believe it and resolved to closely monitor the exam results announcement, determined to check Xia Xiaolan’s score first!