They had been married for almost a year now, so wasn't it a bit late for her father-in-law to object?
It was like saying the rice had already been cooked into porridge, and the porridge was about to burn.
"My father and mother have long been separated. We should just live our own lives," Yan Zhao said briefly. "He won't come to the Seventh Brigade. I'll go see him when the time comes and resolve the issue."
"Let me go with you to meet your father," Chen Meilan suggested. "Even if I'm an ugly daughter-in-law, I should at least meet my father-in-law, right?"
Yan Zhao, characteristically cold and stern, replied, "There's no need. Besides, you're not ugly. You're very beautiful."
Chen Meilan thought for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "If it weren't for Yuanyuan, you wouldn't have married me, would you?"
Yan Zhao paused in washing his face, water droplets covering his face. "Why would you think that?"
Yan Zhao didn't discuss these things with her, but Chen Meilan had her own theories. She imagined Yan Zhao's thought process must have been something like this: initially, he was reluctant and unwilling, forced by Zhou Xueqin's threats to go to Chen Village for matchmaking, with no intention of marrying her at the time.
Yuanyuan had been the catalyst for their marriage.
It was because she resembled her deceased aunt that Yan Zhao decided to marry her, disregarding the fact that she was Yan Xishan's ex-wife, ignoring that his father would likely be furious when he found out, and not caring about all the gossip they'd have to endure.
However, when it came to family matters, Yan Zhao was as tough as a diamond. No matter how forceful Yan Peiheng might be, a grown son couldn't be controlled by his mother, let alone his father.
So he couldn't control Yan Zhao.
"How exactly has Fan Zhenhua's case been handled?" Chen Meilan had to ask about this first.
Her construction site was being harassed incessantly by a gang of hooligans. As long as Fan Xiang and his son weren't taken down, she'd continue to be harassed.
Yan Zhao then briefed Chen Meilan on how the bureau had dealt with Fan Zhenhua's case today.
After listening, Chen Meilan had another worry: "Deputy Bureau Chief Zhao was dealt with by you. He won't let you off easily in the future, will he?"
Yan Zhao pinned something in Chen Meilan's hair, looking at her with a double meaning: "So you can run your projects, but don't make mistakes, and don't do anything illegal."
If others broke the law, they'd likely just face legal sanctions. But if Chen Meilan broke the law, Yan Zhao would fall with her.
Little Lang sneaked in quietly, trying to retrieve the cola his stern father had confiscated. But just as his hand reached the cola bucket, Yan Zhao swiftly turned around.
Little Lang, not one to give up, immediately clenched his fists and assumed a horse stance: "Little Lang in horse stance, Little Lang steady." Who's afraid of a horse stance, anyway?
"Yan Wangqi," Yan Zhao called out.
Little Wang ran in: "Dad, what's up?"
"Do the horse stance with Yan Minglang for forty minutes. Each of you can have a sip of cola afterward," Yan Zhao said.
This was completely unfair for Little Wang. He wanted to grow taller and stronger, so no matter how good cola tasted, he abstained. How come he had to do the horse stance just because Little Lang wanted to drink cola?
So unlucky.
"Yan Little Lang, next time I buy you cola, I'll be your grandson," Little Wang said angrily, clenching his fists. He was the one who had bought that cola for Little Lang.
Yuanyuan noticed something in Chen Meilan's hair: "Mom, what a beautiful chrysanthemum."
Chen Meilan reached up to touch what Yan Zhao had pinned in her hair earlier. She was almost blinded by its gaudiness – it was a small pink hairpin, shaped like a pink chrysanthemum.
No wonder Yan Peiheng had said on the phone earlier that his third son was fine in all other aspects, except for being completely blind when it came to women. It was true. Who knows where he had picked this up – a pink chrysanthemum, unbelievably ugly, a disaster in the history of aesthetics.
"Mom, why aren't you wearing it?" Yuanyuan asked again.
Chen Meilan pinned it on Yuanyuan's head instead: "If you like it, you can wear it."
Yuanyuan gently touched the small hairpin on her head and turned to leave: "Mom, I'm going to show it to Ning and Song."
It seemed like such an ordinary little thing, but after watching Yuanyuan leave, Yan Zhao actually got angry: "You don't like that hairpin?"
