In his previous life, Little Lang could have lived on, but Yan Zhao's salary wasn't enough. Although hospital stays could be reimbursed, imported special drugs were expensive, and it was all up to Little Wang to earn money to support his brother.
However, Zhou Xueqin also had complaints about this. Like Lu Jingyu, she liked to make investments. When Little Wang earned money, she always thought that if he gave it to her, she could earn more, but Little Wang wouldn't give her a penny.
So they became enemies, and Zhou Xueqin stabbed him with an awl, forcing him to give her money.
But now this child wants to earn money and give it to her?
However, Chen Meilan didn't like investing, nor did she want to exchange her cheap stepmother's love for money. Instead, she hoped this child would focus on studying.
"Can you earn more than Yuanyuan's father?" She needed to educate this little one.
Although Chen Meilan couldn't touch the money from Xishan Company, and Yuanyuan could only control it after turning eighteen, because they were constantly installing production lines, with adults discussing business deals worth hundreds of thousands, Yan Xishan seemed to be rolling in money.
Little Wang boasted confidently, "He's just older than me. When I grow up, I can do the same."
"Then do you know why Yuanyuan's father can earn so much money?" Chen Meilan asked again.
Little Wang replied matter-of-factly, "He knows how to drink and network. I can do that too."
"That's because other coal bosses haven't been educated, but he has. Don't think he only knows how to drink and network. He was Teacher Huang's most outstanding student," Chen Meilan corrected.
Compared to other coal bosses, Yan Xishan's advantage was that he had received an education as a child. With Teacher Huang's earnest teachings, he had a broader perspective.
"But he doesn't study now, isn't he drunk every day?" Little Wang countered.
Chen Meilan had to tell a little lie, "He just doesn't read during the day. He still reads every night when he comes home. If you want to call me mom, you need to study first. Don't think about making money."
Little Wang reluctantly mumbled, "Okay, mom."
He was obedient in front of Chen Meilan, but once he saw Yuanyuan and Little Lang, he became the big brother again, insisting on tugging Yuanyuan's braid.
Yuanyuan was trying hard to eat a meatball because her mom would kiss her after she finished. She didn't want to eat anymore after her brother tugged her hair, so she fed it to Little Wang, "Brother, I really dislike you."
But Little Wang didn't mind. He liked eating little meatballs and he liked Yuanyuan.
Yan Zhao came back, and Ma Bo quickly ordered a bowl of meatball soup for him too, adding extra meatballs. Then he looked at Yan Zhao and smiled, kept smiling.
"Take the fingerprints found on Zhou Xueqin's bag back to the station. Check if those who robbed her have criminal records. If they do, arrest them. If not, file a report. This case must be thoroughly investigated," Yan Zhao said.
Ma Bo saluted and left.
With the children present, they couldn't discuss these matters, so Chen Meilan didn't ask.
But as Yan Zhao was about to leave, Chen Meilan blurted out, "Will you come back early tonight?" She wanted to know what was really going on with Zhou Xueqin.
"Are you sure?" Yan Zhao suddenly asked back.
Chen Meilan's face reddened. When Yan Zhao came back late, he usually didn't disturb her. But if he came back early, who knew what might happen. The man she married currently had a trajectory that was still on the rise, with no signs of falling.
But it had been exactly four months since they started sleeping in the same bed, and although he always said it would be just once, the duration kept getting longer.
"Let's go, we're going home," Chen Meilan patted Little Wang, "Your mom is calling you home." From today on, she officially became this child's mom.
"Okay, mom. Goodbye, dad. Remember to eat lunch and drink water," Yuanyuan reminded Yan Zhao.
Little Wang looked back at his dad. After all, Zhou Xueqin was his birth mother, and the child still wanted to ask more, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Yan Zhao said, "For every extra word, you'll do horse stance for ten more minutes tonight."
"Mom, don't you think my black dad is annoying?" On the way home, Little Wang suddenly asked Chen Meilan quietly. After a moment, he added, "Compared to him, Yuanyuan's dad is much better."
Yan Xishan had grown out his hair and recently restrained himself. He no longer wore flashy clothes, but instead donned a white shirt and black suit with a pair of big leather shoes. When he grinned, he looked even more like Fei Xiang than the real Fei Xiang on TV.
