Adults fight over houses, while children fight for pride.
Dabao was currently trying to provoke Little Wang into a fight, raising his eyebrows tauntingly. "Yan Xiaowang, just you wait until I transfer to Dongfang School."
Little Wang, unwilling to back down but aware of his father's stern gaze, couldn't bring himself to curse. Instead, he leaned out the window and retorted, "A real man doesn't fight girls. I don't hit little girls."
This remark, while not particularly harmful, was incredibly insulting and infuriated Dabao. She blurted out, "Your mother's a bitch! You're such a coward!"
Little Wang didn't dare use such vulgar language, so Dabao felt she had the upper hand.
Chen Meilan, overhearing this, turned to Lu Jingyu with a cold smile. "Yes, we may have grown up drinking from the same river, but I'm smarter, kinder, and more sensible than you. That's why I never teach my son to use foul language."
Lu Jingyu, who usually prided himself on his son's ability to fight and curse like a little king, now smacked his son on the head. "Watch your mouth! That's your Aunt Chen. How dare you use such language?"
"But Dad, didn't you say she's just a woman who doesn't know shit?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Jingyu immediately gave his son another slap.
While the father and son duo were getting worked up, Chen Meilan seemed rather pleased. She turned to Dabao and said, "Auntie knows a lot more than you think. It's your dad who doesn't know shit. I may have only taken on a small project, but my building is almost finished. What about your dad's project?"
Dabao nearly blurted out that his dad had talked with Zhou Xueqin about potentially taking over the project, but the child held his tongue.
Chen Meilan continued, "You know Yan Bin, right? He's only willing to work for me. Your dad offered him 700 yuan salary to poach him from me, but he refused."
Dabao couldn't hold back anymore and jumped up, exclaiming, "My dad said he'll take your project sooner or later!"
This is what happens with spoiled children. When they beat up or cursed at other kids, Lu Jingyu was proud. But now that his child was airing his dirty laundry, exposing him in front of everyone, Lu Jingyu's expression was a sight to behold.
Another slap landed on Dabao's face.
The elders present weren't fools; they understood what was going on.
Meilan had worked hard to secure a small project, and Lu Jingyu, the nouveau riche, was planning to steal it?
The old men didn't understand much about construction projects, but they believed that with Yan Zhao backing her, he must be the one making the big decisions, while Meilan, being a woman, was just helping out.
Everyone in the village sided with Yan Zhao.
Old Man Yan, always biased and twisted in his logic, only ever supported his own family. He jabbed his cane at Lu Jingyu's backside, saying, "You have no sense of male honor! Trying to steal a small job from a weak woman? Get out of our village!" He had completely forgotten that he himself looked down on women the most.
The village children were shouting outside, "They're taking back the house! They're taking it back!"
"Meilan... you used to be such a good comrade... how did you become like this?" Lu Jingyu, being poked by the old men's canes, shook his head, wanting to say more but holding back.
Truthfully, Lu Jingyu felt that Chen Meilan had become a completely different person. He remembered how shy and beautiful she was as a young girl.
Yes, back then, all the pretty girls wanted to marry into the city. During his first marriage, he only looked for a woman with a big bottom who could bear children and do farm work, because he was a true farmer through and through. He never considered someone like Chen Meilan with her slim waist, long legs, and fair skin, who couldn't handle the wind or rain and would struggle to carry a bucket of water.
When he got divorced for the second time, Chen Meilan seemed ideal in every way except for her baggage. After all, she had been through hardships in her first marriage and had been tempered by life.
Lu Jingyu had hesitated at the time. Chen Meilan was too good to Yuanyuan, and he feared she might treat his two children like a stepmother would. He wanted to test her character a bit, but ended up losing her completely.
All along, Lu Jingyu had held Meilan in high regard in his heart. But today, he genuinely felt that compared to Zhou Xueqin, she fell far short and wasn't lovable at all. She hardly seemed like a woman anymore.
