Yan Zhao took off Chen Meilan's socks and gestured for her to sit on the stool. After examining her feet carefully, he said, "Have you been walking a lot lately? Why are your soles so worn?"
The entire sole of her foot was turning white and felt hard when pressed.
"I've been busy with the Dongfang Group's groundbreaking for a long time, and it's finally starting now. I also have to learn to drive and pick up Little Lang from school every day. I'm exhausted," Chen Meilan said as she withdrew her foot. Not only was it turning white, but if this continued, dead skin would start to form.
Yan Zhao pulled her foot back and rubbed his thumb over it. "Does it hurt?"
"Stop touching it, it smells. You're going to roll out dough soon," Chen Meilan said.
When feet start developing dead skin, they can become sour-smelling and stinky, which isn't pleasant.
In this life, it was still okay; her feet hadn't developed calluses yet. In her previous life, Chen Meilan had helped Lu Jingyu build his empire, walking so much that she developed thick calluses on her feet. Once, when she was washing her feet, Lu Jingyu saw them and was shocked: "Meilan, are you still a woman? How can you have calluses on your feet?"
After a pause, Lu Jingyu added, "Although it looks disgusting, I can tolerate it because I love you."
Men would only find it disgusting, nauseating, and revolting, thinking she was an ugly old hag with even ugly feet. They wouldn't consider how many miles she had walked and how much pain she had endured to develop such thick calluses.
Chen Meilan didn't like Yan Zhao squeezing her feet like this.
No woman wants her husband to think of her as a yellow-faced, smelly-footed old hag.
But Yan Zhao remained silent, grabbed Chen Meilan's foot, and started massaging it with his large hands. After running around all day, having someone massage your feet felt truly comfortable.
"What's Dad doing?" Little Lang peeked into the kitchen, seeing Yan Zhao crouched on the floor massaging Chen Meilan's feet. He looked at his own feet and asked, "Dad, can you massage mine too?"
"Sure, but when Dad was little, he often helped his mom massage and wash her feet," Yan Zhao said.
Little Lang responded with an "Oh, Dad's amazing," completely missing the significance of his father's words and failing to pick up on the cue.
So Yan Zhao said, "When you grow up a bit, you should help Mom massage and wash her feet too, understand?"
Little Lang stretched out his hands and pounced forward: "I can do it now!" To him, it seemed like fun.
"Alright, alright, my feet don't hurt anymore. Go wash your hands, everyone go wash your hands," Chen Meilan said.
She couldn't accept this kind of filial piety that involved washing and massaging feet at every turn. She'd rather have her children grow up, make money, and shower her with cash so she could go to a foot spa and have a handsome young man massage her feet.
A monetary transaction, guilt-free, and with good technique.
In the evening, Chen Meilan first went to Yuanyuan's bedroom to hear her story about the math teacher.
Yuanyuan was laughing as she described how dirty the math teacher's underwear was: "Mom, that underwear had two holes in the back, and there was something yellow on it. Eww, he picked it up and stuffed it in his pocket, and we all watched him eat lunch without washing his hands!"
"Holes? Isn't that just like Dad's old underwear?" Little Wang asked from outside the window.
Yan Zhao shouted, "Yan Xiaowang, go sleep in your own room."
At night, Yan Zhao never entered Yuanyuan's bedroom himself, nor did he allow Little Wang to wander around.
Little Wang pouted, feeling angry and left out while the room next door was so lively, and he was always alone.
After the two little ones fell asleep, Chen Meilan had to go to the bathroom to take a shower before entering the bedroom. As soon as she entered, she heard Yan Zhao on the phone: "Thirty thousand, are you sure you can get it?"
"Of course, you're my old commander, why would I lie to you?" The voice on the phone startled Chen Meilan as well, as it was Xiong Dapao's voice.
Chen Meilan sat down next to Yan Zhao, wanting to hear what he was planning to do.
A few days ago, he had taken two thousand from her, and now it seemed he was asking to borrow thirty thousand from Xiong Dapao.
He had been spending so much money lately.
