Children speak without filters. When Liu Zitao mentioned his “brother-in-law,” Chen Wangda could no longer pretend ignorance. He took the opportunity to inquire about Xia Xiaolan’s boyfriend.
“Is Xiaolan’s boyfriend very busy? If Taotao wants to see him, you should take him. Your mother must have met him already. Since you’re all in Beijing, you should get together. Don’t worry about me and Chen Qing—we can split up and explore separately this afternoon.”
How presumptuous would it be for him to tag along to meet Xia Xiaolan’s boyfriend?
Chen Wangda knew his place—he wasn’t Xia Xiaolan’s real grandfather!
Xia Xiaolan respected him because of his previous help, but that small debt of gratitude couldn’t last forever, especially since Xia Xiaolan had given the oil residue business to the Chen family. From last winter through this summer, they had earned several thousand yuan from that business! How long it would last was uncertain, but trading such a profitable opportunity for a favor worth thousands was already advantageous for the Chen family. Xia Xiaolan now owed nothing to the Chen family or the villagers. Even if things didn’t work out with Chen Qing, Chen Wangda still hoped she would look after Qijing Village in the future, so he couldn’t afford to offend her.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t hide anything, though she didn’t elaborate on Zhou Cheng’s position or family background, just mentioning his workplace.
“It’s not far from the city. He met my mother when we were in Shangdu.”
Chen Wangda nodded: “That’s a good profession, shows responsibility! When your relationship is more stable, bring him back to the village to meet everyone.”
Chen Wangda’s words were faultless. When Zhou Cheng was mentioned, Xia Xiaolan noticed Chen Qing’s expression darken before quickly returning to normal. The Chen family was reasonable, and Xia Xiaolan hoped to preserve their previous friendship.
“We’ll talk about visiting him tomorrow. Today, let me show you around properly. I’ve been to Beijing twice before, so I know where to find good food.”
Xia Xiaolan was only an amateur tour guide—she wasn’t familiar with 1984 Beijing, but she could still explain something about these landmarks.
Zhou Cheng couldn’t take leave, but Xia Xiaolan needed to visit him in Beijing.
After classes started, she’d need time to adjust to the new environment, with various matters keeping her busy for days. So it would have to be before school started, while her mother and Aunt Li Fengmei were still here. Liu Zitao was clamoring to see his brother-in-law, and Liu Fen missed Zhou Cheng too. After Zhou Cheng brought Xia Xiaolan home and his family didn’t oppose their relationship, Liu Fen’s attitude toward Zhou Cheng improved another notch.
Though it wasn’t time to discuss marriage yet, Zhou Cheng and Xiaolan’s relationship was known to both families—they weren’t dating in secret but openly courting.
When Liu Fen went to Yangcheng and visited the Special Economic Zone, where everything was available for sale, she had her wages from the clothing store and didn’t need to ask Xia Xiaolan for money. She even bought Zhou Cheng two expensive belts with her own money.
When Xia Xiaolan mentioned that Zhou Cheng’s unit provided clothes, including hats, shoes, and belts, Liu Fen dismissed it: “What the unit provides is different from what I bought.”
One showed the state’s care for Zhou Cheng, the other showed her care—how could they be the same?
Zhou Cheng’s workplace surely provided enough food, but could he eat whatever he wanted? Liu Fen remembered how Zhou Cheng had sent so many things during New Year’s and wondered if his salary was sufficient. Not to mention the two dogs Zhou Cheng had sent to Grandmother Yu’s house—they were obedient and protective. With the dogs around, everyone slept more soundly at night, and Liu Fen could rest easy even with tens of thousands in business cash hidden under the bed. The dogs were great but ate a lot, and Zhou Cheng often had people deliver meat to the house. Though the dogs ate scraps when whole racks of lamb were being delivered, wasn’t that supplementing their household’s meals?
Liu Fen worried Zhou Cheng’s salary wasn’t enough.
