No one but Yan Wei himself knew how utterly broken his heart was at that moment.
He knelt at the threshold, sobbing, crawling into the courtyard like a worm, taking a step and kowtowing, then another step and another kowtow. In the moonlight, he looked like a madman, crawling erratically all over the ground.
Mi Lan followed, intending to grab the bag. Just as Yan Wei kowtowed on the steps, he suddenly raised his head. The moon hung high, and his forehead was bleeding.
"Yan Wei, don't scare me," Mi Lan was terrified.
"My mother never saw her grandson's face," Yan Wei looked at the memorial tablet, tears streaming down like rain. He didn't know this was his mother's regret, and he was remorseful but had no way to make amends.
Mi Lan felt this wasn't a big deal: "Didn't the child pass away? What difference would it make if she had seen him? Wouldn't that just be more heartbreaking? Yan Wei, stop this nonsense. Get up quickly. I'll listen to you, just stop this, okay?" She was really scared.
She was willing now. Tomorrow she would cash in the bonds, keep only 80,000, and give the rest to Little Wang. Wouldn't that be okay?
"Get out. We'll divorce when we get back," Yan Wei said.
It's terrifying when a man who's always been as soft as dough suddenly turns harsh.
This was the first time Mi Lan had been so shocked by Yan Wei. He actually said he wanted a divorce. Had he gone mad?
Mi Lan could only go find Chen Meilan: "Meilan, go check quickly. Your second brother seems to be acting strange."
The TV was at an exciting crucial moment. There was no jostling, allowing everyone to watch the full scene of the criminal being escorted by four police officers to the execution ground. There was even a close-up of the criminal's face. It was said there would be scenes of the shooting and the head exploding. Once the broadcasting regulations introduce tiered ratings in the future, these scenes won't be available anymore.
Chen Meilan didn't want to go, but Song Huaihua and Liu Xiaohong both persuaded her: "Go take a look. Don't let anything happen to Yan Wei."
As a family, who doesn't hope to live in harmony?
Song Huaihua had been praising Yan Bin, praising his contributions for the child, wasn't that also hoping for family harmony?
Chen Meilan had to put down her chopsticks and come over. As she was leaving, she saw the TV switch to Yan Zhao, with Qi Songlu standing beside him. Qi Songlu must have gone on stage.
She was quite anxious, wanting to hurry back to watch Qi Songlu.
As they walked, Mi Lan kept talking: "Meilan, you be the judge. Yan Wei has completely forgotten how my mother saved food to help raise him and his brothers when they were little."
She rambled on: "Even when I was little, my mother would make me give each of his brothers a piece of my favorite cookies. How can he say my mother wasn't good to him, that I wasn't good to him? The way he's acting now, how can he face me and my mother?"
Chen Meilan was already reluctant to come, and hearing Mi Lan talk like this made her even more annoyed.
"I don't know if second brother has wronged your mother or not, but he certainly wronged my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law was a rural woman. She didn't have cookies, she could only give her son her own blood. Cookies can be bought again, but when blood runs dry, a person dies." Chen Meilan said as she walked out of the house without looking back.
His birth mother had been dead for five or six years, and Yan Wei was only crying today. It would be normal even if he cried himself to death.
"Yan Wei, don't scare me," Mi Lan said nervously.
Yan Wei suddenly reached out and even took off the two gold earrings from Mi Lan's ears: "These belong to Little Wang too."
"Yan Wei has gone mad." Mi Lan covered her bleeding ears, backing away in fear until she reached the hall. Suddenly looking up, she saw three incense sticks in front of the memorial tablet with Su Wen's name. She then started screaming, screaming non-stop.
Unfortunately, it was too noisy next door, and no one could hear the howls from this side.
Mi Lan wanted to have an episode, but she couldn't. She was scared, so scared that she just wanted to find a place to hide quickly.
Across the wall, Song Huaihua was waving: "Meilan, come quick, Xishan is on TV!"
Actually, it wasn't Yan Xishan, but the safety helmet of the Xishan Company. Qi Songlu was wearing it on her head as she appeared on TV. In such a serious law enforcement program, only Chen Meilan could manage to insert an advertisement.
Chen Meilan didn't bother to eat, squeezing into the crowd. Everyone watched the small black and white TV together.
On the TV, Qi Songlu was recounting how she had been wrongly labeled as a hooligan, thanking the public security organs for being willing to redress her case. She covered her face, lowering her head. Only the large characters of "Xishan Company" could be seen, along with her trembling shoulders.
