Who would hire thugs to deal with her?
Xia Xiaolan counted those who held grudges against her – only Xia Ziyu in Pengcheng came to mind.
While Xia Ziyu had previously hired thugs against her, Xia Xiaolan hadn’t considered the Lin family – in her view, Lin Meijuan and Chen Xiliang had divorced, with Chen Xiliang giving Lin Meijuan all available cash. No matter how fierce their previous arguments were, Lin Meijuan had agreed to the divorce herself.
100,000 yuan in 1985 was equivalent to 20 years’ salary for an ordinary person.
Except for business people, unless a family had all high-income earners who spent little and saved much, pooling all their money together, they might have savings of about 100,000 yuan. In 1985, this was truly a huge sum – even the Civil Affairs Bureau mediator couldn’t say much when seeing this alimony amount. If he had advised against divorce, the woman’s side wouldn’t have agreed.
When Ke Yixiong said the Lin family wanted to deal with her, Xia Xiaolan found it both amusing and ridiculous: “The whole family must be seriously ill.”
She wasn’t scared at all. Things were different now – Xia Xiaolan wasn’t like when she first “woke up,” when anyone could push her around. How could a petit-bourgeois family like the Lins think they could do whatever they wanted just because they suddenly got 100,000 yuan?
“Xia Xiaolan, you don’t seem very afraid?”
Xia Xiaolan gave him a strange look. “What should I be afraid of? You came to tell me yourself, so obviously you won’t take the Lin family’s job. A mere few thousand yuan wouldn’t even cover Boss Ke’s appearance fee!”
Ke Yixiong’s nose nearly twisted in anger. Xia Xiaolan’s matter-of-fact tone suggested he was obligated to look after her as if she’d been paying him protection money all year.
Nonsense!
Ke Yixiong felt he shouldn’t have come at all. It was all Cao Liu’s fault for talking too much – he could have just handled it himself instead of reporting it. Ke Yixiong had expected to see great beauty, but who knew the beauty had injured her face, her attractiveness dropping to nearly negative levels. He didn’t even know why he came to be insulted.
“Fine, you’re impressive!”
Ke Yixiong gave a thumbs-up and turned to leave.
Xia Xiaolan thought for a moment and called after him: “Boss Ke, although the Strike Hard campaign is over, it doesn’t mean the state will relax its crackdown on illegal activities. If you keep walking by the river, your shoes will eventually get wet – take care of yourself.”
Xia Xiaolan added this last bit in return for Ke Yixiong’s special trip to warn her about the Lin family’s ill intentions.
However, Ke Yixiong seemed unappreciative, not even turning his head as he coldly snorted:
“You’d better look after yourself. That man of yours isn’t much good either, bringing you all sorts of misfortune!”
Zhou Cheng wasn’t much good?
Xia Xiaolan knew better than anyone how good Zhou Cheng was, but she wouldn’t explain this to Ke Yixiong.
That warning was just returning the favor for his message. She had no particular sympathy for the gang leader – Ke Yixiong’s lack of harm to her wasn’t due to any kindness on his part, but rather Brother Pan San’s deterrence!
In places Xia Xiaolan couldn’t see, Ke Yixiong must have done plenty of evil deeds.
While Ke Yixiong could use his brain to control a group of thugs, Xia Xiaolan’s attempt to be a “life coach” required the other party’s acceptance.
Ke Yixiong’s warning did make Xia Xiaolan vigilant. She didn’t understand the Lin family’s thought process, but having capsized in the gutter before, she didn’t want to add to her injuries. If Lin Meijuan’s brother failed to cause trouble through Ke Yixiong’s subordinates, what if he tried someone else?
Fortunately, Li Dongliang was in Yangcheng renovating “Luna” – the storefront was finished, with only the final cleaning remaining.
Originally, after showing her the company, Chen Xiliang was supposed to show her the store, but Lin Meijuan’s disruption diverted all his attention to the divorce. With time on her hands, Xia Xiaolan had already visited the store herself.
“Senior Brother Li, I’d like to ask for your help for a few more days.”