"I do like it, I really do," Chen Meilan said.
She couldn't very well say she didn't like it when he was under so much pressure at work and had finally found time to buy a hairpin for his wife.
Yan Zhao said in a muffled voice: "Then you should wear it yourself."
Did he mean he was unhappy that she had given the hairpin to Yuanyuan?
Was it really necessary? He didn't hesitate to buy Yuanyuan a piano, and now he was upset over a hairpin that cost just a few cents?
"That's my daughter. I'd give her my life, let alone a hairpin," Chen Meilan said with a smile.
Yan Zhao's face was characteristically dark.
Entering the kitchen, Yan Zhao was pleasantly surprised to see nang bread on the cutting board. The nang smelled like it had been baked with fruit wood. There were two with sesame and onion, two with almonds and pistachios, and at the bottom, there was even a sweet nang, which was rarely seen even in Xinjiang. Yan Zhao didn't usually like sweets, but he had a soft spot for sweet nang.
The sweet nang with crystallized rock sugar on top made a crispy sound when eaten, chewy with a wheat aroma, soft yet springy.
For dinner, Chen Meilan once again made a big pot of stew. Making stew now was different from a few years ago when it was just potatoes, cabbage, and some meat slices. Now there were homemade fish tofu and small sausages sold outside, and she would fry some egg tofu skin herself. The adults might not be fond of these, but the children loved them.
Stewed together in one pot, paired with the fruit wood-baked nang from Buymeti, whether dipped in the soup or eaten dry, it was especially delicious.
Little Lang remained silent. He had been doing the horse stance since his father came home. His stern dad had cleaned the entire kitchen and pruned the two large peonies at the door. Little Lang hadn't moved an inch, maintaining the horse stance for a full hour and a half.
Now he wanted to drink cola.
For Little Lang, what was supposed to be "one sip" turned into half the bottle disappearing in one gulp.
One sip of cola, one bite of stew, accompanied by the sweet nang – before he knew it, he had drunk too much again, his belly round and full.
"After eating, go hit the punching bag for half an hour," Yan Zhao said, frowning.
"Mom, can't we let Little Lang skip the punching bag? It's so tiring," Yuanyuan tugged at Chen Meilan's arm and said, "Little Lang, let's listen to mom, not dad."
"No," Yan Zhao took the hairpin off her head and put it back on her mother's.
Yuanyuan had a complex, contradictory feeling of both liking and disliking her new dad with his perpetually dark face.
She didn't like that he always made Little Wang and Little Lang do horse stances, and she didn't like his always stern tone.
After all, in a blended family, the little girl secretly felt that her mom should side with them. So now, she was challenging her dad's authority.
"Mom, I don't want Little Lang to hit the punching bag," she said.
"Yuanyuan, after dinner, take the bowls to the kitchen with Little Wang and wash them together. Little Lang must go hit the punching bag," Chen Meilan said, taking the hairpin off her own head and putting it back on Yuanyuan's.
Although Little Lang would never have a blood-related illness in this life, when Su Chunxia came to Yanguan Village a few days ago, she mentioned in passing that this child's skin was unnaturally pale and suggested Chen Meilan take him to the hospital for a check-up. Chen Meilan took Little Lang for a blood test, and although the doctor said the child's indicators were still normal and there wasn't a big problem, Chen Meilan discovered that Little Lang's platelet count was slightly lower than normal.
Although low platelets don't necessarily mean leukemia.
But Little Lang was plump in an unhealthy way, and his physique was indeed not as good as Little Wang and Yuanyuan's. His willingness to do horse stances and hit the punching bag was good for his health. With more and more cars on the road and increasing air pollution, Chen Meilan had originally considered laying new floor tiles and buying a new set of furniture for the house in the near future, but feared that once they renovated, it would produce harmful gases like formaldehyde and benzene, so she had postponed it.
If Little Lang didn't build up his body, he would be very susceptible to leukemia.
Yuanyuan and Little Lang were collecting the plates together, then looked at Yan Zhao, who immediately said, "Leave the bowls, I'll wash them. You two older ones bring out your winter vacation homework, I need to check it."
