Cen Zhengnian had no interesting stories to share from the base; it was all work.

He found it difficult to express his feelings in words.

So his reply also centered around Chuxia and mentioned An’an the most.

Of course, he also responded to some of Chuxia’s words, expressing his belief that she could pass the exams and would definitely be able to attend university in the future.

He said he didn’t understand the matters related to her maternal family, so he wouldn’t comment on them.

But he fully supported her decision.

As the end of the month approached, the housing allocation results finally came in.

Chuxia didn’t check the list herself; some busybodies had already informed her.

“Chuxia, your maternal family didn’t get a house this time.”

“Chuxia, isn’t it that your elder sister’s in-laws didn’t help? Housing allocation isn’t something that happens often. If you missed out this time, who knows when it will be available again.”

Regardless of who came to inquire, Chuxia replied with one sentence: “I don’t know about these things.”

The housing allocation for the Luo family was a well-known topic.

There were limited houses available, and there were countless people on the waiting list.

If you wanted a house, you had to approach the union, leaders, and cry poverty or family difficulties.

It was even common to offer bribes.

Everyone was using all their means to get a house; it was impossible to get one quietly.

When the housing benefits were announced, the Luo family also went to find the team leader, the union, and the workers’ representative.

With the factory’s secretary as their relative, everyone thought the Luo family’s allocation was a sure thing.

Many people were even whispering in the background.

Unexpectedly, the Luo family didn’t get a house.

The reason was unclear, but that didn’t stop those who got houses from celebrating or some from gloating.

The Luo family was in chaos.

“It’s impossible, Mom, how could my name not be on the list?” Luo Dage couldn’t understand.

Mom had said the secretary had agreed.

Wang Yulan shook her head, her brows furrowed in worry, “The secretary told me not to worry. How can he go back on his word?”

She felt frustrated and resentful inside: “We’re relatives. How can he treat us like this?”

Luo Dage, dejected, squatted and asked, “Mom, what should we do? What if we don’t get a house?”

With the children growing up, the younger brother was getting married.

His partner had already made demands: they couldn’t live together with the family and needed a separate room.

The younger sister was growing up too; they couldn’t keep using a curtain to separate her from the younger brother.

They had planned everything well, thinking about how they would manage once they got the house.

But now, it was all in vain.

Wang Yulan stood up, feeling aggrieved, and said, “I’ll go see the secretary. He can’t just brush us off. He clearly promised us.”

Naturally, she couldn’t go directly to the secretary’s office as it would be a direct confrontation and would offend the secretary, causing a rift in their relationship.

It would affect their family’s future work in the factory.

So, Wang Yulan went to the secretary’s house under the pretext of visiting her daughter.

The secretary and his wife were not home, only Luo Chuyu and her foolish husband were there.

Seeing Wang Yulan, Luo Chuyu was both surprised and delighted, “Mom, what are you doing here?”

“Ah.” Wang Yulan sighed with a frown, her face clouded with worry.

Luo Chuyu, anxious, asked, “Mom, what’s wrong? Tell me what happened.”

“We didn’t get a house. Are you sure your in-laws promised us a house?”

Luo Chuyu was also stunned, her face full of disbelief.

She muttered, “My mother-in-law promised. She said as long as I took good care of Yongjie, she would help with the things I was concerned about.”

Both women sighed in frustration, and after a long time, they couldn’t figure out what went wrong until Luo Chuyu’s mother-in-law, Zhang Yanmei, came home.

Seeing Wang Yulan sitting in the living room, Zhang Yanmei was not surprised.

She didn’t hide her dislike, showing her displeasure openly.

“Why is the in-law here at this time?” Her tone was cold, with no sign of welcome.

Whenever Zhang Yanmei thought about the letter she accidentally saw from her daughter-in-law, she was seething with anger towards the Luo family and had no intention of being friendly with them.

The letter discussed the issue of house allocation.

The Luo family had a well-thought-out plan: first, get the sister-in-law promoted, then have Luo Dage promoted, and finally, get the house allocated.

What really angered Zhang Yanmei was not just the plan but that they had touched her sore spot—her son.

The letter clearly stated that once the Luo family received the house, Luo Chuyu would no longer be forced to endure and serve that fool, and she would not waste her life on him.

Luo Chuyu had been married for ten years and had two children.

The secretary’s family had gained a lot from this marriage.

Even if she proposed a divorce, no one would object; they would say she had been considerate enough.

At that point, even the secretary couldn’t prevent her from divorcing and finding a normal person.

Zhang Yanmei was furious, grinding her teeth.

Wang Yulan, of course, received no explanation and was mocked both openly and covertly by Zhang Yanmei.

Zhang Yanmei said directly, “There are many families in the factory who are in more difficult situations than yours. The Luo family isn’t that poor; why can’t they endure a little longer?”

“You and your family never consider the factory’s situation; all you think about is taking advantage of it. This isn’t right. As the secretary’s in-laws, you should set an example and not put the secretary in a difficult position. Comrade Wang, your remarks just now reflect a very low level of ideological awareness.”

She then handed Wang Yulan a book on ideological quotes and advised her to study it at home.

Watching Wang Yulan struggle to maintain a forced smile while clearly angry, Zhang Yanmei felt a sense of satisfaction and coldly snorted.

The idea of using them up and then discarding them was something she would agree to only if it were up to her.

Divorce?

That was absolutely out of the question. Even if her son was a fool, Luo Chuyu had married into the family and should serve her son for a lifetime.

She would not let anyone enjoy the benefits without contributing.

As long as her husband was around, the Luo family would never get a house.

The originally allocated house was thus removed from the list.

