Although it was winter break, Yuanyuan still went to school every day to study vocal music with Song Lin.
Little Wang didn't want to go initially, but Chen Meilan signed him up for a basketball class so he would have something to do while waiting for Yuanyuan.
"We keep spending money like this, when will we finally be able to buy Yuanyuan a piano?" Little Wang was trying on a new pair of basketball shoes Chen Meilan had bought him.
This mother was too extravagant with money, spending in ways that made Little Wang wince.
When would they ever be able to afford Yuanyuan's piano?
Chen Meilan smiled and patted his backside. "Go on, try jumping in them."
Cleats were for soccer, with their anti-slip design. Basketball shoes had softer soles, especially good for jumping.
Even among the children of Dongfang Group employees, few had such professional basketball shoes. They were mostly worn by older boys. Who would splurge on such expensive shoes for a growing child like Little Wang whose feet changed size every season?
Little Wang dribbled the ball towards the hoop and jumped. Not only did he exclaim in surprise, but a group of kids playing basketball also gathered around, looking at him enviously.
He was tall for his age. His father loved basketball, and he enjoyed it too. This was a dedicated class with a coach, and the other kids were about the same height.
Though there was some grumbling, once he got going, Little Wang turned out to be the best player among all the children. After a slam dunk, he turned to see his mother and Little Lang applauding from a distance.
After watching for a while, Chen Meilan quietly slipped away to check on Yuanyuan's piano practice.
However, as soon as she stepped out, she saw Yan Bin and Yan Xishan standing at the school gate, deep in conversation. Yan Xishan looked utterly dejected as he patted Yan Bin's shoulder before leaving.
Once Yan Xishan was gone, Yan Bin rubbed his face, appearing equally downcast.
"Second Brother, no work at the construction site today?" Chen Meilan asked as she approached.
Everyone has their own troubles. Yan Bin had resigned from his government job. He'd made some money, but his life was in shambles. Song Huahua, due to her outstanding professional abilities, was about to be promoted to director. She maintained a cordial facade with Yan Bin but treated him like he was invisible. As for their sex life, it was nonexistent - he couldn't afford to visit prostitutes, and his wife wouldn't let him touch her.
He had gone from being a revered deputy director at the police station to a nouveau riche's lackey. The frustration was overwhelming.
But there was no going back after resigning from his government position. Meilan was his boss now, so he had to put on a friendly face.
"I'm just looking around, heading to the site soon," Yan Bin said before leaving.
Chen Meilan sensed that he and Yan Xishan must be up to something, but she decided not to pry.
The truth was, on Yan Xishan's orders, Yan Bin had been keeping tabs on Hu Xiaomei. Yan Xishan was waiting for the moment when Fan Xiang would help Hu Xiaomei conceive a child, so he could report them and catch them all at once.
It sounded simple, but in practice, it was quite challenging.
Fan Xiang's family operated in legal gray areas. Fan Zhenhua worked in the public security system and knew the law well. All their actions were designed to exploit Hu Xiaomei, so if anything went wrong, she would bear all the responsibility.
Like Yan Xishan, Hu Xiaomei was merely a scapegoat.
In fact, Fan Xiang had recently made an example of someone as a warning to others. His methods and tactics, which Yan Bin had witnessed firsthand, had thoroughly frightened both him and Yan Xishan.
So now, Yan Xishan wanted to let Hu Xiaomei off the hook.
After all, Hu Xiaomei had been with him for several years, and Qi Dongmei had shown him kindness when he was down on his luck. Yan Xishan thought that if there was a way to bring down Fan Xiang, he would no longer hold a grudge against Hu Xiaomei.
He had considered reporting Fan Xiang but feared that one attempt might not be enough to topple him. Given Fan Xiang's influence, Yan Xishan worried about facing endless retaliation.
So for now, they could only watch helplessly as Lu Jingyu cozied up to Fan Xiang, securing the Dongfang Group's staff housing project and becoming another overnight success in Jindong District.
Of course, at this point, neither Yan Bin nor Yan Xishan knew that Chen Meilan had already set her sights on the Dongfang Group's staff housing project.
It was just that she still had a lot of preparatory work to do, which was why she hadn't taken action yet.
Chinese New Year was on February 5th, and she had only completed all her preparations on February 2nd. After confirming that Liu Ming was at the factory, she took a large stack of documents and headed straight for the Dongfang Group's office building.
The Party Secretary had a personal assistant, so it wasn't possible to see him directly. But as soon as Chen Meilan said, "I'm Yan Zhao's wife," the assistant hurriedly went to inform the Secretary.