She didn’t know about Zhou Cheng and Kang Wei’s cigarette business.
Besides buying belts for Zhou Cheng, Liu Fen planned to secretly give him money.
Liu Fen’s money came not only from her wages but also from various awards given to Xia Xiaolan for being the top scorer—from the province, city, county, and school, totaling 2,000 yuan. This money was both a reward and meant to ensure the provincial top scorer could complete her studies at Huaqing University smoothly.
Though the university had no tuition fees, textbooks cost money, right?
For students from poor backgrounds with good grades, universities provided monthly allowances and even scholarships.
For top students, the four years of university weren’t about spending money but earning it!
Even with such policies, some brilliant but poor students who got into university couldn’t attend because before receiving any scholarships or allowances, they had no basic living guarantee, and their families would collapse without their labor. They could only tear up their admission notices in despair, abandoning their university dreams… How tragic would it be if Xia Xiaolan faced such circumstances?
How many students from Yunan Province got into Huaqing and Beijing University each year?
At the time, Xia Xiaolan had given all this money to Liu Fen, saying, “It’s earned from your daughter’s studies, spending it will feel different.”
Indeed it did, just like the 200 yuan scholarship from Anqing No. 1 High School before.
This was how Liu Fen had saved up her money, from various sources. Xia Xiaolan didn’t care how Liu Fen spent it, as long as she wasn’t saving on herself to spend on others. Xia Xiaolan hoped Liu Fen could be more “selfish” and not so selflessly contributive. As long as she ensured her comfort first, Xia Xiaolan couldn’t stop her from giving Zhou Cheng “red packets.” Zhou Cheng had his own money and wasn’t stingy—Liu Fen wasn’t supporting an ingrate.
That evening, Xia Xiaolan still stayed at the guest house with her family. She could have handled the enrollment procedures early and moved into the dormitory, but since she would be living in the dorm for a long time anyway, it was nice to spend more time with family. She wasn’t in a hurry to move. It was perfect that Shao Guangrong had lent her the Jeep for two days—she could drive her family to Zhou Cheng’s workplace.
Last time she’d been reported to higher-ups by Fang Shizhong and Gao Fei for being too extravagant, saying that ostentatiously delivering six sheep to Zhou Cheng’s unit had created a bad impression. Xia Xiaolan didn’t dare to repeat such bold moves. Sending sheep once was showing goodwill; doing it repeatedly would suggest she had too much money to spend.
She bought some beef jerky, pork floss, and various meat preserves, along with many canned meats—these were long-lasting and practical. Zhou Cheng could eat them over time or share them. Liu Fen approved of these purchases and told Xia Xiaolan to buy more. While buying the canned meat, Xia Xiaolan remembered Zhou Cheng’s expression when eating sesame sugar buns and bought him several cans of fruit preserves as well.
Watermelons were particularly cheap this year, only 0.15 yuan per jin. A large watermelon weighing over 10 jin costs less than 3 yuan.
When leaving the city, Xia Xiaolan met someone selling watermelons from a cart. There were 37 watermelons left, weighing less than 500 in total. She bought them all and loaded them into the car—the total cost was less than one sheep.
If Fang Shizhong and Gao Fei had objections, their subordinates didn’t have to eat any—Zhou Cheng’s subordinates could enjoy them. With over three hundred people, 37 watermelons were just right. The watermelons plus the canned goods for Zhou Cheng filled both the trunk and back seat. Fortunately, Shao Guangrong had lent them a large enough car!
This wasn’t Xia Xiaolan’s first visit to Zhou Cheng’s workplace—she was quite famous here.
When she parked at the entrance, the guards recognized her: “Welcome, Sister-in-law! Please sign in!”
Xia Xiaolan got out and tossed them a watermelon: “For you to share during shift change!”
The guards hesitated briefly, then snapped to attention and saluted her in unison:
“Thank you, Sister-in-law!”