With school about to start, Chen Meilan had forgotten that it was time to check the two older children's winter vacation homework.
Yuanyuan touched the pink hairpin on her head, and this time her voice was even louder than Little Wang's: "I'll go get it right away."
The hairpin was still on her head, proving that mom loved her the most.
Since Yan Zhao was back, all the housework would definitely be left to him. Chen Meilan still had to go to Teacher Huang's house.
The Qinchuan Group officially broke ground and began construction on March 1st. Huang Zhengde was busy with planning, and he had been considering his situation lately. Many young teachers with college degrees had been assigned to the village elementary school, while he only had a high school education. The principal told him he needed to either take time off for further studies or enroll in night school to get an associate's degree, otherwise he would only be able to earn the minimum base salary of 80 yuan.
Both taking time off for studies and attending night school would mean earning only the base salary for several years.
Looking at his infant son gulping down formula milk in his swaddling clothes - one package of formula every seven days, costing five yuan each - Huang realized the child wasn't drinking milk, but money.
Although Huang was reluctant to give up his teaching job, he needed more money to live on, so he had been considering resigning.
Chen Meilan needed to ask Huang how he was leaning. Of course it would be good if he gave up his government job to make money with her - she was considering offering him 700 yuan per month.
But if he continued teaching, Huang would eventually be able to collect a pension, which would affect the latter half of his life. Chen Meilan didn't dare take on that responsibility.
Teacher Huang was carrying a dead crow, about to throw it in the garbage.
Seeing Chen Meilan come out, he brought the dead crow over: "Meilan, do you know where this dead crow came from?"
A dead crow was quite an eerie sight.
"I went to the Dongfang Group today. I didn't notice on the way out, but when I got home I found a dead crow hanging from the back of my bicycle," Teacher Huang had figured it out by now. "I think someone must be targeting us, deliberately causing trouble."
"Let me handle this. But Teacher Huang, have you made a decision? If you're going to enroll in night school, I'll have to find a new technician. If..." Chen Meilan didn't finish before Huang interrupted: "I need to work with you. I don't need as high a salary as Yan Bin - 300 a month is fine. The baby needs formula, and I just found a nanny for my sister-in-law today. Everything costs money. As a teacher, I can't afford to raise a child."
In recent years, a large majority of those who've gone into business did so out of family necessity.
"I'll give you a salary of 700, the same as Yan Bin. And as I said before, try to be careful when you go out," Chen Meilan said.
Though the tree may fall and the monkeys scatter, a centipede dies but is not stiff. Even with Fan Xiang arrested, [redacted], thugs will always exist.
I'm out in the open while the enemy lurks in the shadows. If you try to catch thugs, you might succeed, but it would end in a fight and both sides getting fined at the police station. In serious cases there could even be detention. It's not worth it.
So we can only endure this for now and wait for a chance to strike back decisively.
The thugs cut the ropes, so Chen Meilan bought new ones. Teacher Huang was nearly hit, so from then on whenever he went out, Chen Meilan assigned a migrant worker to carry his bag.
The three-wheeled cart still got its tires punctured and deflated every day. Chen Meilan simply had Chen Degong buy belts and glue to patch the tires himself.
You puncture in secret, I'll patch openly. Though frustrated, at least they avoided direct conflict with the small-time thugs.
Chen Meilan had been gritting her teeth and enduring all this without telling Yan Zhao, not wanting to add to his stress in dealing with Fan Xiang. But now that Fan Zhenhua and his son had been arrested, she had to tell Yan Zhao.
Thugs become addicted to bullying - the more you swallow your anger, the more relentless they become.
That night, as they lay in bed, Chen Meilan finally told him about it.
Yan Zhao's reaction surprised Chen Meilan. Most men, when their wives work outside and encounter trouble, fear it will cause problems for themselves. At the slightest issue, without asking who was at fault, they first scold and berate their wife, helping while cursing all the while.
But he said: "Why didn't you tell me about this immediately when it happened?"
Also considering that Yan Zhao disliked using connections, Chen Meilan raised both hands and said: "I'll go through proper channels. I'll file a report, but I still need to use your name when I go to the police station. Only then will the officers seriously investigate these matters for me. Is that okay?"