Moreover, Chen Meilan didn't allow him to enter the village, so to compete with Yan Zhao for the children's affection, he would often "accidentally" encounter the kids on the road and give them candy.
The children indeed liked him more.
"Don't you dare say such things," Chen Meilan exclaimed.
"But it's true. Yuanyuan's dad is rich and likes to smile. When I grow up, I want to be that kind of person," Little Wang argued with Chen Meilan.
Chen Meilan thought to herself, if Yan Zhao heard this, wouldn't he be furious?
Education, this little rascal still lacked education.
From that day on, to prevent Yan Xishan from further corrupting Little Wang, Chen Meilan set a rule: he wasn't allowed to see the children casually, otherwise she wouldn't pay for Xishan Company's machinery installation fees. For the sake of money, Yan Xishan finally behaved himself and didn't dare to bother the children easily anymore.
Regarding coal mine safety production, Chen Meilan had entrusted a Shanghai coal machinery company to handle it. It was a big business deal worth hundreds of thousands. Today, an interim payment was due, and the installation manager Liu Hao came to visit. He not only brought two brand new pagers for Chen Meilan but also gifts for the children.
This kind of reciprocity was common in business, so Chen Meilan accepted it.
"There's also the circular coal washing line. Sister Meilan, Yan Xishan says it's completely unnecessary. Are you sure you want to install it?" Liu Hao asked Chen Meilan after counting the money.
"Install it. We must install it," Chen Meilan said.
If a coal mine doesn't install circular coal washing, a coal yard would pollute the entire area's groundwater, making the place barren, and local residents would develop all sorts of strange diseases. So in Chen Meilan's view, this was absolutely necessary, and it had to be installed properly.
But Liu Hao, as the contractor, thought Chen Meilan was being a bit foolish.
After coal is extracted, it should theoretically go through a coal washing process. Unwashed coal only has a combustion rate of about 60% and is particularly prone to spontaneous combustion during transportation. Washed coal, on the other hand, is stable during transport and has a combustion rate as high as 90%. Originally, all coal should be washed before transportation.
However, the current demand for coal was so high that people were scrambling for any coal they could get, so coal bosses skipped the washing process.
Other coal bosses were already gathering truck fleets to head south, while Chen Meilan was still delaying for several months to install the coal washing line. Yan Xishan cursed in anger, and after hearing that Zhou Xueqin had been stabbed, he clutched his stomach and sighed, "Why doesn't someone stab me once, so I can die in peace?"
Liu Hao, being on the profit-making side, couldn't help but lament that if Chen Meilan continued like this, Xishan Company would eventually go bankrupt.
As for Chen Meilan, she was overjoyed with her two new pagers.
In her previous life at this time, she had envied others who had pagers. Once when she wanted one, Lu Jingyu almost laughed his head off, "A woman with a pager? Meilan, do you know what men hate most about women? It's women who wear pagers, like female hooligans."
In this life, she was going to be a female hooligan and wear a pager.
While the children were still at school, she first wrote the pager numbers on small cards, then went to the construction site to distribute the numbers to Yan Bin, Chen Degong, and the people from Qinchuan Group's engineering department. She had a quick lunch from the communal pot at the construction site, stayed until five in the afternoon, and then had to go pick up Little Lang.
"Gong xia mi, my relative, pi dian ai shang ni," Little Lang kept repeating this phrase on the way home.
Chen Meilan felt the tune was familiar but couldn't quite remember what song it was.
Just as she was about to ask the child, she saw Zhou Xueqin sitting in a three-wheeled vehicle, being held by Lu Jingyu. She was covering her stomach with both hands, looking both pained and sad. Lu Jingyu was hugging her with a grin, saying something to her, and she nodded as she listened, bouncing along with the vehicle, her expression both painful and sad.
The three-wheeler flashed past Chen Meilan, and Zhou Xueqin's painful groans were audible even over the engine noise, indicating how much pain she was in.
Moreover, hadn't they made a lot of money? Lu Jingyu couldn't even afford to hire a car for Zhou Xueqin and was taking her home in a three-wheeler?
For several days in a row, Yan Zhao had been coming home in the early hours of the morning. Today was Saturday, and he came home early.
As soon as Chen Meilan entered the house, she heard the sound of an electric drill. Under the eaves were two large air conditioners. Air conditioners were not easy to buy these days, and these models were even dual-frequency.