However, before he could express his disappointment and regret to Chen Meilan with a half-smile, she suddenly thought of something: "Lu Jingyu, don't think you can just walk away like this. If you don't clean up the house properly, I'll use your Montagut shirt to mop the floor!"
Knowing Yan Zhao's personality, he would definitely go to clean up the house himself.
But Chen Meilan couldn't swallow her pride if she didn't make Lu Jingyu clean up his and Zhou Xueqin's chamber pots himself.
With just that one shout, a group of old men chimed in: "You bastard, go clean up right now. If you don't do a good job, I'll make you lick the floor clean."
A woman?
Could Chen Meilan's behavior still be considered womanly?
Lu Jingyu, being pushed out by the old men, smiled on the surface but cursed in his heart: Chen Meilan, you're nothing but a shrew. Even a rough man like Yan Zhao will eventually get tired of you and cheat!
Yan Zhao led the group of old men, with Yan Xishan driving, as they set off in grand fashion to reclaim the house from the First Team.
Little Wang, Yuanyuan, and the others had to go door to door to retrieve Yuanyuan's postcards.
There were only 12 of them, but they were mementos that couldn't just be given away to others.
Chen Meilan was busy sweeping up sunflower seed shells, cigarette butts, and the thick phlegm the old men had spit in the courtyard.
The group of old men who had come over, smoking and spitting, had left the courtyard in a mess.
Just as she finished sweeping up the trash and was about to take it out, Chen Meilan noticed Little Wang's big pink teddy bear hanging on the windowsill. One of its legs had been torn, revealing the white stuffing inside.
Little Wang cherished this big pink bear, hugging it to sleep every night. The child was also very clean, never allowing even a speck of dirt on the bear. How could it possibly have been torn?
She grabbed it for a closer look and found several large characters written in pen: "Your mother's a bitch, just wait until I start school, we'll see then!"
The clumsy handwriting was undoubtedly Lu Dabao's work.
Putting down the broom and holding the stuffed bear, Chen Meilan let out a deep sigh.
In her previous life, Dabao had only been foul-mouthed but never physically bullied other children. It must be because of money. Rumor had it that Lu Jingyu was very generous with his pocket money, and money had exacerbated the child's bad habits, making him even worse.
He hadn't even started at Dongfang School yet, and he was already planning to bully Little Wang and Yuanyuan?
Chen Meilan had originally not intended to pay much attention to the child she had raised in her previous life. She even regretted a moment of impulse when she had taught him to curse. But now she felt that although they should go their separate ways, Lu Dabao could attend any of the many good schools in the city. Putting him in the same school as Little Wang and Yuanyuan probably wouldn't work out.
Just because of this torn bear, Chen Meilan decided that if Lu Jingyu dared to transfer Dabao to their school, she wouldn't hesitate to have a chat with Principal Liu about Dabao and Lu Jingyu's father-son duo's behavior in Yanguan Village.
Principal Liu valued children's character and would likely give serious consideration to this matter.
She didn't want Dabao to attend the same school as Little Wang and Yuanyuan.
After stuffing all the cotton back into the teddy bear and sewing it up, Chen Meilan washed it thoroughly, first spinning it in the washing machine and then hanging it under the air conditioner to dry.
By the time Little Wang returned, it would be a clean little pink bear again.
Yuanyuan hugged her big rabbit, and Little Lang clutched his little alarm clock – both openly showing their affection for their prized possessions.
Only Little Wang pretended to be indifferent towards his little pink bear during the day, but always hugged it tightly when he slept at night.
...
Yan Zhao went to reclaim the house. It was said that Lu Jingyu took Lu Dabao and left that night with just a few changes of clothes. As for Zhou's mother, she only discovered that her new son-in-law had moved out when she returned home from playing mahjong in the middle of the night.
This left the old lady suddenly homeless in the dead of night.
