Rumors, though often inaccurate, spread quickly.
It had only been two or three days since Chen Meilan returned, but not just the Seventh Brigade, the entire Yanguan Village knew about it.
Although everyone was unaware of the specific identity of the man due to Yan Zhao's constant absence, they all knew that Meilan had brought a man to Yan Xishan's house.
Take Yan Xishan's current fiancée, Hu Xiaomei, for example.
At the Third Brigade, by the roadside, Hu Xiaomei and her mother Qi Dongmei each carried a small red lacquered bag. They wore identical floral dresses, brand new leather shoes, and matching permed hairstyles. They stood by the road, waiting for Yan Xishan's car to pick them up.
"Teacher Hu, isn't it summer vacation? Why are you and Aunt Qi back in the village today?" a student's parent passing by asked with a smile.
Hu Xiaomei smiled back, "There's some work-related business. We're here to see Director Hu."
The parent understood. Director Hu from the Jingdong Road Education Bureau lived in the Third Brigade. Hu Xiaomei was currently a private school teacher, still waiting for her position to be made permanent. She must be here to see Director Hu about that.
Qi Dongmei had been staring at the sky the whole time. Once the parent left, she rolled her eyes, "The parents from the village school all look so poor and uncultured. That woman actually called me 'aunt', not realizing how old she looks herself. Once you become a public school teacher, I'll have Fan Xiang help transfer you to Dongfang Elementary School."
Hu Xiaomei didn't want to keep teaching at the village school either. The salary was low, and the parents couldn't afford to give her gifts often.
But Dongfang Elementary School wasn't easy to transfer to. Only public school teachers could transfer there, and Hu Xiaomei was just a private school teacher. So she quickly said, "Mom, please talk to Uncle Fan. Xishan has plenty of money, he can pay whatever amount they ask for."
"Xishan's money came from the connections I helped him make through your Uncle Fan. By rights, that house in Yanguan Village should have been given to our Xiao Hua. Now that Chen Meilan is back, we need to have a good talk with him and find a way to get that house, understand?" Qi Dongmei said.
Hu Xiaomei nodded, "Mm-hmm."
"When Xishan gets here, you know what to say, right? Meilan is his ex-wife. We can only praise her, not criticize her, got it?" Qi Dongmei asked again.
Hu Xiaomei was getting impatient, "Mom, I know what to say."
Qi Dongmei's husband had died a few years ago, and she had remarried to a leader in the logistics department of Dongfang Factory named Fan Xiang. What people didn't know was that she had actually been the other woman, getting together with Fan Xiang while his previous wife was still alive. When the ex-wife died, she conveniently became the new wife.
Bringing along two stepchildren, she got her daughter a teaching job at the elementary school right after graduating from middle school. Her son never went to school and now worked as a manager at Yan Xishan's coal mine. Qi Dongmei had managed to go from a widow to where she was today entirely through her own wit.
Suddenly, a red car came speeding down the road. A man with big curly hair, fair skin, tall and thin, wearing a water-red shirt, stepped out of the car. Just looking at his features - thick eyebrows, big eyes, straight nose, deep-set eyes - he looked like a foreigner, strikingly handsome.
This was Yan Xishan. With his looks, during the Cultural Revolution years, he had been labeled as having the face of an "American imperialist dog" and had nearly been criticized to death.
But last year, when Fei Xiang sang "A Fire in Winter" on Central TV, everyone realized that he actually looked exactly like the famous star Fei Xiang. From then on, Yan Xishan also gained the nickname "Little Fei Xiang."
Yan Xishan was the type of person who always had a smile on his face, but had more schemes than the devil.
Because he had basically made his fortune with Qi Dongmei's help, he was especially respectful towards her, usually addressing her as "mother-in-law" this and that. But today his face was ashen, looking quite unhappy.
Hu Xiaomei and Qi Dongmei exchanged a glance, knowing without asking that he must have heard about Chen Meilan's return as well.
After getting in the car, "A Fire in Winter" was playing, fitting the mood of the three people, each with a raging fire burning in their hearts.
Qi Dongmei deliberately said to Hu Xiaomei, "I heard Meilan is back. Xishan must be so happy, Meilan is such a virtuous wife."
"Mom, don't even mention it. Meilan brought a man back with her. Haven't you heard how the villagers are cursing Xishan?" Hu Xiaomei intentionally chimed in.
Qi Dongmei continued, "What does that matter? Our Xishan doesn't care at all. If he's not afraid of his ancestors laughing at him, why would he care about others laughing? In my opinion, even if Meilan found eight more men, Xishan would still love her."
Finally, Yan Xishan spoke up, "Mother-in-law, please stop talking about this. I'll send some people to deliver coal to Yanguan Village in a few days to check things out."
The mother and daughter exchanged a glance and smiled simultaneously: sending people meant sending coal miners. Coal was black gold, and several coal bosses in the area often got into disputes. Those coal miners frequently got into fights over business, with bloodshed being minor and broken arms and legs being common occurrences. They had plenty of fighting experience.
Although they still didn't know exactly who that strange man was.
