Do you have to keep getting entangled with your ex after separating?
According to Grandmother Yu, it depends on the person.
But Liu Fen’s reaction seemed a bit too strong. Grandmother Yu, with her keen eye, said, “Why are you afraid of your former sister-in-law? Even her daughter Xia Ziyu was defeated by Xiaolan. Xiaolan just can’t be bothered with them anymore – what could they possibly do to turn things upside down?”
As Grandmother Yu spoke, she watched Liu Fen closely, not missing any slight change in her expression.
Liu Fen’s eyes reddened with anger. Gritting her teeth, she told them about what happened in Yangcheng:
“It wasn’t just Zhang Cui, but also Xia Dajun. On the streets of Yangcheng, he brought people to rush at me…”
In a city as big as Yangcheng, they still ran into Xia Dajun and Xia Hongbing’s family. The Xias hurled vulgar insults. Fortunately, Xia Dajun was confined to his wheelchair and couldn’t use his hands, otherwise Liu Fen suspected she wouldn’t have escaped unscathed.
Chen Xiliang helped by turning Xia Dajun over to the police station. After returning to Beijing, Liu Fen was busy opening her clothing store, so she hadn’t mentioned the incident.
Grandmother Yu hadn’t expected there was also the Yangcheng incident. With two events happening back to back, no wonder Liu Fen lost control of her emotions.
“Afen, there’s a permanent solution. Have you never considered Mayor Tang?”
Grandmother Yu observed that Tang Hongen showed a sincere interest in Liu Fen. If they dated with marriage in mind and maintained their marriage well afterward, even if life became difficult, it couldn’t possibly be worse than living with Xia Dajun.
If Liu Fen married Mayor Tang, even if the Xia family had the courage of eighteen dogs combined, they wouldn’t dare show up or harbor any ill intentions. They might even hide first if they accidentally encountered Afen on the street – those people knew what terrible things they’d done, and if they didn’t hide like cowardly turtles, wouldn’t they fear Afen’s revenge?
Marrying Mayor Tang could solve many problems at once.
Liu Fen lowered her head, “I know you mean well, and Xiaolan’s aunt has also urged me. Auntie, since I moved to Shangdu, you’ve taken care of me. My mother passed away early, and my former mother-in-law was horrible. Besides you, no older female relative has ever cared for me or looked after me… but I don’t understand, do we women have to rely on men to make something of ourselves in this world?”
Liu Fen wasn’t challenging; she was confused.
This question had been troubling her for quite some time.
Grandmother Yu was momentarily speechless.
What was Liu Fen like when she first came to the city?
A traditional woman who lived for her husband, feeling ashamed in the Xia family for not bearing a son, always yielding to the Xia family members, who naturally became increasingly excessive.
Later, when Xia Xiaolan brought her to the city, Liu Fen began living for women instead.
Liu Fen was used to following others’ arrangements. Initially, Liu Yong arranged her marriage, and she didn’t object; the Xia family arranged for her to do heavy work and exploited her, but she didn’t resist; when Xia Xiaolan said she would bring her to the city for a better life, although she must have been scared, she still packed her things and came.
Everything she did was because someone pushed her from behind.
Even in business, her capable daughter had paved the way for her.
But this time, though Grandmother Yu approved, Li Fengmei encouraged, and even Xia Xiaolan tacitly agreed, Liu Fen had her thoughts. Grandmother Yu was both surprised and delighted – had this person suddenly shown promise?
Grandmother Yu suppressed her joy and deliberately put on a stern face:
“Of course women can make something of themselves. Even in feudal society, there were empresses, and examples of women succeeding without relying on men aren’t just from ancient times. Who says you can’t break free from the Xia family’s entanglements? If you don’t want to rely on marriage to suppress the Xia family, then you must become particularly formidable yourself. Don’t be soft – every time the Xia family makes a move, you must strike back harder! Even dogs learn after being beaten enough times. After taking several beatings, they’ll remember the lesson. Secondly, while you treat the Xia family like dogs to be beaten, you must be human – a successful woman!”
Liu Fen’s eyes brightened, and Grandmother Yu continued coldly: “Society is most forgiving to the successful. Once you succeed, everything you say becomes right! Look at how Xiaolan was slandered before – now if anyone brings up those nonsense stories, others won’t believe them!”
What did Xia Xiaolan rely on?
Not on repeatedly explaining herself to others, but on being sufficiently excellent.
Excellence that overshadowed her peers meant that even if people still discussed Xia Xiaolan, they could only do so secretly.
Ning Yanfan’s daughter-in-law only dared to say unpleasant things about Xiaolan in private.
If she said such things in public, her face would likely be slapped swollen. Talk about how friends should be from similar backgrounds – if said in public, Ning Xue’s mother would certainly become a target of criticism. Growing up under the red flag, class differences existed, but not as extreme as Ning Xue’s mother claimed. With enough excellence, one could cross such class barriers… or even crush them completely, leaving people like Ning Xue’s mother with no desire to gossip anymore.
Of course, Xia Xiaolan still needed more time to completely crush those barriers.
Grandmother Yu’s words were thunderous to Liu Fen, clearing away the fog before her. Marrying Tang Hongen was one solution – all the difficulties Liu Fen faced would be resolved easily.
But Mayor Tang was such a good person, and the shame and inferiority deeply rooted in her bones prevented Liu Fen from accepting Tang Hongen’s pursuit, feeling embarrassed about dumping all her problems on him.
“I understand now, Auntie, I understand!”
Grandmother Yu sighed, “Living life in a daze is pitiful, but being too clear-headed can be exhausting. Afen, you need to think it through.”
Liu Fen felt she had never thought more clearly.
She wiped her tears with her sleeve, “Auntie, should I just wait for news from the police station?”
“What do you want to do?”
Liu Fen clenched her teeth, “I don’t want to see Zhang Cui. She always schemes – just because she knows I’m opening a store, should I hide and avoid her?”
Why should she?
Liu Fen didn’t feel she had done anything wrong.
If anyone should be avoiding others, it should be the shameless Xia family avoiding her!
In Yangcheng, when Chen Xiliang took Xia Dajun and the others to the police station, Liu Fen avoided confrontation. This time, she didn’t want to avoid it.
Just as Grandmother Yu said, she couldn’t just run away at the sight of vicious dogs. The Xia family needed to be taught a lesson – after feeling enough pain, they would learn she wasn’t easy to bully anymore, different from the past when they could mistreat her at will!
Grandmother Yu thought for a moment, “Go to the police station and find Chief Ma. We need to use the resources we have. Chief Ma is on your side now, and this time Zhang Cui was caught red-handed by him. We can’t let her off so easily.”
If they couldn’t take a piece of flesh, they should at least tear off a layer of Zhang Cui’s skin.
Grandmother Yu changed her clothes and left with Liu Fen. Given Grandmother Yu’s age, it wasn’t appropriate for her to ride in the bicycle’s back seat, so they had to take the bus to Xidan.
While waiting for the bus, Grandmother Yu coughed lightly:
“People rely on clothes as horses rely on saddles. You have the clothes now – it’s time to think about buying a car.”
Why ride a bicycle, always worrying about being targeted by thugs? If Liu Fen drove a car between her home and the two stores, a four-wheeled automobile would intimidate common thieves from approaching.
Would someone who could drive a car be an ordinary person?
Even thieves weren’t stupid – they feared running into someone they couldn’t handle!