It was already dark by the time they arrived home.
In Chen Meilan's long and distant memories of her past life, she had lived in many places, but Yanguan Village had always been her favorite.
There were several large factories nearby, such as Dongfang Group and Ximei Group, which were light industries with little pollution and noise. There were also some eyesores, like Yan Xishan's coal plant, but fortunately, they were all at some distance from Yanguan Village. So although it was on the outskirts of the city, it remained quiet and peaceful - an oasis of calm amidst the bustle.
Looking at it now, the streets were swept clean, the walls freshly painted bright white. It was still the clear and carefree little village of her memories.
At the village entrance, she encountered the wife of the village party secretary Yan Xiong, Sister-in-law Mao. Seeing this old acquaintance after many years, Chen Meilan felt a bit excited and jogged towards her. Sister-in-law Mao was even more excited, running towards her in the darkness.
"Is that Meilan? Oh my, you've finally come back!"
"Sister-in-law Mao, you look so young." In her past life, when they met again, they had both aged beyond recognition. In this life, they were still young, so Chen Meilan naturally had to comment on it.
Sister-in-law Mao noticed a tall, sturdy man following behind Chen Meilan. Since he looked much more robust than Yan Xishan, she hesitated for a moment before tentatively asking, "This doesn't look like Xishan. I remember Xishan being thinner and having long hair."
"He's my new partner, also surnamed Yan, called..."
"Oh my, look at my pig brain! You and that nouveau riche... tut tut, never mind." Sister-in-law Mao regretted her slip of the tongue, wishing she could slap herself a few times.
Being a gossip, she was naturally curious about Meilan's new partner and wanted to get a good look at him.
But before she could clearly see what he looked like, only sensing that he was tall and big with a cold aura about him, he had already gone to push open the door to Meilan's house.
This man must have been to Yanguan Village before, as he recognized Meilan's door without needing directions.
"Sister-in-law Mao, let's chat more tomorrow. I'm going home first," Chen Meilan said as she took out her key.
Chen Meilan's large courtyard house was in the center of the village, the most luxurious, imposing, and cleanest courtyard in the entire village.
However, as soon as she pushed open the door, Chen Meilan was stunned. In the moonlight, the courtyard looked as if it had been gutted, with vegetables sparsely planted here and there.
"Mom, who's been planting vegetables in our courtyard?" Zhaodi exclaimed in surprise.
Turning on the courtyard lights, Chen Meilan was actually a bit delighted. The courtyard had been dug up and planted with celery, cabbage, eggplant, green beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes. The celery and small cabbages were already ready to eat.
Yan Xishan was an orphan; his parents had died early, and his clan relatives in the village were beyond three generations of mourning. They wouldn't do this sort of thing.
These vegetables must have been planted by Hu Xiaomei.
She had a brother who worked at Yan Xishan's coal plant, and Yan Xishan had set up a coal selling point opposite their home, so the siblings often moved around this area.
People in the suburbs had little land and low incomes, so they would find any patch of ground to grow vegetables. Hu Xiaomei must have thought Chen Meilan wouldn't return and that this courtyard belonged to her now, which is why she planted the vegetables.
"Walk carefully, don't step on the vegetables. We'll still need to eat them later," Chen Meilan said as she turned on the light in the room she usually stayed in.
She knew Hu Xiaomei and Yan Xishan had rolled around on her kang bed, and was afraid they might have ruined her bedding.
Those things weren't worth much money, but they weren't easy to replace, and it would be a shame to lose them.
Fortunately, when she opened the wooden chest, the quilts were neatly folded, with a faint smell of mothballs, and they felt soft and fluffy to the touch.
She turned on the black and white TV set in the corner of the room, and the opening credits of the TV drama "Snow City" immediately appeared. The TV still worked.
However, the room was truly filthy, with cigarette butts and ashes scattered all over the kang and the floor.
When she pulled back the quilt on the bed, a pair of underwear suddenly flew out. It was a bright red pair of underwear, red as a ripe cherry. This certainly didn't belong to Chen Meilan; she had never worn red underwear.
Her second brother had mentioned before that he had caught Hu Xiaomei and Yan Xishan in bed together.
This underwear must have been left behind at that time.
It was truly disgusting. Chen Meilan picked up the underwear with two fingers, intending to throw it away. But as she reached the courtyard gate, she thought for a moment and turned back, putting it in the toilet instead.
She had already been wronged anyway, so she might as well keep this pair of underwear. It could be useful for making a point later. Consider it an unexpected bonus.
"Did you smoke these?" Yan Zhao asked Chen Meilan, looking at the cigarette butts all over the floor.
How could Chen Meilan smoke?
And why would Yan Zhao think she would smoke?
Even in the future, few women smoked, let alone now.
What on earth was this man thinking?
"I don't smoke. I'll clean up these cigarette butts," she felt the need to explain.