This advertisement was done exceptionally well. Chen Meilan was already very pleased.
Unexpectedly, Qi Songlu suddenly raised her head, looking directly at the camera and said: "I want to thank Xishan Company for reaching out to help me when I needed it most. In the future, I will work together with Xishan Company, striving to produce more coal with higher combustion rates, less carbon monoxide, and the highest safety to give back to society."
Chen Meilan smiled sincerely. This advertisement was brilliant!
"So she wasn't guilty of hooliganism at all," Song Huaihua said.
Liu Xiaohong also said: "I didn't think she looked like a hooligan, but the villagers were saying all sorts of things, with vivid details."
"You believe the village gossip? From now on, don't chat and gossip with those women anymore," Yan Yong glared at Liu Xiaohong. "Weren't you telling me this morning about how that Qi Songlu was..."
Liu Xiaohong had only heard it from others, about how Qi Songlu was supposedly trying to seduce Yan Zhao recently. The story was told with convincing details.
She was afraid Yan Yong would say it out loud. As the eldest sister-in-law, wouldn't it be embarrassing to gossip about her brothers-in-law? She reached out to cover Yan Yong's mouth.
Everyone was sitting on benches. When she stood up, Song Huaihua, who was sitting on the other side, fell over and crashed into Meilan.
At the critical moment, Yan Zhao suddenly reached out and pulled Chen Meilan away.
Song Huaihua and Liu Xiaohong fell to the ground together, their bottoms nearly bruised.
"Third brother is so inconsiderate. What's wrong with letting Meilan support me a bit?" Song Huaihua said, rubbing her bottom.
But Yan Zhao asked Chen Meilan: "Are you okay?"
Chen Meilan just grinned stupidly. She was too happy, unaware of what had happened at the scene. She only knew that the advertisement Qi Songlu had done for her was better than directly paying for TV airtime.
It happened to be summer vacation for the children. Early Monday morning, after Yan Zhao left for work, Chen Meilan got up and first called Yan Bin to ask about the situation there.
She was all prepared to take the children to cash in the bonds with Yan Wei today. This was a monumental task, and she wasn't sure if they could cash them all in today.
Just after making the call, Yan Wei and Yan Bin both came in together.
Yan Wei looked very unhappy. As soon as he entered, he handed Meilan a watch - it was that Patek Philippe.
"What's going on?" Chen Meilan took the watch and asked Yan Wei, "Where's second sister-in-law?"
Yan Wei sighed, shook his head and said: "Don't worry about her. Let's go cash in the money."
But Yan Bin whispered: "Mi Lan is still lying on the kang. She wants to go back to the capital first, but Yan Wei won't let her. He won't even give her money to make a phone call. He says they'll go back together to settle the property. There's still a lot of money in the capital that belongs to Little Wang."
So, Yan Wei wants to return everything Mi Lan had earned to Little Wang too.
He's afraid that if Mi Lan goes back to the capital a step ahead, she might secretly transfer those assets away. That's why he's deliberately holding Mi Lan back.
Yan Wei wasn't clear about the situation in Xiping City. He said: "Let me call the Bank of China branch first, ask them to prepare the money in advance. We'll go in the afternoon and cash it all at once?"
"Absolutely not, second brother. Just listen to me," Chen Meilan said.
A whole stack of bonds totaling 280,000 yuan. In such a bearish bond market, trying to cash them in Xiping City could drain the liquidity of several banks in the city. It wouldn't be easy to cash them out.
Chen Meilan had a well-thought-out plan. She first called Chen Degong, instructing him to find seven or eight migrant workers. Today, they wouldn't do anything else but queue up at the largest branches of Bank of China, Agricultural Bank, credit unions, and postal savings banks.
Yan Bin drove the motorized tricycle. Chen Meilan put the children in the tricycle, while she and Yan Wei got in the car. They still needed to coordinate their story.
"Second brother, usually the bank tellers won't ask much, but in case they ask how much we plan to cash today, we'll just say we're only cashing what we have on hand, understand?" Chen Meilan said.
Yan Wei was quite puzzled: "But we must cash out all 280,000 today."
"Second brother, tellers have connections too. They all speculate in bonds. If we cash too much at one place, the tellers will notice. Once they make a call, people rushing to cash bonds could break down the bank's doors, and the bank will stop processing. What if we can't finish today and the price drops again tomorrow?" Chen Meilan explained.
Even so, with such a large transaction today, all the banks in Xiping City would be overwhelmed by people redeeming bonds tomorrow.
