Because of the importance of the Qinchuan Group project, Chen Meilan specifically asked Yan Bin to inquire about it. Only then did she learn that it was truly a bloodbath.
There were dozens, if not hundreds, of construction teams bidding for the project, and each one was related to someone in leadership.
It was said that when the leadership decided on a construction team one day, someone would report it the next day. If they decided on another team the following day, someone would put up big-character posters the day after. The Cultural Revolution had only recently ended, and the habit of posting big-character posters was still prevalent.
The engineering companies were also unregulated. Basically, whoever the client designated would receive the money directly. There were no supervision companies yet, so buildings were constructed however they pleased. Making money was far too easy.
Your relatives would report mine, and mine would report yours. It had become a bloodbath, to the point where even Qin Yuxing's bribery was posted on the factory bulletin board.
This incident even affected Yan Dawei's work at Dongfang Group. His superiors thought he was neglecting his duties and trying to grab projects at Qinchuan Group. He was directly moved to a cold bench position. It was truly a case of not getting the meat but being left with the stink of sheep.
Finally, Leader Ma lost his temper, slamming the table and berating everyone. He insisted on bringing in leaders from the Housing and Construction Bureau, gathering all the leadership to collectively review all the "Bid Documents". They scrutinized the bids down to the details listed, such as the thickness of steel bars and the grade of cement, to see whose bid was the most sincere.
Hearing Yan Bin say this, Chen Meilan felt that she should be prepared, because Teacher Huang's bid was more sincere than anyone else's.
But just then, Chen Meilan received a cold shower of news from the children's side.
It was Saturday evening, and Ma Xiaogang came to visit. Just as he and Little Wang entered, Mrs. Ma called saying, "Little Chen, I'm really sorry, but it seems the project might not work out. However, Xiaogang has gone to your place to play. If you don't mind, please entertain him for a while. If you do mind, just send him back to me, okay?"
The little snot-nosed kid and Little Wang were arm in arm, singing: "Hengshui hundred years, national nourishment gradually awakens, open your eyes, look at Xiusan, that dizzy building gathers... Slow thunder poor wakes eternal eight, intimate thunder yellow and water steal steal."
Little Lang chased after them, asking, "Brother, what does 'yellow and water steal steal' mean?"
"Get lost, little brat, you don't understand anything," Little Wang waved his hand dismissively.
This little rascal was completely different from when he first arrived, crouching at the station and looking at Zhou Xueqin pitifully. Now he was not only good at making money but also mischievous, always smiling all day.
Although Chen Meilan was a bit dazed by this cold shower of news, she rarely saw Little Wang so happy, so she still said, "No need, I'm going out tomorrow anyway. Let him play with my two sons."
"I feel quite embarrassed. Where are you going to play tomorrow?" Mrs. Ma asked again.
Chen Meilan said, "Xi'an Film Studio."
Yuanyuan had started filming today. Because it wasn't easy for child actors to shoot on location, Yuanyuan was filming on a set at the film studio. Chen Meilan had already been there once today. As an accompanying family member, she couldn't enter the set, but she had already arranged with the studio staff that she could bring the children to play tomorrow.
"Alright," Mrs. Ma said and hung up the phone.
The Xi'an Film Studio had many interesting things: real planes and cannons, and props used in the hit films "Red Sorghum" and "Yellow Earth", all displayed in exhibition rooms.
Chen Meilan loved these things, enjoyed looking at them, and liked explaining them to the children, but the children didn't particularly enjoy it. Ma Xiaogang and Little Wang's favorite activity was still singing. They howled like ghosts and wolves, singing everything from "The Great Wall Will Never Fall" to "Shanghai Beach" as they walked along.
Ma Xiaogang even had a small top hat, just like the one worn by Xu Wenqiang in "Shanghai Beach", but in a child's version. Wearing it made him look even more like Xu Wenqiang.
Little Lang couldn't understand any of it and followed Chen Meilan with a furrowed brow and pouting lips as he watched the two older boys.
When bored, he would take a sip of water.
The fair-skinned little boy looked at his two brothers with envy.
Chen Meilan always felt that the conflict was deliberate. At noon, she took the children to eat the soul food of old Shaanxi people: lamb paomo with ice peak soda, each person also chewing on two cloves of garlic. They ate until their bellies were round. Just as they came out of the lamb paomo restaurant, a young man who was humming something like "Ba Gu Ya Cai" suddenly reached out and grabbed Ma Xiaogang's hat, and even spat on it: "Little brat, trying to sing Cantonese songs, can you even sing?"
