As soon as this question was asked, Yan Wei's face reddened again.
He looked at Mi Lan and asked, "Where's the money?"
Mi Lan hesitated for a moment: "Isn't the money Yan Wangqi's? I thought it was supposed to be returned to Third Brother. Yan Wei, who do you think I should give the money to? I've never dared to make decisions about our financial matters. Meilan is better at managing the household than me. Look at how Third Brother's family finances are all in Meilan's hands."
Chen Meilan thought to herself, no wonder Zhou Xueqin wanted to make Mi Lan so furious. These words were beautifully said.
Beautiful, yet infuriating.
She smiled and said: "Second Brother is still impressive. Are you too much of a male chauvinist at home? Look how many complaints Second Sister-in-law has. You should let her manage the finances at home from now on."
Indirect insults, who can't do that?
If Yan Wei could actually control the family's money, would he be in such a difficult position right now? He snatched the bag from Mi Lan's hand and threw it into the trash with a thud: "Give the money to whoever you want, as long as you can pay it back."
Mi Lan took a deep breath, clutching her chest and glaring at Yan Wei. Was she about to have a heart attack?
But after a long silence, she still didn't take out the money, nor did she have a heart attack.
Chen Meilan decided not to make tea anymore and went into the kitchen instead. She first fried two eggs for Little Lang to fill his stomach. She then peeled potatoes and washed cucumbers, preparing to cook.
Little Lang hadn't eaten well at noon, so he quickly devoured the two fried eggs. For his daily routine, he ran to the living room and steadily assumed a horse stance.
Mi Lan sat on a stool, her eyes fixed intently on Little Lang.
Yan Ha was her sister's son. Because he was spoiled by many people since childhood, he became particularly pampered. When he was adopted at five years old, he already had memories and knew who his birth parents were. If Yan Wei and Mi Lan scolded him even once, he would return to his own home after school.
They had to buy lots of snacks and toys to coax him back, and it took a long time.
Moreover, pampering the child made him delicate. He couldn't bear the wind or rain. Now at nine years old, he still needed to ride on Yan Wei's shoulders to come home after school.
But look at how tough Little Lang is. There's a locust tree behind the courtyard with many moths. The moths would land on Little Lang's forehead one moment and on the tip of his nose the next, yet he remained perfectly still in his horse stance, focusing inward.
How exactly did Chen Meilan raise him?
But leaving that aside, she and Yan Wei were forced by Yan Peiheng to come and repay the money.
Something strange had happened to Yan Peiheng. Previously, when he heard that Chen Meilan was actually the ex-wife of a nouveau riche, he was so angry he couldn't sleep for several nights. He yelled and cursed at home, scolding everyone until they didn't dare open their mouths.
He came to Xiping City and stayed for only 12 hours in total.
After returning to the capital, he changed completely. The only way to describe him was as if he had been bathed in spring breeze. Every day he would ask people about their daughters-in-law, and the conversation would always turn to Chen Meilan. He couldn't go three sentences without praising her.
He was especially close to Director Cui, because he could always get the latest news about Chen Meilan from him. He would come back and share it with the whole family.
Later, Wang Gebi couldn't stand it anymore and secretly told Mi Lan that this was why many people cursed their father-in-law as an old bastard who had no shame.
Fortunately, Chen Meilan wasn't around. If she were also in the capital, he would probably praise his daughter-in-law to the point where even pigs and dogs would despise him.
But since her father-in-law liked the third daughter-in-law, Mi Lan had to like her too.
She also had to repay the money today, because they needed Yan Peiheng's help to process the paperwork for their trip abroad. He was now withholding the paperwork, insisting they repay the money first.
However, as Chen Meilan had guessed, the method of repayment was a bit convoluted. It was an idea that Mi Lan had come up with after rushing to Xiping City and discussing with Mi Fang for two days.
In Mi Lan's mind, rural people like Chen Meilan and Yan Zhao could never understand the methods of city people like her, so overall she felt quite at ease.
It's just that Mi Fang had gone to the police station and there was no news yet. She was anxious to find out what was happening, so she was a bit impatient now, hoping Yan Zhao would come back soon.
After sitting for a while, she suddenly remembered that since she had arrived home, she should let Yan Peiheng know.
This way, he would help them arrange things and process their travel abroad more quickly.
"By the way, Meilan, I just got home and I'm about to give you the money. Dad would definitely want to know right away. You have a phone at home, right? Let me call Dad," she said.