Is Yan Zhao installing air conditioning at home?
Where did he get the money? Could it be that Zhou Xueqin gave living expenses to the two children?
Even after being stabbed, she still cares about Lu Dabao. Zhou Xueqin is a much more dutiful stepmother than Chen Meilan. Chen Meilan felt quite emotional, thinking to herself that at least Zhou Xueqin hadn't made Little Lang endorse paint in this lifetime. She had gone through thick and thin with Lu Jingyu, and even when earning money, she didn't forget her two biological sons. That was not bad at all.
But as soon as she entered the door, she heard Yan Zhao say: "The rewards for my two second-class merits have come through. I bought two air conditioners. Here, give me that screwdriver."
He was drilling holes in the wall to install the air conditioners.
So the air conditioners had nothing to do with Zhou Xueqin; Yan Zhao had bought them himself.
"What's really going on with Zhou Xueqin?" Chen Meilan asked.
Since she hadn't died and had even made a lot of money, Chen Meilan definitely wanted to know what was really going on with her.
Yan Zhao lifted the air conditioner with one shoulder while screwing it in: "She said they were partnering with a group of people to speculate on government bonds. Everyone followed her advice on buying, but she would take a 10% cut of all the profits. So at the end of the year when they settled accounts, she took a 50,000 yuan share from the 500,000 yuan profit. The two of them thought that money was a sure thing, but those people secretly sent someone to wait outside the First Squadron. When Zhou Xueqin was alone, they ambushed her on the way and demanded that 50,000 yuan. Zhou Xueqin refused to give it up, and in the end, she was stabbed once, and the money was taken away. Moreover, they warned Zhou Xueqin that if she dared to advise others on government bonds again, they would take her life!"
"Then why didn't you report it to the police at the time? What about the money? Did you help her get it back?" Chen Meilan asked again.
Yan Zhao had finished tightening the screws and tested that the air conditioner was stable. He continued: "Zhou Xueqin doesn't dare to speculate on government bonds anymore; she's switched to coal. She's already contacted a group of coal bosses and says she's about to head south to trade coal. She's afraid the coal bosses will find out she's tangled with the triads and won't take her along, so she wants to keep the matter quiet."
It was a case of criminals robbing criminals. The other party knew where her base was, and to save her life, she didn't dare report it to the police or speculate on government bonds anymore. However, she could still trade coal. After all, coal was more profitable in this era.
"Is her body really alright? I saw her injury was quite severe. She's not leaving today, is she?" Chen Meilan asked again.
Yan Zhao spat out a few words: "She's fine. Lu Jingyu said he likes seeing her act tough. She got out of the hospital bed and walked out on her own."
Of course, Lu Jingyu naturally liked strong-willed and prosperous women who could both make money and endure hardships.
His deceased ex-wife had fallen ill from doing farm work during her postpartum period and had worked herself to death.
Just as Chen Meilan was about to speak, a song suddenly rang out from outside the window: "Gong xia mi, wo ai wa, guo zha ai xie xing." (A phonetic rendition of a Hokkien song)
That was Little Wang's voice. How come he was singing this too?
Classes ended early on Saturday, and Little Wang and Yuanyuan had been outside the window just now. Hearing that their birth mother was fine, Little Wang could even sing out loud.
As soon as he entered, he rushed to take out the garbage, his bottom swaying as he sang and danced. The garbage bin was too full and spilled a bit. Yuanyuan helped him sweep up the garbage behind him, singing in harmony: "Gong xia mi, wo qin qi, qian qian man man li." (Another line of the Hokkien song)
Yan Zhao frowned at Chen Meilan: "Do these kids want to eat dried shrimp?"
Because Yuanyuan's tune was correct, Chen Meilan suddenly remembered that this was a Hokkien song called "Love's Deceiver." She couldn't help but laugh: "I guess so. Let's make some seaweed soup tonight and put extra dried shrimp in it for them."
Turning to see Little Wang come in, she asked him: "Do you want to eat seaweed soup tonight?"
"Why eat seaweed soup? There's no meat in it," Little Wang said.
"But there's dried shrimp, right? Let's eat dried shrimp, and you guys stop singing about shrimp, okay?" Chen Meilan asked in return.