"No need." Yan Zhao was about to do push-ups and examine Chen Meilan's breasts. "This kind of thing has been happening a lot in the area recently. A gang of young thugs puncture tires and scatter nails on the road, targeting whoever they dislike. The police catch them and give them a lecture before releasing them, which only makes them angrier. They might ambush you in the middle of the night to get revenge. Don't say anything for now, just have your people be extra careful. There must be a crime boss behind this. I'll interrogate him when I question Fan Zhenhua and his son."
With the reform and opening up, gangs of hooligans have been proliferating.
The police catch them, but beating them doesn't work - they have thick skin and are used to it. The more beatings they take and the more times they're brought in, the more glorious they feel.
Lectures and education are useless - they just sneer: "Officer, we spend your monthly salary in one night at the nightclub. What right do you have to hit and scold us?" It's all learned from Hong Kong films.
Like a stubborn skin disease, even the police can't do anything about them.
There must be a crime boss behind them. Only by rooting out that boss can we thoroughly eliminate these thugs.
Since Yan Zhao said so, Chen Meilan let it go. After all, she had to do over an hour of "homework" every night - it was only right that he help her deal with these issues.
Chen Meilan was puzzled about one thing: usually when she felt uncomfortable and made a sound, Yan Zhao would stop. But tonight, after quite a while, when she made a sound, Yan Zhao actually said threateningly: "Tomorrow, that hairpin needs to come back."
Chen Meilan disagreed: "Yuanyuan really likes it. Let her wear it."
Then after another long while, as if trying to force her to agree, when she made sounds again, Yan Zhao said: "The hairpin - you need to take it back to wear yourself."
Chen Meilan thought to herself, is something wrong with this man?
It's just an ugly little hairpin, wholesale price 25 cents, sold on the street for 50 cents. Was he really going to torture her all night over this?
Using this as punishment - wouldn't he just exhaust himself?
Even a donkey on a production team wouldn't be this fierce.
Finally it was over. This time Chen Meilan stripped the bedding herself, so angry she wanted to hit someone.
"That hairpin was one I bought for you. It must come back," Yan Zhao said with a long sigh, both satisfied and vaguely threatening.
This dog of a man - it's just a cheap little hairpin. If Yuanyuan likes it, let her wear it. What exactly is he trying to do?
"Fine, I'll get it back tomorrow." If she didn't agree, he'd probably make her cry again. But Chen Meilan was still angry. She had never taken anything away from her daughter before. Feeling resentful, she said: "Tomorrow I'll go to the wholesale market and buy a whole sack of them. I'll bring them back so Yuanyuan can wear different styles."
To her surprise, Yan Zhao turned on the light, looking pleased as if she had finally done the right thing: "You can buy whatever you want, but things I buy for you are only for you to use."
This domineering and forceful dog of a man had tormented her for two full hours over a little hairpin.
Hiding under the covers, Chen Meilan thought bitterly that his father was coming soon.
Apparently Yan Zhao was quite afraid of his terrifying father. Let his scary father torture this bastard.
Although Yan Peiheng was coming, Yan Zhao didn't want Chen Meilan to meet him. He felt it was his own business to handle and didn't want to involve Chen Meilan.
When Yan Peiheng called, he had also asked carefully about Chen Meilan. Knowing her background, he had even rudely asked if she was farming Yan Xishan's land in the countryside or mining coal with Yan Xishan.
When Chen Meilan said she was doing engineering work, the old man immediately sneered: "As expected of Zhou Xueqin's relative. It seems you're not just a nouveau riche's ex-wife, young lady - you're a nouveau riche yourself."
In short, in the eyes of her father-in-law Yan Peiheng, Chen Meilan was nothing.
But Chen Meilan had to meet Yan Peiheng.
By going after Fan Zhenhua, Yan Zhao had touched the cheese of certain provincial leaders. Although he claimed to have his methods and confidently said he could protect himself and his whole family, in his previous life he didn't get promoted to the capital until his fifties. It was during the anti-corruption campaign against high-ranking "tigers" that he was promoted solely based on his own solid, clean history.
He had ability and a sense of justice, but for such a person to work in a small branch for twenty years, only getting promoted when his hair turned white, was in some ways tragic.