Ma Xiaogang was a snot-nosed kid, and because he was thin and small, he only had Little Wang as a friend at school.
When the man spat on him and took his hat away, he didn't even dare to make a sound, just stood there.
The young man went into the place next door, which was an open-air café. Drinking coffee next to a paomo restaurant, the local and foreign cultures of Xi'an were blending and mixing.
Little Wang was unhappy and chased into the café's courtyard: "Uncle, you just spat on my friend's face, give my friend's hat back."
The young man continued humming, with the hat on his head.
Nowadays, there were many hooligans on the streets stealing things. Victory brand nail shoes, Xu Wenqiang's hat, they would steal anything whether they could wear it or not. This guy wanted to keep the hat.
From the perspective of a contractor who had carefully prepared a bid for Qinchuan Group only to be stood up in the end, Ma Xiaogang being bullied was none of her business. Chen Meilan could have just pretended not to see it.
But she was, after all, a woman first, and she didn't like seeing children being taken advantage of.
So she went in too, and as soon as she entered, she said, "You're singing Leslie Cheung, yet you bully children? Are you worthy of singing Leslie Cheung's songs?"
It was the height of popularity for Hong Kong and Taiwan songs, and the young man was humming Leslie Cheung's "Monica". People nowadays valued kindred spirits, and hearing that Chen Meilan actually knew Leslie Cheung, the young man suddenly showed respect: "My apologies, my apologies, you're also a fan of Leslie Cheung." He voluntarily handed over the hat.
Chen Meilan was just short of telling him to get lost.
Ma Xiaogang's top hat was lost and found, but the little fellow had lost his earlier spirit. He and Little Wang held hands, not daring to sing anymore, walking silently behind.
Even though the business deal might not happen, business was adult affairs. Chen Meilan, having lived an extra lifetime, had a more peaceful mindset. It was also because in her previous life, she had let Yuanyuan suffer too much, so she didn't like to see children being wronged.
Just as they were passing by a barbecue shop, seeing Ma Xiaogang and Little Wang looking so pitiful, she asked them, "Do you want to eat some grilled sausages?"
Little Lang finally had a chance to answer first: "Yes!"
Even though their stomachs were round from the paomo they had just eaten, a thin Vienna sausage grilled over charcoal fire and sprinkled with chili and cumin was still a favorite of children.
So Chen Meilan ordered a grilled sausage for each of the three children. Just as she turned around, she saw Mrs. Ma standing behind her with a smile.
"Grandma, grilled sausage," Ma Xiaogang called out.
"Mrs. Ma, what a coincidence," Chen Meilan also said.
Mrs. Ma smiled and said, "Yes, it's quite a coincidence. I was passing by and happened to run into you. I hope Xiaogang hasn't caused you any trouble?"
"No, not at all," Chen Meilan didn't think it was a coincidence at all. Mrs. Ma had specifically asked her yesterday where they were going to play.
"Meilan, I'm heading back now. Remember to wait for a call. Your Uncle Ma is still in a meeting today, but he will do his utmost to ensure you get the project," Mrs. Ma said, then left with Ma Xiaogang.
This was the nature of the project - ninety-nine difficulties, with one last hurdle to overcome.
Mrs. Ma wanted to see if she was a person who remembered kindness and returned favors. Last night, she deliberately said the project had fallen through, and today she hired a young hooligan to specifically bully Ma Xiaogang, just to test if she could still treat the child normally after hearing the project had failed.
Chen Meilan had been a person who acted with conscience in both her lifetimes.
Many of the projects that Lu Jingyu couldn't secure initially were slowly won over by Chen Meilan's persistent efforts, like water dripping through stone.
She had always worried whether she could manage without Lu Jingyu, after all, in this society, people placed more value on men.
But this time, without Lu Jingyu, didn't she still succeed?
The project, she had secured it!
Little Lang's grilled sausage was of course gone in just a few bites, but Little Wang hadn't eaten his Vienna sausage. He waited until he saw Yuanyuan coming out of the film studio, then reached out and gave it to her from afar.
Chen Meilan had originally thought that since sausages cool quickly, she would buy one when Yuanyuan came out. Since Little Wang had given his, she decided not to buy another one.
However, Yuanyuan had only taken one bite when Little Wang, taking advantage of Chen Meilan's inattention, suddenly said mysteriously, "Little Yuanyuan, there's my snot on it."
