It's 2 PM, and the cement in the courtyard is rapidly solidifying.
Due to the intense heat, evaporated water has formed a thin layer of mist, softening the sun's rays. Looking out from inside the house, the entire ground seems to be covered with a shimmering layer of stars.
Yan Xiaowang's most anticipated event today is the big refrigerator. He plans to use the thirty-some yuan in his pocket to buy popsicles wholesale.
Popsicles cost eight fen wholesale and can be sold for one jiao. Though he only makes two fen profit per stick, far less than selling pirated tapes, his tape recorder is broken, so now he can only earn a meager profit by selling popsicles.
But despite his eagerness to make money, when the TV is turned on and the majestic opening theme of "Black Cat Detective" starts playing, thinking about One-Ear the villain and wondering what mischief he's up to today, and how Black Cat Detective will solve the case, Yan Xiaowang can't bring himself to move.
Moreover, for Yan Xiaowang, who is always busy selling tapes outside, this is the first time he's sat quietly on a bench watching TV, and the feeling is truly wonderful.
...
Everyone is looking at Third Sister-in-law Huang.
Hu Xiaomei is on the verge of tears. As Third Sister-in-law Huang dodges this way, she follows; when Third Sister-in-law Huang dodges that way, she follows again.
Third Sister-in-law Huang hurries home, her mind racing, inwardly blaming her husband.
Suddenly she stops and stares, and in the instant she sees that "Prostitution Notice," she almost loses her mind and screams, but immediately comes to her senses.
Huang Zhengde has been working as an elementary school teacher since graduating from high school. He's now 42 and has worked in the education system for 24 years, inhaling chalk dust for 24 years, teaching two generations of fathers and sons, and still hasn't received a permanent position.
Their only son, who attended the best high school in the city and consistently ranked first in his class, destined for Tsinghua or Peking University, was killed by a large truck on his way home after evening self-study.
The driver fled, and just like that, a child was gone.
A permanent position, which would provide retirement benefits, is the only hope for their old age.
He lives with extreme caution, fearing that any mistake might cost him the permanent position.
To leave a good impression on the leaders, not only does he teach diligently, but the couple, on their temporary teacher's salary, also have to give gifts to everyone from the principal to the director, and even the education bureau during holidays.
But every time the qualifications for permanent positions come down, Huang Zhengde is never included. The leaders always say, "Teacher Huang, try a bit harder, you'll definitely get it next year."
The couple has blamed the country and the government. Every night, Huang Zhengde gets so angry he doesn't want to teach anymore, but every morning when he wakes up, he feels he can't let the children down and goes to school with his lesson plans.
But Hu Xiaomei, who was caught for prostitution with Yan Xishan two years ago, what right does she have to get a permanent position?
Of course, Hu Xiaomei can, because the education bureau leader is from her village and they have a good relationship.
Huang Zhengde can only afford to give small gifts like peanuts and milk biscuits, while Hu Xiaomei gives expensive cigarettes and alcohol. How can he compare with Hu Xiaomei?
"Xiaomei, isn't Director Hu from the education bureau from your Third Brigade?" Third Sister-in-law Huang suddenly asks Hu Xiaomei.
Indeed, Hu Xiaomei had just come from Director Hu's house.
It was Director Hu who hinted for her to come to the First Brigade to clear her name.
...
"This letter was indeed written by Huang Zhengde. I'm here to apologize on his behalf. Come on, let's go see Director Hu," Third Sister-in-law Huang says, holding the envelope.
"Actually, as long as Teacher Huang works hard, he can still get a permanent position. There's no need to apologize. Just ask Teacher Huang to help clear my name," Hu Xiaomei says. It's not that she's not smart enough, but she never imagined there would be a "Prostitution Administrative Penalty Notice."
Third Sister-in-law Huang grabs Hu Xiaomei and calls back to Second Sister Liu, "Second Sister, go call Huang Zhengde. We're going to Director Hu's house in the Third Brigade to apologize to Xiaomei."
"What? What's wrong with Third Sister-in-law Huang? Meilan is really something, giving a report letter like that to Hu Xiaomei. Huang Zhengde only wrote it because he felt she was wronged. How could she give it to Hu Xiaomei? These women just don't think straight," someone says.
Another person says, "Poor Huang Zhengde, he's been teaching for so many years, and now he's being forced to apologize to a young girl?"
"Let's go and see what happens," people say. After all, hearts are made of flesh, and Huang Zhengde seems to be getting too raw a deal.
Of course, Hu Xiaomei is delighted, not realizing this might be a trap.
After all, for her, getting a permanent position and clearing her name are extremely important.
There's no such thing as true love in this world. Chen Meilan is so beautiful and works tirelessly at home, yet Yan Xishan still cheats on her.
