The old village chief had handled it beautifully.

Xia Xiaolan normally didn’t admire forceful, authoritarian behavior. She herself had once been a leader and knew the value of balance—but sometimes a firm hand was necessary.

“Thank you, Grandpa Chen.”

Since her rebirth, she had encountered plenty of scoundrels, but also many kind people.

There was Old Wang, the lonely man who watched the cattle shed in Dahe Village.

Zhou Cheng and Kang Wei who had saved her.

Hu Zhuliang, the noodle vendor in Shangdu who sold shredded eel noodles.

And Village Chief Chen, who was standing up for her and her mother now.

None of these people were related to her by blood. They had no obligation to help her the way her uncle Liu Yong did. Yet they had extended a helping hand all the same. Xia Xiaolan silently etched each kindness into her heart.

Chen Wangda glanced at her.

“You’re a good child. From now on, live well with your mother.”

He had been watching Xia Xiaolan ever since she started doing business. She wasn’t the frivolous, delicate girl the rumors described. She could endure hardship, and when she did business she only earned what she deserved. Nothing more.

With Chen Wangda publicly expressing approval of her, the mother and daughter would have no trouble establishing themselves in Qijing Village.

“Uncle Da…”

Liu Fen clutched the written agreement in her hand, tears trembling in her eyes but refusing to fall.

From this moment on, she had no ties left with the Xia family? She couldn’t quite describe what she was feeling.

She had married Xia Dajun at sixteen and had lived with the Xia family longer than she had with her own.

At the beginning, their marriage hadn’t been bad. Somehow, though, their life had turned into what it was today.

She didn’t mind enduring hardship herself, but she could not bear to watch her daughter Xia Xiaolan continue to be bullied.

Her sister-in-law Li Fengmei was right. The Xia family could only managed to control Xia Xiaolan through her.

Then divorce it would be.

Once she severed ties with the Xia family, they would no longer be able to bully Xiaolan.

No matter how eloquent Zhang Cui might be, she couldn’t salvage the situation today.

Wang Jingui was dumbfounded as well. Just like that, the divorce had been settled cleanly and decisively?

Where had Liu Fen gotten such courage? She was nearly forty, unable to bear children anymore, dark-skinned, thin, and plain-looking.

After leaving Xia Dajun, who would possibly marry her?

Still, thinking it over, Liu Fen’s departure also meant they were rid of that little tramp Xia Xiaolan. Among the three of them, Wang Jinguai was secretly the most pleased.

The villagers of Qijing treated them like thieves, escorting them all the way until they were out of the village boundaries.

Xia Dajun suddenly tore the written agreement into pieces and threw them into the roadside ditch.

Even Zhang Cui knew that was pointless. The agreement had been written in triplicate.

Destroying one copy meant nothing.

“Dajun, don’t rush things. Once your wife cools down, you two can still live together…”

Her words sounded hollow, even to herself.

Xia Dajun said nothing. Wang Jingui thought that judging by Liu Fen’s attitude, she had truly made up her mind. She had even said the divorce papers would be submitted to the county Civil Affairs Bureau.

What married couple arguing would make such a spectacle of it?

Liu Yong must have made money.

With her elder brother backing her up, Liu Fen had finally found the courage to divorce.

Wang Jingui felt deeply jealous.

“How are we supposed to explain this to Mother when we get back?”

Meanwhile, the villagers of Qijing had chased the three of them away.

Liu Yong planned to treat the villagers who had beaten Xia Dajun earlier to a drink and also properly thank Village Chief Chen Wangda.

Xia Xiaolan thought today marked her mother’s farewell to the past and the beginning of a new life. Even her business could wait.

“Uncle, I’ll go buy groceries!” Liu Yong grabbed her arm.

“Go do what you’re supposed to do. The dinner’s tonight. Why should a young girl like you be running around showing off? Your uncle’s in a good mood today. Just wait to eat tonight.”

If Liu Yong was hosting the meal, how could he let his niece pay?

Not to mention Xia Xiaolan herself was struggling financially. Even if she had money, this meal had to be Liu Yong’s treat.

Li Fengmei had no objections.

The couple practically pushed Xia Xiaolan out the door.

Liu Fen, still dazed by the divorce and unsure what to do at home, ended up going with her daughter to collect eels.

After the two left, Li Fengmei opened the chest by her bedside, and Liu Yong followed her inside.

“How much money do we still have?”

Most of Liu Yong’s earnings were handed over to Li Fengmei. Over the past six months he had gone out three times and brought money home twice.