If Chen Meilan hadn't seen Yan Wei's face turn red then white, then red again, looking so embarrassed he might want to find a hole to crawl into,
She might have really believed that Mi Lan actually had a check for 300,000 yuan for her.
She pointed to Yan Zhao's bedroom: "The phone is in that room."
Mi Lan went into the bedroom and dialed the number, deliberately putting the phone on speaker.
While waiting for someone to pick up, she beckoned to Chen Meilan: "Come in, Meilan, say a few words to our dad."
However, the person who answered the phone wasn't Yan Peiheng, but a woman with a particularly gentle voice: "Hello."
"It's me, Mommy, your little Lanlan. Where's Dad?" Mi Lan asked enthusiastically.
Wang Gebi on the other end of the line laughed and said: "Peiheng has a meeting tonight and won't be back until later. I'm making pigeon soup for him now. How are you? How's your health?"
"Mommy, my health is not good, but I really like Meilan. I want to stay in the countryside for a few more days," Mi Lan said excitedly.
The woman on the other end also laughed: "That's fine. Peiheng will be happy to hear that you and Meilan are getting along so well."
After Mi Lan hung up the phone, Chen Meilan thought to herself, this "Wang next door" doesn't sound old at all.
And calling her father-in-law by his first name "Peiheng" is interesting.
At this moment, Little Wang and Yuanyuan also came back from school. Entering the courtyard and seeing Yan Wei standing there, Yuanyuan recognized him first and called out "Second Uncle," and the clever girl immediately followed with "Second Aunt."
Little Wang then quickly followed suit.
Mi Lan reached out to take something, but Yan Wei stopped her. She had brought KFC for Mi Fang to eat, and snacks from the plane for her nephew. Yan Wei felt very uncomfortable about this.
Chen Meilan also said to the two children: "Go inside and do your homework. You can come out to play later."
Today was the last day of school, exams were over, and tomorrow would be the start of summer vacation.
But the war between Little Wang and Yuanyuan hadn't ended. Little Wang was particularly fired up, holding his breath and waiting for the final exam results to come out.
Although Yuanyuan also regretted saying she wanted to drive her brother away, she still wasn't talking to him because Little Wang hadn't stopped bullying Liu Jiaxuan, whether at home or outside.
Little Wang didn't say anything on the surface, but Yuanyuan's words about driving him away had already planted a thorn in his heart.
Usually, the two children would each go to their own rooms, but today there was a guest in Yuanyuan's room, so she had to go to Little Wang's room.
With the exams over, there was no homework to do. In this era of flourishing arts and culture, children's favorite thing to do was to listen to songs and copy lyrics. Yuanyuan particularly enjoyed copying lyrics, which greatly increased her vocabulary.
But Little Wang had somehow gotten hold of a deck of cards and was shuffling them noisily.
Suddenly, he spread all the cards on the table and pointed at them, saying: "Yan Shengnan, pick a card at random. Want to bet I can guess what it is?"
The backs of the cards were indistinguishable, of course. Yuanyuan reached out and picked a card, secretly glancing at it before asking Little Wang: "What do you think it is?"
"King of Hearts." Little Wang flipped the card over and slammed it down in front of Yuanyuan: "Am I impressive or what?"
"Brother, how did you know that?" Yuanyuan was still young after all, and thought her brother was amazing. She immediately forgot her anger and started talking to him.
Little Wang let out a cold snort: "Go ahead, you wanted to drive me away. See who else could play such fun games with you."
Yuanyuan then said: "If you're so capable, try to score higher than Liu Jiaxuan. He's first in our grade. What about you?"
Even children have their own social circles. The cunning Liu Jiaxuan came from a very wealthy family. His parents had a small suit made for him, and when he wore it, he looked just like the children on TV. What was even more irritating was that he was exceptionally good at studying.
Little Wang was so angry he was gesticulating wildly.
...
Mi Lan sat on the steps wearing a large mask. Despite the hot summer weather, she was bundled up in many layers of clothes, looking weak and constantly asking Chen Meilan when Yan Zhao would return.
Yan Wei couldn't bear to watch and found a fan to gently fan her.
Chen Meilan didn't think Mi Lan was suffocating from lack of fresh air; instead, she thought that with such a large mask, she might suffocate before the air could even get to her.