When men choose women, it's not about how pretty they are, but about their social status, social value, and how obedient they are.
This is also why Yan Xishan was willing to marry her after divorcing Meilan.
Once she becomes a public school teacher, she wants to transfer to Dongfang Elementary School, then be rated as excellent, further improving her social status.
Only in this way will Yan Xishan continue to value her. After all, a wife who's a teacher is much more prestigious to show off than a rural woman.
The entire village, except for Yan Xiong who's feigning illness, is heading to the Third Brigade.
As the village grows larger and the population increases, there's no clear boundary between the brigades anymore. The Third Brigade starts right after the First Brigade ends.
Although it's summer vacation, on a weekday, Director Hu should be at work.
Why is he at home? Because Hu Xiaomei came to give gifts today, and he specifically took the day off to wait for her.
In the suburbs, most people are half-farmers, half-workers. Even though Director Hu works at the district education bureau, his wife is a farmer with land. On days he's home, he still has to work, and right now he's shoveling manure from the cesspool.
Suddenly, a crowd of people surrounds him.
The villagers actually know what's going on. Most of them are here to use their seniority to persuade Director Hu not to criticize Huang Zhengde.
He's taught from father to son, been a temporary teacher, and even lost his own son. He's had it too hard.
He's just in Hu Xiaomei's way, and while the nouveau riche may be overbearing these days, ordinary people need to survive too.
Huang Zhengde also comes running, grabbing Third Sister-in-law Huang: "What are you doing?"
"Pah, shameless," Third Sister-in-law Huang shouts.
Of course, everyone thinks Third Sister-in-law Huang is shouting at Huang Zhengde.
Hu Xiaomei quickly steps forward and says, "Director Hu, Teacher Huang wants to apologize to me, but I don't think it's necessary..."
"Zhengde, I strongly support your permanent position, but a few leaders at the bureau still think you should be trained for two more years. Don't reject your colleagues... If you make a fuss like this, you'll only damage your image in the leaders' eyes and make it harder to get a permanent position," Director Hu says as he picks up his manure buckets, adding, "Everyone, please make way, let me through."
The first twenty years saw a major cultural regression, and now these leaders are all uneducated.
These country bumpkins might not know much, but they're experts at making excuses and taking bribes.
"Leader, I don't mind whoever gets a permanent position, I really don't. Forget it, I'll resign, I'll go into business, I quit!" Huang Zhengde is almost crying. His shrew of a wife, what is she doing?
Director Hu was already annoyed with him, and now with this scene, he's even more irritated.
If Director Hu wasn't carrying two buckets of manure, Third Sister-in-law Huang wouldn't have such a perfect opportunity.
She's much more fiery than Chen Meilan. She spits on the penalty notice and slaps it right onto Director Hu's forehead.
"Hey, hey, who's that? Don't joke around," Director Hu keeps shouting.
But he can't reach up to remove it because he's holding the manure buckets. If he lets go, the manure will spill.
But if he doesn't remove it, why isn't anyone helping him take the paper off his forehead?
Not only does she stick it on, Third Sister-in-law Huang, fearing Hu Xiaomei might try to snatch it, grabs Hu Xiaomei and starts reading loudly: "Hereby, Hu Xiaomei, after drinking with Yan Xishan at Dream Paris, when drunk..."
"Is this from two years ago?"
"Caught for prostitution, doesn't that mean Hu Xiaomei was working as a prostitute?"
"Who would've thought she was involved with Yan Xishan when she was working as a prostitute?"
"I knew it..."
Suddenly, many people were whispering. With a clang, Director Hu spilled the manure bucket, soaking his feet in excrement. He snatched off the paper, glanced at it, then turned to look at Hu Xiaomei, dumbfounded.
No one knew how Hu Xiaomei left the village.
They only heard her crying as she ran, shouting: "Brother Shan, Brother Shan, save me!"
How shameless, calling Yan Xishan "Brother Shan."
Of course, everyone knew without guessing that Chen Meilan had given that list to Third Sister-in-law Huang.
Mrs. Mao sighed from afar: "As expected of Meilan."
Several women gathered around, sighing together: "We don't have Meilan's generosity."
This was why everyone in the village loved Meilan so much.
She had such information, and seeing Hu Xiaomei come to the village, she didn't act out of spite or confront Hu Xiaomei directly. Instead, she gave it to Third Sister-in-law Huang, allowing her to hold her head high for once.
However, until today, the only person in the village who knew Yan Zhao was at Yan Xishan's house was still Mrs. Mao.
She didn't tell anyone. Let the shameless Xishan, the whoremonger Xishan, come and see what a good man Meilan had found now.
...
Meanwhile, at Chen Meilan's house, because the cement floor wasn't dry yet, they could only keep the children confined to the room, letting them watch TV.
