Wang Jianhua’s strategy of actively contacting old acquaintances was correct.

Xia Ziyu’s financial support was also right.

It wasn’t by chance that Wang Jianhua gained his teachers’ favor after entering college and earned Senior Sister Liu’s affection. Besides being tall with regular features, he had personal capability. Having received “elite education” before, while other students like him were unclear about what they wanted, Wang Jianhua had clear goals. Before the Wang family’s downfall, he had been quite proud, but after spending several years as a sent-down youth in the countryside and experiencing hardship, even the proudest person would change.

Using a woman’s money had lowered Wang Jianhua’s moral standards due to reality.

Once a relatively clever person lowers their moral standards, they become quite efficient – of course, Wang Jianhua wouldn’t admit this. The change occurred during his time as a sent-down youth in Dahe Village. To escape the rural environment, Wang Jianhua accepted “Xia Xiaolan’s” help and support to take the college entrance exam. After the exam, he abandoned “Xia Xiaolan” for the more suitable Xia Ziyu.

At university, while dating Xia Ziyu, he didn’t refuse Senior Sister Liu’s help either!

When Senior Sister Liu could help him, he accepted.

When Xia Ziyu offered money to help his parents’ situation, he only made a few token refusals before accepting.

While claiming he wouldn’t live off women, he never actually rejected the support. Thanks to this ability to benefit from all sides, Wang Jianhua finally cleared a path for his father Wang Guangping’s reinstatement. After a long journey, dawn was finally breaking, and Xia Ziyu felt her investments would finally pay off… She had already spent considerable money on the Wang family, and now without the food stall, Xia Ziyu’s only remaining money was invested in the tutoring center, leaving her finances tight.

Bringing his parents to Beijing and fully supporting them wasn’t possible.

Xia Ziyu didn’t have that capability yet.

With the tutoring center’s difficult start, when Zhang Cui said she wanted to continue running a stall, Xia Ziyu’s initial opposition turned to tacit approval.

She had previously opposed Zhang Cui’s stall business because it was embarrassing. Setting up stalls outside County No. 1 High School during high school was to gain Principal Sun’s sympathy, but now that she attended Normal College, she wanted to completely leave that image behind!

Not to mention, after Wang Jianhua’s parents returned to the city, would they accept street vendors as in-laws?

At the farm, Xia Ziyu had claimed her parents ran a small restaurant. A restaurant was far different from a street stall – if she stopped Zhang Cui from earning money, how could she manifest this “restaurant”?

Xia Zhangzheng, originally healthy, had become weak after the amputation surgery. Not even a month had passed, and he clearly couldn’t help, spending his days eating and sleeping, unwilling to face others’ strange looks.

Xia Ziyu couldn’t help Zhang Cui either, citing distance and her commitments as reasons.

She hadn’t been honest with her parents about the tutoring center; Zhang Cui thought Xia Ziyu was just working as a tutor, a summer job.

Under the scorching sun, Zhang Cui’s food stall struggled. She only knew Yunan Province flavors, which didn’t quite suit Beijing tastes. Without enough customers, ingredients spoiled overnight in this weather. Though Beijing was more prosperous than Shangdu, this prosperity seemed beyond Zhang Cui and Xia Zhangzheng’s reach! Even Shangdu hadn’t been smooth sailing – their most profitable time had been in tiny Anqing County. Thinking of her “Zhang’s” restaurant there made Zhang Cui’s heartache!

Finally, when Xia Ziyu visited their rented house, Zhang Cui looked behind her:

“Jianhua didn’t come with you again?”

Since moving to Beijing, they hadn’t seen their future son-in-law once. Zhang Cui couldn’t help worrying. She could understand her daughter being busy, but it was summer vacation – what could keep Wang Jianhua so occupied? Could it be that Xia Xiaolan, that loose woman, had gotten into university and reconnected with Wang Jianhua privately?

Zhang Cui’s worldview was limited; she knew Xia Xiaolan would seek revenge but imagined it only in terms of stealing men.

She didn’t consider that after working hard to become a provincial champion and entering Huaqing University, Xia Xiaolan could find any partner she wanted – why would she compete with Xia Ziyu for Wang Jianhua?

While Xia Ziyu was counting on Wang Guangping’s reinstatement, Xia Xiaolan knew nothing about it!

Xia Ziyu placed the bought watermelon on the simple table. This year’s watermelon harvest was abundant, with vendors pulling carts throughout the streets, selling at very cheap prices. Xia Ziyu had carried a 10-jin watermelon all the way, sweating profusely.

Hearing Zhang Cui ask about Wang Jianhua, Xia Ziyu frowned.

She hadn’t seen Wang Jianhua for a week herself, let alone bring him to visit. A week ago, during their brief meeting, Wang Jianhua had told her things were looking promising. Since then, he had seemingly vanished – unreachable at school, even pausing the part-time work Senior Sister Liu had arranged… Xia Ziyu knew things must have reached a crucial point, and she was secretly anxious.

“He’s a grown man with his own business to attend to. Once he’s done, he’ll naturally come to see you. Mom, you and Dad have been here over a week, and everything’s still messy – how can I bring Jianhua here?”

The house was far from the Normal College, and since Zhang Cui needed to do business, they had to rent a single-story house.

This family’s house was returned to ancestral property, their once-impressive courtyard house now dilapidated. They simply rented it all out to avoid the headache. Though the rent was cheap, Zhang Cui and Xia Zhangzheng only rented one room. The courtyard was full of tenants’ belongings, and Zhang Cui’s food preparation materials were piled in their room. In the stuffy weather, Xia Ziyu smelled something rancid as soon as she entered.

How could she bring Wang Jianhua to such a place!

Zhang Cui felt wrong too. Exhausted daily, worried about poor business, with an invalid husband who couldn’t help – right hand amputated, left hand fractured, Xia Zhangzheng could only eat without contributing. Everything depended on Zhang Cui alone. The room was old and small, and Zhang Cui couldn’t make it look presentable.

She lacked both energy and motivation!

Now Xia Ziyu complained about the dirt, but before attending school in the county, when their yard was covered in chicken droppings and rotting vegetable leaves for feeding chickens, Xia Ziyu hadn’t objected.

As Xia Zhangzheng called for watermelon in the heat, Zhang Cui grew agitated. “Wait a moment, I need to ask our daughter something! Ziyu, tell me, do we have to watch that loose woman attend Huaqing and get a good job after graduation? She should be marrying some old bachelor in the countryside – how dare she come to Beijing for university… Shouldn’t we think of something?”

Xia Ziyu also felt Xia Xiaolan was unworthy.

But what could they do now? She didn’t have enough influence to interfere with Huaqing’s admissions.

Even if Wang Jianhua’s father was reinstated now, unless he happened to oversee university admissions, Xia Xiaolan’s admission to Huaqing was settled. Huaqing couldn’t admit any students from Yunan Province, and Xia Xiaolan ranked first in the province – no one could compete with her!

Xia Ziyu could only endure until she could strike decisively.

It was already late July, and this year’s first round of college admissions was complete. Xia Xiaolan’s Huaqing acceptance letter might already be in the mail…