The Xu household.
Xu Changxia vaguely thought she heard someone call out Jiang Yao’s name.
She turned around, opened the courtyard gate, and glanced outside. Jiang Yao’s car was no longer parked at the entrance of the alley.
“What are you looking at?” Xu Cheng called out to her from the main room.
Xu Changxia didn’t respond. Instead, she turned and hurried into the west room—the one she shared with Xu Fangfei.
Carefully, she placed the gift Jiang Yao had given her on the table and unwrapped it.
The moment she saw what was inside, she instinctively drew in a soft, sharp breath.
Inside was a complete set of high-end skincare products from a foreign brand, along with a bottle of perfume.
In 1981, such a set of foreign skincare products was extremely rare. Xu Changxia remembered that it probably cost around a hundred yuan—equivalent to nearly half a year’s wages for a skilled worker, enough to buy pork ribs for her entire family for a year!
The perfume was also from a foreign brand and expensive, costing twenty to thirty yuan per bottle.
Jiang Yao had been generous enough to give it to her, but using such expensive products on her face—products that would be used up in just a few months—felt somewhat wasteful in this era. Xu Changxia couldn’t help feeling a little regretful.
She was happy, yet also reluctant to use it.
“Xiaxia! Come here for a moment!” Xu Cheng called out to her from the main room.
“Coming!”
Xu Changxia thought for a moment, then quickly retrieved a key hidden under a flowerpot on the windowsill and locked the items away in a cabinet.
When she entered the main room, Xu Cheng was sitting on a small chair by the window, staring at Xu Changxia’s suitcase.
“I’ll be going out in a bit. Don’t wait for me for dinner,” Xu Cheng said, withdrawing his gaze and looking at her before she could speak.
Xu Changxia glanced at his hand—he was holding a bankbook.
“Is that all?” she asked softly.
“Also…” Xu Cheng hesitated. “The matter your aunt arranged for you to repeat a year and transfer into a class has been settled. When they heard you were the future daughter-in-law of the Jiang family, they agreed immediately.”
“That wasn’t because of Aunt, but because the Jiang family carries a lot of weight,” Xu Changxia replied calmly. “Besides, for the past few months, it’s been you running around trying to find help.”
Xu Cheng’s attempt to fabricate a few words, hoping she would feel grateful to Zhou Yun and burdened with guilt, was simply impossible.
Xu Cheng’s face gradually flushed red.
After a long pause, he finally stood up and said, “Also, I bought you something. It’s on the table in your room. Go see if you like it.”
Xu Changxia stood where she was, unmoving.
From childhood until now, Xu Cheng had only bought her one gift—a Parker pen on the day she received her admission notice to City No. 1 High School.
For him to give her a gift again today, out of the blue, she knew it was for Zhou Yun’s sake.
“Xiaxia, no matter how flawed she is, she’s still your aunt, isn’t she?” Xu Cheng softened his tone, seeing her standing her ground.
Xu Changxia met his gaze calmly and firmly.
She remembered how, during the fight in the courtyard that morning, Xu Cheng had pushed her and Xu Fangfei aside first, afraid they would get hurt.
What uncle doesn’t care for his nieces? It was just that Xu Cheng valued Zhou Yun above everyone else, to the point where, over the years, his vision had been clouded, and he could only see Zhou Yun’s good side.
“Then I’ll save some food for you to eat when you return,” she replied flatly.
With that, she turned and walked away.
“You…” Xu Cheng watched helplessly as Xu Changxia left without looking back, unable to hold back a long sigh.
He paced anxiously in place for a few circles, then steeled himself and went out clutching the bankbook.
Xu Changxia walked into her room and looked at the gift Xu Cheng had bought for her, placed on the bedside table.
What a coincidence—it was the same as what Jiang Yao had bought: a jar of Yashuang snowflake cream.
Normally, she and Xu Fangfei only applied cheap moisturizer when their faces got chapped, and when their hands cracked from the cold, they used a bit of clam oil. Yashuang was something only Zhou Yun could afford.
On Xu Fangfei’s table nearby, there was also a bottle of Yashuang. Two bottles cost several yuan—Xu Cheng had really splurged today.
She only glanced at it a few times without touching it, then turned and walked out.
“Mom?” she called out to Xu Fangfei.
“I’m in the kitchen!” Xu Fangfei replied.
