“Xiaolan, you’re back?”

Taking advantage of being home to rest, Xia Xiaolan was walking Taotao to school when Chen Qing, looking happy, called out to her at his family’s doorway.

“Yes. Weekend break from school? How are the review materials I gave you working out?”

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t seen Chen Qing for several days. Before leaving Anqing County, she had given him some study materials she had compiled. Without guidance, it was hard to say if they had been effective for Chen Qing.

“The materials are very useful. Your memorization method for vocabulary is especially powerful. Although I’ve only been studying for a short time, if I keep at it, I’m sure I’ll make great progress… Xiaolan, yesterday someone stopped me at the school gate and said some unpleasant things.”

Chen Qing felt like he was gossiping, but when others were maliciously slandering Xia Xiaolan, how could she be vigilant if he didn’t tell her?

“Was it a young girl?”

Xia Xiaolan thought it was Xia Hongxia.

Xia Dajun wasn’t very smart, and neither were Wang Jingui and Xia Hongxia – they were just tools in others’ hands. The truly clever people always hid behind the scenes, taking all the advantages while maintaining their good reputation, like Xia Ziyu’s family. Xia Ziyu’s younger brother was only 10 and couldn’t tell right from wrong, but whether it was Xia Ziyu, Xia Changzheng, or Zhang Cui, they were all the clever ones in the Xia family!

Chen Qing was surprised: “You know her?”

“Of course, I know her, she should be my cousin! The Xia family would never be happy to see me doing well. I’ll just have to prove myself and make them swallow their disapproval!”

Xia Xiaolan spoke lightly, what seemed like a huge matter to Chen Qing appeared trivial to her.

“But what if she spreads rumors to others…”

Chen Qing didn’t want Xia Xiaolan’s reputation damaged. Young people have a clear sense of right and wrong – wasn’t the Xia family’s nonsense just bullying the Liu family because they had few members? If the Xia family thought that, they were wrong. The people of Qijing Village were united – the whole village stood behind Xia Xiaolan. On this point, Chen Qing was confident!

Xia Xiaolan had her plans but couldn’t explain them in detail to Chen Qing, so she said vaguely:

“I know you’re concerned about me, but right now the priority is focusing on studying for next year’s college entrance exam. Don’t waste energy on unimportant people. As for me? An upright person fears no shadow. As long as the First High School teachers don’t cancel my examination eligibility, I don’t think the Xia family has the power to end my education!”

Chen Qing was stunned.

The broad-mindedness shown in Xia Xiaolan’s words made Chen Qing feel ashamed of himself.

To be troubled by some rumors?

The Xia family had no right!

“The school values you highly. As long as your grades remain stable, no one at County First High can bring you down!”

Chen Qing’s thinking had suddenly become clear.

The Xia family’s deliberate attempts to smear Xia Xiaolan were useless. If Xia Xiaolan could get into a university, maybe even a top one, the school would naturally protect its student’s interests. With County First High standing behind Xia Xiaolan, what could the Xia family’s scheming accomplish?

A farming family from Dahe Village could neither influence County First High’s decisions nor prevent Xia Xiaolan from taking the college entrance exam next year.

If Xia Xiaolan got into university, her future job would be assigned by the state… The Xia family could only fume on the sidelines. Not happy about it? They’d have to swallow their displeasure!

Even though the Xia family had a female university student who was as precious as a phoenix in the village, once away from the Xia family and Dahe Village, what could Xia Ziyu, without any official position, do to trouble Xia Xiaolan?

Chen Qing wasn’t stupid. He had a worldly-wise grandfather in Chen Wangda, and with the teaching standards in Anqing County, Chen Qing had hopes of getting into university – his intelligence was above average. But no matter how smart he was, he was still a country boy who had never left Anqing County. His limited perspective restricted his thinking – wanting to help Xia Xiaolan, his solution was to use force to suppress the Xia family.

Xia Xiaolan’s words had opened his mind – as long as one was excellent enough, whatever the Xia family said or did couldn’t affect Xia Xiaolan’s life. After Xia Xiaolan got into university, the sky would be the limit – then the Xia family would have to worry about how she might deal with them!

Xia Xiaolan’s pep talk had almost misled Chen Qing. The young man looked at her with joy and admiration in his eyes, and Xia Xiaolan quickly exclaimed, “Oh! I almost forgot I need to take Taotao to school. Let’s talk later!”

Chen Qing opened his mouth, wanting to ask when Xia Xiaolan would go to school, but she had already walked away with Taotao.

At the primary school gate, Liu Zitao, young but precocious, suddenly asked Xia Xiaolan:

“Sister, does Brother Chen Qing want to date you?”

Xia Xiaolan pinched his cheek, “Children are so nosy. I don’t want to date Chen Qing, don’t go spreading rumors.”

Liu Zitao looked around sneakily and whispered in Xia Xiaolan’s ear: “Aunt Chen secretly asked me yesterday where you went. She said she’d give me candy if I told her, but I said I didn’t know!”

The “Aunt Chen” Taotao mentioned was Chen Qing’s mother.

Xia Xiaolan rubbed Taotao’s head, “Go to class now. Sister knows Taotao is the smartest!”

Having received praise, Taotao happily bounced into school.

Xia Xiaolan’s smile faded somewhat.

Chen’s sister-in-law was warm and generous but had a gossipy nature. She currently had no ill intentions toward Xia Xiaolan, but she didn’t understand boundaries in human relationships or the concept of privacy… Getting too close, did Chen’s sister-in-law think she could control Xia Xiaolan’s whereabouts?

Xia Xiaolan’s desire to move to Shangdu grew stronger.

Qijing Village was too small, with no room for better development.

She was “Xia Xiaolan,” an independent individual. Even if she liked Chen Qing, she wouldn’t want to be early labeled as “Chen family’s daughter-in-law.” Moreover, she had no romantic feelings for Chen Qing, so why hang around the village all day, causing misunderstandings with the Chen family?

She wondered if Hu Yongcai had found a suitable house for her – hopefully, that gifted sweater would help.

Hu Yongcai’s wife quite liked Xia Xiaolan.

Usually, she wouldn’t bother with country girls who came claiming to be relatives, fearing poor relatives would take advantage. But Xia Xiaolan wasn’t like that – she didn’t come to take advantage but to give benefits!

Whether they were relatives or not didn’t matter; frequent interaction made them closer than relatives.

Hu Yongcai’s wife was delighted with the sweater, spinning in front of the mirror that evening, liking it more and more. The weather was just right, so she wore it to work the next day. At the office, she discovered her workplace rival wearing the same style in a different color.

Hu Yongcai’s wife was unhappy, and so was her rival.

“Look at our taste! You moved fast!”

Hu Yongcai’s wife snorted, “If I’d known you had one, I wouldn’t have worn it! It was just a gift anyway…”

But her rival was quite surprised, half-doubting, “A 35-yuan sweater, who gave it to you?”

This sweater was worth 35 yuan?!

What she was wearing wasn’t just a sweater, it was like a 50-yuan note! Hu Yongcai’s wife regretted speaking so carelessly. After learning from her rival that this was a new style from Yangcheng, genuine export goods, a hot item that people couldn’t buy even with money yesterday – Hu Yongcai’s wife was overjoyed.

Back home, she praised Xia Xiaolan repeatedly to Hu Yongcai, not only urging him to quickly find a house for Xia Xiaolan but also mobilizing her own connections to inquire. The same favor could progress quite differently depending on how much heart was put into it. Before Zhou Cheng returned from Shanghai, Xia Xiaolan had already seen her new rental house.