Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 320 Xu Kang's Idea
There wasn't much other news in town, but there were plenty of messy family disputes, including one case of a drunk man killing his wife.

Upon realizing this, Xu Jiahui panicked. "Sister, you have to be careful. I suspect that the mother and son have ulterior motives."

Xu Fangfang was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh when she realized what was going on. "What are you thinking about all day? Don't worry, Xu Jie has a respectable job. He cherishes his reputation so much, he won't do anything reckless."

Needless to say, that old witch is extremely concerned with her reputation. They would absolutely not allow any bad gossip to spread about them. I suspect they'll transfer assets behind my back or scheme against me to ruin my reputation.

“Then you can’t be careless and give them a chance to make a move.” Xu Jiahui thought for a moment and said worriedly, “How about this, since you’re on winter break anyway, why don’t you move to my place? After the New Year, when school starts, you can take the selection exam. Living with me will save you from seeing your in-laws’ disgusting faces, and you can prepare for the exam in peace. Don’t worry, I won’t reveal your whereabouts.”

Xu Jiahui repeatedly assured her.

To be honest, this suggestion really appealed to Xu Fangfang. "Let me think about it carefully, and I'll give you an answer in two days."

Xu Jiahui nodded repeatedly. After seeing Xu Fangfang off, Xu Kang had finished his work. He closed the door and invited Xu Jiahui to get in the car.

Xu Jiahui looked worried and preoccupied the whole way. Xu Kang asked her, "What's wrong? Are you worried about your cousin?"

Xu Jiahui wasn't like this just now, but she changed after talking to Xu Fangfang.

Xu Jiahui thought for a moment, then looked at Xu Kang warily, "You really don't get along with Xu Jie? What's your grudge?"

"That's right! You can't doubt this point, no matter what!" Xu Kang seemed a little excited. After thinking for a moment, he emotionally recounted those old, trivial matters.

“My grandparents had three sons, and they favored their eldest son the most, who was Xu Jie’s father. Then they favored their youngest son. My father was the second son, and he was sandwiched in the middle and no one loved him. As the saying goes, a son’s status depends on his father’s. Xu Jie was the apple of my grandparents’ eye and their precious grandson from a young age. They gave Xu Jie all the good things, while my brother and I were treated like outsiders. They guarded us closely and never gave us anything good. When something happened, they would scold us first.”

Xu Jie was still watching the commotion from the sidelines, not wanting to miss out on the fun. He brought up some old grievances, saying how we had done to him, and how Grandma had hit us even harder. At that time, my parents were busy day and night and were not at home, so no one stood up for us. When they came back and found out, they went to Grandma to reason with her, but they were scolded instead.

After that, my brother and I stopped playing with Xu Jie as much. Xu Jie was spoiled by the adults and became arrogant and conceited. He didn't have many friends, but he would shamelessly ask us to play with him again. If we didn't play with him, he would complain. We wouldn't tolerate it. We would argue with him in front of our grandparents and just refuse to play with him.

As a result, our grandparents wouldn't feed us, and there were many similar incidents.

Later, my aunt became wealthy, and she and my maternal grandfather helped my parents out. They were finally able to stand up to my grandparents, separate from them, and start their own household.

Later, our family's life got better and better. My aunt even brought my brothers and me to the city to study. My uncle's family was envious and also wanted to send Xu Jie to the city. They used many methods to try to outdo us.

"Suppressing him is impossible; we swore to trample Xu Jie under our feet for life! Look, we did it!"

Xu Jiahui was furious, gritting her teeth, "You guys didn't even cause him any trouble?"

Xu Kang paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, "You really thought of the same thing as me. It's a pity we were too young back then, and Xu Jie was older than all of us, ate well, and was chubby. One of him was as good as two of us. It's unrealistic to cause trouble for him. Even if we succeeded, my crazy grandparents would make a scene in the whole village. In the end, they would definitely come after us and give us a beating. It would be like hurting the enemy a thousand while hurting ourselves eight hundred. We can't do such a losing business."

As Xu Jiahui's feverish mind gradually calmed down, now that she had confirmed that Xu Kang really had a grudge against Xu Jie, she had nothing to hide and told him everything about Xu Fangfang.

“My cousin used to complain to me a lot about her conflicts with her mother-in-law. She said that they would argue every time they met. Recently, they have been having such a bad time, but that old hag has changed her ways and stopped even cursing. My cousin suspects that they have some kind of conspiracy. I think so too. I suggested that she move to my place for the New Year. Anyway, things have already gotten this bad, so there's no need to put on a show.”

"I'll go back to school after the semester starts, take the education bureau's selection exam, and if I pass, we'll get a divorce. Do you think this arrangement is feasible?"

Xu Kang nodded repeatedly, "Of course! But if you ask me, if your sister really gets divorced, she'll probably have to leave with nothing, and maybe even lose the little money she has."

Divorce is nothing these days, but your sister just left like that. Knowing them as I do, they'll definitely spread rumors and smear your sister. Pingxi Town isn't big; if the rumors spread, even if they're false, they'll become true. Since you had a plan, you should have considered all these potential problems. You can't act impulsively.”

Xu Jiahui's eyes lit up, and she looked at Xu Jie with bright eyes, "What good idea do you have?"

Xu Kang thought for a moment and then used an example from his own life: "I have a colleague, who is also a teacher at our school. She is young and beautiful, an only child, and comes from a well-off family. Her parents wanted to continue the bloodline, so they arranged for her to find a son-in-law who would live with her family."

This son-in-law who moved in with his wife's family looks honest and simple, but he's actually quite restless. He secretly has an affair while pretending to be a good husband. If my colleague hadn't accidentally smelled a faint scent of perfume on his car, I wouldn't have suspected anything.

She's quite shrewd; once she became suspicious, she began to investigate discreetly. Under the guise of helping her husband wash his car, she drove the car to a repair shop and had a recording device installed.

After tracking her for three months, she found out everything about her husband and his mistress, including that they had a child together. She immediately went to the child's home and had a paternity test done with the husband.

When she presented all the evidence to her parents, they were furious without her saying a word.

The whole family ganged up on the son-in-law, forcing him to give them a sum of money as compensation, leaving him with nothing.

Because we have that evidence, even if the man is unwilling to accept it, he won't dare to come to my colleague's house and cause trouble again. So, if your sister wants a divorce, she still needs to have something on the other party.

Xu Jiahui listened to Xu Kang's words and seemed to be deep in thought.

After attending Tang Jing's wedding at the hotel that day, she approached Xu Kang and asked him for help.

Xu Kang had been waiting for this. As soon as Xu Jiahui asked, he immediately took on the task and agreed to ask Chen Wenjun for help later.

Businessmen have extensive networks, and Chen Wenjun's business involves real estate, so he is particularly familiar with renovation and plumbing workers.

Upon learning of Xu Kang's request, he didn't ask any further questions and instead introduced him to a reliable and trustworthy person.