Xia Xiaolan had no particular attachment to land, and building a house in the countryside held little meaning for her. She didn’t plan to leave Liu Fen in the countryside – her original plan was to stay together wherever they went. As a mother and daughter who relied on each other, building Liu Fen a big house in the countryside while Xia Xiaolan lived freely elsewhere wasn’t why she had helped Liu Fen leave the Xia family.

“Do you think living in the countryside is better?”

Xia Xiaolan’s counter-question confused Liu Fen.

Liu Fen had never considered whether living in the countryside was good or bad – she’d lived there her entire life. Marriage merely moved her from Seven Wells Village to Great River Village. Facing the yellow earth with her back to the sky, Liu Fen’s expertise wasn’t in business or arguing, but in farming.

Land gave Liu Fen security. If one-day government policies changed and she couldn’t continue as a private trader, at least with land, though life might be hard, they wouldn’t starve to death.

Fundamentally, despite recent profits, Liu Fen still lacked confidence about the future.

But being unable to refuse Xia Xiaolan, she used Li Fengmei as an excuse: “If we move to the provincial capital, what about your aunt and cousin?”

Xia Xiaolan had considered this but didn’t see it as a reason to prevent their move. Liu Yong believed villagers would look after her and Liu Fen, which Xia Xiaolan acknowledged. But she would eventually need independence – she couldn’t rely on her uncle forever.

“We’re going to the provincial capital for business, not changing our household registration. The village hasn’t allocated land to us yet. By the time we get a homestead plot, we might have saved enough money in the provincial capital to build a house back here.”

How could they earn money without leaving their hometown?

In the current era, even if Xia Xiaolan understood agricultural technology, the extremely low purchase prices for agricultural products discouraged her from pursuing farming as a path to prosperity – especially since she knew nothing about farming!

Besides, it was just the commercial district – how far was that from Seven Wells Village?

It was just a day’s round trip, in a place where they still spoke the same dialect. Xia Xiaolan felt Liu Fen could adapt.

Hadn’t Liu Fen been traveling to the commercial district to deliver eels and sell oil residue lately?

“But what about your studies?”

“There are buses from the commercial district to Anqing County. Going to school will be easier than taking the dirt road from the village to the county.”

Liu Fen had no counter-argument.

“You tell your aunt – I can’t face her.”

Unable to find reasons to object, Liu Fen felt somewhat dejected. Xia Xiaolan quickly changed her tone, “If you don’t want to move, I won’t force you. But I’ve already rented the house in the commercial district, and they won’t refund the money. So I’ll live there alone, with no one to cook for me or keep house…”

Liu Fen became anxious, “I’ll go with you!”

She loved Xia Xiaolan so much that thoughts of her daughter going hungry, cold, or being bullied while living alone made her willing to follow regardless of other concerns.

How touching is a parent’s love?

Li Fengmei wasn’t surprised to hear about Xia Xiaolan renting a house in the commercial district. Given Xia Xiaolan’s determination and current opportunities to make money, why stay in the village?

“Your uncle asked me to look after you, and I’ve grown fond of you. With your mother living with you in the commercial district, I won’t worry about your daily life. But you must promise not to neglect your studies!”

Xia Xiaolan could earn over a thousand yuan in one trip to Yang City.

University graduates’ monthly salaries weren’t much different, though their life and work were more respectable and stable. Li Fengmei worried Xia Xiaolan might be tempted by the quick profits from the clothing trade and lose interest in university – how would she explain that to Liu Yong?

“Aunt, I understand what’s important.”

Li Fengmei poked her head, “Take the bicycle too. I can’t ride it, and it’ll just rust here. Plus, I can’t refuse when villagers ask to borrow it.”

The new bicycle Liu Yong bought had been used daily for cargo, traveling between the commercial district and the countryside. Though the quality remained good, the paint showed some scratches. It contributed greatly to Xia Xiaolan’s initial capital capabilities.

Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t abandon the used bicycle. She planned to buy a new one after another trip to Yang City, keeping the old one for her and Liu Fen’s use. Li Fengmei was very considerate – on Tao’s day off from school, all four of them went to the commercial district.

Liu Zitao, visiting the provincial capital for the first time, couldn’t close his mouth in amazement at the impressive buildings.

They moved their clothes that day. While Li Fengmei and Liu Fen bought bedding, Xia Xiaolan and Tao handled other tasks. With two rooms, she and Liu Fen each had their own space. They didn’t need expensive beds since they needed money for inventory – red bricks as bed posts with an old door panel on top, covered with thick bedding, made a serviceable bed.

Tables and wardrobes were discarded items from the Municipal Committee guesthouse. For a nominal fee, Hu Yongcai let Xia Xiaolan take what she wanted.

After several trips back and forth, both rooms gradually took shape.

Li Fengmei and Liu Fen made beds and wiped tables, cleaning and organizing the rooms. They felt this home assembled from used items was quite nice, especially considering the low cost!

“Though Xiaolan hasn’t gotten you an apartment, this house isn’t far off!”

City life required money for everything, but everything was convenient.

Looking at the Yu family’s toilet, Li Fengmei considered saving money to move to the city herself.

She thought of the county seat, but Xia Xiaolan set a more ambitious goal:

“Provincial capital schools are better than county ones. If Tao could study here, he’d be far ahead of village children.”

Li Fengmei was tempted, “But Tao has a rural household registration – can he study in the provincial capital?”

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t entirely familiar with this issue, but solutions could always be found. Lacking household registration wouldn’t prevent schooling – in a few years, the government would likely relax restrictions on rural-to-urban conversion, making urban registration easier to obtain. Until then, Tao could study as a “guest student” in provincial capital schools. With a good foundation, he wouldn’t struggle wherever he studied later.

“Creeak—”

Grandmother Yu returned with her broom.

“You’re back! My aunt came to help us move today. You haven’t eaten either, have you? We made some dumplings.”

A few dumplings weren’t worth much, but Grandmother Yu remained cold:

“When renting, you said only two people would live here.”

Grandmother Yu wasn’t worried about renting to two rural women, but adding another woman and child made her wonder if men would follow. As a lone elderly woman, she feared letting in a whole family might bring trouble.

Li Fengmei noticed Grandmother Yu’s difficult nature and quickly explained:

“Grandmother, I have pigs to feed at home – I can’t stay overnight in the city.”

Grandmother Yu didn’t accept their offered dumplings and went to cook her own meal. Li Fengmei truly hadn’t planned to stay overnight – with no one at home, what if thieves came? After carefully tending two pigs for half a year, nearly ready for market, losing them to theft would break her heart.

It was only three in the afternoon. While Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen would stay at Yu’s house tonight, they accompanied Li Fengmei to the bus station.

Tao was reluctant to leave the provincial capital, finding everything here fascinating and different from the poor countryside.

“Sister will bring you to study in the commercial district eventually. For now, be good and go home. Pay attention in class – students here are very capable, you can’t fall too far behind them.”