They first headed to the Bank of China branch, where Chen Meilan planned to redeem 5,000 yuan.
It was only 8 AM, and the bank hadn't opened yet, but a long line of people waiting to buy and sell bonds had already formed.
Chen Meilan and Yan Bin went to line up, while Yan Wei, Little Wang, Little Lang, and the others played near the three-wheeled vehicle.
Xiping City was like a giant furnace, and by 8 AM people were already sweating profusely.
Yan Wei was worried, fearing his father would severely punish him when he returned to the capital.
For the past two days, Mi Lan had been crying constantly, mourning the death of the qilin and lamenting that she could no longer have children after being sterilized.
As her husband, how could Yan Wei's heart not ache? Sitting on the tricycle, he was sighing, worrying about how to explain things to his father when they returned to the capital, and debating whether it was right to take all of Mi Lan's money.
Suddenly, he felt something cool on the tip of his nose. Looking up, he saw it was Little Wang, offering him an ice-cold bottle of Coca-Cola.
Reaching for his pocket, Yan Wei asked, "How much is the Coke? Should Uncle give you money?"
"No need, I have my own money. I've already paid for it," Little Wang said.
"You have money? Did your mom give it to you?" Yan Wei asked as he accepted the Coke.
Little Wang smiled shyly, and Little Lang chimed in: "Mom gives him some, but big brother knows how to earn money too. He's really good at it!"
Mi Lan had always said Little Wang was particularly fond of money. Of course, when Little Wang was younger and lived with Zhou Xueqin, whenever Zhou Xueqin needed money, she would have Little Wang call his grandfather. Zhou Xueqin had even said that Little Wang started going out to earn money when he was just three years old.
He had been raised by Zhou Xueqin, so Yan Wei couldn't help but worry on Yan Zhao's behalf, fearing that once he left, Yan Zhao wouldn't be able to control Little Wang because of the 300,000 yuan.
After all, although this child was only eight years old and had a slender build, he carried himself like an adult in his interactions with others. Despite his youth, he was a true pillar of strength.
Putting himself in Little Wang's shoes, Yan Wei had also felt uncomfortable for a long time when he heard that his mother had only given 300,000 yuan to his younger brother. So he tried asking Little Wang, "Little Wang, what do you want to do with that 300,000 yuan?"
"That's not my money," Little Wang said, wiping Little Lang's mouth with a tissue. After that, he pulled up Yuanyuan's fallen shoulder strap before continuing, "My dad said a long time ago that the money belongs to a grandfather, and returning it will give us dignity. Besides, Uncle, a gentleman loves wealth but acquires it in a proper way. We'll earn our own money."
Yan Wei's scalp tingled as he stared at Little Wang in amazement.
Such a simple truth, and this child had become famous for making money even in the capital, but as he said, he loved wealth in a gentlemanly way and acquired it properly.
Little Wang knew at the age of three that people should earn their own money, so why couldn't he, a man nearing forty, understand this principle?
"Why aren't you drinking Coke yourself?" Yan Wei asked, noticing Little Wang didn't have a bottle.
Little Wang kept his eyes fixed on Chen Meilan, answering like an adult: "I'm afraid it might stunt my growth."
Little Lang hugged his Coke bottle with a satisfied smile: "If big brother grows tall, Zhou Er-ge won't beat me anymore."
"Who's Zhou Er-ge?" Yan Wei asked.
Yuanyuan explained, "He's the bad older brother from big brother's maternal grandmother's family. The first time I met big brother, they were being beaten."
Yan Wei asked Little Wang, "Uncle and Auntie have been arguing since we arrived. Are you angry with Uncle?"
Little Wang hesitated for a moment, stammering. Yan Wei thought the child must be upset after witnessing so much ugly arguing between Mi Lan and himself. But instead, Little Wang asked Yan Wei, "Uncle, do you like watching movies?"
Yan Wei was taken aback. Then he saw Yuanyuan rubbing her hands together, her eyes squinting with laughter as she buried her head shyly in Little Lang's arms, and asked in a pleading tone, "Uncle, do you like them?"
Looking at Yuanyuan's radiant smile, Yan Wei suddenly realized that if he had once had such a little girl as his sister and had spent time with her day and night, if she had died, he might also be unable to move on for many years, just like Yan Zhao.
He couldn't empathize with Yan Zhao because he only thought of the dead sister as a child who died young, nothing significant. But for Yan Zhao, she was an indelible part of his life.