She really couldn't stand the children singing songs like "Love's Deceiver." It gave her goosebumps all over.
But Yuanyuan said: "Mom, let's make sweet noodle soup and fry two eggs. Add a spring onion too. The final exams are coming up soon, and I want to get two 100s."
One should be like Yuanyuan, both studying hard and dreaming big.
Chen Meilan took out some money and said: "Let's skip the spring onion and get some fried dough twists instead. Noodle soup with crispy fried dough twists and two fried eggs. You two go buy us some fried dough twists."
Crispy fried dough twists with noodle soup is a perfect combination.
The two older children took the money and rushed out to buy fried dough twists.
Yan Zhao installed one air conditioner in Meilan's room and another in Little Wang's room. From now on, they wouldn't have to get up every night to add coal.
He moved one stove to the kitchen and the other to his own room.
After dinner, when it was time to sleep, Chen Meilan was just about to call the children together to open their gifts when Yan Zhao suddenly called out: "...Lan."
How come he suddenly called her Lan today? Wasn't he afraid the children would feel uncomfortable hearing him call her that?
Chen Meilan went over. In the tidy room, Yan Zhao looked up and reached out to feel the warm air blowing from the air conditioner: "We're not missing any major appliances at home now, right?"
Speaking of major appliances, they weren't lacking anything to begin with. Their family was the most well-off in Yanguan Village.
"We're not missing anything. Our family has everything now," Chen Meilan felt extremely satisfied. The air conditioners were an especially unexpected delight.
"Don't do construction work anymore. I've submitted a report to the leadership. You graduated from a polytechnic, so your education is decent. They can arrange for you to work at Ximei Furniture Factory as an office worker. How about that?" Yan Zhao suddenly said.
Ximei Furniture Factory's spring mattresses were selling well recently, but as a state-owned enterprise, they couldn't maintain quality after the mattresses became popular. Not only did Chen Meilan's mattress squeak, but many people were also complaining about the poor quality. In her previous life, Ximei eventually went bankrupt, and all the workers were laid off. If Chen Meilan went there now, wouldn't she just be waiting to be laid off after a while?
However, Yan Zhao had never inquired about her construction contracting business before. Why did he suddenly ask today?
A thought flashed through Meilan's mind, and she suddenly understood: "Did Zhou Xueqin say something to you?"
Not many people in the village knew about her construction work. After all, everyone was busy with their own affairs, and Chen Meilan didn't go around boasting about how much she earned like other contractors.
But Yan Bin's family was in the First Squadron, neighbors with Zhou Xueqin. If Zhou Xueqin asked, Yan Bin would definitely tell her, and might even exaggerate, saying how well Meilan was doing now.
Zhou Xueqin's little scheme was to have her take good care of her son.
But that woman was too despicable, occupying Yan Zhao's courtyard and turning it into a pigsty.
She herself was running around making big money, while Meilan only did small construction projects. Could she be jealous?
Yan Zhao was quite frank about this, saying: "It wasn't Zhou Xueqin. She left for the south this afternoon. It was Lu Jingyu. He told me that you're not partnering with your older brother and Yan Dawei, but running construction projects on your own, and you're the one with the main responsibility... Lan, even men can't do well in the construction industry, let alone a woman."
Yes, Yan Zhao had always known that Chen Meilan was involved in construction projects, but he thought the main operators were Yan Dawei and Chen Degong.
It wasn't until today, when Lu Jingyu went to the police station to close Zhou Xueqin's stabbing case and proactively chatted with him, 'kindly' advising Yan Zhao, that he learned his wife was so ambitious, already a small contractor handling 300,000 yuan projects.
"So, what did Lu Jingyu say?" Chen Meilan asked, unable to suppress her anger.
"He said your two villages are just separated by a river, that you were old acquaintances since childhood, and had once... He said he knows you very well, that as a woman you're not suited for construction work, and he's afraid you'll be taken advantage of," Yan Zhao said briefly.
Chen Meilan was shaking with anger, but not at Yan Zhao. After all, Yan Zhao hadn't opened his mouth and said, like other men might, "What does a woman know? Stay at home." He had even seriously considered finding her a job.
She and Yan Zhao were still a couple. They could discuss things, and even if they argued, they could make up.
What business did that ugly Lu Jingyu have butting in?
...