However, Yan Zhao quickly hung up the phone and turned to Chen Meilan, saying, "I was just in touch with a comrade. He has an old Passat that he's willing to sell for thirty thousand. You don't have to pay right away; you can pay whenever you have the money. If you don't have it, I'll try to save up and give it to him in a couple of years."
So he had been discussing with Xiong Dapao about buying a car for her, and it was Xiong Dapao's old car.
Buying a car was putting a lot of pressure on Yan Zhao.
In this day and age, why did everyone leave their government jobs to go into business? It was because if you didn't, you wouldn't starve, but luxuries like cars would be unthinkable in this lifetime.
Chen Meilan felt she should come clean with Yan Zhao. Afraid he might get angry, she raised both hands before daring to say, "I didn't sell that building."
Yan Zhao's breath caught, but he didn't seem surprised. Instead, he said, "You used Yuanyuan's money, right? I knew you hadn't sold the building when you didn't go to the police station to transfer ownership." After a pause, he added in a low voice, "What you did wasn't very good."
As second-marriage spouses, they prioritized politeness. Yan Zhao rarely spoke harshly to Chen Meilan.
Saying it "wasn't very good" was already a severe criticism from him.
Chen Meilan raised her hands a bit higher and then told Yan Zhao about taking sixty thousand from Yan Xishan's public account and adding some of her own money to make up the three hundred thousand.
In reality, Gu Xiao wouldn't have wanted that money. How could someone who wanted to invest in Xiping City ask for the three hundred thousand that had been given out long ago?
"It's just tight for a while, but I can manage. Keep that building for yourselves. The monthly rent is five thousand yuan," Chen Meilan added after finishing her explanation.
Although Yan Zhao still looked a bit fierce, he reached out and grabbed Chen Meilan's raised hands, placing them on the quilt. Then he said, "Since you kept the building, you can keep it for yourself. It has nothing to do with me."
The letter was right on the bedside table. Yan Zhao picked it up and asked Chen Meilan, "How do you think we should use that three hundred thousand to make it meaningful?"
He was just not good at communication, and he had indeed been in the army for the past few years, out of touch with the broader social environment.
But now that he had transferred to civilian life, he saw the development of society. After reading Gu Xiao's letter and understanding his true intentions, he also felt that compared to proving a point, it would be better to use the three hundred thousand where it was needed.
Moreover, when Gu Xiao returned to China and saw that he had thrown away the three hundred thousand, he would not only be angry but probably find it laughable, mocking his poor man's pride.
"That money belongs to Little Wang, can I use it?" Chen Meilan asked half-jokingly.
His behavior was actually quite similar to Yan Wei's. Yan Wei managed money for Mi Lanhua to spend, and Yan Zhao managed money for her to spend.
"Let's spend it meaningfully," Yan Zhao paused for a moment, then suddenly asked Chen Meilan very sincerely, "How do you think we should spend that three hundred thousand to make it meaningful?"
Speaking of this, Yan Zhao had to tell Chen Meilan about Gu Xiao.
He and Yan Peiheng were probably the same age, and they had stayed in Yanguan Village for three years. The flute, harmonica, and other instruments that Yan Zhao learned as a child were all taught by Gu Xiao.
Compared to Yan Zhao, Gu Xiao preferred Yan Xing, and Yan Xing had an exceptional sense of music, mastering any instrument quickly and singing even better.
So, although Su Wen's courtyard was dilapidated and the family could barely feed themselves, in that era, the yard was always filled with music and song.
Yanguan Village was located on the outskirts of the city and was a very prosperous village. The villagers were all very kind and united.
However, Gu Xiao was from the "Five Black Categories," and his personality was particularly aloof and arrogant. He didn't want to actively integrate into the community.
Moreover, he was too close to Su Wen. Su Wen was kind to everyone and didn't restrain himself.
This made the villagers dislike him very much.
Take someone like Yan Sanye, for example. He was the same generation as Su Wen. It wasn't that he wanted to be a hooligan, but simply that there was a natural affection between people. Young men like them all liked young, beautiful, gentle, big-sister-like women like Su Wen.