But the mother and daughter knew Yan Xishan's temper well. He was the type to smile even if the sky was falling, so the fact that he wasn't smiling today meant things were really serious.
Of course, Chen Meilan might not know about his feelings for her, but Qi Dongmei understood all too well.
Back when Hu Xiaomei and he first got together, Chen Meilan was still pregnant. For four or five years, the two of them had been sneaking around, even getting caught by the police once. To keep Chen Meilan from finding out, Yan Xishan had spent a full five thousand yuan to smooth things over.
Although he resented Chen Meilan for her bad temper and lack of sophistication, and had been considering divorce due to pressure from Qi Dongmei, his plan with Hu Xiaomei was to get legally married but always take care of Meilan and her child.
Hu Xiaomei was willing to agree, of course. After all, she was the other woman, and needed to be understanding for the man to like her.
Now that Chen Meilan dared to bring a man to his house, Yan Xishan wasn't just going to lose the house. What man would be willing to let his woman sleep with another man?
Forget about flaying that man alive, even Chen Meilan wouldn't get off easy. As for Zhaodi, poor child, she could forget about getting any of her father's money.
"Mother-in-law, shall we head back to Dongfang Factory?" Yan Xishan asked as they left the village.
Back then, after getting caught at the guesthouse, Yan Xishan had bought an apartment at Dongfang Factory to make it easier to have an affair, becoming neighbors with Qi Dongmei. It also made it convenient to curry favor with the factory leaders. They all lived at Dongfang Factory now, so naturally, they should be heading back there.
But Hu Xiaomei said, "Brother Shan, can you drop me off at the First Brigade? I need to see Meilan."
Yan Xishan frowned, his tone becoming harsher, "Why do you need to see her?" He was still being protective, how disgusting.
"Don't you know what the villagers are saying about me? Someone even reported to the Education Bureau, saying my conduct is improper. Now that I'm trying to become a permanent teacher, I need Meilan to help prove that there was nothing between us before, that we only got together after you divorced her. Otherwise, how can I become permanent?" Hu Xiaomei retorted.
Hu Xiaomei was currently working on becoming a permanent teacher. The school leadership had already submitted her file, but due to some rumors in the village, other teachers were dissatisfied and making a fuss.
She needed to find Chen Meilan and have her clear her name.
Otherwise, as an elementary school teacher, being called a homewrecker and a mistress behind her back every day, how frustrating would that be?
Yan Xishan let out a long sigh, turned the steering wheel, and headed towards the First Brigade.
Hu Xiaomei was a people's teacher after all. Yan Xishan, being uneducated himself, particularly valued Hu Xiaomei's status. It was indeed necessary to have her meet with Chen Meilan to clear things up and strive for an early permanent position.
Chen Meilan was naive and straightforward, still unaware of what had transpired between him and Hu Xiaomei.
She and Hu Xiaomei used to be such good friends, she would surely agree.
...
Human vacuum cleaner, bricklayer - Chen Meilan didn't know how to describe Yan Zhao.
Moreover, his appearance was strange. Although his face was dark-skinned, when he took off his shirt, his skin transitioned from dark to bronze at the short sleeve line, then from bronze to white at the white undershirt line. So his body had three different skin tones.
Looking at his features, Chen Meilan couldn't help but think that if his face were as fair as the white part of his skin, he would look quite different - undeniably handsome, in fact.
It's just that he was a bit too cold.
A single glance from him sent chills down her spine.
He took Little Wang out for a while, and soon returned with cement and sand.
Moving the cabinets out the door only required Little Wang's help to lend a hand. Within an hour, the kitchen floor had been tiled smooth and flat. Even the walls had been sanded and whitewashed.
The kitchen was now bright and new.
The yard couldn't just be cemented over. They had to dig up the vegetables first, then compact the loosened soil before laying cement.
Yan Zhao circled through several rooms and surprisingly found a stone roller in the storeroom that had been used by Yan Xishan's grandfather's generation, to be used for compacting the ground.
Zhaodi's original father was the eldest at home, sitting in a lounge chair with a small teapot, making her mother do everything. But this new father was busy working, not needing her mother's help at all.
The child felt both excited and curious.
Too excited to sleep lying in bed, Little Lang pulled her down, then she sat up again, was pushed down again, and sat up once more, curiously staring at her new father outside, watching non-stop.
She really wanted to call him "Dad" now, but was too shy to say it out loud.
This was the hottest season of the year, dry and scorching. Apart from the sizzling of electricity in the wires, even the birds flying in the sky were silenced by the heat. The whole village was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
After Chen Meilan took a brief nap and woke up, the floor had been smoothed neatly, and the yard was as smooth as a mirror.
Getting up from the kang bed, she saw the three children still cuddled together sleeping soundly. Chen Meilan first boiled some water and cooled a bowl of plain water for each of them. After thinking for a moment, she sprinkled some white sugar into each child's bowl.
Children all love sweet things. When they wake up from their midday nap, they'll surely be thirsty. How nice to drink a bowl of sweet cool water each.
Chen Meilan was actually a bit secretly worried. She had just learned that Yan Zhao knew Yan Xishan, who was her ex-husband.