Before long, Secretary Liu Ming personally came out to greet Chen Meilan.
"You're Yan Captain's wife? I should have visited you myself, but Yan Captain doesn't acknowledge me. My apologies. What brings you here today?" Secretary Liu received Chen Meilan with great respect.
Chen Meilan was appropriately humble but didn't forget to highlight her achievements: "I thought you knew me. I'm the one who contracted and built the cafeteria for our group."
The reason Secretary Liu and Yan Zhao had any connection was as follows:
Their group had shipped a batch of electronic components to the south, but halfway through the journey, the train car had been broken into. The police in Guangzhou were reluctant to investigate properly, and a large number of valuable pager components were lost, with the case involving over 100,000 yuan.
It was Yan Zhao who, upon hearing about this, took the initiative to help. He called a fellow officer in the Guangzhou public security system, which finally prompted the Guangzhou police to deploy forces and solve the case.
At the time, Secretary Liu wanted to thank Yan Zhao, but Yan Zhao wouldn't take his calls. Liu was puzzled, wondering if Yan Zhao was angry and if it would be difficult to ask for his help in the future.
Now, here was Yan Zhao's wife paying him a visit.
Since she was Yan Zhao's wife and wanted to do some work, giving her a small project in such a large group was no big deal.
"As it happens, our group is planning to build a public restroom..." He assumed that as a woman, she wouldn't have grand ambitions.
A public restroom - let her quote her own price and make a small profit, he thought.
Chen Meilan sat down, placing the leather briefcase she had specially bought on her lap. She opened it slowly and looked up, enunciating each word clearly: "I'm currently building the office building for the Qinchuan Group."
Liu Ming, who had been smiling casually until then, gradually stopped smiling and sat up straight.
Although he didn't know how Chen Meilan had secured the Qinchuan Group project, he was aware of the fierce internal struggles among the leadership of the Qinchuan Group over that office building.
The person who finally won the project did so based on capability!
With Yan Zhao as her background and her own proven abilities, Secretary Liu had no choice but to take Chen Meilan seriously.
...
"Your credentials are indeed impressive. We're currently in talks with construction teams. How about this - I'll give Director Fan a call, and you can go see him. He'll give you the blueprints, and you can prepare a formal budget proposal." After reviewing Chen Meilan's materials, Liu Ming made his decision.
Director Fan was Fan Xiang, who was in charge of the group's development planning, bidding, and other related matters.
Liu Ming's phone call was like a golden ticket. Getting the blueprints from Fan Xiang meant Chen Meilan had won without a fight, but at least she had defeated Lu Jingyu!
Yan Bin had just heard that Chen Meilan had indeed convinced Yan Zhao to bid for the Dongfang Group's project.
He waited for her downstairs and took her bag when she came down. "Did you really secure the job?"
"Go to Fan Xiang and ask for the blueprints to prepare the budget," Chen Meilan said.
"Lu Jingyu has been hanging around Fan Xiang's office every day lately. He was just there earlier. Won't he be devastated when he hears this?" Yan Bin was shocked, his mouth agape.
Making Lu Jingyu cry was exactly what Chen Meilan wanted.
He and Zhou Xueqin could go around the world digging for money, draining all the wealth from China for all she cared. Chen Meilan wasn't interested in that.
But she just didn't want him to get the Dongfang Group project. She didn't want Lu Dabao to attend the Dongfang school.
The world was vast, and they could live in luxury wherever they pleased, as long as it wasn't right under her nose.
Yan Zhao had driven Lu Jingyu out of Yanguan Village, and now Chen Meilan wanted to drive him completely out of Jindong District.
As for Yan Zhao's situation:
The Chinese New Year period was always the busiest time for the public security system, with nearly 24-hour shifts. They had to check for overloaded buses, handle fights and brawls, and deal with various fireworks-related accidents.
As the New Year approached, domestic disputes, conflicts, and violent crimes would surge. For the police, the New Year was truly a challenging time. To address this, Yan Zhao had arranged shifts, planning to work 24-hour shifts during the high-risk period from New Year's Eve to the fifth day of the new year, with days off on the seventh and ninth.
Before the New Year, he received his final payment, including funds for three third-class merits. He then ordered a large color TV for his family. This year, the children would be able to watch the Spring Festival Gala in color.
Yan Zhao was just about to go pick up the TV when he received the phone call.
Secretary Liu had called his office directly.
"Captain Yan, your wife must have mentioned to you that she wants to do some work for our Dongfang Group. I've already arranged everything for her..." Liu Ming said with a smile.
