Fang Father, Fang Mother, Fang Nan, and Fang Bei exchanged looks and pretended they hadn’t heard those inner thoughts. However, they also thought that the original plot had contained such things. Thinking that there had been such a person in their family was rather frightening. Thankfully, the Great Immortal had come, otherwise, their whole family wouldn’t have even known how they died.
This was surely their family’s destined opportunity, a reward for good karma. From now on, they definitely needed to do more good deeds. They also needed to write a letter to Fang Lihai to tell him about the changes at home. Of course, they couldn’t mention the Great Immortal. Letters were subject to review, so they would just follow the villagers’ lead and say it had all been a misunderstanding, and praise Xu Ziyan a lot.
The four of them quickly went to write their letters. They also asked Xu Ziyan to write one, specifically reminding her to put the photos taken last time inside the envelope to send together, so Fang Lihai could also see his wife and children.
Xu Ziyan suddenly remembered that writing a letter was also part of the plot. She immediately spread out the letter paper and swiftly wrote one.
She hadn’t even met Fang Lihai yet and didn’t have much to say. So, she wrote a letter exactly as a normal wife would write to her husband, full of affectionate warmth—things like ‘it’s been so long, I miss you dearly,’ ‘you must take good care of yourself in the military camp,’ ‘I look forward to you coming home quickly so we can meet,’ and ‘I hope I get a chance to visit the camp,’ and so on.
Then she put in the photos of herself and the children and gave the letter to Fang Mother. They would all be mailed together later.
【Congratulations, Host, for completing the plot: Write a letter and send your photo to Fang Lihai, making him think of you. Fang Father and Fang Mother write to Fang Lihai, thinking of family harmony leading to prosperity, hiding the truth and praising you, reporting only the good news. Two plot points completed in total. Reward: Two Skill Points.】
Xu Ziyan already had experience with this. The plot point about Fang Father and Fang Mother originally had nothing to do with her, but this time, because the incident involved her, they decided to write a letter. Since they were mailing it together with hers, this event was indirectly facilitated by her, hence she got the reward.
Gaining seven skill points in one day made Xu Ziyan ecstatic. 【Quick, quick, quick! Add them all to my Intelligence! I want a photographic memory! I want to become a genius! We common folks are really, really happy~~~】
The others at home heard her inner thoughts and, seeing her so happy, felt quite cheerful too. They were now integrated as one; if she was well, they were well. Moreover, since Xu Ziyan appeared, their lives had become much happier, improved a lot, and avoided many troubles. They genuinely wished for Xu Ziyan’s safety, health, and happiness.
If they weren’t afraid of exposure, they would have set up an altar to make daily offerings to her.
That very night, crying sounds came from next door again. Song Jiao’s angry cries and Xu Xiuyun’s aggrieved sobs. It must have been that Song Dongbo had finished his work and returned home. The child was tattling, and Xu Xiuyun, of course, was trying her best to explain.
However, hearing Song Jiao cry until she was gasping for breath, Xu Ziyan estimated that Xu Xiuyun’s tears wouldn’t work this time. No matter what, Song Jiao was Song Dongbo’s biological daughter. He had married a wife explicitly to have someone take good care of his child. Now that the child was so wronged, nothing Xu Xiuyun said would be of any use.
Song Jiao was a child, and a child’s self-esteem was also very strong. She didn’t understand all those convoluted adult schemes; she only knew that her stepmother had brought up the matter about the neighbors, and her expression and tone clearly implied that meaning. As a result, she went outside and said a few words, and the situation blew up. Her stepmother didn’t back her up and even said she hadn’t meant it that way. Suddenly, all the blame fell on her. The other children blamed her, and she simply couldn’t take it.
So she felt wronged. She cried. Her favorability towards Xu Xiuyun plummeted. This led Song Dongbo’s impression of Xu Xiuyun to worsen as well. Xu Xiuyun was suspected of using the child, and she had actually gotten entangled with the neighbors again, which genuinely annoyed Song Dongbo.
The situation outside was changing now; there was a faint sense that small vendors were no longer being arrested. He was testing the waters everywhere, thinking of setting up a stall. Today, discovering that Xu Ziyan had sent Xu Father and Xu Mother to the city to sell breakfast, he had even gone to watch for a long time and bribed a child to report them to the police station. Only after confirming that the police station really didn’t arrest people did he become overjoyed and plan to quickly figure out a reliable business.
Who knew that upon returning to the village, he would find his own household in trouble again? Was it so hard for the man to handle outside affairs and the woman to manage the home? Did he have to work hard all day and then come back to settle domestic disputes?
He even felt some regret. If he had known, he would have inquired more and not been in such a hurry to marry. Back then, he heard she was gentle and kind. Who knew she had so many schemes? Now, if only Xu Xiuyun would just stay put quietly, he could focus on doing business, making big money, and bringing a good life to the whole family. Xu Xiuyun had a perfectly good life but insisted on stirring up trouble. He couldn’t understand what she was messing around for.
In the end, it was only after Xu Xiuyun swore to stay far away from Xu Ziyan and take good care of Song Jiao that Song Dongbo softened his attitude. He had to soften up; time was money now. He had to seize the opportunity to make a fortune while most people hadn’t yet realized how profitable business could be, so he could stay ahead of others in the future.
Therefore, he had no energy to deal with family matters and could only let things be and continue living like this. However, while the surface was calm, the affection that originally existed between the two had vanished without a trace. They both felt that they hadn’t truly understood the other person.
A few days later, the wall around the Fang family’s courtyard was fully heightened. It was truly high—standing on tiptoe, one couldn’t see over to the other side. They even replaced the main gate with a solid wooden door without a single crack. Once the door was closed, no one could see inside the Fang compound anymore.