Yan Xishan was known for drinking, gambling, visiting prostitutes, and keeping thugs as bodyguards. The coal miners he led were the worst of ruffians, with a terrible reputation throughout Xiping City.
As the saying goes, one takes on the color of one's company. Could Yan Zhao have some ulterior motives towards her?
Otherwise, how could he have been working silently since he arrived, without saying a word to her?
Couldn't he at least talk to her?
After cooling a cup of boiled water, Chen Meilan took it out, intending to strike up a conversation with him.
Until now, they hadn't had a calm, candid chat.
"Have some water," she smiled as she handed him the bowl. Since the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain. She took the initiative to break the ice.
Yan Zhao took the bowl but didn't even look at Chen Meilan's face. He drank it in one gulp and said, "Thanks."
He not only didn't look at her, he didn't even raise an eyebrow.
"Your family is from the First Team too. Why didn't you say so before?" Chen Meilan said.
The First Team of Yanguan Village was a place of hidden talents. In the future, there would be nouveau riche springing up like bamboo shoots after rain, as well as countless ruffians and thugs, mostly surnamed Yan, all originating from this village.
"I've already moved away. No need to mention it," Yan Zhao coldly shut her down.
Every time Chen Meilan opened her mouth, she would be rebuffed by him. How could they continue the conversation like this?
Yan Xishan would certainly come to make trouble. What would Yan Zhao's attitude be then?
Were he and Yan Xishan brothers or enemies? What was their relationship like before, and now?
He had to be willing to talk for Chen Meilan to continue the conversation.
At this point, the cement in the yard had almost hardened. Yan Zhao picked up a large stack of newspapers, laying down a sheet with each step, from the bedroom to the kitchen, and from the kitchen to the front door.
He bent down to test the cement on the kitchen floor with his hand, found it was still soft, so he opened the kitchen window for ventilation.
Without even needing to catch his breath, he immediately started nailing window screens.
He was like an emotionless working machine.
But suddenly he asked Chen Meilan, "How did you end up marrying Yan Xishan?"
This was like interrogating a criminal. Didn't this man understand that she was his wife, not his prisoner?
"Through an introduction. He was poor then and couldn't find a wife in the city, so he married me from the countryside."
The matchmaker at that time was Zhou Xueqin's father, who said he would introduce Chen Meilan to a soldier, but Yan Xishan showed up instead.
However, Chen Meilan didn't mind Yan Xishan's background, and they were very much in love at first.
When they first married, if there was a puddle, Yan Xishan would carry her across it on his back. When she was pregnant with Zhaodi and craved watermelon, Yan Xishan would walk across half the city to find her a fresh one.
She had truly loved Yan Xishan.
Yan Zhao still didn't look at Chen Meilan, focusing on the window. Suddenly he gave a thumbs up, which seemed odd - why did he suddenly give a thumbs up?
Looking down, he swiftly cut the window screen and pressed it against the window. This man seemed to have a ruler in his eyes - the cut screen fit the window's width perfectly.
With a few hammer strikes, the screen was nailed in place. "His character wasn't great. You must have known that, right?" he said.
One should look not just at appearance, but also at character. Yan Xishan was purely inflated by money. But actually, all men are the same. When they have no money, their character seems fine - not because they're inherently good, but because poverty forces them to behave.
Money is an aphrodisiac that further releases their true nature. Once they have money, they show their true colors.
Yan Zhao's interrogating tone made Chen Meilan feel very uncomfortable.
Moreover, he suddenly stopped what he was doing mid-sentence and went into the room, leaving her behind.
This was too much. No wonder Zhou Xueqin chose to divorce him rather than be the wife of a police chief.
This man didn't have a shred of human warmth.
But just as Chen Meilan glared at Yan Zhao's room, he swooshed the curtain aside and came out.
Their eyes suddenly met. Yan Zhao avoided her gaze, while Chen Meilan looked at him quite calmly.
Go ahead and interrogate, she thought. She wanted to see what else he wanted to ask.
Handing Chen Meilan an envelope, Yan Zhao said slowly and deliberately, "During your marriage to Yan Xishan, did you really not know anything about what he was doing outside, what kind of things he was involved in?"
Yan Xishan not only indulged in drinking, gambling, and visiting prostitutes, but also had a large gang of thugs under him. He would come home dead drunk every day, though he rarely came home at all. Chen Meilan really didn't know what he was doing outside.
She didn't even care to know. After all, Yan Xishan might smile on the surface, but he was full of deceit. It wasn't just that their relationship had broken down; she and Yan Xishan had different values.
And why did Yan Zhao sound so angry?
As she took the envelope, Chen Meilan's fingers accidentally brushed against Yan Zhao's. He suddenly flinched, snatching his hand back like lightning, and put the envelope on the windowsill, saying softly, "Take your time to look at it. I'm going to nail the screen on the opposite window."
Chen Meilan suddenly realized that this man wasn't angry - he was shy.
A man approaching thirty, who had had a wife before and had two sons, was actually shy when facing a woman?