"Yuanyuan's movie premiered yesterday, but the adults were too busy, and we didn't dare mention it. Why don't we all go watch the movie together tonight?" Little Wang said.
Afraid that his uncle wouldn't agree, he looked at him expectantly.
"Of course we'll go. We must go," Yan Wei said, rubbing his face.
The children were immediately delighted. Little Lang added, "We could have sold the extra tickets, but we're not selling them because Uncle is going to watch."
Little Wang was a little miser; he should have sold any extra movie tickets, even just one. But he wanted to give one to Yan Wei.
Yan Wei reached out and hugged Little Wang, asking again, "You're really not angry with Uncle?"
"We're family, after all," Little Wang said, turning his head and trying not to get too close to Yan Wei.
It wasn't that he wasn't angry; he just hoped that everyone would never argue again.
Yan Wei pressed his forehead against Little Wang's.
He thought about how he had watched Little Wang and his brother suffer for three or four years, yet used Little Wang's money to support Yan Ha in the capital.
He truly wasn't a good person, so it was no wonder Yan Zhao never paid attention to him.
Ten banks, even with migrant workers lining up in advance, going from one to another to redeem bonds would be exhausting. During the banks' lunch break, they each ate a bowl of cold noodles by the roadside. In the afternoon, they continued queuing. By the time they finished with all ten banks, it was already 5 PM, and the last bank was about to close.
The situation turned out much better than Chen Meilan had estimated. They managed to redeem a total of 198,000 yuan.
There was also that building. Although they had only signed their names and hadn't transferred the ownership, it was signed under Mi Lan's name. Chen Meilan was quite worried, fearing that Yan Wei, with his fair skin and gentle demeanor, wouldn't be able to make decisions, and that Mi Lan might cause more trouble.
But in reality, when one party in a marriage becomes firm, the other naturally softens.
It was said that Mi Lan didn't want to transfer the entire property, but wanted to sell part of it to Little Wang, just enough to repay the 300,000 yuan.
However, Yan Wei silenced Mi Lan with just one sentence: "If you dare to do that, we'll get divorced, and you can take Yan Ha with you."
...
That evening, there were a total of 12 movie tickets. Chen Meilan invited Chen Degong and his wife, Yan Yong and Yan Bin's wife, plus Yan Wei, to watch "Yellow River Ballad" together.
It wasn't until they entered the cinema that Yuanyuan realized her birth father, Yan Xishan, hadn't come.
"Don't worry about it. Your dad must have gone out to have fun. Let's just watch together," Chen Meilan said.
Yuanyuan refused, pestering Yan Bin to go pick up Yan Xishan, insisting that she knew her father hadn't missed a single class and had been attending night school all along.
Everyone thought Yuanyuan was being silly. How could Yan Xishan possibly be at night school? He must be at a nightclub. Besides, how could he possibly enjoy watching a movie?
No one believed her, thinking the little girl was naive. Yan Bin especially didn't believe Yan Xishan would be studying at school.
If he were the studying type, even a desk or a chair could get into university.
But this time, Yuanyuan was right.
Yan Xishan was in a night school classroom, listening to the teacher's lecture.
And he really hadn't missed a single class.
When he heard that his daughter was on the big screen, Yan Xishan didn't even have time to boast. He rushed out in a panic, speeding in his flashy red Xiali, but he was still too late when he arrived. Yuanyuan's scene was only three minutes long and had already been shown.
Until the end credits, there was no further sight of Yuanyuan.
This incident infuriated Yan Xishan. Chen Meilan had invited even Yan Yong and his wife, but not him.
If they weren't already divorced, and if Yan Zhao's family wasn't so numerous and powerful in protecting Chen Meilan, Yan Xishan might have gotten into a physical fight with her.
After the movie ended, Chen Meilan tried to placate him: "I've said I'm sorry, isn't that enough? You can watch it tomorrow, right? The movie will be showing for half a month."
"You don't understand a damn thing."
"There's even another showing tonight. If you wait a bit, it'll start soon," Chen Meilan added.
She knew she had done wrong by forgetting about Yan Xishan. She could understand that he just wanted to hear these acquaintances praise Yuanyuan and bask in the glory, but she had truly been busy and had forgotten about him.
"Chen Meilan, from now on, if there's anything, have Qi Songlu pass the message. Let's not see each other again in this lifetime," Yan Xishan said, his eyes red, as he walked away without looking back.