Naturally, they would dislike Gu Xiao even more, who lived in Su Wen's house and had no sense of propriety.
Not just the villagers, even a slow boy like Yan Zhao could sensitively perceive that Gu Xiao's fondness for Su Wen was abnormal.
At this point in Yan Zhao's story, Chen Meilan interjected, "What do you mean by abnormal?"
Yan Zhao stared at the ceiling, probably thinking about how to describe it. Just as Chen Meilan was full of anticipation, he blurted out, "Like how I feel about you."
His words left Chen Meilan speechless.
Living a good life was enough. Although she treated Yuanyuan, Little Lang, and Little Wang the same on the surface, in her heart there would always be a distinction between them.
She also couldn't accept Yan Zhao's love.
After all, life was long, and who knew if he might have a female confidante in the future, or if he might betray her.
"Hurry up and tell me, what happened next?" Chen Meilan urged Yan Zhao.
As the old saying goes, poverty, love, and coughing cannot be concealed.
Not only did Grandma Su constantly pick faults, but the friendly villagers of Yanguan Village were also very dissatisfied with Gu Xiao.
Yan Xing's death intensified the conflict between them. The moment the villagers learned of Yan Xing's death, they naturally placed all the blame on Gu Xiao.
Gu Xiao's escape nearly got Yan Peiheng expelled from the army and caused a 20-year rift between Su Wen and Yan Peiheng as a couple. These were all real events that had occurred.
Of course Yan Zhao hated Gu Xiao. If it weren't for Gu Xiao's arrival, none of this might have happened.
In Yan Zhao's impression, Gu Xiao was an aloof intellectual, a professor who looked down on everyone in Yanguan Village except for Su Wen and Yan Xing, and wasn't even particularly friendly to him.
The letter said that if the 300,000 yuan wasn't spent meaningfully, he would be letting Su Wen down.
Unfortunately, making and spending money was Yan Zhao's biggest weakness. What was he supposed to do?
So at this moment, Yan Zhao looked at Chen Meilan, seeking her advice on how to spend that money.
"Discuss it with Little Wang, I don't get involved in money matters," Chen Meilan said, covering herself with the quilt and going to sleep.
Of course she knew how to spend money, and she could do it with flair.
Going to a department store, taking a trip, buying high-end cosmetics, leather shoes, buying apartments or houses - these were all ways to spend money.
But those were meaningless ways of spending. She really didn't know how to spend it meaningfully.
Yan Zhao was about to continue the conversation, but when he lifted the quilt, he heard Chen Meilan already snoring.
...
A few weeks later, on another weekend morning, Yan Zhao left home early.
Not long after, Yuanyuan came to wake Chen Meilan: "Mom, come quick! Dad brought home a car for you."
They had just been talking about cars recently, but Chen Meilan hadn't taken it seriously. Had Yan Zhao already brought back Xiong Dapao's car?
She went out without combing her hair or washing her face, and saw a Santana so dirty its color was indiscernible parked in front of their house.
In the cold November weather, Yan Zhao was fetching water to wash the car. Once cleaned, it turned out to be a spotless white Santana.
This man moved too quickly.
After finishing with the car, Yan Zhao tossed the keys to Chen Meilan: "You can drive this around from now on. It'll be warmer in winter."
As he was about to leave, he added: "By the way, you haven't said anything lately about that money. Think carefully about how to spend it!"
This left Chen Meilan in a quandary. Yan Zhao had no money, yet he had gone to great lengths to get her a car to drive.
Leaving love aside, Yan Zhao's heart was sincere enough when it came to their life together.
That money was Yan Zhao's difficulty, so how should she spend it?
Just as she was pondering this, a rare guest arrived - Cui Min, the accountant of Dongfang Group and wife of the Party secretary.
"Excuse me, is this Yan Zhao's house?" Cui Min asked from outside.
Yuanyuan and Little Lang were kicking a shuttlecock in the yard. Yuanyuan caught the shuttlecock and said, "Yes, auntie. Please come in."