However, she needed to call Yan Zhao and have him come back quickly, as Mi Lan had a heart condition and was Yan Peiheng's precious treasure.
If she had a heart attack in Yanguan Village, Chen Meilan couldn't bear the responsibility.
Yan Zhao didn't respond to the page, but after a while, he and Qi Songlu arrived at the doorstep, one in front of the other.
Qi Songlu was leaning on Yan Zhao, who helped her all the way to the doorstep of Third Uncle's house before turning back.
Clothes make the man, Qi Songlu was already 172 cm tall, beautiful, and good at dressing herself. Especially after going through hardships, she had a resilient and charming aura.
She was the kind of woman who would stand out in a crowd at first glance.
Chen Meilan was standing at the kitchen door when she suddenly felt two warm breaths behind her. Turning around, she saw Mi Lan, who had been listless just moments ago, now standing behind her with sparkling eyes, full of curiosity: "Hey Meilan, that woman is quite pretty. Why is our Third Brother helping her? Who is she, and why is she so careless about herself?"
Chen Meilan didn't know why Yan Zhao was helping Qi Songlu.
But there must be a reason.
Mi Lan's repeated probing made her even more annoying than her cousin Mi Fang.
"She's the accountant I hired, Second Sister-in-Law. Are you all so conservative in the city? Men helping women is such a big deal. What do you mean by 'decency' and 'indecency'? Do you wear so many layers just to be decent?" Chen Meilan retorted.
Mi Lan had been testing the waters, but she found that Chen Meilan was much more formidable than Zhou Xueqin, and in a subtle way.
With this kind of person, if you push hard, she retreats quietly.
Yan Zhao entered the house, holding soap and a towel in one hand, turning on the tap to wash his face, and casually called out to his second brother, nodding to Mi Lan and greeting her as Second Sister-in-Law.
Mi Lan smiled upon seeing Yan Zhao, then slowly took off her mask, coughed twice, and suddenly said, "Third Brother, no wonder our mother left all her money to Little Wang. I also gave birth to a grandson for her, but the child just wasn't as lovable as Little Wang. Our mother left all her money to Little Wang and didn't leave a penny for mine. My child was so unfortunate, he passed away right after his grandmother."
She was complaining about her deceased mother-in-law in front of Yan Zhao, implying that she was biased, leaving money only for Little Wang and none for her son.
The way she spoke, even if her own child died, she could blame it on her deceased mother-in-law. The accusation was so sudden that not only Yan Zhao but even the deceased Su Wen would be caught off guard.
Yan Zhao's hands, which were cupping water, suddenly paused.
The tap water flowed loudly, and the few people in the courtyard fell into silence for a moment.
Yan Zhao abruptly turned to look at Yan Wei.
Yan Wei immediately avoided his brother's gaze.
Of course, this was also what Yan Wei had always believed. He always thought that Su Wen and Yan Peiheng favored Third Brother, not him and his elder brother, otherwise why send them to the capital and later not leave them any money?
That's why he allowed Mi Lan to use that money to make a fortune.
Even now, he still believed that as long as he could return the thirty thousand to Little Wang, everything would be fine.
He never thought that letting Mi Lan use that money to make money was a mistake.
"Second Sister-in-Law, are you talking about Qilin, the one who passed away at seven? I heard that since Qilin was born, you never let him drink tap water, always using distilled water. You were afraid that the outside air was toxic, so you always wore masks when going out. My mother wanted to see her grandson. I called, sent telegrams, and even said that if he couldn't take the train, I would pay for the plane ticket for him to come to Yanguan Village to see his grandmother. You were afraid the child would get poisoned in the countryside and wouldn't let him come. How did such a well-cared-for child pass away?" Yan Zhao, who was usually silent, suddenly asked a series of questions.
And each sentence was not just sharp but poisonous.
Mi Lan opened her mouth: "Third Brother, everyone knows that my Qilin had poor health since he was young."
"Second Sister-in-Law, do you think I'm blind? I saw Qilin when he was three years old in the capital. He was very healthy." Yan Zhao followed up immediately.
No mother could remain silent when someone blamed her for her child's death. Mi Lan instinctively turned to look at her husband, stammering, "Yan Wei, the child died of illness, not because of me. Listen to what your Third Brother is saying about me."
Yan Zhao splashed water on his face, then suddenly turned to look at Yan Wei: "Second Brother, the child you couldn't bear to bring to the countryside died?"