Li Dongliang naturally wouldn’t refuse. “Miss Xia, is someone causing trouble?”
It was year-end, and Ge Jian had been assigned by Liu Yong to collect debts in Pengcheng. Li Dongliang had finished the renovations in Yangcheng and was originally planning to join his junior brother in Pengcheng, but with Xia Xiaolan needing help, he would prioritize her needs.
One must never forget their roots – Xia Xiaolan had initially hired him as a bodyguard and then recommended him to Liu Yong, completely securing Li Dongliang’s livelihood. Now that Xia Xiaolan had a request, he would fulfill it no matter what.
Who would dare cause trouble for Miss Xia?
As Li Dongliang cracked his knuckles, Xia Xiaolan stopped him: “Let’s see what they do first. Stay alert these couple of days – I won’t be in Yangcheng much longer.”
Even Kang Wei, once his condition stabilized slightly, would be transferred to Beijing.
Everyone was busy at year-end. Kang Lianming must have delayed a lot of work for Kang Wei’s sake. Xia Xiaolan recalled Zhou Cheng’s comments about Kang Lianming’s “unusual” way of showing love for Kang Wei.
While Zhou Cheng and Kang Wei found it hard to believe, Xia Xiaolan wasn’t surprised. People in this world were diverse – did everyone have to express love the same way? Genuine love for Kang Wei was better than hypocrisy! If there had been misunderstandings before, Kang Wei’s car accident might have been an opportunity to resolve them.
In her previous life, Xia Xiaolan was an orphan, raised for a few years by her aunt, surviving in the cracks. She had longed for an elder who would truly love her.
In this life, she opened her eyes to see Liu Fen, whose love showed not a hint of falsehood. With her baby bird syndrome acting up, Xia Xiaolan firmly believed Liu Fen was her real mother.
Kang Lianming was different from Xia Dajun. While both looked after their nephews, Kang Lianming hadn’t sacrificed his own children’s interests to support Kang Wei. Moreover, when Kang Wei was still in Xie Yun’s womb, his father had already died – Kang Lianming had done well as an uncle. In contrast, Xia Dajun neglected his wife and children, easily swayed by the Xia family to support Xia Ziyu – whose parents were both alive and whose family of four lived much better than Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen.
Thinking about how busy Kang Lianming would be at year-end, and how Tang Hongen must also be busy, Xia Xiaolan turned to ask driver Wang:
“Brother Wang, it might be inconvenient for Uncle Tang without a driver. Why don’t you head back to Pengcheng first?”
Wang had already discussed the situation here with Tang Hongen – Xia Xiaolan’s business had hit a snag, and she might need to stay in Yangcheng for a while. Wang intended to prioritize Tang Hongen, but unexpectedly, Tang Hongen told him to just stay with Xia Xiaolan.
“The leader instructed me to look after you first.”
Wang thought to himself, what kind of fate was this?
He hadn’t fallen out of favor, which meant Tang Hongen was willing to inconvenience himself by calling other drivers, just to ensure Xia Xiaolan was taken care of. Wang felt he needed to discuss with Secretary Peng about what attitude to take toward Xia Xiaolan in the future. Oh, he had always been good to Xia Xiaolan, they had even been through hardships together – Secretary Peng was the one who would suffer.
With Li Dongliang by her side, Xia Xiaolan felt fearless again. She didn’t have time to waste with Chen Xiliang, so she had Wang drive her to Chen Xiliang’s home. One section was under construction, so Wang took a detour through a small alley that had nothing but small hair salons.
Even in broad daylight, they seemed to have no business. The salon girls were listless, sitting at their shop entrances. Seeing a car pass by, they all straightened their lazy postures.
“Driver, come get your hair washed~”
The coquettish female voice with a local accent even grabbed onto the car’s rearview mirror. Comrade Wang’s face turned red, not knowing why he had been possessed to choose this route.
Li Dongliang glanced at Xia Xiaolan and coughed: “Comrade Wang, just drive through quickly, don’t stop at all.”