Xia Xiaolan had already seen those newspapers about Wang Jianhua.
They were local Beijing newspapers—how else would college students keep up with current events? They couldn’t rely on mobile phones and news apps now. To understand national affairs and various policies, they depended entirely on newspapers and the Evening News broadcast.
Shortly after starting school, Xia Xiaolan subscribed to several newspapers for Room 307, a move that received unanimous approval from all roommates.
Subscribing to newspapers was even more popular than buying braised chicken for everyone.
After Xia Xiaolan read them, others could still read them too.
The news about Wang Jianhua started quietly occupying small spaces in minor papers, then gradually moved to more prominent newspapers… This didn’t follow normal journalism patterns—usually, small papers followed big papers’ positions, not the other way around with small papers influencing major papers’ story selection.
Xia Xiaolan suspected it was a test run, and seeing good results, they pushed Wang Jianhua toward bigger news coverage.
She had read the papers but didn’t regret missing out on this “promising stock” at all.
Was Wang Jianhua really behind the tutoring class?
According to Zhou Cheng’s information, it was Xia Ziyu’s doing!
Yet it had become a platform for promoting Wang Jianhua. Xia Xiaolan was speechless—this man was determined to live off others, and Xia Ziyu still held onto him tightly, afraid someone might steal him away.
Now that Comrade Wang Jianhua had become a “cadre’s son,” shouldn’t he be busy climbing to life’s peak? Xia Xiaolan hadn’t expected Wang Jianhua to come looking for her today. Xia Ziyu’s efforts hadn’t been wasted—at least she could make Wang Jianhua run in circles!
But how long this peak would last was another matter.
When Xia Xiaolan thought about Gu Siyan’s pregnant classmate, He Jia, she felt Wang Jianhua was being triumphant too early.
She hadn’t taken action because she didn’t want to drag a teenage girl into facing pressure.
But what would He Jia’s family do?
Xia Xiaolan cycled slowly, arriving at Zhou Cheng’s workplace before noon.
They now corresponded weekly, and she had told Zhou Cheng she would come on Sunday. Zhou Cheng had checked the entrance several times, and when he finally saw Xia Xiaolan arrive on her bicycle, he felt concerned, “Are you tired?”
According to him, buying a car would be better—it would only take half an hour from Beijing to his workplace.
“Not tired at all, it’s not that far!”
Her bicycle had been “modified” and was especially easy to ride. Besides, this distance was nothing—last year when Xia Xiaolan was dealing with eggs and eels, she made this trip to Shangdu daily. Because Zhou Cheng’s workplace was in this area, the road from Beijing was better than most village roads, so Xia Xiaolan truly didn’t feel tired.
After registering at the gate, she could follow Zhou Cheng inside.
Though it had been over a month since her last visit, everyone they met along the way was still very warm.
Xia Xiaolan smiled and said she hadn’t brought anything this time, but Zhou Cheng’s subordinates all responded embarrassedly: “Sister-in-law, we’re not gluttons!”
Seeing their genuine happiness and concern about her misunderstanding, Xia Xiaolan knew her previous self-reflection had been right—she had taken the wrong approach before.
It was also because she hadn’t been considerate enough of Zhou Cheng; if she’d thought about him, she shouldn’t have acted purely on her wishes.
Xia Xiaolan handed the items to Zhou Cheng.
“The candy and chocolate were gifts from classmates, the shrimp too—I’m just passing along others’ gifts.”
What passing along gifts? She clearly couldn’t bear to eat them herself and brought them all to him.
Before checking the shrimp, Zhou Cheng unwrapped a piece of the foreign-packaged candy and held it out to Xia Xiaolan. Seeing no one around, she leaned forward and took it directly with her mouth. As her tongue brushed his fingertips, Zhou Cheng felt a tingling sensation in his heart.
After their talk during military training, Zhou Cheng felt his girlfriend seemed different.
Having never dated before, he didn’t realize that Xia Xiaolan had entered a true romantic state! Being busy was just an excuse—no amount of busyness could stop one person from missing another. Now their correspondence was especially frequent, with Xia Xiaolan willing to spend time telling him about the trivial details of her life.
With the candy in her mouth, Xia Xiaolan’s cheeks puffed out slightly as she moved it around, making her look like a little squirrel to Zhou Cheng.
“How’s the house hunting going? Did the bank people help you look?”
Asking Kang Wei would work too—he had bought several houses and was experienced. But since his girlfriend wanted to handle it herself, Zhou Cheng let her have her way.
Xia Xiaolan excitedly discussed the pros and cons of two courtyards, mentioning her unfortunate encounter with Xia Changzheng at the third. She didn’t mention He Jia’s pregnancy—that was the young girl’s privacy, and Zhou Cheng didn’t need to know.
She just mentioned Wang Jianhua making the papers because of the tutoring class, and Zhou Cheng immediately understood:
“The Wang family is paving his way. Getting in the papers is just the first step; there’s more to come.”
Wang Jianhua was 25 when he started university—this wasn’t like the first couple of years after the college entrance exams resumed when older students were common. The most common age was eighteen or nineteen, and those who started school early and didn’t repeat years could even enter university at sixteen or seventeen.
Wang Jianhua would be 29 at graduation, competing with peers in their early 20s—how could the Wang family not be anxious?
But Zhou Cheng felt the Wang family was too hasty. Wang Guangping had just been reinstated, yet they couldn’t wait to promote Wang Jianhua, and in such a high-profile way… Yes, under such intense promotion, Wang Jianhua could easily become a model example. Such exemplary figures could be quickly promoted at work—where others might need 5 years, and Wang Jianhua’s time might be cut in half.
Being high-profile had its benefits, but being too high-profile meant even the smallest flaw could be magnified.
This was something Zhou Cheng had only recently realized.
When Xia Xiaolan said she wanted the courtyard near Shichahai, Zhou Cheng agreed: “Forget about the one near the Normal University. After your visit there, even if you don’t buy it, they won’t be able to keep living there.”
After nearly pushing a house viewer into the well, how could the owner dare let Xia Ziyu’s parents continue living there?
But that courtyard would bring troubles. Beijing was huge; they could take their time choosing a house. Zhou Cheng already had several courtyards, all bought gradually by Kang Wei before, and he hadn’t even visited any of them.
With the cigarette business finished, Zhou Cheng decided to let his girlfriend decide how to spend the money.
Taking Xia Xiaolan inside, he pulled out several bankbooks and handed them to her: “Kang Wei brought these the day before yesterday. This is all the cash I have now. How to spend it—I’m leaving it all to you to manage.”
Xia Xiaolan laughed, “You’ve hired a financial manager who doesn’t even need to be paid!”
This was the second time Zhou Cheng had offered to hand over his bankbooks.
Previously, Xia Xiaolan hadn’t wanted to touch them, but now she understood. If Zhou Cheng trusted her, she might as well help manage his finances.
Being so particular about separation felt distant—even if Zhou Cheng broke up with her someday, she hoped he would still do well afterward—provided it was an amicable breakup. If Zhou Cheng dared to wrong her, Xia Xiaolan could make him instantly penniless!
She thought this to herself and told Zhou Cheng just as frankly.
“You still have a chance to change your mind!”
Zhou Cheng held her hand, “Fine if I ever do anything bad, I deserve to become a pauper.”
If that day really came and Xiaolan didn’t want him anymore, what use would a pile of bankbooks be? Money was cold, but holding his girlfriend was warm—Zhou Cheng wasn’t foolish at all.