How true it is that the economic base determines the superstructure!
Regardless of what the Xia family thought, since Xia Dajun was now earning money to support the whole family, when he brought Xiao Yu home as his new wife, how could they object?
Xiao Yu was gentle and diligent, and Xia Dajun himself was very satisfied.
Old Mrs. Xia could only suppress her disdain, planning to wait and see for half a year. If Xiao Yu hadn’t conceived by then, she would strongly oppose – no matter how gentle, someone who couldn’t bear children would have to go.
That night, Xia Hongbing’s family tossed and turned, unable to sleep, not to mention their private discussions behind closed doors.
Xiao Yu focused only on pleasing Xia Dajun. After living together for two days, Xia Dajun found her gentle and caring. Liu Fen had been wooden and unromantic, but Xiao Yu’s every gesture was charming and alluring.
Xiao Yu had another advantage – she was a good cook.
Wang Jingui’s cooking was perfunctory, always making huge pots, eating leftovers from lunch for dinner – typical rural habits.
But her skills were mediocre, repeatedly reheating the same pot of food until it looked and tasted no different from pig feed! Previously, Xia Dajun hadn’t been picky – years ago, before land was distributed to households, they had to count each grain of rice. He hadn’t been qualified to be picky then – but following Du Zhaohui, Xia Dajun’s food standards had risen dramatically.
It’s easy to go from poverty to luxury, but difficult to return from luxury to poverty.
Once standards rise, they’re hard to lower.
While Xiao Yu’s cooking couldn’t compare to restaurant chefs, she was quite capable of home-style dishes.
Xia Dajun was truly grateful for Fan Zhenchuan’s misfortune. Xiao Yu had initially been a housekeeper at the Fan household, responsible for laundry and cooking – she would’ve been sent home if she hadn’t done well. Later, when she became involved with Fan Zhenchuan, infuriating his original wife, Xiao Yu still had to care for Fan Zhenchuan’s daily needs. Making delicate dishes to accompany his drinking was an essential skill as his mistress!
So it wasn’t that Xiao Yu couldn’t cook.
She had just grown accustomed to being lazy and didn’t want to serve others anymore.
Having just gotten together with Xia Dajun, Xiao Yu needed to work hard to please him. When Xia Dajun came home to see carefully prepared meals, he once again felt at home… When Old Mrs. Xia tried to poison his opinion, saying Xiao Yu only worked hard when cooking dinner and did nothing all day, Xia Dajun defended her:
“Mom, with so many people in the house, why should Xiao Yu do everything? She’s more than ten years younger than me, and she didn’t marry into our family to be a maid! What about Hongxia? Has she found work yet? If not, she should help with the housework!”
While Xia Dajun couldn’t tell Wang Jingui to work, he could at least get his niece Xia Hongxia to help.
Old Mrs. Xia was stunned – had her son Dajun been possessed? In the past, when she criticized Liu Fen, Dajun had never talked back like this.
Xiao Yu listened clearly from the doorway.
Dealing with Xia Dajun required little effort – just go along with him and treat him like a hero, and he would get carried away with enthusiasm. Honestly, Xiao Yu had never seen a man so easy to fool.
She rather looked down on Xia Dajun’s ex-wife – how stupid must she have been to fail at handling such a family?
“Old hag, talking badly about me behind my back, just you wait!”
Xiao Yu cursed under her breath, then put on a smile and went out, pretending to have just noticed Xia Dajun’s return:
“Dajun, are you tired from work today? I’ve heated water for you, you can take a bath before dinner.”
After Xia Dajun was coaxed into taking a bath, Xiao Yu smiled at Old Mrs. Xia and went to the kitchen to get bowls and chopsticks.
Wang Jingui came over, cracking sunflower seeds, “Mom, where did Second Brother find this woman? He doesn’t even listen to you anymore.”
“Shut up! You have time to eat sunflower seeds but not to work in front of Dajun. Didn’t you hear what Dajun said? She’s more than ten years younger than him and didn’t marry into the Xia family to be a maid. She doesn’t have to work, but you do!”
Old Mrs. Xia launched an indiscriminate attack, not distinguishing between friend and foe.
Wang Jingui was indignant, “We’re both Xia family daughters-in-law, why should I be the only one working?”
Old Mrs. Xia sneered, “Because her husband earns money, and yours doesn’t! Where’s Hongbing? It’s so late and he’s not back yet, is he gambling again?”
Wang Jingui complained:
“Hongbing wants to work too, he’s waiting for Second Brother to arrange a job, what else can he do!”
Everyone said money was easy to make in the Special Economic Zone, but Wang Jingui hadn’t found that to be true.
Foreign factories prioritized hiring locals, with hundreds of people competing for ten positions. Even among locals, they preferred younger workers. Xia Hongbing was already 40, with no skills – factories wouldn’t hire him.
Dock work required no skills or age restrictions, but Xia Hongbing refused, saying his body was damaged from working at the brick factory and he couldn’t lift heavy things anymore.
Regarding job arrangements, Old Mrs. Xia complained endlessly:
“Dajun said Boss Du has gone back to Hong Kong. Once he returns, Hongbing’s job will be settled!”
Old Mrs. Xia had beautiful dreams – the sons she bore were all strong and sturdy.
Though Dajun was still recovering from his injury, once Hongbing gained some weight, he could be sent to Boss Du as a bodyguard. Being a follower wasn’t shameful – how could a monthly salary of over 3,000 be shameful?
…
In Hong Kong.
Du Zhaohui felt his nose itching.
He wanted to sneeze – in late May, surely he hadn’t caught a cold?
Du Zhaohui had returned to Hong Kong to report on business conditions. His development in Pengcheng was going well, and it was time to remind Hong Kong of his presence.
Hearing that his second brother had been quite active lately, Du Zhaohui couldn’t sit still.
He had taken Xia Ziyu’s suggestion to heart and had been looking for suitable people. He had considered Xia Ziyu – now she could only rely on him, being a fugitive on the mainland, making her easy to control.
But with Xia Ziyu’s appearance, Du Zhaohui felt she fell several levels short of being the femme fatale who could turn father against son. If only the fugitive had been Xia Xiaolan – with her natural allure, she would have been perfect for such a task.
Unfortunately, Xia Xiaolan looked down on Du Zhaohui. On the mainland, she was a prestigious university student destined to marry into a high-ranking cadre family, with a bright future ahead – Du Zhaohui had truly hit a wall there!
Having caught Xia Ziyu, he could barely make use of her.
Returning to his villa from the Du family mansion, Du Zhaohui asked Ah Hua:
“How’s Xia Ziyu doing?”
Ah Hua was prepared, “As you instructed, we’ve kept her in Kowloon Walled City. She’s still trying to adapt to life there.”
Du Zhaohui nodded, “Don’t let her starve but don’t let her live too comfortably either. I see she’s been completely squeezed dry by others, but Ke Yixiong’s methods suit me just fine. Let Xia Ziyu stay quietly in Kowloon Walled City for half a year, learn how to read people’s attitudes properly, then send her to learn dancing.”
“Yes, Young Master, everything will be arranged according to your instructions.”
Ah Hua didn’t ask Du Zhaohui’s meaning – the Young Master didn’t need to explain his actions to him.
Keeping Xia Ziyu around must serve some purpose.
Du Zhaohui smoked a cigarette, “Wait, before sending her to learn dancing, get her a plastic surgeon first!”
“To remove the scar on her face?”
Ah Hua cautiously inquired.
Du Zhaohui rolled his eyes, what nonsense was Ah Hua talking about: “She needs work done in many places. Get someone skilled, make it look natural.”