Yan Zhao had been of great help to Dongfang Group on an electronics product case.
Although Yan Zhao was just a low-ranking inspector and Liu Ming was a high-level leader, Yan Zhao had many comrades in various police systems across the country.
For Yan Zhao, solving cases was his duty, and he didn't seek rewards.
But for Secretary Liu, society had changed. In his view, the police would only work diligently on cases if they received benefits.
So, by leveraging connections and taking advantage of Secretary Liu's desire to give Yan Zhao some favors, Chen Meilan had managed to secure the project in one go.
Yan Zhao was stunned for a moment, then remembered that Chen Meilan had asked him one night if he could introduce her to Secretary Liu, which he had refused at the time.
Did this mean Chen Meilan had gone to see Secretary Liu herself?
Regarding the project, Yan Zhao had only just started to learn about it because Chen Meilan had begun working on it.
Any industry is just work, and capable people should be in charge.
But was Chen Meilan there because of his connections?
Or was she truly capable?
His attitude and behavior remained consistent: "Don't give her any special treatment or privileges. Secretary Liu, everything should be done according to policies, regulations, and your unit's procedures."
"Yes, yes, of course. Everything will go through the bidding process. I just wanted to let you know. By the way, we're really grateful for your help on that case in Guangzhou..." Just as Secretary Liu finished expressing his gratitude, Yan Zhao said, "No need to thank me, it's my duty," and hung up the phone.
Secretary Liu was left holding the phone, frowning: Was Yan Zhao pleased or displeased?
Today, because they needed to bring home a TV, Little Liu was driving Yan Zhao back.
Yan Zhao not only bought a TV but also borrowed a VCR from the equipment department at the bureau.
Every month, the Public Security Department would produce a video tape on various types of cases, including traffic safety, fraud, and homicide. These tapes were distributed to various branch offices for publicity and legal education purposes.
In the 1990s, one of the most important aspects of police work was promoting legal awareness and educating the public about the law.
He planned to bring home a legal education video about fraud cases. He was supposed to go to the equipment department, but as he passed by the evidence room, he saw a tape on the shelf and took it along.
Today was the 27th day of the last lunar month. Yan Zhao had been busy all day without eating. As soon as he entered the door, he smelled a familiar aroma of wheat, with hints of onion and sesame.
He had served in the army in Xinjiang and had fallen in love with naan bread there, but after transferring to the Chengdu Military Region, he hadn't eaten it since.
Hungry and suddenly smelling naan, he was so famished that instead of immediately setting up the TV, he rushed into the kitchen.
Sure enough, it was naan, and it was the leavened naan that Yan Zhao loved most, sprinkled with sesame and onion, with a brown bottom. It must have been bought from outside, a stack of ten in total.
Chen Meilan was stewing lamb soup, and Little Lang was sitting on a small stool next to the stove, munching on naan.
Yan Zhao immediately tore off a big piece.
Eating dry naan like this, Yan Zhao could devour a whole one in one breath.
Moreover, Chen Meilan immediately ladled out a bowl of lamb soup, sprinkled it with garlic sprouts and green onions, and handed it to him.
"A big TV!" Yuanyuan, who had just finished practicing piano, exclaimed as she entered: "Did Dad buy it for us?"
"Can't we stop wasting money like this? If you keep buying things all the time, when will we ever be able to afford a piano?" Little Wang followed, looking worried.
Yan Zhao swallowed the naan in a few big bites, carried the TV into his bedroom, and called out, "Lan, come in here for a moment."
Whenever he called her "Lan," Little Wang and Yuanyuan would exchange a knowing glance.
Strangely, these two children weren't angry, nor did they become distant because their dad was being nice to their mom. Instead, they seemed to be in cahoots, making fun of the two adults.
What was it called? They were laughing at the mushy love stuff.
But that wasn't actually the case. Chen Meilan had been to Dongfang Group today, and Liu Ming would definitely call Yan Zhao. Yan Zhao calling her in wasn't to show affection, but to interrogate her.
Interrogate away, who's afraid of whom?
Chen Meilan's small chest was puffed out higher than anyone's at this moment, her waist thicker than anyone's.
"Have you got all your qualifications in order? Can I see them?" Yan Zhao asked while unpacking the TV from its foam box.
Of course, Chen Meilan had all her qualifications in order, and her construction qualifications were probably the most standardized in all of Xiping City.
However, the air conditioner Yan Zhao bought was installed in the children's bedroom. Why would he want to watch the new color TV all by himself?
This bedroom, apart from her, was rarely entered by the children. Even when their dad wasn't home, Little Lang would turn around at the door and pout, saying, "Dad's dark room, not going in!"