Yuanyuan was so angry she pinched him, and Little Wang quickly surrendered, "I'm just kidding, I didn't even dare to smell it."
Is it too late to return this brother now?
On the weekend, Yan Zhao was cleaning up at home, as Xiong Xiangdang was coming over as a guest today.
Although Yan Zhao worked in law enforcement, Xiong Xiangdang always liked to consult him on criminal investigation matters, such as the ongoing child trafficking cases. There were many such cases, and they had arrested several that could serve as examples. It was time for some heavy sentences, and Xiong Xiangdang wanted to hear Yan Zhao's opinion.
"Let's wait a bit longer. The current examples aren't enough yet. Keep looking," said Yan Zhao.
Indeed, regarding child trafficking, they needed to find exemplary cases and crack down hard, with public executions. So the examples had to be sufficiently typical to warrant public execution.
Xiong Xiangdang then left.
"Little Three?" a woman called Yan Zhao by his childhood nickname at the door. "It's me, Chuncao."
It was Su Chuncao. Her family was from the First Brigade, but she had married into the Third Brigade. She and Yan Zhao were classmates in elementary school.
As a child, she often copied Yan Zhao's homework. They had a good relationship. Moreover, the current family planning policy allowed married couples to have only one child. For remarried couples, only if one partner had no children could they have another. If both had children already, they were required to undergo sterilization. As a small-time health worker, she had a heavy quota for sterilizations to meet.
Otherwise, she wouldn't dare to come knocking on this tiger's door so rashly.
Seeing that Chen Meilan wasn't around, she smiled and said, "Captain Yan, the policy is forcing our hand. If your wife won't get sterilized, you should do it. You promised before, remember?"
Yan Zhao was hanging laundry, his large hand patting Chen Meilan's white shirt, smoothing it out.
His hand paused on the white shirt, as if hearing this for the first time: "What sterilization?"
"The family planning policy. That year you called and told me personally not to sterilize Zhou Xueqin, but to sterilize you instead if needed. Now that Chen Meilan won't do it, you should step up. Set an example for our village," Su Chuncao said again.
Zhou Xueqin and Yan Zhao didn't have a good relationship. She had lived in Salt Barrier Village for a few days, saying everyone bullied her and she didn't want to stay, wanting to go to the capital instead.
When she got to the capital, she complained that her father-in-law and sister-in-law bullied her, so she returned to her parents' home.
At that time, to help Zhou Xueqin move, Yan Zhao had specially asked Su Chuncao to help her move.
But even though Zhou Xueqin lived with her parents, she was still considered a member of Salt Barrier Village. In theory, under the family planning policy, she should have been sterilized. However, when Su Chuncao went to find Zhou Xueqin, she made Su Chuncao call Yan Zhao, yelling into the phone: "Yan Zhao, my being with you was all rape, pure rape. The child was also from rape. I won't get sterilized. If anyone's getting sterilized, it should be you."
Yan Zhao had Su Chuncao listen to the call, then said, "Wait until I come back to get sterilized. Don't sterilize Zhou Xueqin."
Zhou Xueqin grabbed the phone and said softly, "Yan Zhao, you're so good. I'll take good care of our child, thank you." One mention of sterilization, and rape could turn into "so good" - it shows how much women resented sterilization.
It was also because of this that Salt Barrier Village let Zhou Xueqin off. Otherwise, they would have sterilized her long ago.
A few days ago, Su Chuncao had been trying to persuade Chen Meilan to get sterilized, but she didn't take the bait. So Su Chuncao came to find the "Cold King Yan."
Once, when Yan Zhao couldn't find a partner in the army, Yan Yong had asked about their female elementary school classmates. Su Chuncao had married early and missed the chance. There was one called Su Yuan, but she refused even when Yan Zhao's mother personally proposed, saying he was too dark and fierce-looking.
But this "Cold King Yan" had a soft heart despite his tough exterior, and was actually very good to women.
"Chuncao, can you gather the village women? I'd like to say a few words about the sterilization issue," said Yan Zhao.
Just then, Chen Meilan came in with the children and saw Su Chuncao chatting cheerfully with Yan Zhao. She asked, "Chuncao, what's going on?"
"Yan Zhao wants to get himself sterilized!" Su Chuncao stuck out her tongue. "Meilan, don't think Yan Zhao is poor. You've found a good man."
Under the grand family planning policy, forget about women - what man would voluntarily get sterilized?