Chen Meilan was going to buy popsicles and also needed to buy groceries.
Yan Zhao had gone to paint the other rooms.
This working machine in just a white tank top seemed to be perpetually in motion, as if he never tired.
Since he was working so hard, Chen Meilan naturally wanted to make a good dinner to thank him, but she didn't know his tastes, so she wasn't sure what to cook.
After setting out another glass of cool boiled water, she thought for a moment. Because this man was so diligent, Chen Meilan sprinkled some sugar in it, handed it to Yan Zhao and asked, "What do you want to eat tonight?"
Yan Zhao paused his brush for a moment: "Anything is fine, cook what you like."
Is that how people talk?
Does this man even know how to communicate normally with others? Chen Meilan had been married twice, but she often found herself at a loss for words with Yan Zhao, completely unsure how to interact with him.
And couldn't he see she was smiling? How hard was it to give her a smile back?
But just then, a timid voice behind her said, "Dad loves oil-splashed noodles, and he likes lots of vinegar and lots of chili oil."
Turning around, she saw Yan Xiaowang standing there, wearing only a small white tank top, looking skinny.
Actually, it was Yan Xiaowang who loved oil-splashed noodles and spicy chili oil. He couldn't get enough of the chili oil from two nights ago.
Yan Zhao said to his son, "You'll eat whatever your mom makes, don't butt in."
Yan Xiaowang bit his lip and obediently walked away.
So, oil-splashed noodles it would be.
However, just as she was about to leave, her eyes fell on the newspaper on the floor, and she suddenly stopped.
The paper read: "Yesterday, government bond rates fell below 5%, hitting an all-time low."
These days, people with money were at a disadvantage holding onto it, because prices kept rising. The money that could buy a meat sandwich yesterday might only buy a plain bun tomorrow.
But it wasn't worth putting in the bank for a fixed-term deposit either, because there were fees for term deposits. A deposit of 10,000 yuan would incur 100 yuan in fees per year, so savings would decrease over time.
The most popular option was buying government bonds, like stocks in the future. Bond prices fluctuated daily, and they could be traded immediately. In other words, if you bought bonds today and didn't want to hold them, you could sell them tomorrow.
In her previous life, Chen Meilan had married Lu Jingyu around this time.
She remembered that after getting their marriage certificate, Lu Jingyu went and bought 500 yuan worth of government bonds. The next day, the bond rate skyrocketed, and Lu Jingyu made 75 yuan, praising her for bringing him good fortune.
Now the bond rate was only four percentage points. She remembered clearly that the day after tomorrow, bonds would suddenly surge to sixteen percentage points, and she had 18,000 yuan in hand.
Deciding to act, Chen Meilan took her passbook and headed straight for the credit union nearest to Yanguan Village.
After withdrawing all her money, she went directly to the Bank of China across the street.
Hearing she was there to buy government bonds, the teller smiled and said, "Comrade, you have a good eye. Although the bond rate is low now, it will definitely rise. If you buy 500 yuan worth and hold for a year, I guarantee you'll earn several dozen yuan."
"Eighteen thousand, I want to buy it all," Chen Meilan pushed several thick stacks of money across the counter.
The teller's hand shook like she had Parkinson's as she worked the abacus. She handed Chen Meilan a stack of treasury bonds and specifically said, "Even if you want to change your mind now, you can't sell today. You have to wait until tomorrow to sell, understand?"
She was afraid Chen Meilan would back out and ruin her performance.
Holding the stack of brand new treasury bonds that still smelled of ink, Chen Meilan did a rough calculation. Even if the rate only rose by 9 percentage points, she would earn nearly 2,000 yuan.
That would cover the cost of a refrigerator.
In her previous life, to bring Zhaodi to live with her as soon as possible, she had paid close attention to the rise and fall of government bonds every day.
Although she couldn't remember exactly, she recalled the general trends. If she made a few more trades, she could earn even more. Wouldn't that allow her to install an air conditioner and buy a big color TV for the house?
This was Chen Meilan's first time earning money. Although the money wasn't in hand yet, the feeling of being able to make money was truly wonderful.
Returning to the market, she didn't need to buy vegetables, but she needed to buy some dried chili peppers and have the shopkeeper grind them into chili powder.
Sesame seeds had always been expensive, costing 30 cents for 50 grams. They were used sparingly and would settle if left for too long, so Chen Meilan only bought 100 grams.
Though small in quantity, this was the essence of oil-splashed noodles.
When hot oil is poured over toasted sesame seeds, it gives the bowl of noodles an extra fragrant aroma.
She had been out for no more than two hours. As soon as she entered the house, she saw that the TV was off and the three children were sitting in a row under the eaves, picking through the vegetables they had dug up from the ground.
