Xia Xiaolan only knew one reason why Fa Feng came after her, while Tang Hong’en kept the other reason to himself.
Tang Hong’en was too embarrassed to speak of it.
Ji Ya thought Tang Hong’en stood up for Xia Xiaolan because he coveted either Xia Xiaolan or Liu Fen.
Whether it was the beautiful young girl or the young girl’s mother – Ji Ya’s words at the time had made Tang Hong’en very angry. He hadn’t hidden his anger then, but the Ji family hadn’t taken it seriously.
If they had taken it seriously, they wouldn’t have allowed Ji Ya to harass Xia Xiaolan a second time.
After learning about this, Tang Hong’en felt too ashamed to face Xia Xiaolan.
If he hadn’t resolved this matter, wouldn’t Xia Xiaolan have called him “Uncle Tang” for so long in vain?
Later, the Zhou family got involved.
The Zhou family didn’t know about Xia Xiaolan’s connection with Tang Hong’en, and Tang Hong’en initially didn’t know about the Zhou family either.
Xia Xiaolan was dating someone, but Tang Hong’en had never met him, so there was no way to connect with the Zhou family… Once the Zhou family got involved, things took a new turn. The Ji family’s submission was just a matter of time. If they had been able to stand firm, they wouldn’t have let Ji Ya divorce him back then. No matter how noble their words sounded, it was still because they were cowards.
The Ji family choosing to submit to him was their usual approach.
Did they want to reconcile with him and then have him step in to withstand the pressure from the Zhou family?
Tang Hong’en shook his head secretly, thinking the Ji family’s wishes were quite naive.
Only after the matter was resolved did he tell Xia Xiaolan about it.
Xia Xiaolan was certainly very angry. Her mother was such an honest person who probably wouldn’t dare to look Tang Hong’en in the eye – how could these two people be linked together?!
Those malicious speculations were directed not only at her but also at Liu Fen.
“Uncle Tang, do you think this is appropriate?”
Xia Xiaolan felt that Liu Fen’s personality wasn’t suited for being involved in such incidents. While studying in Beijing, Xia Xiaolan only shared the good news with her family, not the bad. Things weren’t that smooth in Beijing – even attending university had some elements of danger, though Xia Xiaolan wasn’t much affected. Not submitting to life’s difficulties and just keeping her head down and working hard had always been her motto.
Xia Xiaolan had strong endurance because, in her previous life, she had already experienced major ups and downs.
Nothing was more terrifying than waking up one day to find yourself becoming another “Xia Xiaolan” from over 30 years ago.
If she could accept succeeding in life only to start over from scratch, these setbacks weren’t much to her.
But Liu Fen was different. Xia Xiaolan just wanted her mother to live peacefully in Shangdu, run her small business, and eventually open a branch store in Beijing so mother and daughter could meet often – that would be a sweet life. All this blood and violence wasn’t something Liu Fen could adapt to.
Tang Hong’en smiled:
“You mentioned wanting to open a branch store in Beijing, and if I’m not mistaken, this store would be for your mother. Do you think it’s appropriate for her to come to Beijing only to discover that this place is different from what you’ve been telling her?”
Liu Fen wasn’t well-educated.
In terms of intelligence, she was far behind Xia Xiaolan.
When it came to being talented, Ji Ya had truly amazed many people in her youth.
While Tang Hong’en didn’t have close female friends, he had encountered many excellent women – at least those who met the public’s standard of “excellence.”
Liu Fen didn’t possess any of these qualities, but Tang Hong’en felt she embodied some of the good qualities that Chinese women had maintained for thousands of years… kindness, simplicity, resilience, and particularly tenacity. Unremarkable like roadside grass, trampled by passersby who wouldn’t notice such grass, but even when its stem was broken, after a rain, it would continue striving to live.
Flowers may wither, but grass endures.
Who was superior to whom couldn’t be judged simply by appearance, family background, or talents.
Liu Fen had never been exposed to such a bizarre social circle, but as Xia Xiaolan continued to develop and improve, could Liu Fen stay completely uninvolved?
Not to mention, if Xia Xiaolan married into the Zhou family, could Liu Fen avoid interacting with her in-laws for life?
When Liu Fen came to Beijing to open her store, if Ji Ya had another outburst, wouldn’t that make Liu Fen even more panic-stricken?
Tang Hong’en’s point was that rather than letting Liu Fen face everything unprepared, it was better to give her an early warning.
Tang Hong’en was eloquent and good at grasping key points; every word he said left Xia Xiaolan unable to argue. Especially when Tang Hong’en finally said:
“Your mother is stronger than you think, and she has her ideas.”
Last time when Tang Hong’en asked Liu Fen what she would do if her ex-husband wanted to reconnect with Xia Xiaolan, her answer was quite interesting.
Though Liu Fen was kind and simple, she didn’t mention “forgiveness,” which Tang Hong’en felt showed she wasn’t confused.
Tang Hong’en felt both grateful to and admiring of Liu Fen – grateful for her care, and admiring of her good character. In Liu Fen, one could see a microcosm of Chinese women.
Of course, Tang Hong’en felt the same way about Xia Xiaolan. He felt somewhat protective of this young woman and admired her for being both intelligent and hardworking.
That’s why when Ji Ya spoke nonsense, Tang Hong’en was particularly angry. It was one thing to insult him, but to drag Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen into it – the mother and daughter were living on their efforts rather than relying on any man, didn’t they deserve some respect?
Xia Xiaolan finally nodded:
“Then let’s do as you say!”
She had thought wrongly – her mother had dared to leave the Xia family with her, dared to set a precedent in their area by filing for divorce, so what was wrong with sitting properly and letting Ji Ya apologize?
When Xia Xiaolan brought her mother along in life, it wasn’t to make Liu Fen an accessory, but to let her grow together – how could there be growth without facing things together?
…
“Go to Beijing?”
Liu Fen missed her daughter very much.
They had met previously in Pengcheng.
But being suddenly called to Beijing made Liu Fen quite puzzled.
“Just go, I’ll watch the store, you go see Xiaolan!”
Li Fengmei had come to understand now – what was the point of earning money if you just held onto it? After Liu Fen returned from Beijing, Li Fengmei wanted to make a trip to Pengcheng too. She couldn’t just see her husband once a year when he was earning money elsewhere. The last little vixen hadn’t managed to steal Liu Yong away, but Li Fengmei had become more vigilant, deciding to pay more attention to her husband to prevent others from eyeing him.
Grandma Yu, hearing that Xia Xiaolan had called Liu Fen to Beijing, thought to herself that anything unusual must have a reason.
“I’ve never been to Beijing either, could I go with you? Pity this old bag of bones, I’m about to enter the earth and still haven’t offered flowers to the Leader.”
Grandma Yu was such a tough old lady that once she showed weakness, Liu Fen couldn’t refuse:
“Then come along with me.”
It was just that the old lady was quite elderly, and taking the train seemed quite tiring.
Liu Fen rarely made requests to her daughter, asking Xia Xiaolan if she could buy two plane tickets.
This matter didn’t need Xia Xiaolan to handle; it was obviously simple for Tang Hong’en to arrange two plane tickets.
The next day, Grandma Yu and Liu Fen flew to Beijing together.
Beijing had changed a lot – Grandma Yu looked around east and west, truly appearing like someone visiting Beijing for the first time, and Liu Fen didn’t suspect anything.