“What good news?” Xu Changxia asked, wiping her hands as she turned to look at Xu Fangfei.
“Guess!” Xu Fangfei replied with a smile.
Xu Changxia stared at the smile on Xu Fangfei’s face, momentarily lost in thought.
It had been a long time since she had seen Xu Fangfei look so genuinely happy.
“Did the textile factory ask you to come back?” Xu Changxia thought for a moment before walking up to Xu Fangfei and asking tentatively.
“It’s something even better than that! Guess again!” Xu Fangfei shook her head.
Xu Changxia truly couldn’t guess.
Ever since the first batch of educated youths returned to Hangzhou three years ago, Xu Fangfei’s world had collapsed. She had been forcing smiles ever since, as if nothing could bring her real joy again.
When Xu Changxia was just over a year old, her biological father, Gu Shuting, due to his capitalist family background, voluntarily applied to go to the countryside and was sent to a remote village as an educated youth.
At first, this seemed like a good thing. However, Gu Shuting went to the same village as his childhood sweetheart. Within two months, she became pregnant and gave birth to another daughter for Gu Shuting.
Three years ago, when the family of three returned to Hangzhou, Gu Shuting didn’t even show up himself. Instead, he sent an intermediary to propose a divorce to Xu Fangfei.
Xu Fangfei, with her strong and unyielding personality, signed the divorce agreement without hesitation, leaving with nothing.
Later, Gu Shuting went to the United States alone, found his aunt, inherited part of the family business, and planned to bring his new wife and daughter there for a better life.
As for Xu Changxia, by the time she turned eighteen, she had never even seen what Gu Shuting looked like.
Originally, Zhou Yun was only superficially kind to Xu Changxia, hoping that Gu Shuting would treat Xu Fangfei and Xu Changxia well upon his return to Hangzhou and, by extension, show gratitude to her family for taking them in.
Who could have predicted things would turn out this way?
After the divorce agreement was signed, Zhou Yun didn’t even bother pretending anymore. She often mocked Xu Fangfei and Xu Changxia, and Xu Fangfei had to endure it for the sake of Xu Changxia’s education.
Xu Changxia knew that Xu Fangfei had been unhappy all along. Later, when Xu Luyuan harassed her, Xu Fangfei even quit her good job at the textile factory, often hiding in a corner and crying quietly.
“Just tell me yourself! I can’t guess!” Xu Changxia tried guessing two more times but still couldn’t figure it out, growing a little impatient.
“Last night, Xu Luyuan was knocked unconscious and dumped right in front of the police station across the street! He’s also involved in that TV factory case! He was arrested immediately!” Xu Fangfei said, shaking her head with a smile. “Serves him right!”
“After what happened, Mom has been holding it in, afraid to tell your uncle because she didn’t think he could handle it—his high blood pressure is so severe. But not telling him felt like a betrayal to you.”
“Now it’s all good! Xu Luyuan has been arrested! From now on, you’ll be safe, and no one will dare harass you again!”
Xu Changxia listened as Xu Fangfei spoke, watching her profile, and remained silent for a long time.
In truth, in her previous life, Xu Fangfei’s cancer had been triggered by Xu Changxia herself.
Because she was desperate to escape that living hell at the time, unable to endure the surrounding gossip any longer, she hastily remarried that scumbag Jiang Chi. Xu Fangfei had long seen that Jiang Chi was untrustworthy and had worried herself sick over this marriage. After long-term emotional distress, she developed cancer.
And the origin of everything lies here: from the moment Xu Fangfei witnessed Xu Luyuan molesting her.
In this lifetime, to change Xu Fangfei’s fate of dying early from cancer, this emotional knot must be untied!
“Mom, don’t worry, he’s done too many bad things—he’ll definitely be sentenced!” After a long silence, Xu Changxia reached out and firmly hugged Xu Fangfei’s shoulders.
“We mother and daughter will definitely live better and better! Let all those who bullied us watch!”
“Yes, who says otherwise?” Xu Fangfei wiped the tears from her face and smiled again. “Alright, Xu Luyuan being arrested is a good thing! Let’s not look so gloomy—we must look ahead!”
“Then let’s not mention that scoundrel anymore!” Xu Changxia immediately replied.
After saying this, she used a cloth to lift the lid of the nearby pot. The steamed preserved vegetable and braised pork inside released a wave of fragrant steam that made her head spin.
“So generous today!” Xu Changxia raised her eyebrows.
“Of course! For such a happy occasion, shouldn’t we have a good meal to celebrate?” Xu Fangfei couldn’t hide her smile. “This morning at the market, I saw the pork belly at the meat stall was very fatty, and I remembered we still had some preserved vegetables left, so I thought of making buns with preserved vegetable and braised pork filling.”
“And by the way, give your third uncle some extra nutrition too!”
“Mom, if you opened a restaurant, you wouldn’t be worse than those master chefs!” Xu Changxia praised sincerely.
Especially when it came to flour-based foods, no one in this area dared claim to be better than Xu Fangfei.
“Really?” Xu Fangfei felt delighted by her daughter’s praise and asked with a smile.
“I swear! I mean it!” Xu Changxia immediately raised her right hand. “When we have money in the future, I’ll definitely get you a shop to open a restaurant!”
As Xu Changxia said this, Xu Fangfei suddenly fell silent and continued with her work.
Xu Changxia leaned closer to look at her and asked cautiously, “What’s wrong, Mom?”
“Just now, I deliberately went to the market near the public security compound to buy groceries. I asked around the vendors there—the houses near the compound are all small buildings, and they’re rented out for at least three months at a time. You have to rent the whole set, and it costs at least ten yuan a month.” Xu Fangfei replied with a heavy heart.
“Where can we get that much money all at once? And that’s not even counting the cost of buying furniture and daily necessities. We’d need at least forty or fifty yuan upfront.”
As she spoke, she couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.
Listening to her, Xu Changxia thought for a moment and asked, “How much for a two-room place?”
“Two-room places are even more expensive—at least around fifteen yuan a month. The location is good, the security is excellent, and the houses are always in demand.”
“Then we should definitely rent a place there.” Xu Changxia replied without hesitation. “And a two-room one at that!”
“What?” Xu Fangfei was startled. “Xiaxia, where can we mother and daughter get that kind of money? You know, during the wedding preparations, we almost used up all our savings, and I quit my job! And just two days ago, we paid Zhou Yun a month’s living expenses. I only have a little over ten yuan left…”
Xu Fangfei’s flustered appearance made Xu Changxia’s heart ache even more.
After a moment’s consideration, she stepped forward and gently embraced Xu Fangfei, saying, “Mom, don’t worry, I have a way.”