Truthfully, everyone found it quite strange because they had never seen such a high wall; it almost blocked the view of the rooftops. But Xu Ziyan felt a great sense of security.
She stood inside the wall, looked up, and said to 001: 『Before, I always lived in a big city where people had a strong sense of boundaries. I really wasn’t used to villagers peeking inside whenever they passed by, the main door being wide open for anyone to walk right in, and feeling unsettled no matter what I wanted to do.
Now it’s much better, much quieter. Xu Xiuyun won’t discover I’m reviewing my studies, and I don’t have to explain to anyone why I’m learning. Also, with my parents making breakfast every day, others won’t know how much they make or sell.
Getting rich should be done quietly. No matter how much I know, right now I’m just a small peasant woman. I need to accumulate strength and become stronger first.』
Fang Father and Fang Mother had never heard of ‘a sense of boundaries,’ but combined with her later words, they vaguely understood the meaning. They also hadn’t been accustomed to the wall being so high; it looked weird no matter how they saw it. But hearing Xu Ziyan’s words, they felt it made a lot of sense.
Their family had secrets now, so the more hidden, the better. As long as the family was safe and sound, the wall could be as high as it needed to be.
After everyone got used to the wall’s height, they started privately discussing the reason for it. Thus, this wall became Xu Xiuyun’s pillar of shame!
Everyone knew why the wall had been heightened. Even those who didn’t know originally would ask upon seeing the wall and find out.
Xu Xiuyun was jealous of her cousin, scheming, fond of causing trouble, liked using others as pawns, enjoyed stepping on others to elevate herself, and even used a child to spread gossip. These were all things every villager now knew. No matter how she developed in the future, she could never shake off these impressions she had left on people.
This time, Xu Xiuyun cried for real, but when she truly cried, she didn’t let anyone see. She hid in her room, crying while pounding the cotton quilt to vent her anger.
The hunter who hunts geese every day finally got pecked. She had always been invincible against Xu Ziyan. Precisely because she tasted sweetness from comparing herself to Xu Ziyan since childhood, she grew to enjoy stepping on Xu Ziyan to beautify herself. Xu Ziyan was so stupid, exploding at the slightest provocation, utterly unlikable, and couldn’t even hide her bad deeds properly—so foolish. Not stepping on Xu Ziyan would have been a disservice to herself. Besides, she wasn’t lying; Xu Ziyan truly was bad.
For over a decade, she had gained enormous benefits from this comparison. She reveled too much in the feeling of being praised by everyone, her vanity greatly satisfied. Even in this village, she had been the most praised girl and should have married the best, becoming an official’s wife in glorious splendor, making everyone envy her.
Who knew everything would change starting from her marriage? She unluckily lost her officer fiancé and married a divorced man who secretly did business. She told herself it didn’t matter; having money would also make people envy her. Once she secured Song Dongbo’s heart, outsiders would see her living a blissful, happy family life.
She would still be the stepmother with the best reputation and would be the first to live a life of affluence. No one would ever say she jinxed her husband again. She would still be envied by all.
But the Xu Ziyan she had always stepped on actually married an officer, and Fang Lihai was even a first-time groom. Although she took in two nephews under her name, they weren’t her own flesh and blood. How could Xu Ziyan deserve such a good marriage? How could she outshine her?
Doing business wasn’t looked upon favorably by everyone; many even looked down on it behind their backs, calling it speculation and profiteering. She also had to exhaust herself pleasing her stepdaughter and pleasing Song Dongbo.
Meanwhile, next door, Xu Ziyan didn’t have to serve a man, could freely order her in-laws and stepsons around, did nothing all day, had a bicycle to ride, a radio to listen to, could sleep in as late as she wanted, was visibly becoming more beautiful, while her own fingers had grown rough.
How could she not be jealous? She quickly thought of a new way to compare: she and Xu Ziyan were both stepmothers. As long as she highlighted Xu Ziyan’s poor treatment of the children, she, the good stepmother, would be praised by everyone. That would also earn Song Dongbo’s recognition more quickly and help her gain his affection faster.
So she quickly took action, never expecting that her previously infallible method would fail. She had run into a brick wall. After marriage, Xu Ziyan seemed like a different person, capable of fiercely counterattacking every time, utterly destroying the good image Xu Xiuyun had spent over a decade building, and even resetting the affection between her and Song Dongbo back to zero.
Everything she had painstakingly built was gone. And that wasn’t enough; Xu Ziyan had even erected this high wall to humiliate her!
Xu Xiuyun cried, her heart full of hatred. She would turn things around sooner or later, she would live a good life sooner or later, but Xu Ziyan shouldn’t think of winning against her.
Wasn’t Xu Ziyan’s reliance just Fang Lihai? Wasn’t she just dreaming of being an official’s wife? Then she would make sure Fang Lihai couldn’t remain a battalion commander, preferably ending up a cripple, a useless man. Then everyone would say Xu Ziyan jinxed her husband, would curse Xu Ziyan for shamelessly clinging to Battalion Commander Fang, only for that hoodoo to harm Battalion Commander Fang.
At that time, everyone’s attention would be on Xu Ziyan, and her own image would definitely reverse again, using Xu Ziyan to cleanse her own reputation. Definitely!
Xu Xiuyun’s gaze turned vicious, and her heart hardened. She took out a blank sheet of paper and, using her left hand, wrote a crooked, scrawled letter to Fang Lihai to mail out. She needed to lure Fang Lihai back. Only if Fang Lihai returned was there a possibility of an ‘accident’ happening, so he could no longer continue being a battalion commander.
She had never done such a bad thing before. It was Xu Ziyan who forced her. She was only doing this for her own small family, to live a happy life. She had to do this.