Su Chuncao had already gone to gather people. Chen Meilan felt like she'd been hit over the head.
The current policy was still okay in cities, but in rural areas, family planning was a one-size-fits-all policy - either sterilization or IUD insertion.
Sterilization directly took away your ability to have children, while IUDs had a chance of perforating the uterus.
However, Yan Zhao worked at the police station. If he didn't voluntarily get sterilized, who would dare to make trouble at his workplace?
As for her, she could just hide, right? Who could really force her onto the operating table?
How did Yan Zhao suddenly decide to voluntarily sterilize himself? Was it like Zhou Xueqin said, that he was an unyielding golden shield when it came to following rules and laws, making no exceptions even for himself?
"Captain Yan, how did you suddenly decide to sterilize yourself? What's going on?" Chen Meilan had to ask.
No matter how law-abiding he was, he couldn't be like this. This policy could only control people with official jobs. The nouveau riche and coal bosses had many children, who would occupy more social resources in the future. This was an unequal treaty.
Yan Zhao surprisingly said, "If I voluntarily get sterilized, you should be happy, right?" Then he just stared at her.
Chen Meilan almost jumped up, thinking, "Captain Yan, why would I be happy if you get sterilized?"
It's said that after men get sterilized, they're likely to become impotent in that area.
"Why would I be happy if you get sterilized?" Chen Meilan asked back.
"They say after a man gets sterilized, he becomes impotent in that area. Then you won't hurt anymore," Yan Zhao indeed said, proving he knew about it too.
Chen Meilan thought to herself, this man looks upright on the surface, but how can he blurt out such things so brazenly?
It made her heart race.
"I don't hurt that much now, and isn't it normal anyway?" Chen Meilan wasn't a shameless woman. In her two lifetimes, she had never discussed bedroom matters with anyone, but now she had to say such things.
To comfort a man who was ruthless and black-hearted, yet actually quite cunning inside, while appearing simple and honest on the outside.
Yan Zhao smiled but didn't say anything.
"Even if you have to get sterilized for the policy, there are actually connections and ways around it. Why don't I quietly find someone to pull some strings for you, and you can just go through the motions? How about that?" Chen Meilan tried saying.
Suggesting using connections to the iron-willed, impartial Captain Yan - she treaded lightly, afraid he might not only reject the favor but also give her a lecture.
Yan Zhao frowned again: "You can use connections for this too?"
"You probably won't want to, but many people pay a few hundred yuan to bribe the doctor and it's fine," Chen Meilan explained. "They make a small incision, get a certificate to take home, and just be careful about contraception afterwards."
This was almost a social norm. If he lectured her for this, he'd deserve Zhou Xueqin cheating on him.
Yan Zhao: "Now I know."
This was a man who had been in the army for over a decade. After a long military career, he was slowly getting familiar with the rules of this new society. He would get angry hearing that only those who visited prostitutes could win, and he didn't quite understand the various unspoken rules of society. Having been isolated for too long, he was trying to integrate into this world that was no longer the black-and-white of the Cultural Revolution era, but rather bizarre and varied.
"If you're willing to use connections, I'll go tell Chuncao not to call people, and we can just quietly get it done," Chen Meilan said, tempting Captain Yan to break the rules. But this was a necessary transgression, as it concerned her sexual happiness.
"Su Chuncao is working so hard on family planning everywhere. Does she take money too?" Yan Zhao asked instead.
Actually, she didn't. Su Chuncao was just a small health worker with family planning quotas to meet. If she didn't complete them, she'd be criticized by her superiors. How could she possibly be taking bribes?
Rural family planning was so strict in the 1990s because of performance evaluations. Local governments competed to see who could sterilize more people, and that was considered glorious.
As for the gray benefits, in this era, as long as a woman was pushed onto the operating table, everyone from the family planning office to the surgeon would open their pockets to take money.
Chen Meilan had just finished persuading Yan Zhao when Su Chuncao's voice came over the loudspeaker outside: "All women in the brigade, gather in front of the Third Brigade health clinic. There's a policy to be announced." It wasn't just once, but repeated over and over.
Fortunately, she didn't directly say Yan Zhao wanted to sterilize himself.
They had to go now. Chen Meilan needed to get Su Chuncao to suppress this matter. Otherwise, if it spread that Yan Zhao was voluntarily getting sterilized, given how the government operated these days, Chen Meilan feared that leaders from the Family Planning Bureau would come in person to observe Yan Zhao's sterilization surgery. Then the doctor would definitely tie a knot in his vas deferens.