Zhang Yanmei had not doubted the authenticity of the letter; it contained many details about the secretary’s assistance to the Luo family that outsiders would not know.

Therefore, the letter must have been written by the Luo family to Luo Chuyu, hence the personal details.

After Zhang Yanmei read the letter, she left the door of Luo Chuyu’s room.

She frequently checked her son and daughter-in-law’s room to see if Luo Chuyu was taking proper care of her son and whether they were sleeping apart or together at night.

She was afraid that Luo Chuyu might be pretending to be caring while secretly having other intentions.

Even after so many years, she still didn’t fully trust Luo Chuyu.

Initially, she checked daily, then less frequently, once every few days, and now once every half a month or a month.

Little did she know, shortly after she left, a child sneaked in, carefully took the letter, cleaned the shoe prints from the floor and windowsill, and ran away quickly.

Meanwhile, Chu Xia had seen the signs of success on the wall at the agreed location.

In the present, there were no modern surveillance systems, and there were many unemployed young people in society.

Especially those who had been out making a living since they were teenagers, they would do anything for money.

These individuals were highly professional and spoke little.

He didn’t ask any more questions.

As long as the money was in place and the matter was settled, it was as if nothing had happened.

They liked employers like Chuxia the most—simple tasks, good pay, with the only requirement being confidentiality.

It was easy and straightforward for them.

Chuxia was satisfied with the result but remained vigilant.

She knew she could only do this once. Once a person’s bottom line is crossed, it becomes easier to use money to create trouble and harm.

This could lead to a downward spiral, where the person becomes bolder and eventually faces irreparable consequences.

She didn’t want to test her limits.

Besides dealing with the Luo family, she wouldn’t use such methods on anyone else.

The Luo family was just a minor episode. Chuxia didn’t follow up on it.

The rest was their own mess to sort out.

Of course, if Wang Yulan came to find her, she wouldn’t mind asking for a bit more money or things.

On September 29 and 30, Chuxia took two days off to take her exams.

She had taken quite a few days off this month, and was worried that her leave might not be approved if she asked for more.

However, the department head said nothing and directly approved her leave. He even told her, “Your health is important. Our department doesn’t have much work right now, so you can take a few more days off.”

Chuxia didn’t take this too seriously.

The factory was busy preparing for the National Day celebrations, but most of the preparations were already done.

The current popular activity was a parade. During major holidays, each factory’s publicity department organized parades.

There were gong and drum teams, flower wreath teams, and flag teams…

In short, the parade needed to be very lively and festive, making sure everyone knew that the parade was organized by Textile Factory No. 3.

Chuxia didn’t suggest any new ideas.

There had always been a fixed pattern for such events.

She just followed the arrangements made by the department head.

Most of the time these days were spent rehearsing.

The publicity department staff were quite busy, and Chuxia was also involved in the preparations.

However, her tasks were not heavy; she mainly distributed props and costumes and recorded the borrowing and returning of these items.

In addition to the parade, there were other National Day celebration programs, and Chuxia was also responsible for the props and costumes for these performances.

With Chuxia taking two days off, the department head needed to reassign her tasks.

She handed over the record book of props and costumes to the department head, making sure everything was in order before she left.

On September 29 at 7:30 AM, Chuxia arrived at the office of her class teacher at No. 9 Middle School.

The class teacher had been introduced to her previously when Chuxia came to collect her score report for the trial exam.

Her class teacher was a stern middle-aged woman who disapproved of Chuxia’s absence from classes.

However, since the principal had agreed, there was nothing she could do.

Before Chuxia left, the teacher had warned her with a serious expression, “Don’t think that just because your grades are good now you can be complacent. If you don’t work hard, even if you do well in this trial exam, you won’t get into university a year from now!”

Chuxia understood that the teacher was trying to help her and hoped she would study diligently in class.

It was just unfortunate that she was disappointed.

When she met the teacher again, the teacher still had a stern look on her face, with deep furrows between her brows.

This time, she didn’t say much; she just told Chuxia the exam location and number and said, “Do well in the exam,” before letting her go.

Chuxia was assigned to Exam Room 10, Desk 17, which was the last room.

Upon entering, she saw a familiar face.

“Second Sister! What… what are you doing here?”

Luo Xiaomei looked shocked, her eyes wide open, pointing at Luo Chuxia and shouting loudly.

Chuxia smiled naturally and said, “This is the exam room. Of course, I’m here to take the exam.”

After saying that, she walked in and sat at Desk 17. Luo Xiaomei was left stunned, unable to believe what she was seeing.

How could her second sister, who had already graduated years ago, be here for an exam?

Luo Xiaomei kept turning her head, wanting to ask Chuxia what was going on.

But when the teacher came in, she didn’t ask Chuxia to leave and distributed the exam papers as usual.

Luo Xiaomei, who was already struggling with the exam, was now even more distracted and had trouble focusing.

Chuxia didn’t care about Luo Xiaomei’s confusion; she focused on her own exam, blocking out all distractions.

She didn’t even notice the teacher standing behind her.

Luo Xiaomei wanted to ask Chuxia after the exam ended, but Chuxia finished and handed in her paper early.

Luo Xiaomei still had half of her paper left unfinished!

It must have been hastily done; how could she finish so quickly!

In the next exam, Chuxia arrived just before the time.

Luo Xiaomei didn’t get a chance to ask her anything. By the time Luo Xiaomei finished her exam, Chuxia had already left.

When Chuxia returned from school, she was carrying a basket of shrimp.

She had just come across a vendor selling them, and they looked good, so she bought them all.

As she reached the entrance of the residential compound, she saw a man standing at her door.

He was tall, dressed in a shirt and black pants.

Hearing the noise, he turned around.