“What do you mean? Now that you’re engaged to an official’s son, you look down on your parents? What’s wrong with this place? It’s a hundred times better than the countryside!”

Xia Changzheng was the first to explode in anger.

After losing his hand, he became extremely self-conscious and sensitive, avoiding going out. If anyone looked at him for too long, he felt they were mocking his disability.

Xia Ziyu kept talking about buying a house in Beijing, complaining about small houses that cost only a few thousand or ten thousand yuan. Xia Changzheng’s dissatisfaction had been building up for a long time.

What was wrong with renting?

How many Beijing residents owned their homes? Most lived in state-allocated housing, paying monthly rent for homes they could live in but not sell!

While others lived happily in such arrangements, only Xia Ziyu insisted on buying her own house. Zhang Cui couldn’t provide enough money and constantly berated Xia Changzheng for being useless. When Xia Changzheng heard that buying a house was necessary to bring Xia Junbao to study in Beijing, he felt Xia Ziyu was just making excuses to avoid helping.

Wang Jianhua listened to Xia Ziyu so well – this small matter could be resolved with just a word from him to the Education Department leaders. It wasn’t difficult at all!

Xia Ziyu nearly fainted from anger at her father.

Incompetent and short-sighted, he was just dragging her down… Born into such a family, she had to scheme endlessly to get ahead!

Why should she buy that kind of small, shabby house? How could a dozen square meters fit a family of four?

Though Xia Xiaolan hadn’t bought that courtyard house near Beijing Normal University, she had indirectly admitted at the social gathering that she owned other property in Beijing. It must be similar in price to that courtyard house – those independent courtyards were proper places to live.

Whatever Xia Xiaolan had, Xia Ziyu wanted too. She refused to lose to Xia Xiaolan on this point.

If she couldn’t afford it now, she wouldn’t settle for less. She would find ways to earn money to buy one.

Her parents were such a burden. They used to be helpful, but now they seemed less devoted to her, even worse than Liu Fen’s submissiveness – at least she only listened to Xia Xiaolan.

“Ziyu, don’t be angry with your father. He’s just careless with his words. But he’s not wrong – while Jianhua’s father is still a leader in the Education Department, wouldn’t we be foolish not to use that power? I’ve heard that officials get transferred around, they don’t stay in one position forever. If his father gets transferred someday, won’t it be more troublesome to get your brother into a Beijing school?”

Zhang Cui didn’t used to speak so skillfully – this way of talking was taught by Xia Ziyu herself.

Now having this skill used against her, Xia Ziyu was very impatient: “You’re listening to gossip from your snack stall customers? What do they know about official appointments? Jianhua’s father has only been back in the Higher Education Department for half a year. Even if he gets promoted, he can’t leave the education system immediately. As long as he’s still in the Education Department, we can ask for favors anytime. I’ll say it again – we’ll bring my brother to Beijing after we buy a house.”

While Zhang Cui and Xia Changzheng cared about their son Xia Junbao, Xia Ziyu had her agenda. She was using this carrot to motivate them to work harder and earn money to buy a house, after which Xia Junbao could come to Beijing.

Of course, the house would have to be in her name. Xia Ziyu was well aware of her parents’ preference for sons over daughters. While future house purchases were uncertain, this first house must be in her name.

Xia Ziyu pointed at the two train tickets on the table. “I won’t go back this winter break. You two go ahead.”

She left the tickets and walked away. Zhang Cui ran after her: “Where will you stay during the break?”

“In the dormitory!”

The dormitory?

How foolish – why not stay with the Wang family? Being engaged was practically the same as being married in the countryside. She could save on living expenses too – would the Wang family dare not feed her?

Xia Ziyu walked away quickly. Zhang Cui returned to find Xia Changzheng sneering: “She’s not even married yet and already disregards her own family. Look at her attitude – strangers would think I’m her stepfather!”

Zhang Cui threw a cleaning cloth at him:

“Shut up! If you say Ziyu isn’t yours, you’re saying I had an affair! If you don’t want to live together anymore, let’s get divorced!”

As the couple argued, Xia Ziyu covered her ears and left. The dormitory was her only refuge. After her recent disciplinary action, her roommates had given her the silent treatment, but Xia Ziyu was thick-skinned. Living under the same roof, they couldn’t ignore her forever.

However, the former intimacy and trust were impossible to recover.

Lost in thought, Xia Ziyu walked toward her dormitory. At the building’s entrance, she found someone slouching on a flower bed.

“Jianhua?”

Unshaven and reeking of alcohol – wasn’t it Wang Jianhua?

Xia Ziyu’s heart skipped a beat. Wang Jianhua wasn’t one to drink – what had happened?

“Jianhua, wake up. Don’t sit there, the ground is cold.”

After great effort, Xia Ziyu helped Wang Jianhua up and walked him to a nearby pavilion. Students were busy packing to go home, making the dormitory entrance crowded, but the pavilion was empty. Xia Ziyu thought it was embarrassing to have Wang Jianhua like that outside the dormitory – the pavilion was better.

“Jianhua, why did you drink so much?”

Wang Jianhua wasn’t cunning enough to use such tactics to make her take the blame, right?

Xia Ziyu remained vigilant internally while showing concern outwardly.

Wang Jianhua opened his bleary eyes and smiled at Xia Ziyu. Despite being drunk, he was clear-minded. Ziyu cared about him; he could only confide his troubles to her:

“Ziyu, my father… there’s been a change in his work. He’s been transferred.”

Xia Ziyu’s surprise was unconcealed.

She had just assured her parents that Wang Guangping would remain in the Education Department long-term, and now Wang Jianhua was saying he’d been transferred? Judging by Wang Jianhua’s state, it didn’t seem like a promotion.

Xia Ziyu asked carefully and anxiously: “Transferred? Where to?”

Wang Jianhua collapsed on the pavilion floor, struggling unsuccessfully to get up. Xia Ziyu rushed to help, but Wang Jianhua pushed her hand away:

“The Party History Office! They transferred my father to the Party History Office!”

Xia Ziyu didn’t quite understand what the “Party History Office” did, but from Wang Jianhua’s tone, she sensed it wasn’t a good department. Anxious inside, she still tried to comfort Wang Jianhua:

“Jianhua, don’t worry. Tell me properly, you’re making me worried.”

Wang Jianhua was also frustrated. With Xia Ziyu’s comfort, he explained everything about the “Party History Office” to her. Xia Ziyu’s heart sank as she listened.

While his rank remained unchanged, he had been transferred to a powerless department. Wang Guangping, once a powerful official, was now reduced to collecting a basic salary with no real authority – hadn’t he become useless?

Could such a Wang Guangping still help Wang Jianhua’s career? Xia Ziyu was terrified – looking down at Wang Jianhua collapsed on the ground, she wondered if this man was destined to endure various hardships before growing into a dependable towering tree.