"Why don't we put this TV in Yuanyuan and Little Lang's room? The whole family can watch together. Why put it in our bedroom?" Chen Meilan said.
Yan Zhao asked in return, "Don't you want to watch?"
Chen Meilan indeed didn't like watching TV. In her future life, she had used smartphones and computers, and didn't enjoy watching current TV shows, so she said, "Let's put it in their room. I don't really like watching TV."
"We'll set it up in our room first. There's a videotape we both need to watch tonight," Yan Zhao said, slapping the legal education tape on the table.
Chen Meilan took one look and saw it was a legal education tape about fraud. She immediately laughed, "Captain Yan, I bet not everyone who wants to do business gets this kind of treatment. Isn't this supposed to be for criminals?"
She hadn't broken any laws, yet he was making her watch legal education videos?
Yan Zhao sought the facts: "This tape contains many typical fraud cases. Since you've started doing construction work, from migrant workers to suppliers to contractors, there are fraud and scamming techniques at every level. Let's watch it together and try to avoid being cheated in as many ways as possible."
The reasoning sounded good, but in reality, he was afraid she might use his authority for personal gain.
Meilan had prepared the lamb soup, soaking the naan she had specially bought from the city. The aroma was heavenly.
But no matter how fragrant the soup was, it couldn't tempt Little Wang.
While the adults were spending money like water, he was saving, pinching every penny to buy a piano for Yuanyuan.
As soon as Dad brought out the TV, he had already dragged a cardboard box as big as himself to the recycling station to exchange for money.
As Yan Zhao set up the TV, he looked at Chen Meilan's qualifications. First was a small card, surprisingly machine-printed, with her name on it. The title read: General Manager of Xingda Construction Team, Chen Meilan.
Xingda? Wasn't that supposed to mean prosperity and success?
The name was quite tacky.
"This is called a business card. Currently, only I have one, but we'll print a box each for my brother and Yan Bin later, to use when we go out for projects. We hand out these cards, and people who want to do construction work will find us," Chen Meilan explained with a smile.
Yan Zhao nodded. Was this called casting a wide net?
After setting up the TV, he still needed to go out and install the antenna. However, he sat on the edge of the bed as Chen Meilan took out another document and asked, "What's this?"
"It's a 'Labor Dispatch Notice.' It proves that I'm qualified to employ workers and that I'm protected by the Labor Bureau," Chen Meilan said, then pulled out another document: "This is an 'Individual Business License,' with registered capital of 300,000 yuan. And here's the tax payment certificate for the income from the last project. How about that, Captain Yan? Are my qualifications complete?"
Yan Zhao patted the TV and said, "I'll go install our antenna." The qualifications were indeed complete, leaving the stern-faced man speechless.
In her previous life, Zhou Xueqin had scolded and cried, complaining that Yan Zhao was inconsiderate.
So Chen Meilan was mentally prepared. She would earn a little less, pay taxes diligently, not owe money to the workers, and just not break the law. Wasn't that enough?
There were so many people in the construction business, and shoddy projects would be commonplace in the future. Lu Jingyu had once used rebar as thin as a thumb for a 20-story building to save money, always used the lowest grade cement unless she was watching, and had even tried to use rebar as thin as a little finger when building an overpass. Fortunately, an overpass elsewhere had collapsed, leading to nationwide rectification, so he didn't dare take the risk.
She was surely better than Lu Jingyu, right?
Just as she was feeling proud of herself, the phone suddenly rang.
"Hello, is this Chen Meilan? ... It's me, Lu Jingyu..." As expected, it was Lu Jingyu, and he was panting as soon as he picked up the phone. After a while, he finally said, "You've really outdone yourself."
Half a month ago, he only thought she had turned into a shrew, but today she was brazenly stealing his business. Who would believe it if he told them?
Lu Jingyu simply couldn't believe it.
The truth was, while he was busy maintaining his relationship with Fan Xiang and stuffing money into pockets, Chen Meilan had gone directly to the top leader and snatched his job away.
However, Chen Meilan didn't waste words with Lu Jingyu. In her previous life, she had never done anything bad or unscrupulous, yet she had suffered injustice her whole life. In this life, she only wanted the few children she loved to not suffer unfairness.
As for Lu Jingyu, he could take Lu Dabao and roll as far away as possible.
"You've dialed the wrong number," she said calmly, hanging up with a click.
With New Year's Eve approaching, tomorrow Yuanyuan wouldn't practice piano, Little Wang had finished his winter break homework, and the family had a new big-screen TV to watch together.