If Chen Meilan could untangle the knot between him and his father, making Yan Peiheng willing to put in a good word for his son in front of provincial leaders, why wouldn't Chen Meilan do it?
However, at this time, Chen Meilan hadn't expected the old man to come so quickly.
Moreover, she had thought things would be simpler than they were.
The beginning of the new year was generally the busiest time for the military, especially since the country wasn't very peaceful this year. The Soviet Union had announced its dissolution in 1990. While it wasn't much reported in Chinese news, when a neighboring superpower made such a big move - a union of nations about to break up, almost on the brink of war - the Chinese military remained on high alert, fearing trouble.
Even if she wasn't familiar with this aspect of history, Chen Meilan certainly knew about these events.
It was during such a busy time that the old man actually took leave to return to his hometown he hadn't visited in years, which showed just how formidable she was.
Yan Zhao didn't say anything, but since Yan Peiheng was coming, he would definitely go to the First Brigade, and if he went there, Yan Bin would notify her.
Yan Bin had recently been troubled by harassment from small-time gangsters.
He used to work in public security, and lately, Chen Meilan had been letting him drive the three-wheeled vehicle when it wasn't needed at the construction site, to make him look a bit more presentable when going out.
Last night, Yan Bin hadn't noticed that the thugs had buried two large-headed nails in the seat of the tricycle. In the middle of the night, he didn't see clearly and sat right on them, piercing his buttocks.
The day after tomorrow was the groundbreaking ceremony for the Qinchuan Group building. Chen Meilan didn't want to be in the spotlight herself, so she gave Yan Bin the task of receiving the leaders and cutting the ribbon on stage.
Yan Bin had even urgently bought himself a suit, which was a rare moment of glory for him since going into business.
Moreover, he had been behaving well at home recently. Song Huaihua, being a woman after all, had finally softened a bit. Last night, she actually didn't lock the bedroom door. Theoretically, Yan Bin could have gone in and pestered her a bit, at least solving his physiological needs, but his buttocks were pierced, and he missed this rare opportunity.
At this moment, Chen Meilan had just gotten off work and was tidying up the things the children needed for school. Yan Bin came riding his three-wheeler.
"Meilan, my second uncle has arrived. He's at the First Brigade's house now. Do you really plan to go see him?" Yan Bin couldn't bear to get off the vehicle because of his sore bottom.
"Let's go, I'll take a look," Chen Meilan said.
Yan Bin was a bit worried: "Actually, I advise you not to go. My second uncle looks very unhappy and is arguing with Third Brother. You don't need to go."
"Let's go," Chen Meilan said as she jumped into the carriage of the three-wheeler.
"Be careful, check for nails before you get in the carriage," Yan Bin said, limping and clutching his buttocks.
The harassment from the small-time gangsters was bothering everyone, and they could only hope that Yan Zhao would quickly track down that criminal gang. Even so, among all the construction teams in the city, Chen Meilan suffered the least retaliation because her husband was, after all, in public security. Out of respect if nothing else, the small-time gangsters didn't dare to mess with her.
Other nouveau riche and foremen might look flashy on the surface, but they couldn't skimp on the protection fees they had to pay the gangsters.
...
At the First Brigade, Yan Zhao's old house.
A fair-skinned, genteel-looking young man stood at the door, with a seven or eight-year-old boy beside him.
"That's Second Uncle Yan Wei," Yan Bin stopped the tricycle and said quietly. "When you married Third Brother, my second uncle wasn't very happy. This time he's come with Yan Wei, apparently intending to take Little Lang and Little Wang away. You know, right? Yan Wei lost his own child, he's childless now. The one he's bringing is adopted. His wife doesn't work, he runs a small business himself, and they're probably willing to raise Little Lang and Little Wang." The implication was that the old man had come not only to drive her away but also to take Little Lang and Little Wang.
Yan Zhao's second brother, Yan Wei, was a civilian in the military. Due to the massive military downsizing, he was about to be transferred to civilian work. He was very handsome, as beautiful as a woman, looking very much like his mother Su Wenchen.
Seeing Chen Meilan, he walked over and extended his hand from afar: "Are you Meilan?"