"It's like this, I still need to go to my work unit. Should we eat first?" Yan Zhao had just opened his mouth when Chen Meilan immediately said, "You go take care of your business. I can clean up myself and will make food for the children."
Chen Meilan, with her experience of a second marriage, held no hopes for men.
If Yan Zhao were truly good, why would Zhou Xueqin divorce him?
Her current attitude was: you get to live in my house and help look after the children, I get your help with transferring my household registration. Each gets what they need.
"I'll give you money to buy food first?" Yan Zhao said, reaching to take out money.
Chen Meilan was well aware of his financial situation. He had left empty-handed in the divorce, giving the house and savings to his ex-wife. From a woman's perspective, Chen Meilan actually admired his responsible behavior. Besides, it's not like she didn't have money herself, so she simply said, "I have my own money. I'll buy the food."
There were enamel mugs in the kitchen. She took them out, washed them thoroughly with clean water, and then went out to buy food.
When Chen Meilan was about to go out, Zhaodi naturally wanted to follow, and Little Lang followed behind like a little tail: "Brother wants to go too."
Zhaodi said, "You should call her Mom."
Little Lang immediately obediently said, "Mom, brother wants to go too."
Chen Meilan was puzzled. Although this child was young, he was already over three years old. Didn't he know that Zhou Xueqin was his real mother? Could it be, as Zhou Xueqin had said, that although he was a sickly child, his ingratitude surpassed even Little Wang's?
Living in the suburbs had its advantages. Just about 500 meters out of the village, there were night street stalls.
Xiping City, located in the inland of Hua Country, was famous for a variety of small snacks, such as meat in flatbread, lamb in a big bowl, oil-splashed hand-pulled noodles, and individual stoves. Walking over, the roadside was densely packed with stalls.
However, these stalls were too expensive for the villagers. Most of their customers were workers and cadres from nearby large factories like Dongfang Group, Ximei Group, and Qinchuan Light Industry.
The oil-splashed hand-pulled noodles were made from pre-kneaded dough, pulled fresh to order. The soft dough made a "pa" sound on the cutting board as it was stretched into belt-wide, thin, and shiny noodles, then dropped into boiling water and fished out. Sprinkled with green onions, garlic sprouts, and bean sprouts, a small pinch of sesame seeds and peanuts, and half a spoon of hot oil drizzled on top, the aroma wafted all around.
Two quick spoonfuls of hot oil splashed onto red chili peppers, and there you had four bowls of oil-splashed noodles.
Carrying four large enamel bowls stacked together, with the two children running in front, Zhaodi deliberately urged Little Lang to run ahead while she slowed her pace to walk alone with Chen Meilan.
"Mom, how did I do today?" the little girl asked, somewhat anxiously.
"You did exceptionally well, but Mom thinks our Zhaodi doesn't need to deliberately try to perform exceptionally well. After all, we're not just getting along for a day or two; we have a long time ahead of us. You should treat Little Wang and Little Lang with a normal attitude. If they make you unhappy, you should speak up. If you always accommodate them, they'll think you have no temper and will bully you. Do you understand?" Chen Meilan said.
Zhaodi nodded seriously, full of ambition: "If they don't behave, I'll educate them."
This was her house, her home turf. Zhaodi was also much more confident than in her past life, naturally feeling a sense of ownership in her own home.
This point made Chen Meilan particularly gratified.
But even though she held no hopes for Yan Zhao, as soon as she entered the door, she was still a bit irritated.
Yan Zhao stood with his hands in his pockets. Yan Xiaowang, who only came up to his father's thigh, also had his hands in his pockets, mimicking his father's posture and expression exactly. A large metal box stood by their feet.
Were these two, father and son, waiting at home like a pair of lords for their meal?
Clearly, back in Chen Village, Yan Zhao had said he was good at housework. Even if he couldn't do anything else, couldn't he at least have wiped the table? How else were they supposed to eat?
But never mind. She would soon show them to a room. Just treat them like tenants in the house.
Chen Meilan was stunned as she pulled back the curtain and entered the room.
This was her bedroom, which had resembled a miniature landfill when she left earlier. But now, all the old bedding on the kang bed had been tossed outside and replaced with new linens. The floral cloth covering the cabinets had also been swapped for fresh material, with the old ones discarded in a large washbasin on the floor. Every poster on the walls had been stripped away, leaving them bare. The window panes gleamed so brightly that even flies would crash into them.
Not to mention the floor - even underneath the cabinets had been thoroughly swept and cleaned.
Looking at the cabinets themselves, they were spotless.
Had Yan Zhao and Yan Xiaowang done all this?
In just half an hour, they had transformed a room too filthy to step foot in into something resembling a brand new space?
Was this Yan Zhao some kind of human-shaped cleaning machine?
A male version of Cinderella?
"Auntie, which room are we sleeping in tonight?" Yan Xiaowang asked, trailing after her.
Chen Meilan couldn't believe that in half an hour, a man could tidy a room so thoroughly. She looked up, meeting Yan Zhao's still cold gaze.