Cui Min entered the yard and exclaimed, "Chen Meilan, you always said you lived in the countryside, but you never told me you lived in a villa that only foreigners could afford!"
The beauty of the yard was in its maintenance. Since this summer, Yan Zhao had whitewashed all the walls and bought some pebbles from the market to coat the front of the house with a mixture of pebbles and cement.
The exterior walls were clean and white, while the inner courtyard was simple and elegant, indeed looking like a villa.
Cui Min was an important guest, so Chen Meilan quickly invited her inside.
Entering Yuanyuan and Little Lang's bedroom, Cui Min put the tea and alcohol she had brought on the table. Looking around, she saw the piano and was amazed again: "Is that a Steinway? Who plays in your family?"
"I do, auntie. Please have some tea," Yuanyuan had already rushed to make a cup of tea and offered it to Cui Min.
Chen Meilan patted her daughter's bottom, sending her out to play.
She guessed that Cui Min's personal visit was probably about the 300,000 yuan.
Sure enough, Cui Min didn't beat around the bush and said directly: "I heard that when Milan came last time, she gave you the 300,000 yuan?"
"Yes," Chen Meilan said.
Cui Min leaned in closer and said, "Do you know about the military factory called Factory 271 in Xiping City?"
"I do," Chen Meilan said.
Not only did Chen Meilan know about Factory 271, she also knew that in the next few years, it would be contracted out from the military.
The contractor's name was Feng Yu, who would become one of China's wealthiest individuals in the future.
Lu Jingyu, as Xiping City's richest man, had made his fortune in real estate.
Feng Yu, on the other hand, would make his fortune through Factory 271. However, his path to wealth wasn't honorable. According to Lu Jingyu, he became rich by reselling the fixed assets of the military factory.
Cui Min continued, "The military is currently undergoing a major downsizing, and the supporting military factories will also be shut down one after another. Factory 271 belongs directly to the Army General District and is a labor protection factory. It's currently undergoing a contract bidding process. There are all kinds of large-scale textile machines ready to use inside, and the current raw materials alone are worth over a million yuan. The equipment is complete, so once you take it over, you can continue with garment production if you want, or if you don't want the hassle of running it yourself, you can subcontract it to others and still earn a large subcontracting fee. My dad is stubborn. This matter is under his General District's management, but he doesn't want me to do business and instead wants Wang Gebi's eldest son-in-law, Feng Yu, to handle it. I've given up on my dad because even my mom says that whenever anything involves his dear sister Wang Gebi, he becomes completely unreasonable. But Meilan, can you ask Commander Yan to put in a good word for us? We can each put up half the money and see if we can secure Factory 271."
She said all this in one breath.
Chen Meilan couldn't process this enormous amount of information all at once.
She instinctively only asked, "Is Feng Yu Milan's brother-in-law, Wang Gebi's eldest son-in-law?"
"Yes."
"Both husband and wife are in business, and now they're preparing to take over a large military factory, with your father's help? And Wang Gebi is your father's sister?" Chen Meilan said.
Cui Min gave a bitter smile, realizing that Chen Meilan had misunderstood.
So she began to explain Wang Gebi's history to Chen Meilan.
Wang Gebi is 56 years old this year, 20 years younger than her former love, Mi Ji. They were an older husband and younger wife.
She was only 16 when she married into the military district. Because of her young age and her husband's high rank, she was the youngest among the wives of the military district leaders.
Because of this, even though she's 56 now, the high-ranking officials in the army, such as Director Cui, Yan Peiheng, and Commander Xu, all treat her like a little sister.
And she has always called them "brother."
What Cui Min said was partly out of anger, but also true.
Because Wang Gebi's husband died early, his comrades have taken care of her and her daughters over the years.
A group of old leaders, like Director Cui, even ordered their own daughters, like Cui Min, not to engage in business.
But Wang Gebi's eldest son-in-law, Feng Yu, has always been doing business with military district resources, and Director Cui is willing to help.
The excuse is: "Our old comrade died early, we have no choice but to help his descendants."