The words were harsh, but they struck Yan Wei like a bolt of lightning, exploding in his mind.
Yan Wei's son was named Qilin. Because Mi Lan had a heart condition, giving birth was not easy, so they cherished the child greatly. As Yan Zhao said, they didn't even let him drink tap water and always wore masks when going out.
Yes, Su Wen had sent telegrams, pleading with Yan Wei to bring the child to see her.
She wanted to see her grandson.
But Mi Lan and Wang Gebi wouldn't allow it.
They insisted the child was sick, wearing three or four layers of clothes even in summer, always wearing masks. The healthy child suddenly developed nephritis, and a fever took his life.
Yan Zhao stared at Yan Wei, who was also looking at Yan Zhao.
Yan Zhao's appearance was honest, but he wasn't stupid. He could see Yan Wei's thoughts.
Wiping his face dry with a towel, he handed the towel to Chen Meilan and headed to the kitchen: "Second Brother, if you resent Mother for being biased, you should think about this. Elder Brother was born in 1954, you in 1957. You were born during a time of natural disasters and widespread hunger. Not many children survived in the village, including you two, and later there was also me and Yan Xing. What was her state of mind when she sent you to the capital? And what was her state of mind when you never let her see her grandson before she died?"
When he complained that his mother didn't leave him any money, did he ever think about this? Yan Jun took his child abroad, and his son's fate with Su Wen was unknown.
Only Little Wang sat by her knees, ran around her door, and comforted the old lady in her final moments, giving her a little joy and solace.
What right did they have to ask the old lady for money?
Yan Wei's eyes reddened. After a long pause, under Little Lang's surprised gaze, two lines of tears streamed down his face.
In the capital, he had only listened to Mi Lan and Wang Gebi, resenting his mother, hating his mother.
But he never thought about how his mother, when he resented her, had never resented him.
Yan Zhao went straight into the kitchen.
He had said in the morning that he would cook tonight. And there he was, taking a basin.
Chen Meilan said, "Don't cook yet. Ask Mi Lan for the money. She said they came to repay the debt and would leave after that."
Chen Meilan couldn't afford to take care of a heart patient. Let them show the money first.
Yan Zhao then came out of the house and asked Yan Wei, "Second Brother, where's the money?"
Yan Wei actually wanted to tell the truth at this moment.
But before he could open his mouth, Mi Lan quickly took out a deposit book from her small handbag and threw it to Yan Zhao: "Here it is, thirty thousand, not a penny less."
In this era, using a deposit book for transactions was very inconvenient.
Withdrawals from a current account had to be done at a fixed bank, and if it was a fixed deposit, it was even more troublesome. You couldn't withdraw it before the due date.
And if it was over thirty thousand, you had to make an appointment at least a week in advance, and you needed to bring your ID to make the appointment.
Mi Lan handed the book to Yan Zhao and immediately said, "My heart feels really uncomfortable. I need to go to the hospital, Yan Wei, hurry up and take me there."
Yan Wei stood still, feeling that he had been particularly weak. If only he had been a bit more assertive and brought the child home, perhaps his mother wouldn't have died with regrets.
"Yan Wei, my chest hurts, I need to go to the hospital right away," Mi Lan said again.
"Second Sister-in-Law, don't leave. If it hurts, just endure it for a while," Yan Zhao suddenly said as Mi Lan moved towards the door.
Mi Lan leaned on the wall and looked back at Yan Zhao.
"There's something wrong with this book, the name is written incorrectly," Yan Zhao asked again.
Mi Lan, with a calm expression that seemed to have anticipated this, no longer felt her heart pain: "Is that so? The name is wrong? It doesn't matter, you can just take your ID to change it later."
But after staring at the passbook for a while, Yan Zhao turned back to Chen Meilan and said, "There's something wrong with this passbook. Tomorrow, I'll take it to the bureau and have Xiong Xiangdang investigate it."
Chen Meilan then took the passbook, wanting to see what was wrong with it. She had clearly heard that Mi Lan had bought a lot of bonds for the construction of the capital, as the bonds had been falling recently, and she was unwilling to cut her losses and was waiting for them to rise.
A passbook worth three hundred thousand, was it real, or had she been given a fake one?
Upon examining the passbook, Chen Meilan almost laughed out loud. No wonder Yan Zhao had been staring at it. It turned out that this passbook, by coincidence, had been issued from Mi Fang's post office.