Lu Jingyu, needing to work on his project, naturally had hired help. Those workers came to clean up the house the next day.
The clothes, garbage, food, and drinks in the house were all thrown out by those workers.
Meanwhile, a small but significant event occurred at Chen Meilan's place, bringing both joy and frustration.
These days, almost all construction foremen owed wages to their migrant workers.
The foremen would receive project funds but withhold wages to invest in high-interest loans, profiting from the interest. This practice greatly burdened the migrant workers, who had work but found it extremely difficult to get paid.
At the construction site of Qinchuan Group, only thirty workers were needed to slowly carry out the work. However, somehow word got out that Chen Meilan's site had job opportunities and didn't delay wage payments.
Gradually, seventy to eighty fellow villagers from Jinyang County came to seek employment at Chen Meilan's construction site.
One morning, Chen Degong emerged from the work shed to find a dense crowd of people outside. They were all familiar faces from his hometown, looking weathered and tired, carrying bedrolls and food containers, hoping to find work.
Although the site would need at least two hundred workers once it was in full swing, and more workers meant faster progress, Chen Meilan couldn't hire them all yet. With limited work available, she'd have to pay a full day's wages for each person, even if they had little to do. She had to gently persuade them to return home and come back in the spring.
The migrant workers were understanding. With Chen Meilan's promise, they reluctantly left, looking back frequently as they went.
While others might struggle to recruit workers for their projects, Chen Meilan already had seventy to eighty people waiting to work for her before construction had officially begun. She was quite the impressive foreman.
It took nearly half a month for Lu Jingyu's team to finish cleaning up the house for Yan Zhao. As the New Year approached, they finally got it to a state where the old gentlemen deemed it livable before allowing them to leave.
Yan Zhao wanted to bring his honorary military family plaque and his mother's pear wood tablet to the new house.
Chen Meilan went to Yan Zhao's house with the children.
Little Wang had visited the village when he was younger and recognized his family's house. Today, as the whole family arrived, he was eager to show off to Yuanyuan and Little Lang.
"This room," Little Wang said proudly as he pushed open a door, "my dad says it's specially reserved for my grandpa. Isn't it nice? In the future, this room will be just for Yuanyuan. Look at that corner by the window, that's where we'll put your piano."
It was indeed a beautiful room. The walls were made entirely of blue bricks, with the joints filled with matching colored mortar, creating a perfectly smooth surface. The edge of the kang bed was inlaid with polished round wood, giving off a purple-red hue that complemented the blue bricks beautifully.
Yuanyuan couldn't help but love this blue brick house. It reminded her of her childhood home, which was also made of blue bricks with large tiles, before it was torn down to build a new house.
"This room is for my dad and me. What do you think?" Little Wang opened another door.
Yuanyuan noticed something odd. In her house, they had large kang beds, but all the kangs in Little Wang's house were small, typically meant for single occupancy in rural areas.
"Don't your grandpa and grandma sleep together?" Yuanyuan asked.
Su Wen had passed away in 1984 at the age of 62. Little Wang was only two years old then and didn't remember her. However, he had heard his mother and Zhou Xueqin mention her when he was young.
Little Wang lowered his voice, "They didn't get along well even before, because of my mom... Ah, well!"
Su Wen and Yan Peiheng had always had conflicts and lived separately for a long time. After Zhou Xueqin's trip to the capital, for some unknown reason, the elderly couple nearly divorced. It was said that after Su Wen's death, Yan Peiheng deeply regretted it, but wasn't it too late for regrets?
Yuanyuan thought for a moment, then quietly asked a gossipy question, "Has your grandpa found a new grandma?"
Now that Little Wang's grandfather was also her grandfather, even though Yuanyuan hadn't met him yet, she had grown up without a grandfather and quite liked the idea of having one. However, she didn't want a step-grandmother; the very thought sounded unpleasant.
"No way," Little Wang said. "He's too fierce. Everyone's afraid of him. No one would marry him!"