"Let's go. I'll say a few words," Yan Zhao said, getting up.
"You can't get sterilized," Chen Meilan pleaded earnestly.
"I won't get sterilized," Yan Zhao suddenly lowered his head and looked at Chen Meilan. "But you have to promise me that starting tonight, you won't go back to sleep on that kang bed. It's too cold, you'll catch a cold."
How did this suddenly turn into a discussion about where she sleeps at night? Chen Meilan pretended not to hear.
Although people weren't very enthusiastic, when they heard the loudspeaker, they were willing to bring their small stools to join the crowd. Little Lang shouted loudly, "Sterilize! Let's all get sterilized together!"
Little Wang and Yuanyuan saw Little Lang carrying a small stool, so they also grabbed small stools and ran faster than the adults.
"Who's getting sterilized?" someone asked.
Another person said, "I heard it's our village's 'King of Hell'."
Many people already knew privately, after all, news travels fast. More people kept arriving, and the village health center welcomed its busiest day since its establishment.
And Su Chuncao hadn't even given her public lecture yet.
"No way, even if you told me West Mountain was getting sterilized, I wouldn't believe Yan Zhao would do it," someone was saying. Just then, Yan Zhao walked past him, and he immediately fell silent. A chill seemed to follow wherever Yan Zhao went.
When he stopped in front of the promotional posters at the health center, everyone stopped talking.
Most were women who were required to be sterilized under strict conditions by the family planning office, but who stubbornly refused to go through with it.
It wasn't that they wanted to have more children, they just wanted to keep their reproductive rights in their own hands.
People had heard that a man wanted to get sterilized, which they found novel, so they came to watch the commotion.
"Chuncao, come read this. What does this sentence say?" Yan Zhao pointed to the "Current Regulations on Family Planning Issued by the State Council" posted on the wall.
Su Chuncao hurried over and read where Yan Zhao was pointing: "...All couples meeting the above conditions must implement birth control measures."
"What are birth control measures?" Yan Zhao asked Su Chuncao again.
"IUDs, sterilization," Su Chuncao replied.
"Condoms and birth control pills are also birth control measures. This is a regulation issued by the State Council, proving that the state only requires people to use birth control, not a one-size-fits-all approach of sterilizing women. I'm declaring here that our couple will follow national regulations for birth control and absolutely won't have more children, but we'll use condoms and birth control pills. Meilan won't be sterilized," Yan Zhao said.
A woman in the crowd gathered the courage to speak up: "Team Leader Yan, if Meilan doesn't get sterilized, no one would dare come to your house to force her. But if we don't get sterilized, the family planning office will come to our homes and drag us away. You're in public security - can we report this to the police?"
On one hand, people were hiding to avoid sterilization and secretly having children. On the other hand, the family planning teams were acting like bandits raiding homes.
Yan Zhao looked at the woman and said, "Use the policies to protect your rights and do proper birth control. If family planning officials really come to your home and assault you, report it immediately, and we'll respond right away. But you can't make a scene or hit people either. Whoever strikes first is who we'll arrest."
The people who had been laughing and joking just moments ago suddenly fell silent.
After a while, some women started applauding sporadically.
As Yan Zhao made his way through the crowd, more people joined in the applause.
The law is set by the state, and State Council policies have never been one-size-fits-all. There are just some deviations in the implementation process.
As long as you obey the law, you can call the police to confront the family planning officials. But most people just want to take advantage and have more children, so they end up being bullied by the family planning office.
Su Chuncao was still standing there when suddenly Chen Meilan grabbed her ear: "You, Su Chuncao! To complete your family planning quota, you tried to trick my husband into getting sterilized? Good thing my husband is smart."
"Let me explain... never mind," Su Chuncao started to speak but then stopped herself, pulling away from Chen Meilan's grasp.
If Yan Zhao hadn't personally said on the phone that he would get sterilized when he returned, would Su Chuncao have come to their home?
At the time, after hanging up the phone, Zhou Xueqin had complained to Su Chuncao: "Just look at this. Yan Zhao is so stubborn. If he had any ambition or money, why would he need to get sterilized? Couldn't he just pay some money to avoid it?"
Rich people all pay off the family planning department and the surgeons to exempt their wives from sterilization, and still get an honorary plaque to hang at home.
Yan Zhao, a soldier on the battlefield of war and smoke, had no such ability and could only get himself sterilized.
Zhou Xueqin's hatred, resentment, and disappointment had accumulated bit by bit like this.