But their stern-faced father actually wanted to take Little Lang along to practice horse stance, starting right after dinner.
Little Wang felt a bit indignant: "Dad, if Little Lang has to do horse stance, why doesn't Yuanyuan have to do it too?"
"Because you told me that if Yan Shengnan was ever bullied, you would protect her. I thought you wanted to make yourself stronger to protect your sister. It seems that's not the case - do you want your sister to protect you instead?" Yan Zhao asked, hands behind his back.
Yuanyuan was taking a bath with her mom, singing and laughing in the bathroom. Oh my, mom was scrubbing her again. Probably hearing Little Wang's complaint, mom called out: "Little Wang, practice your horse stance well, and tomorrow mom will fry you some big crispy twist donuts."
Little Wang immediately puffed out his chest. Not only would he do horse stance, but he'd also punch the sandbag hard - a real man had to be tough.
Little Lang couldn't hold the stance for long before he wanted to eat nang bread again. Moreover, he still hadn't learned to fear his stern father. As a result, he snuck into the kitchen and, following the scent, saw that the nang bread had been placed by his father in a small basket on top of the freezer, out of reach.
"Yan Minglang, go do horse stance for another twenty minutes right now," Yan Zhao said sternly.
Little Lang ignored him, his eyes only on the bread. He was still trying to find a stool to reach it when his father's first-ever slap landed on his bottom. This chubby, slow-to-react child was dragged out of the kitchen by his father and placed in the courtyard before he finally let out a wail: "Ow, it hurts!" His father wasn't just dark-faced, but dark-hearted too.
However, this commotion had a great effect. By ten o'clock, Little Lang was so tired he forgot about being hungry and was snoring sadly on the kang bed.
Only then did Yan Zhao turn on the TV, connecting the VCR to it and gesturing for Chen Meilan to play the tape. He himself had to wash out the underwear that he and Chen Meilan had worn that day.
The anti-fraud educational film was all about various engineering scams and frauds, inevitably involving sex and money-power transactions. He didn't want the children to see these things too early, which was why he had hurried them to bed.
The TV station was broadcasting the TV series "Women and Dogs by the Fence". It had just finished, and the end credits song "Shadow of the Fence" sung by Mao Amin was playing. The stars were still the same stars, the moon still the same moon, and the voice of the veteran singer was truly beautiful.
But even though Meilan wanted to listen to the end, Yan Zhao wouldn't let her: "Play the tape, I'll help you wash the clothes."
As soon as the video started playing, Chen Meilan felt something was off. The man appearing on the poor-quality screen vaguely looked like a Western man, chatting with a foreign woman. The woman was wearing only a camisole, while the man was in a suit, but his facial expression was odd.
Yan Zhao was also frowning, but quickly explained: "This must be a big international crime prevention film."
Chen Meilan still felt it wasn't right. Although the country had opened up, it hadn't reached the point where the Public Security Bureau could hire foreigners to make educational films.
She suspected it was a porn film, and a hardcore one at that. Sure enough, in the next scene, the woman bent over, reaching down with her hand...
Yan Zhao stood up and walked towards the TV, watching with a shocked expression, a dripping pair of underwear in his hand, water trickling into the basin as he squeezed it.
It wasn't that he had never seen such things before. They raided video halls every day, catching people showing this stuff in the dead of night.
But recently, Yan Zhao and his team hadn't caught any pornographic videos for a long time. Instead, whenever they went, they only saw people watching various legal education videos.
Moreover, the video halls were mostly stocked with legal education tapes. The police had often praised the video hall operators for this, believing they were purifying society.
The implication was that the crooks were always one step ahead. While they were working hard to catch and educate people, this was how those bastards at the video halls were handling "legal education"?
Chen Meilan nearly died laughing on the bed. She couldn't help but ask: "Captain Yan, don't you catch this stuff every day? Have you watched it before? What are your thoughts after watching?"
Yan Zhao kept staring at the screen for a long time, then asked Chen Meilan: "You've seen this before, haven't you?" This clever man had noticed that she didn't blush or get flustered at such scenes.
Chen Meilan almost blurted out: "You're not human if you haven't seen it."
But she couldn't break character, so she immediately covered her eyes: "It's so scary, turn it off quickly!"
The underwear washing was forgotten, and the lights were turned off.
After a long while, Yan Zhao made himself a separate bed and lay down. It took a long time before his breathing evened out.
"Thoughts?" After a very long time, he finally said in a deep voice: "Western men aren't as big as they say, are they?"
Damn it, hadn't he learned anything useful?