The next day, Yan Wei took Mi Lan to see Yan Dongping to modify the contract and asked Yan Zhao whose name the property should be transferred to.
The property couldn't be transferred to a child's name.
"Mine," Yan Zhao said rather sullenly, then added, "Put it up for sale tomorrow. If someone wants it, sell it."
"Alright," Yan Wei replied.
After all, there were connections at the Public Security Bureau, and three days later, the building was transferred to Yan Zhao's name.
Yan Zhao planned to resell it, so he posted a sale notice at the front door. But in these times, even Yan Dongping had to find someone from the capital to sell a building, showing that no one in Xiping City could afford twenty million.
It was unclear when this building could be sold and when they could recover the cost.
Mi Lan and Yan Wei were going to return to the capital after transferring the building ownership.
They had flown here, but now without money, they really had to take the cheapest green-skinned train back, just as they had said.
Mi Lan was still focused on the bonds. In the morning, seeing them fall, her heart turned to ashes. But having once been wealthy, the beautiful dream was hard to wake from, and by evening her heart would reignite with hope that tomorrow they might rise.
The bond market was turbulent. On the day they left, Capital Construction briefly rebounded, actually rising a bit.
Mi Lan shoved the paper under Yan Wei's nose: "See, it's gone up. Next week it'll definitely bounce back to 280,000. Your whole family will regret this."
"By the way, how many bags did you give your sister? And didn't you contribute 2,800 for her house renovation? Let's pay it all back together, using my salary to make up the difference. Don't object, or I really will divorce you this time," Yan Wei said, his voice deep but without hesitation.
Mi Lan realized then that Yan Wei wasn't just talking. He not only wanted to sell all her things, but also reclaim everything she had given to her sister and mother - all assets to be returned to Little Wang.
Mi Lan trembled for a long time holding the newspaper, but she still didn't have a heart attack. She could still hold on, waiting for the bonds to rise and slap Yan Wei in the face.
She firmly believed the bonds would rise.
Until they returned to the capital, until one day, she saw news of Capital Construction's bankruptcy in the newspaper.
Mi Lan fainted right there at the newsstand.
...
With the money back, repaying the debt naturally became the priority.
Yan Peiheng called a few times, trying to persuade Yan Zhao to keep the money for Little Wang, after all, it was Su Wen's dying wish.
But how could Yan Zhao possibly listen?
"This is my business, you don't need to worry about it," he said.
Yan Peiheng then said, "By the way, your second brother and Mi Lan..."
"I don't care about them," Yan Zhao snapped, hanging up the phone with a bang.
Yan Wei had provided Gu Xiao's contact information, including an overseas phone number. This required international long-distance service at home, and current phone fees were eye-watering. The basic landline fee was already 28 per month, and adding international service would bring it to 58 just to maintain that phone.
But for some reason, when they called the number, it was disconnected, just ringing endlessly without connecting.
Since there was also an address, Yan Zhao went specially to the post office to buy airmail envelopes. He wrote a letter including his home address and phone number, as well as his work address and number, then made a special trip to Xiping City's main post office to drop it in the international mailbox.
Then the couple had to seriously consider how to come up with 300,000 in cash to keep in a fixed account.
Once they contacted Gu Xiao, they would transfer the money directly.
Yan Zhao harbored resentment towards Gu Xiao.
He certainly hated that man; all of his mother's suffering had begun from knowing him.
But Chen Meilan wouldn't sell that building; she didn't even want to sell a single shop space. Who would be foolish enough to sell property these days?
They had 198,000 on hand. She could pull out 40,000 in liquid funds herself. Yan Wei would send back another 5,000 in a while. With another 60,000, they could pay off this debt.
But where could Chen Meilan suddenly come up with 60,000?
"Our Xishan Company's public account happens to have 60,000. Why don't we ask Yan Xishan if we can transfer it over to use for now, and we'll repay the company account when the next payment comes in from Dongfang Group?" Qi Songlu said, playing with a ballpoint pen.
Chen Meilan considered it, but doing so would mean using Yuanyuan's money to fill Yan Zhao's hole.
Yan Xishan had been a bit self-destructive lately. He wasn't even attending night school properly. A few days ago, Yan Zhao ran into him drunk on the street. He had wanted to help him home but got yelled at instead.
When Yuanyuan called him, he would just listen without speaking, grunting a few times before hanging up.
Let alone her?
Calling him now would be deliberately asking to be scolded.
If he knew she needed money, he'd probably laugh his head off.