Not only was the passbook from Mi Fang's post office, but it was also in a small booklet form, with the teller signing their name after each transaction.
The name on this passbook was written as Yan Zhao, first of all, misspelling Yan Zhao's name.
And there was no signature from the teller after the machine-printed deposit amount.
This only left one possibility: the passbook looked real, but in fact, it had been privately printed by Mi Fang for Mi Lan, meaning the passbook existed, but there was no record of the three hundred thousand entering the postal savings.
Mi Lan probably wanted to use the empty passbook to delay things, waiting until the bonds rose before depositing the money. She wasn't refusing to repay, she just lost the eggs she borrowed from the chicken and now wanted to hold onto Little Wang's chicken to lay more eggs for herself.
Running into Yan Zhao, she had met her match.
Yan Zhao's pursuit of illegal activities did not take into account familial feelings.
If this matter was confirmed and added to Mi Fang's crimes, Mi Fang would be sentenced.
However, Chen Meilan couldn't wait, because she was reborn, and she knew that every day delayed meant more money lost.
If they waited another half a month, the entire capital construction would go bankrupt.
Chen Meilan took the passbook and chased after them, "What's wrong with Second Sister-in-law, is her heart not feeling well? Going to the hospital?"
"Yan Wei, come help me," Mi Lan groaned.
Chen Meilan pretended to help Mi Lan, but instead snatched her small leather bag and said, "Second Brother, quickly help Second Sister-in-law to the hospital, I'll go find a motorcycle for you."
Bonds could be redeemed daily, with prices fluctuating and redeemable at any time, and tens of thousands were a significant amount, not to be taken lightly.
There was also a building contract that had not yet been transferred but was in the process of being transferred, also in this leather bag.
That was Mi Lan's lifeblood.
Now it was in Chen Meilan's hands, taken out the door, how could Mi Lan not have a heart attack? She chased after Chen Meilan out the door, "Meilan, give my bag back to me."
There were several people in the village with motorcycles, Chen Meilan ran while saying, "Second Sister-in-law, don't worry, I'll call a motorcycle to take you to the hospital."
"Give my bag back to me," Mi Lan also chased after Chen Meilan.
Chen Meilan deliberately ran to one house, looked, then ran to another house, circled around, and turned back, seeing Yan Wei also chasing her, she turned back and said, "Hurry up, Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law is sick, why aren't you helping her?"
She stopped, and Mi Lan came to snatch the bag, but by then Chen Meilan had already opened the zipper of the bag, pulled out the envelope inside, and removed the rubber band, flipping it over in one motion.
There was a rustling sound, and bonds worth ten thousand yuan scattered to the ground.
When chasing after money, people are the most motivated and their appearance is the ugliest.
Chen Meilan let go, just stopping at her doorstep, looking up at Yan Wei.
"Enough, can we not make a scene?" Yan Wei roared.
Mi Lan immediately looked up, her face full of disbelief, her voice sharp, "Yan Wei, how dare you shout at me?"
Yan Wei had never shouted at Mi Lan, not even spoken a harsh word.
Because Mi Lan had lost her father early, was spoiled by Wang Gebi, had a congenital heart condition, and was the daughter of a martyr, she was doted on by all the old leaders of the military district, who would dare to shout at her.
Plus, with the good market environment in recent years and the ability to make money through stock trading, at most, she had once held six hundred thousand.
A woman who could make money, her husband naturally treated her with high regard.
Yan Peiheng's daughter had died early, so he treated her like Yan Xing, and Yan Wei treated her like a princess, which made Mi Lan unable to tolerate any sand in her eyes, not liking to hear others shout at her.
She pointed at Yan Wei and started cursing, "Yan Wei, why are you shouting at me? Your dad was promoted by my dad. My second uncle was also a soldier, but my dad didn't promote him, he promoted your dad. My dad is Yan Peiheng's savior, the savior of your whole family!"
...
"If I had known your whole family wouldn't be grateful, my dad should have promoted my second uncle instead of your dad."
On a sultry evening, with cicadas chirping in the courtyard, Yan Zhao suddenly spoke from the kitchen, "Second Sister-in-law, don't you know that your second uncle has just been defined as the leader of the hooligans and gangsters in Xiping City, the head of the black gang, and will be publicly tried and executed tomorrow?"
This statement was like a bolt from the blue, a thunderclap.
Chen Meilan thought, this time, Mi Lan should have a heart attack!