Xu Changxia walked into the kitchen, about to ask about what had happened at the police station during the day, but she saw Xu Jin squatting in front of the coal stove in the corner.
“Third Uncle! Why are you back?” she asked in surprise, quickly walking over to him. “Hurry up and get back to the hospital!”
“I’m fine now. Staying in the hospital another day would just cost more money,” Xu Jin replied with a cheerful smile.
“No! You have to go back to the hospital!” Xu Changxia frowned tightly. “Can’t we afford the hospital fees?”
But Xu Jin stood still, smiling awkwardly like a child who had done something wrong. “I thought no one would take care of the old hen I brought over this morning. Your mom and your eldest uncle are both afraid to kill chickens, so I came back.”
Xu Changxia looked at the coal stove by his feet. A pot of chicken soup was simmering in it, bubbling softly, its aroma seeping through the thick layer of chicken oil.
Nearby, Xu Fangfei wiped her hands and walked over, whispering to Xu Changxia, “Don’t blame your third uncle. Besides, the hospital food isn’t good. It’s better for him to come back and have some old hen soup to nourish himself.”
“Your third uncle thought the homecoming banquet was tomorrow and that it would be held at home. Remembering how much you love chicken soup with winter bamboo shoots, he specially brought two hens over. He said chicken soup simmered over low heat for hours tastes the best. He originally planned to stay up all night to make it for you…”
As Xu Fangfei spoke, Xu Changxia felt an inexplicable pang in her heart.
She turned to look at Xu Jin again.
Xu Jin, a tall man of 1.8 meters, stood awkwardly in the corner, making Xu Changxia suddenly feel a bit guilty.
She had been too hasty earlier and spoken too sharply.
“Second Sister, Xiaxia is an educated person. What she says must make sense,” Xu Jin said after a moment of silence. “I’ll go back to the hospital now.”
Just as he was about to leave, Xu Changxia grabbed his arm. “There are no pedicabs on the road now. How are you supposed to go back?”
“Then I can ride your eldest uncle’s bicycle,” Xu Jin thought for a moment and replied.
“It’s fine. Jiang Yao has arranged a car to take us to the big hospital in Haicheng for a checkup early tomorrow morning. You can stay at home with me, so they won’t have to make an extra trip back and forth tomorrow,” Xu Changxia said to him with a smile.
Xu Jin and Xu Fangfei were both taken aback by her words.
“He… isn’t angry or embarrassed by the big trouble our family caused today?” Xu Fangfei asked cautiously.
“No, he’s very well-mannered. He wasn’t angry at all,” Xu Changxia replied with a bright smile.
“That’s good!” Xu Fangfei let out a long sigh of relief.
Before Xu Changxia returned, Xu Fangfei had been worried that Jiang Yao might hold a grudge against Xu Changxia because of Zhou Yun’s mistakes. What would they do then?
After a whole day of commotion, things finally settled down, and the heavy stone in Xu Fangfei’s heart finally landed on solid ground.
“Go rest, your third uncle and I will have dinner ready soon,” Xu Fangfei gently urged Xu Changxia. “You must be exhausted today.”
“I’m not tired. I’ll help you shell some edamame for a while,” Xu Changxia said, picking up a vegetable basket and setting a small stool by the kitchen door.
The last ray of the setting sun fell at Xu Changxia’s feet.
As she breathed in the savory aroma of chicken soup and listened to the lively sizzling sounds of Xu Fangfei cooking behind her, her heart gradually grew calm.
If only time could always slow down like this.
“Mom, let’s move,” she said to Xu Fangfei while shelling the last few edamame in her hand.
“Huh?” Xu Fangfei paused her cooking.
After a moment, she lowered her head and murmured softly, “Alright, that’s fine.”
The two of them, mother and daughter, understood each other without needing to say too much—they both knew what the other meant.
That beast Xu Luyuan was growing bolder by the day.
“I’ll change into something more comfortable for dinner,” Xu Changxia said, standing up.
“Why do we suddenly need to move?” Xu Jin asked Xu Fangfei in the kitchen, sounding puzzled.
Without saying anything more, Xu Changxia picked up a basin and a clean cloth garment and headed into the bathroom across the way.
Just as she tested the water temperature and before she could take off her coat, she suddenly heard a faint rustling sound beside her.