It had been over a month since the registered letter was sent out. By rights, there should have been a reply by now. Chen Meilan was just getting anxious when Yan Zhao came home from work.
He was carrying five or six large banana leaf fans.
Little Wang had also just returned from outside, also carrying several banana leaf fans which he handed to Yan Zhao, frowning curiously, "Dad, our family is going through a lot of fans lately. What exactly are you using them for every night?"
Little Lang said, "Dad must be eating the fans, sneakily at night." Otherwise, how could they go through one a day?
Seeing the children's sweaty heads, hair greasy with oil, and Little Lang's mouth stained with various colors, Yan Zhao asked, "Have you been selling popsicles again?"
Of course Little Wang had taken Yuanyuan and Little Lang to sell popsicles, but how could he admit it? "No, Dad, we just went out to play for a bit."
This summer vacation, he had increased his little savings to 550 yuan, hehe!
After handing the fans to Yan Zhao, he pretended to drive a little train with Little Lang, rushing ahead of their father to rinse off at the faucet.
After running around all day, coming home for a quick rinse felt so good.
Yan Zhao followed Chen Meilan into the kitchen, fanning her back with a banana leaf fan.
With a snap, the fan broke after just a few waves.
Yan Zhao let out a hiss, stuffing the broken fan into the fire and grabbing another: "Fans these days just don't last."
This man was stubborn as a mule. Chen Meilan had merely mentioned finding the bedroom hot recently and wanting to sleep with Yuanyuan. He had taken it as a challenge, insisting on fanning her to sleep every night without fail.
Entering the 1990s, the quality of all products was collectively declining. Yan Zhao could use a fan for two days at most, so it wasn't that he was eating the fans, but that his strong hands broke them quickly, causing the family to go through so many.
Chen Meilan really didn't want him to tire himself out every night like this. She could buy an air conditioner herself. As a businesswoman, she was only tight with large sums; she always had small amounts of money on hand and could afford an air conditioner.
But Yan Zhao refused. He promised he had a bonus coming soon, plus double pay in August. Air conditioner prices had dropped a bit too. If he could find some connections, they should be able to buy one.
So Chen Meilan could only watch him break fans day after day.
A man's pride couldn't be broken; he was only making things harder for himself.
The breeze from a fan was gentler than air conditioning anyway, and felt nice. She was content.
"Any inquiries about the building?" Yan Zhao asked.
Regarding the building, there had been many inquiries, but offers were only around 70-80,000. Some even asked if they'd sell for 30-40,000. Wouldn't that just infuriate you?
Chen Meilan kept this from Yan Zhao, afraid that if she told him, he'd agree to sell the building.
They worked in different industries and had different values. Yan Zhao hadn't been reborn; he just wanted to repay the debt.
Chen Meilan could understand this. Even now, she was keeping it from Yan Zhao, planning to act first and report later, telling him the building was still theirs after the debt was repaid.
As the couple was cooking, Yan Zhao suddenly said, "There's AIDS in our country now, spreading among prostitutes. We've caught several recently who, upon examination, no longer just have gonorrhea but AIDS. Xishan has been drinking heavily lately. I'm worried he'll fall back into old habits..."
AIDS was rampant in the 1990s. Apart from blood sales, it spread through sex. Yan Zhao was naturally concerned. They were brothers, and he was even closer to Yan Xishan than to Yan Wei. He didn't want him to make one wrong step and regret it for life.
But Yan Xishan wasn't studying properly at night school anymore, drinking heavily outside every day. Forget about alcoholic liver disease at any time; prostitutes all liked him and were willing to sleep with him for free. If he happened to catch it once, his life would be ruined.
Chen Meilan also sighed: "I made a mistake back then. I should have been the first to invite him to see a movie."
The couple exchanged a glance. This really was an unsolvable problem.
Yan Xishan was an orphan; both his parents were dead. If he wanted to self-destruct, who could stop him?
But just then, the phone next door rang. Yuanyuan answered, and soon called out happily, "Mom, it's my dad. He wants to talk to you."
Huh? The estranged Yan Xishan suddenly calling of his own accord? What was going on?
Chen Meilan picked up the phone. Yan Xishan's voice came through enthusiastically: "Meilan, are you busy? Do you have time to chat for a bit?"
"What is it? Go ahead," Chen Meilan said politely.
Yan Xishan's voice was filled with extreme flattery, as sweet as if he had a mouthful of malt candy: "Tell me, wouldn't our Zhaodi like to have a father who's a representative in the city's People's Congress?"
