The beam-raising ceremony required celebratory drinks, with friends, family, and neighbors sharing a meal to mark the house’s completion.

It coincided perfectly with Xia Xiaolan’s university acceptance, making for an especially lively double celebration. Li Fengmei and Liu Zitao returned to the village. After seeing Xia Xiaolan’s new house and comparing it to her own dilapidated one next door, Li Fengmei considered renovating it. Though they’d earned considerable money, it was tied up in Liu Yong’s business. She could only dream about it for now – such major decisions would have to wait for Liu Yong’s return.

If only they could buy a house in the provincial capital.

Her niece explained that currently, all houses belonged to the state, with only inherited ancestral properties available for purchase, like Grandmother Yu’s situation.

But asking Grandmother Yu to sell her house?

She’d more likely chase them with a broom – the house was her bottom line, and the stubborn old lady would sweep streets before selling it! While Li Fengmei wanted to settle in the provincial capital, Xia Xiaolan suggested they needn’t wait for commercial housing, but could ask Hu Yongcai to look out for ancestral properties for sale.

Of course, such houses wouldn’t be apartments and would need renovation.

But what was there to fear? Renovation was exactly Liu Yong’s business – fixing up a house was the least of their worries!

Having a home, with Xiaolan entering university – life had transformed dramatically in the year since moving out of the Xia household! For Liu Fen, the Xia family was no longer an unspeakable subject; she was too busy living her fulfilling life to dwell on their matters. Her daughter was off to university, and Liu Fen felt reluctant to part.

Her daughter spoke of opening a store in Beijing, but Liu Fen knew she had much to learn and couldn’t hold her back in Beijing yet.

“Ah Fen, come have a drink too!”

Usually, women weren’t involved in men’s drinking, with banquets naturally separating into male and female tables.

Previously, no one would have invited Liu Fen to drink.

But circumstances were different now – with no man in their household, yet having built a house and a daughter entering university, Liu Fen had to represent the family at social occasions.

She’d earned this right, with Xia Xiaolan bringing her countless moments of pride!

Liu Fen drank the baijiu, the grain of alcohol burning down her throat, setting her whole body aflame. Whether from the alcohol or excitement, Liu Fen voluntarily raised her glass again:

“To- to everyone! Thank you all for taking care of us mother and daughter, thank you…”

Her eyes welled up.

This was an emotion Xia Xiaolan couldn’t fully comprehend.

For a divorced rural woman in those circumstances, her maiden family’s shelter, Chen Wangda’s offer to resolve household registration and land issues, and the villagers’ acceptance prevented Liu Fen from becoming a rootless drifter.

“The hardships are over, today’s for celebration, no crying now.”

Chen Wangda told her to sit down, and Liu Fen embarrassedly wiped her tears with her sleeve.

At another table, a matchmaker whispered to Chen’s Fourth Sister-in-law, “Ah Fen’s been divorced for a year now, with a new house built and her daughter off to university, shouldn’t she think about her marriage?”

“What, you want to match her up?”

Chen’s Fourth Sister-in-law grew interested.

The part-time matchmaker lowered her voice, “How about my husband’s younger brother? If the match works out, he could move into this house, and they could tend the fields together in the countryside…”

Chen’s Fourth Sister-in-law looked horrified.

That man was despised by the whole village, known for beating his wife when drunk until she fled home, abandoning their two children. While other children their age attended school, these two had to stay home cooking and washing for their alcoholic father. Suggesting such a man for Liu Fen – had she lost her mind?

“What a lovely dream you have. Bringing two children to Ah Fen’s house, living in her new home, having a university student support a lazy stepfather and two unrelated siblings?”

Why divorce at all then? She might as well have stayed with Xia Dajun – however worthless he was, he was still Xia Xiaolan’s biological father and Liu Fen’s original husband!

The matchmaker grew angry with embarrassment, “Her daughter will leave to marry someday anyway, and she’s divorced – what value does a divorced woman have!”

Chen’s Fourth Sister-in-law distanced herself.

What was Liu Fen worth?

The current Liu Fen was vastly different from when she first divorced.

Her skin had lightened considerably, and though her clothes weren’t flashy reds and greens, the fabric was visibly expensive.

Both Liu Fen and Li Fengmei wore gold bracelets, visible with their short sleeves in summer.

When Chen’s Fourth Sister-in-law spoke with Liu Fen, she caught the scent of perfume – cold cream perhaps?

From any angle, Liu Fen looked thoroughly urban. Though they’d built a house in the countryside, they might not even live there. Divorced or not, if she were to remarry, it certainly wouldn’t be to someone of such low standing!

Li Fengmei, helping serve dishes to villagers, happened to pass by and overheard the matchmaker’s words.

She glared at her without hesitation.

Those words had struck a nerve with Li Fengmei – she had married Liu Yong after the divorce, and even when he wasn’t earning much, he never hit women. What were her circumstances then compared to Ah Fen’s now? Her sister-in-law could surely find someone better.

…

Xia Xiaolan was unaware of these undercurrents at the banquet.

On such a day, no one would be foolish enough to approach Xia Xiaolan about matchmaking for her mother. Chen Qing wasn’t discussing anything inappropriate either – with school starting soon, he was asking about her train ticket plans and whether they might travel to Beijing together.

“My grandfather wants to go with me. If you join us, we can look after each other on the way.”

Chen Wangda had been village chief for many years, and with his grandson accepted to a Beijing university, the old man wanted to visit Beijing while still healthy. See Tiananmen Square, and view the great leader’s portrait. His old bones could still manage climbing the Great Wall!

“That works, when are you leaving?”

Liu Fen and Li Fengmei both wanted to go, and Liu Zitao, not yet in school, clung to Xia Xiaolan’s leg wailing about wanting to visit Beijing, refusing to let go.

With mostly women and children going, traveling with Chen Qing and his grandfather would indeed provide mutual support.

“Either the 28th or 29th works.”

The Chen family had already discussed it – Chen’s mother wanted to go too, but each additional person meant an extra one or two hundred yuan in travel expenses. Since her father-in-law was going, she decided not to. The Chens weren’t business people; though well-off by village standards, they couldn’t spend freely. Besides, Chen Qing would need money for marriage eventually, so his mother had to save for him.

Long-distance travel costs were prohibitive then; accompanying children to university registration was a future trend.

For those far from school, an extra person’s travel expenses could cover a family’s expenses for quite a while. Xia Xiaolan’s approach of turning school registration into a family trip was rare.

“Let’s try for the 28th then, see if tickets are available.”

Going to school empty-handed was impossible, though Xia Xiaolan refused to bring washbasins and thermoses from Shangdu to Beijing. But changes of clothes, bedding, and linens had to come from home. Liu Fen had someone make a new six-jin cotton quilt for winter, plus summer blankets and mattress padding… Discussing this with Chen Qing, they found common ground – mothers everywhere were the same!