"She's just an ordinary plain Jane..."
"She's not on the same level as me, but she's an extremely kind person." Even now, Chen Meilan hadn't forgotten those words from her previous life.
It wasn't until much later that Yuanyuan had once vaguely asked Chen Meilan: "Mom, do you think Dad is PUA-ing you?"
Chen Meilan looked up some information online and realized that Lu Jingyu was indeed a textbook PUA man.
...
By rights, Chen Meilan should be trying to persuade Yan Zhao now. She was confident she could convince him.
However, Liu Hao from the coal machinery factory had given gifts to the children. Chen Meilan was afraid of influencing them during the week, so she didn't dare to open them. Tomorrow was the weekend, so today she had to unwrap the gifts for the children. After that, she planned to discuss the construction project with Yan Zhao. After all, she wasn't working alone. The family of the birth control team leader had so many children that needed her to do the project to support them. Almost all the migrant workers were in the same situation as the birth control team leader.
Not everyone was a good person, but their children all needed to eat.
Chen Meilan dared to beat her chest and say that she would be the only contractor in Xiping City who wouldn't owe wages to migrant workers.
If those people didn't work with her and worked for others, they basically wouldn't get paid in this era.
On the kang bed, three little kids sat in a row, watching Chen Meilan open the cardboard box.
It was just like opening a blind box, and Chen Meilan's heart was also particularly excited.
She first took out a box with Doraemon printed on the packaging and asked, "Who wants this?"
Little Lang immediately reached out: "Me!"
This child loved to compete and grab things. If applied to studying, it would be a good habit, but in family interactions, even though he was the youngest, it wouldn't be good if he didn't learn to be considerate in the long run. So actually, this box was the smallest.
Then Chen Meilan took out another one, which was in plastic packaging. Inside was a big pink rabbit with a bow on its head, but the texture was a bit rough, the eyeballs were too black, and it looked a bit fierce.
"Give it to me, Mom." Yuanyuan took it: "This one looks like Dad. I like it."
"It really does look like Dad," Little Lang said in surprise.
The cute yet fierce-looking rabbit did resemble Yan Zhao.
Then there was the last one, a pink teddy bear, which was also the biggest. It wore a bow and was a girl's toy. Little Wang didn't really want it; he preferred the Doraemon, but that had already been given to his younger brother.
"What's so fun about these things? If I don't study and just focus on making big money, I could buy them better toys," he said, hugging the pink bear.
This guy was just like Yan Xishan, also getting restless and eager because he heard Zhou Xueqin had made a lot of money.
But although he complained, he hugged the pink bear tightly when sleeping. As Chen Meilan was turning off the lights, he suddenly said, "Mom, don't envy that woman. When I make money in the future, I'll buy you a big house to live in. Whatever she has, I promise you'll have too." That woman, of course, was Zhou Xueqin.
Education couldn't stop. This naughty child didn't understand yet that without studying, he could only earn small money. Only by studying could he earn big money.
"Alright," Chen Meilan said.
After putting the three children to sleep, Chen Meilan turned on all the air conditioners and listened carefully in the yard. Finding that the electricity for the whole village hadn't been used up by their family, she finally hugged her pillow and tiptoed to find Yan Zhao.
But Yan Zhao, who never locked his door, had actually locked it today?
Unable to push it open, she knocked twice. Chen Meilan got a bit angry: "Yan Zhao, why did you lock the door?"
In the cold weather, hugging a pillow and standing outside knocking on a man's door, was there anyone else like her?
There were clanging sounds from the bedroom, even the jar in the corner made a muffled sound when hit. With a bang, the door opened, and Yan Zhao stood in the doorway: "Weren't you angry just now?"
When mentioning the project earlier, her face had changed color with anger, turning pale.
"What does being angry have to do with going to bed?" Chen Meilan threw her pillow onto the bed and asked back.
Yan Zhao didn't say anything, but he closed his book and put it far away, placed Chen Meilan's pillow neatly next to his, and lifted the quilt to wrap her up entirely.
What did being angry have to do with going to bed?
Chen Meilan still needed to explain the project situation to Yan Zhao properly. After all, although there were plenty of men, finding one who didn't favor boys over girls, didn't engage in PUA, and was willing to do housework was inexplicably difficult.
And here he was, locking the door.