Little Wang had only met him once, shortly after Su Wen's death. Apparently, Yan Peiheng wanted to take Little Wang away, but Zhou Xueqin told Little Wang that his grandfather was very fierce and would eat people.
Little Wang was still young then and, crying, chose to stay with his mother.
"By the way, where will my mom and Little Lang stay?" Yuanyuan asked after looking around.
Little Wang took Yuanyuan and Little Lang's hands and led them straight to the main room.
The main room, of course, had a large kang. This was also called the master bedroom, the largest and brightest room with especially large glass windows. The sun could shine on the blue brick kang all day, making it particularly comfortable to live in during winter.
Little Wang pointed at the large kang with its blue brick base and red wood trim, saying, "Of course our mom and Little Lang will stay here. You probably don't know, but even my grandmother doesn't dare to sleep in this room."
Although Little Wang's maternal grandmother was known for being both shrewd and opportunistic, always trying to take advantage of every situation, she wouldn't dare to sleep on Su Wen's kang. In her heart, Su Wen was like a bodhisattva.
In Little Wang's mind, his mother and Little Lang should naturally occupy the largest kang in the house.
So he had decided to give his grandmother's kang to his mother and Little Lang.
Chen Meilan was chatting with Yan Zhao while they cleaned the windows. She knew that Yan Zhao's birth mother had passed away, and she was curious about whether Yan Peiheng had remarried. She wondered if he had a new wife in the capital and if she would have a stepmother-in-law.
But she didn't know how to ask such a question politely.
"Your father, is he easy to get along with?" Chen Meilan asked.
Yan Zhao was cleaning the glass. He generally looked down on others doing such delicate work.
"He's like me, not very easy to get along with," Yan Zhao said, "But he's a very upright person."
This implied that there was no stepmother-in-law, which was good news. Daughters-in-law often found stepmothers-in-law to be the most troublesome.
"What about your older brother and second brother?" Chen Meilan asked.
Yan Zhao said, "My older brother is abroad, and my second brother is also in the army. You don't need to worry about them. We'll just live our own life."
No mother-in-law issues, a father-in-law far away in the capital who, although not supporting them financially, also didn't interfere with their lives.
Yan Zhao, judging by his family background alone, was actually quite a good catch.
"I've been married for so long and haven't even greeted Dad once. Should we maybe give him a call sometime, or perhaps we should visit the capital?" Chen Meilan tentatively suggested. "Otherwise, wouldn't it seem improper?"
Yan Zhao's hand paused while cleaning the glass. "It was me who got married, not him. We don't need to bother about him."
Chen Meilan understood from this that her father-in-law, Yan Peiheng, had probably opposed Yan Zhao's marriage to her.
But Yan Zhao was strong-willed enough. He wouldn't have taken on this challenge if he couldn't handle it.
Chen Meilan was about to sweep the dust off the windowsill when suddenly, Yan Zhao put a paper hat on her head. It was to prevent dust from getting in her hair. Looking in the mirror, she said, "Oh no, wearing this makes me look like Cao Cao from the opera."
It wasn't just a hat; it had a crown on top. He had folded it quite amusingly.
Yan Zhao closed the glass window and looked at Meilan from outside, avoiding her eyes. His voice was low, "No. You look like Guanyin."
"If I look like Guanyin, why aren't you looking at me?" Chen Meilan retorted.
She was about to make a Guanyin hand gesture to play along when Song Huaihua and Liu Xiaohong, the two sisters-in-law, arrived. The couple stopped their playful banter and went back to their respective tasks.
Yan Zhao was outside hanging up the honorary military family plaque when Yan Bin sauntered over, hands on his hips. He deliberately strutted in front of Yan Zhao, striking a wide stance. "Third brother, are you not going to live in the Xishan courtyard anymore? Are you moving here?"
"I'll live there. This place is only for enshrining my mother," Yan Zhao said.