That look compelled Chen Meilan to quickly give him an answer. Yan Xiaowang was about to add, "Tonight we're sleeping with my dad," as if his father were some kind of sacred monk she might devour.
"The room next door, I suppose. It has a kang bed too, and a bigger one. Plenty of room for you father and sons to roll around," Chen Meilan said, suppressing a laugh in her chest.
Kids were all alike. In her previous marriage with Lu Jingyu, they rarely slept together as a family.
Whenever they did share a home, the children from both families would always complain of stomach aches or itchy bottoms, always finding ways to separate the adults.
Second marriages - both spouses only truly care about their own children, always calculating the futures of their respective offspring. With the children between them, they could never truly come together. Might as well just continue on like this.
"Little Wang, go eat. I'll finish up the rest of the work," Yan Zhao said as he picked up a broom and headed out.
He really was a male Cinderella. Or perhaps he had secretly hidden a few helpers in the house to do the cleaning. This time, Chen Meilan was determined to see it with her own eyes.
Wearing only an undershirt, he first grabbed the dirty bedsheets and pillowcases from the washbasin, gave them a few quick scrubs, and hung them on the clothesline.
Then he sprinkled water to settle the dust on the floor before using the broom to meticulously sweep the entire room from ceiling to walls. Afterwards, he wiped down all surfaces with a clean rag to remove any remaining dust, using a separate cloth just for the windows. From the kang bed to the floor, in just over ten minutes - while the children were still eating - Yan Zhao had managed to clean the other room spotlessly from top to bottom in one fluid sequence of motions.
Chen Meilan would bet that few men in Hua Country could manage tasks like putting on duvet covers or laying out bedding.
Lu Jingyu's habitual refrain had been: "Marry a man, marry a man - clothes to wear and food to eat. I'll provide for you, so you'd better take good care of me and my whole family. That's a woman's duty."
Chen Meilan had always thought all men in this country were like that.
But Yan Zhao, whether for show or genuine ability, demonstrated a method of putting on duvet covers that Chen Meilan had never witnessed before.
He first laid the duvet and cover flat on the kang, rolled from left to right, then with a quick shake - Chen Meilan counted - in just 12 seconds, he had a perfectly made bed with the duvet neatly inside its cover.
This man was the most domestically capable of any she had ever met.
"Hurry and eat, the noodles are getting cold and mushy," Chen Meilan said, handing Yan Zhao a bowl.
Despite their small size, the hungry children had each managed to finish a large bowl of oil-splashed noodles.
Yan Zhao scraped the leftover chili oil, bean sprouts, and garlic from the children's bowls into his own. He took the dirty dishes outside, rinsed them thoroughly with running water from the hose, washing both the bowls and his hands. Putting on his shirt, he picked up the bowl of noodles and headed out, saying: "I'll eat at work. The two kids tonight..."
"Don't worry, I'll definitely take good care of Little Lang," Little Wang chimed in.
Little Lang waved goodbye at his brother's prompting: "Bye-bye, Dad."
How strange - Little Wang and Little Lang were much less trouble than Lu Jingyu's two children. They didn't cry or fuss when their father left, just politely said goodbye.
These two polite yet reserved little ones seemed even less familiar with their father than with her.
After dinner, they should have taken baths, but there was no bathroom in this house yet. Moreover, Little Lang and Little Wang didn't seem to have the habit of bathing. As soon as dinner was over, Little Wang went to the room next door, but Little Lang refused to leave. He wanted to watch TV with Zhaodi, but after just two minutes, he was nodding off on Zhaodi's shoulder.
Zhaodi kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the kang. He drowsily followed, crawling up as well. The two lay down side by side.
Chen Meilan went out to boil some water. When she came back in, she saw Yan Xiaowang with his little bottom in the air, trying his best to drag Little Lang up and carry him away.
"No, want to sleep with sister," Little Lang mumbled sleepily.
"Come on, it's such a strange place, and big brother is scared to sleep alone. I need you to keep me company," Yan Xiaowang said, his voice tinged with tears as he patted his sleeping brother's face.
Unfortunately, his brother was too chubby, and he was just a six or seven-year-old boy himself. He couldn't lift him, and he couldn't drag him either.
The TV was still blaring advertisements - one moment it was Chrysanthemum electric fans, "cooling the world," the next it was Shanghai Aerospace brand refrigerators, "aerospace quality," and then it switched to a new generation of Great Wall series microcomputers.
Unable to budge his brother, Yan Xiaowang hung his head dejectedly for a moment before suddenly realizing something was amiss. He turned to see Chen Meilan standing in the doorway with an amused smile.
The look of distress and fear vanished instantly from the little boy's face.
In a flash, he lifted the covers and dove under the blanket. He deliberately said to the sleeping Little Lang, "What? You're scared? Alright then, I'll sleep with you."
Though timid at heart, his mouth was bold. The little one shut his eyes tight in an instant.
