Guan Huie had a fuller figure with large bones, typical of Northern women.
She wasn’t fat, but she wasn’t as slender as Southern women. She disliked high-waisted styles that emphasized her hip curves—it wasn’t quite dignified enough for someone in her leadership position!
The length of Xia Xiaolan’s down jacket pleased her, reaching below the knees.
“Auntie, does the size fit well?”
Guan Huie moved her arms—it was neither too tight nor too loose.
She could tell Xia Xiaolan had put thought into selecting this jacket, as her clothing size differed from others. Clothes that fit her waist didn’t necessarily fit her shoulders.
“It looks beautiful, this color complements your skin!” Mrs. Zeng exclaimed from the side. Guan Huie’s fair skin matched perfectly with the taro purple, her complexion dominating the color rather than being overwhelmed by it.
“It fits well. You’re very thoughtful.”
If something was good, one couldn’t deny it with a straight face, could they?
Seeing Guan Huie’s satisfaction made Xia Xiaolan happy. She had noticed that Guan Huie was very principled—whether she liked something or not, right was right, and wrong was wrong… Xia Xiaolan enjoyed interacting with people like Guan Huie, who was like a supervisor who was fair internally and protective externally. As long as you did your part well, Guan Huie wouldn’t complain.
If you exceeded Guan Huie’s expectations, she would be pleased, just like now—Xia Xiaolan could tell Guan Huie was in a good mood!
People like Ji Ya who were mercurial were more troublesome. When they liked someone, they would praise them excessively, and while you were still basking in their enthusiasm, a single detail might suddenly trigger Ji Ya’s anger. Then you’d have to deal with her complete reversal. Xia Xiaolan had no interest in catering to someone like Ji Ya—it was exhausting and never peaceful, as you never knew which cloud would bring rain!
With Guan Huie in a good mood, Xia Xiaolan became more eager to show the remaining down jackets.
One was for Zhou Guobin, in deep blue, with a crisp silhouette that looked more like a thick coat than a puffy down jacket from afar.
One glance and Guan Huie knew Zhou Guobin would love it.
For Grandfather and Grandmother Zhou, there were two jujube-red jackets. Same color but different styles, though neither was short. These were the kind of down jackets Guan Huie would buy from Beijing’s department stores.
“Sit down. These clothes are all lovely. Your store must be doing well?”
The Zhou family knew Xia Xiaolan was in business but didn’t know the details. Today, Guan Huie wanted to learn more. Before dinner, the two sat on the sofa chatting.
Business was certainly good—how else could Xia Xiaolan afford a courtyard house in Shichahai?
While Xia Xiaolan wasn’t extremely wealthy, she had certainly moved beyond being a street vendor.
“Business is decent. The clothing store is a partnership with my uncle’s family. Last year I was still sourcing inventory myself, but now that I’m studying in Beijing, my aunt and mother manage it day-to-day.”
The store was located in Erqi Square in Shangdu—there was nothing to hide. If Guan Huie wanted to know, Xia Xiaolan would tell her everything.
She could also mention the building materials store in Pengcheng. Guan Huie had just learned about Xia Xiaolan’s deep connections with Kang Wei and Shao Guangrong. Though she’d vaguely mentioned they’d invested some money, such business partnerships required mutual trust.
Xia Xiaolan was still wondering how to explain Zhou Cheng’s money in her hands.
Did Guan Huie know about Zhou Cheng’s money?
Would Guan Huie disapprove that Zhou Cheng had given her the money to invest rather than his parents? But Zhou Cheng giving her the bankbook was like males in nature courting females—proving his capability and, more importantly, showing trust in Xia Xiaolan, treating her as family.
“You know Mayor Tang?”
Guan Huie wanted to learn more about Xia Xiaolan but wasn’t trying to dig into her finances. Knowing roughly was enough—she couldn’t ask how much Xia Xiaolan earned monthly. But from this general understanding, she could tell Xia Xiaolan wasn’t short of money.
Guan Huie changed the subject, and Xia Xiaolan didn’t need to keep worrying. She naturally told the story of how she met Tang Hongen.
She had told this story before to Ji Jiangyuan, so it didn’t change much.
“…I didn’t know Uncle Tang was the mayor then. He was very imposing and scared away the traffickers. Later when I went to Pengcheng again, I met Uncle Tang, and surprisingly, he remembered me.”
Giving specialty products was embarrassing to mention in front of Guan Huie, so Xia Xiaolan skipped that part.
However, explaining how she met Tang Hongen meant explaining why she traveled so far. Guan Huie was amazed: “Your family let you go to Yangcheng alone to source goods?”
With Xia Xiaolan being so beautiful, weren’t her parents too trusting? Weren’t they worried about her safety?
Indeed, it wasn’t safe—she’d encountered traffickers on the train. No matter how clever someone is, they might not have experience dealing with traffickers on their first trip. Without Tang Hongen’s help, who knows what might have happened to Xia Xiaolan!
“They had no choice even if they were worried. As you know, my parents are divorced, and I don’t have contact with the Xia family’s relatives. On my mother’s side, only my uncle could help, but he was away earning money then. My mother is just a village woman who had never left the province.”
Plus, Liu Fen had to deliver oil dregs daily for sale.
Just cycling to Shangdu took over two hours, carrying hundreds of jin of oil dregs on bumpy country roads. Liu Fen’s small, thin frame had struggled.
Talking about this, Xia Xiaolan felt like it was just yesterday.
Back then, she hadn’t noticed the hardship. Every day was full of motivation. Both she and Liu Fen were busy earning money to improve their lives—mother and daughter had no time for self-pity.
Looking back now, Xia Xiaolan didn’t feel it was bitter—she felt accomplished. Without cheating or scamming, relying on buying low and selling high, grasping market demand, she had fulfilled the promise she made when leaving the Xia family with her mother. She had asked Liu Fen to trust her, saying she would give her mother a good life. Now at least the mother-daughter pair lived no worse than anyone in the Xia family!
While Xia Xiaolan spoke casually about it, Guan Huie was deeply moved.
Previously, she had thought Xia Xiaolan was too assertive, lacking feminine softness, too ambitious, and possibly not content being Zhou Cheng’s supportive wife.
But truly sitting down to chat with Xia Xiaolan, Guan Huie could understand this assertiveness—it was incredibly difficult for village girls to change their fate. If Xia Xiaolan hadn’t given it her all, she could never have broken free from her original family’s constraints.
The fact that Xia Xiaolan could sit comfortably on the Zhou family’s sofa, chatting easily with Guan Huie rather than anxiously trying to curry favor to gain entry to the Zhou family—this confidence and self-assurance was earned through Xia Xiaolan’s own efforts!