Due to his focus on work, he had made several mistakes, such as giving the house to Zhou Xueqin without proper investigation, and then assuming that Zhou Xueqin would take good care of the house.
He felt guilty towards his mother and the children.
Yan Bin urged him to live in this house, while Yan Yong suggested renting it out, but Yan Zhao had made up his mind. In the future, it would only be used to enshrine his mother's tablet.
The pager in his pocket beeped.
He took it out, looked at it, and turned it off before continuing to nail up the plaque.
It was a very ordinary action, but it shocked Yan Bin. "You even have a pager?"
"Meilan gave it to me," Yan Zhao said nonchalantly.
This was a pager! Yan Bin had to quit smoking and eat nothing but salted vegetables and flatbread for nearly three months to afford one. He always clipped it to his waist and even left his cotton coat unbuttoned in the dead of winter just to show it off.
Yet Yan Zhao just casually kept it in his pocket?
"Who paged you? Why didn't you call back?" Yan Bin asked.
Yan Zhao said, "Liu Ming from Dongfang Group. There's a cross-provincial case, and he wanted me to put in a good word with a comrade in Guangdong. I've done the favor, so there's no need to call back. He probably wants to send a gift, but I don't accept gifts."
Yan Bin was stunned again.
Liu Ming from Dongfang Group was the top leader, the big boss.
A high-ranking official actually asking Yan Zhao for help?
Yan Zhao spoke so casually about it, but Yan Bin suddenly raised his voice intentionally, "You actually know Liu Ming?"
Yan Zhao continued to nail his honor plaque while Yan Bin repeated loudly: "You actually know Secretary Liu Ming from Dongfang Group? Dongfang Group is building staff apartments, shouldn't Secretary Liu have more say than Fan Xiang? What a pity, Fan Xiang gave that job to Lu Jingyu, sigh!"
Yan Zhao frowned slightly. As a public servant, he didn't pay much attention to people who weren't breaking the law or committing crimes, especially Lu Jingyu, his ex-wife's current husband. As long as he left his house, Yan Zhao wouldn't give him much thought.
But lately, this Lu Jingyu kept popping up in conversations around him.
At that moment, Chen Meilan, Song Huaihua, and Liu Xiaohong, the three sisters-in-law, were chatting in the courtyard.
They were also talking about Lu Jingyu.
"The more I get to know him, I find Lu Jingyu is quite nice. He said I'd look good with short, permed hair. Look, I got it cut and permed. Don't you think I look better now?" Liu Xiaohong said, stroking her hair.
In fact, the short haircut made her look older.
Song Huaihua also said: "Lu Jingyu is indeed not bad. To be fair, Zhou Xueqin has good taste. When he lived here, he politely greeted me every morning. I overheard him talking to Xueqin, and he never spoke ill of his wife. He's considerate and often complimented Xueqin, saying she's the most supportive wife in Yanguan Village. When Xueqin left for the south, she kept looking back as she walked away."
Lu Jingyu was smooth-talking and articulate, a true friend to women.
...
When he used to praise Meilan, he would say: "Women should be like our Meilan, simple and unadorned, hardworking, and willing to endure hardships."
"A woman like my Meilan is a truly good woman, not meddling with her husband's money or questioning his whereabouts, open-minded, sensible, earning respect from the bottom of one's heart."
"My Meilan is beyond reproach, getting up to cook for us even with a bad cold. A virtuous wife indeed, a virtuous wife."
While he was spouting such words, his bottom seemed glued to the sofa, not moving an inch, eating the food cooked by the severely ill Chen Meilan as if it were his due.
When commenting on women he didn't like, he'd say: "Greedy and lazy, and loves to dress up. Look at her makeup, what man would like that kind of woman?"
The key was that he never reflected on himself and always believed that his set of values was the correct one.
...
Chen Meilan wasn't a strong-willed or ambitious woman.
But she really wanted that job from Dongfang Group.