"Second Brother," Chen Meilan shook his hand, and seeing the tall, thin boy raising an eyebrow at her, she asked, "What's your name? How old are you?"
The boy didn't speak and hid behind Yan Wei.
Yan Wei smiled and said, "His name is Yan Ha. He's still young and shy around strangers." Yan Ha, the name sounded a bit strange.
Just then, Chen Meilan heard someone in the courtyard say, "I'm taking Yan Wangqi and Yan Minglang away today. Thank your second sister-in-law properly for being willing to help you take care of the children. As for that woman, you deal with her yourself."
"You don't need to worry about my family affairs," Yan Zhao's voice was cold and icy.
So Chen Meilan stopped greeting and went straight into the courtyard.
In the yard was a thin, tall old man wearing the kind of jacket that most men commonly liked to wear now, with black trousers. His hair was crew-cut, and he wasn't as tall as Yan Zhao, perhaps due to skeletal shrinkage with age, but his back was extremely straight.
"I've lived an upright life without any blemish, how did I end up with such a troublesome son?" the old man said again.
Yan Zhao retorted, "You can't even manage your own son well, how could you possibly raise mine properly?"
Suddenly, Yan Peiheng thundered like lightning: "You and your mother ruined Yan Xing, and now you want to harm my grandsons? Or is it that that surnamed Gu not only made your mother lose her mind during that time, but you didn't even know the child was gone? You, have you ever felt remorse for Yan Xing's death? Your own sister died, poisoned, and your mother let the murderer go free, you also allowed the killer to escape, don't you feel any guilt? Sorrow, have you not reflected on yourself even for a minute?"
Saliva was spraying everywhere as the old man publicly aired the suspicions about his dead wife's alleged affair.
Yan Zhao held his breath, standing still.
Chen Meilan felt these two were about to come to blows, so she walked over.
"Father, how can you say Yan Xing was poisoned by someone? Aren't you overthinking it? To some extent, you bear responsibility for Yan Xing's death. Have you ever reflected on that yourself?"
Yan Peiheng turned to look at Chen Meilan, laughing from anger: "Who are you? Who do you think you're talking to? Young lady, do you know what you're saying?"
"I am Yan Zhao's wife," Chen Meilan said calmly.
So this is the woman, Yan Zhao's new love?
Her clothes were not exactly plain - a good quality white cotton coat, black corduroy pants, flat leather shoes, and a turtleneck sweater.
Is this the ex-wife of that good-for-nothing Yan Xishan from the Seventh Brigade?
This was a very energetic, young, and dignified woman.
But suddenly, Yan Peiheng remembered she was a relative of Zhou Xueqin.
He looked her up and down for a while, still smiling: "Young lady... I don't think my son is worthy of a nouveau riche's ex-wife... Our family isn't up to par with you and Zhou Xueqin, such outstanding, ambitious women who love money above all else."
"Father, I actually think Yan Zhao is perfectly worthy of me, and not only is Yan Zhao more excellent than a nouveau riche, he's more excellent than you..." It's just praising someone to criticize them, right? If Yan Peiheng could do it, couldn't Chen Meilan?
Yan Peiheng continued to laugh coldly out of anger, his cold demeanor very much resembling Yan Zhao: "No wonder you're a relative of Zhou Xueqin, such a glib tongue... I hear you're contracting to build the Qinchuan Group building. Young lady, from tomorrow on, you don't need to go anymore. I'll speak directly with the provincial leaders to revoke all your contracting qualifications..."
"You're so concerned about your daughter-in-law's project, why don't you worry a bit about the cellar in your home? There's a cellar in this house that you dug, right? There's a hole in the cellar, a rat hole, also a snake den. Every time you came home on leave, my mother-in-law asked you to fill it up, but every time you thought it was a small matter and refused to fill it. Do you know that Yan Xing wasn't poisoned by anyone at all? At that time, she heard you were coming back and remembered there was still a pumpkin from last year in the cellar. She wanted to bring it out to make your favorite pumpkin rice, but she was bitten to death by a snake that came out of the hole in the cellar," Chen Meilan said directly.
The two men in the courtyard looked at Chen Meilan simultaneously, both with expressions of disbelief.