Su Chuncao had sighed for Zhou Xueqin at the time, even feeling that Zhou Xueqin's divorce was understandable. But now, she wanted Zhou Xueqin to see how Yan Zhao handled this matter.
Not only did he not let Meilan get sterilized, but his interpretation of the policy was also something Su Chuncao had never heard before.
She had heard that Zhou Xueqin and her new man had made a lot of money outside the village, and Zhou's mother was bragging about her new son-in-law's capabilities at mahjong tables.
But Su Chuncao felt that even if Zhou Xueqin's new son-in-law was good, Yan Zhao wasn't bad either.
He might have less money, but at least he was upright and lived with dignity.
Yan Zhao had once voluntarily brought up getting sterilized, but to avoid leaving Meilan with any misgivings, she wouldn't mention it. She would be the bad guy in this!
On the way back, Yan Zhao repeated once more that she wasn't allowed to leave tonight - it was too cold, and she could easily catch a cold running back and forth in the middle of the night.
But that night, Chen Meilan broke her promise. After being held down by Yan Zhao several times and getting up again, she still ran away with her pillow.
Little Lang was her get-out-of-jail-free card. She was always listening for Little Lang's voice, ready to run at his first cry.
...
To outsiders, Chen Meilan's contract with Qinchuan Group seemed like dumb luck, and even other leaders at Qinchuan Group couldn't say anything against it, since no one could connect her to Leader Ma.
Chen Meilan brought her manager Yan Bin, foreman Chen Degong, and supervisor Huang Zhengde to sign the contract. The four of them made quite an impressive professional team.
But other foremen looked at Chen Meilan as if she were a lucky fool.
This was a big project, with the first payment being 30% upfront - 90,000 yuan for buying basic materials.
However, in this era, as long as you were familiar with suppliers, you could get various construction materials on credit.
So Chen Meilan saved that 90,000 yuan, planning to invest it in the West Mountain company when the time came.
Qinchuan Group only had a small crew start construction work this winter, with her older brother leading the experienced workers to work slowly. The main building construction wouldn't start until spring of '89, and the 30,000 yuan Chen Meilan had originally earned was enough to cover expenses.
This project could help her turn Yuanyuan's two mines into safe mines where no one would die.
With those two mines, Yuanyuan wouldn't have to struggle and toil for half her life like in her previous life.
She had a dowry whose value she didn't even know herself, and it was clean money too.
Moreover, to prevent Yan Xishan from playing tricks with the project, Chen Meilan hadn't told him about this money yet.
Yan Xishan was busy with construction at the coal pit, occasionally coming to chat with Chen Meilan, telling her how much money Zhou Xueqin had made again.
He said it was unconscionable of her to keep him cooped up in the mountains working on safety projects.
"Chen Meilan, I've always looked down on that woman Zhou Xueqin, but as a woman, she's a thousand times better than you," Yan Xishan said through gritted teeth, pointing at Chen Meilan's nose.
Just then, Little Wang and Yuanyuan came home from school. Little Wang hadn't heard yet, but the sensible Yuanyuan pulled him away, turning to run.
Her annoying brother wasn't the best student in school, but he was the most diligent, always eager to help teachers clean the blackboard and assist his classmates. He was happy every day, but whenever he heard the name Zhou Xueqin, he became unhappy.
Yuanyuan knew this better than anyone, so whenever someone mentioned Zhou Xueqin, she would find a way to pull her brother far away so he wouldn't hear.
Even though they lived in the same village.
The other reincarnated person, Zhou Xueqin, had never shown herself, remaining completely unconnected to Chen Meilan like two parallel lines.
Little Lang was even closer to Chen Meilan than Yuanyuan. Little Wang would have been a very good child if not for some occasional bad habits. Yuanyuan and Little Wang often quarreled but would reconcile without adult intervention.
Chen Meilan thought she would forever only hear news of Zhou Xueqin's sudden wealth and witness Lu Jingyu become the new richest man ahead of schedule.
But just then, an unexpected piece of news arrived.
The phone rang in the middle of the night.
After a while, Yan Zhao came to knock on the window. Chen Meilan was holding onto her get-out-of-jail-free card: "Little Lang won't let me leave. He cries as soon as I let go."
"Zhou Xueqin has been stabbed. They say her life is in danger!" Yan Zhao said.
Zhou Xueqin, who was a thousand times stronger than Chen Meilan, had now sent news that she was on the brink of death.