There were so many migrant workers from her hometown. If she could get this contract, she could at least ensure they'd have work for three years and a place to settle.
Chen Meilan's heart suddenly stirred.
Yan Zhao knew Secretary Liu Ming, obviously he had done him a big favor, but he wouldn't even answer his calls, let alone ask for any favors in return.
But in this day and age, favors, or rather, relationships, were unavoidable.
Personal connections were the greatest resource.
Moreover, she had always said she wanted to buy a piano for Yuanyuan, but all the money she earned from her engineering projects had been invested in the coal mine.
Little Wang and Yuanyuan, along with the others, were all looking forward to the piano. If she didn't take on another project soon, she wouldn't be able to afford it.
...
Chen Meilan had been living at Yan Zhao's place since last month.
Today, Yan Zhao actually brought Chen Meilan two sets of Montagut lace underwear, one cream-colored and one light purple, with underwire. They were hanging on hangers and still smelled of soap.
He had already washed them, and by hand at that.
Women who have given birth naturally worry about sagging in certain areas, but Meilan's particular area had a small band size but quite full cups. If the cups fit, the band was too wide; if the band fit, the cups were too small. Buying underwear was difficult, and department stores rarely differentiated cup and band sizes so specifically anymore. Sales assistants would just hand you whatever, and whether you got the right size was pure luck.
It was surprising enough for a man to buy underwear, let alone a rough guy like Yan Zhao.
And it was the best brand, Montagut. Surprisingly, he had bought the perfect fit.
"Did you buy these yourself at the department store?" Chen Meilan asked.
Yan Zhao thought for a moment and said kindly, "Mm-hmm." In fact, to buy the most popular lace underwear in the smallest size, he had specifically called in some favors.
She had to change into them right away.
They fit perfectly, neither overflowing nor gaping. Chen Meilan asked curiously, "How did you know my cup size?"
Yan Zhao extended one large hand. Under Chen Meilan's curious gaze, his hand slowly closed, getting smaller and smaller.
"Put your hand away, let's go to sleep," Chen Meilan quickly stopped him.
She had always thought she was small enough, but with him, half of his pectoral muscles exposed, in comparison, Meilan felt embarrassingly tiny next to him.
However, after feeling dejected for just a moment, she remembered something extremely important: "You know Secretary Liu Ming from Dongfang Group, right? Their group is building staff apartments. Could you introduce me? I'd like to bid on the project."
Yan Zhao saw Chen Meilan reaching back, unable to unfasten her bra, so he helped her from behind, putting it away neatly in the drawer. He then gave his warm spot in the bed to Chen Meilan and said, "You'll have to do this yourself. If I put in a word, it would be seen as using connections."
Chen Meilan slipped into the bed and felt a hot water bottle at her feet. The bed was warm from his body heat.
This man was becoming more and more considerate, almost meticulous in his care.
She knew he definitely wouldn't help her make the introduction, but in the business world, things were rarely straightforward. She just needed his "do it yourself" to use as leverage.
For a woman who had been manipulated by a PUA before, this "do it yourself" was like giving Chen Meilan wings to soar.
Dongfang Group, she had to get in!
"Thank you, Yan Zhao. You're so good to me," Chen Meilan said instinctively, happily rolling over in her blanket.
But when she rolled towards Yan Zhao, he still lay there seriously, not even turning to face her.
Was the blanket not big enough, or was something wrong with him? Why couldn't they sleep under the same covers?
"Captain Yan, I'm really curious about something. Is it very comfortable sleeping alone under your own blanket?" Unable to contain herself any longer, Chen Meilan asked.
Yan Zhao's voice turned husky, but his tone remained gentle: "You're not feeling well, right? Let's not share a blanket. I might not be able to control myself."
Chen Meilan gave up trying to communicate with him.
Apparently, this man hadn't remarried since his divorce in his previous life.
Now she understood. He was a bachelor by his own choice and ability!