Yan Xiaowang was particularly meticulous in his work. Not only did he shake off all the dirt thoroughly, but he also divided the vegetables into small bundles and tied them neatly with cotton string.
He was a bit of a perfectionist, arranging all the small vegetables in neat, tower-like stacks.
"Why aren't you watching TV?" Chen Meilan asked.
Little Lang replied dejectedly, "Dad wouldn't let us."
As soon as Meilan left, Yan Zhao had turned off the TV and glared at the children sternly, telling them to come out and work.
They were angry but didn't dare speak up, feeling very wronged.
"How about this," Chen Meilan suggested, "we have too many of these small vegetables to eat at once. Why don't you take them outside and set up a stall to sell them?"
The two younger ones were still dazed, but Yan Xiaowang suddenly jumped up: "Auntie, let me sell them! I promise I'll sell them all in half an hour."
This little guy really enjoyed doing business, and he was quite the little schemer. He knew that in this era, people were very honest and straightforward.
But he also knew that wilted vegetables wouldn't sell well, so he sprinkled some water on them to freshen up the leaves.
Chen Meilan emptied her vegetable basket for them to use, and watched as the children left hand in hand before smiling and entering the kitchen.
...
Ordinarily, Yan Zhao's family would sleep in one room, while Chen Meilan and Zhaodi would sleep in another.
But Zhaodi was next door, and she was particularly good at singing.
Late at night, she started singing while bathing, going from "The Shepherdess" to "Returning to My Mother's Home," then to "The Mountain Azaleas Bloom Red." One song after another.
Her voice was as sweet as a real little singer from a record player.
She sang while bathing Little Lang, who was already snoring in the big washbasin. After the bath, the two of them rolled into bed together.
After they fell asleep, Chen Meilan began to bathe and wash herself in her own bedroom.
Looking at the sleeping Zhaodi on the kang bed, she was still calculating her money. In any era, extracurricular lessons cost money. Zhaodi sang so well, she had to earn some money quickly to find her a good teacher.
However, she didn't plan to tell Yan Zhao about these things.
Chen Meilan understood men's nature all too well. Take Lu Jingyu for example - when she advised buying government bonds and the prices kept rising, he would praise her as a wife who brought good fortune. But when she suggested buying some for herself, he would smile and say, "Women are better off being docile. Meilan, what I love most about you is your obedience. Don't change yourself - honest and dutiful women are the most lovable, understand?"
From then on, Meilan knew that men didn't like women making money.
"Mama, we sold four bunches of bok choy today and made 40 cents. I have it all here," Zhaodi suddenly opened her eyes and pulled out 40 cents from under her pillow.
Chen Meilan was stunned for a moment, thinking Yan Xiaowang was quite remarkable. After all, most six or seven-year-olds don't have a sense of money, but Yan Xiaowang loved it so much.
Shouldn't he have kept the money from selling vegetables for himself? Why did he give it back to Zhaodi?
Not only was he principled, but he wasn't greedy either. At the very least, he was a little gentleman. So why did Zhou Xueqin always speak of him with such bitterness in her past life? What unforgivable things would this child do in the future?
In the other room, that future rebel and little gentleman was lying in bed, ears perked up and eyes as round as light bulbs, watching his father undress.
The singing from next door had finally stopped, but there was the sound of running water.
His father was undressing very slowly, tilting his ear as if listening to the water next door. His chest was heaving heavily.
His face was flushed and muscles tense, just like when he used to argue with mom and get angry.
Suddenly the water sound stopped, and his father paused, his breath catching.
Was he not angry anymore?
Gathering his courage, Yan Xiaowang asked softly, "Dad, I can't sleep. Could you sing me a song too?"
Yan Zhao whipped his head around, his dark eyes looking at his son in disbelief.
"I don't know how to sing. How about you get up and I'll teach you to do push-ups?" Yan Zhao asked.
Yan Xiaowang quickly ducked under the covers.
In the few times they had spent together, whenever Yan Xiaowang said he couldn't sleep at night, Yan Zhao would make him do push-ups. At first, Yan Xiaowang thought it was fun, but later he realized his dad could do push-ups endlessly, and doing them together would exhaust him.
"Get up, let's do push-ups," Yan Zhao said again.
Yan Xiaowang buried his head under the covers: "Snore... Dad, I'm already asleep."
In fact, the last time Yan Xiaowang had seen this father, he was only three and a half years old and couldn't remember what he looked like. It wasn't until last month when he was discharged from the army that Yan Xiaowang truly saw him.
He'd been home for half a month, and every day mom would argue and fight with him.
He never hit back or yelled. He always just stood there like now, face gloomy and motionless, coldly watching Zhou Xueqin.
Sleeping together, Yan Xiaowang actually felt very uncomfortable.
Next door, Little Lang must be sleeping soundly.