About seven or eight hundred yuan. Together with the new bicycle he had bought, he had brought more than a thousand yuan home during that time.

Without even counting, Li Fengmei gave him the figure.

“We still have 690 yuan.”

In half a year she had only spent a little over a hundred yuan, including medical treatment for their son Tao Tao, various household expenses, and fertilizer.

Liu Yong frowned, not because he thought she spent too much, but because he felt he hadn’t earned enough.

“Zhang Erlai’s been arrested, and we’ve driven the Xia family away today. I’ll head out again in a few days.”

“Don’t be stingy with the money. Spend it where it’s needed. You don’t need fancy clothes, but don’t skimp on food. Xiaolan’s right, stew more bone soup for Tao Tao so he can grow taller.”

“Alright, I’ll listen to you. There’ll probably be at least three tables tonight. What standard should we set for the feast?”

“Each table should have at least four or five meat dishes. You decide the rest. I’ll go to the county to buy some liquor. How much meat should we get?”

Li Fengmei quickly calculated in her mind. As long as there was enough oil, crucian carp and loaches could count as meat dishes too. There were plenty of them alive in the water jar at home.

Who said those weren’t meat?

Besides, there wasn’t much good meat left in town anyway.

The sweet-and-sour ribs Xia Xiaolan had made the other day had tasted great. No... better to braise the ribs with potatoes and serve that.

“Buy three jin of pork, two jin of ribs. If there’s pork liver, get some. If not, forget it.”

Liu Yong would certainly buy liquor and cigarettes in town. Hosting a banquet required such things, along with candy and melon seeds for snacks.

Li Fengmei handed him fifty yuan, more than enough for three tables.

Liu Yong borrowed a bicycle in the village and immediately rode off toward Anqing County.

Meanwhile, the three hungry members of the Xia family trudged back toward Dahe Village.

When they had set out, they were full of confidence. Now they returned with heads hanging low.

Their route took them through Shipuozi Village. Passing this place, Xia Dajun wished he could shrink his head and disappear.

Zhang Erlai, the man rumored to have rolled in the hay with Xia Xiaolan... was from Shipuo Village.

Xia Dajun felt utterly humiliated.

Who wouldn’t feel awkward?

As they walked with their heads down, Xia Dajun suddenly remembered Xia Xiaolan’s calm insistence that she had absolutely nothing to do with Zhang Erlai.

She had even asked whether he, as her father, had ever confronted Zhang Erlai about it.

Xia Dajun hesitated and stopped.

“Sister-in-law, who first spread the rumor about Xiaolan and Zhang Erlai?”

Zhang Cui’s eyes flickered.

“How could you trace something like that? Someone in the village saw it and said so. People even asked Zhang Erlai, and he admitted it himself. If nothing had happened, would he have admitted it?”

This time Wang Jingui sided with Zhang Cui.

“Second brother-in-law, I think Xiaolan’s just too stubborn! She did something wrong and won’t admit it.”

They had finally thrown that disgrace out of the family. They mustn’t bring her back.

Wang Jingui and Zhang Cui chimed in one after another, trampling Xia Xiaolan’s reputation into the mud, speaking as if baseless rumors were undeniable facts.

Finally, Zhang Cui had no choice but to bring up Xia Ziyu.

“Xiaolan was pulling and tugging with Zhang Erlai on the road. Ziyu saw it too, but Ziyu never went around gossiping about it.”

In truth, the rumors had only begun spreading after Xia Ziyu and Wang Jianhua left home for school.

Xia Dajun didn’t suspect his niece in the slightest.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to acknowledge him as her father anymore, and he himself was deeply disappointed in this daughter.

Having improper relations with a man had disgraced the entire Xia family, yet she still spoke as if she were in the right.

The three of them wanted nothing more than to hurry past Shipuo Village.

But someone suddenly called out to them.

Everyone from neighboring villages knew each other.

The man looked curious.

“Dajun, did you hear? Zhang Erlai’s been arrested! They paraded him through the streets during the crackdown. Looks like he won’t escape punishment this time!”

Zhang Erlai had been arrested?

A bold thought suddenly flashed through Zhang Cui’s mind.

If men involved in immoral relations were arrested, what about the women?

If Xia Xiaolan were also locked up for a few years, she would never be able to recover.

Forgetting to keep up appearances, Zhang Cui grabbed the man’s hand.

“Did Zhang Erlai confess about my niece? Will the police come to arrest her too?”

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