After explaining, Cui Min gave a self-deprecating smile: "You haven't met Wang Gebi yet, have you? Although she's almost sixty and quite ordinary-looking, for some reason, to put it bluntly, even my dad falls for her act."
Chen Meilan had always thought that Wang Gebi was only gentle and kind to Yan Peiheng.
This seemed to imply that she was the shared dream girl of all the old leaders in the military district?
And just based on her act, her eldest son-in-law Feng Yu would become the second richest man in Xiping City in the future?
In Chen Meilan's impression, the procedures for outsourcing a military factory were extremely strict.
Because it belonged to the army, all assets were state-owned.
If the contractor sold off all the large equipment and lined their own pockets, they would certainly make money.
But the army and the country would suffer enormous losses. Because such losses involved high-ranking officials, they were difficult to investigate and usually ended up being swept under the rug.
In the 1990s, the illegal sale of state-owned assets was a common occurrence.
Therefore, the military district was extremely strict in vetting the character of those to whom they outsourced contracts. Once the army investigated and found that a contractor's character was unsatisfactory, they would revoke their contract rights.
Let alone whether Chen Meilan wanted to partner with Cui Min to contract the 271 Factory.
Regarding Feng Yu, Chen Meilan, being reborn, knew two particularly important things about him despite never having met him.
First, Feng Yu had contracted syphilis from prostitutes from a very young age and carried the virus for life.
Second, he would continue to use marijuana in the future.
Compared to heroin, marijuana is less toxic, and because he smoked little and took good care of himself, he had managed to avoid trouble so far.
Of course, all of this was what Lu Jingyu had told Chen Meilan.
In her previous life, Chen Meilan didn't know this man with a sexually transmitted disease who also smoked marijuana.
In this life, if his condition were to be exposed, the military leaders probably wouldn't dare to outsource the military factory to him.
Of course, Cui Min certainly didn't know whether Feng Yu currently had an STD or had started smoking marijuana.
Chen Meilan, being in Xiping City, had no way to investigate this.
To inquire about this matter, she would have to call the capital and ask Yan Wei.
If Feng Yu hadn't contracted an STD or started using marijuana yet, that would be fine.
But if he was currently involved in either of these things,
Wang Gebi's dear sister would likely utterly humiliate him in front of all the military district leaders.
However, since this was all speculation and further verification would take time,
Chen Meilan could only smile and say to Cui Min, "I happen to be going to the capital next month. I'll discuss the matter of contracting the military factory with my father, but don't get your hopes up too high, okay?"
"Alright, Advisor Yan is just like my dad, both are people who are strict with themselves but lenient with others," Cui Min said with a smile as she stood up, reaching out to touch the round piano. She added, "If we can't secure it, there's nothing we can do. After all, Wang Gebi is the beloved sister of all the military district leaders."
"Okay," Chen Meilan said as she saw Cui Min out the door.
Today was the weekend, and hearing Yan Sanye's laughter getting louder and louder next door, Chen Meilan guessed that Yan Xishan had come to visit him.
Recently, Yan Xishan had been running for People's Representative. Although he was trying to keep a low profile this time and not publicize it widely, many people in the village had heard rumors.
Now people were really starting to take Yan Xishan seriously.
When he came, the whole village would come out to see the excitement.
However, Chen Meilan didn't join in this excitement. She went out to call Little Wang and have him make a phone call to Yan Wei.
Through this, she wanted to probe into the background of Feng Yu and Wang Gebi's family.
Although Wang Gebi had no direct connection to Chen Meilan,
Feng Yu had now genuinely made Chen Meilan green with envy.
Consider this: they were all in business. Xiong Dapao was doing construction projects and selling clothes, and as a single father, he was earning honest money through hard work from dawn to dusk.
Despite Yan Xishan's usual appearance in suits and ties, looking all proper, with all the young ladies in Xiping City crazy about him, as a coal boss, he still had to go down into the mines frequently. When he went down, he wore only underwear, walking through the black muddy water in the coal pit, a flashlight clenched between his teeth to light the way, with dirty water dripping on his head - his life hanging by a thread.
Or take Zhou Xueqin and Lu Jingyu for example.
They traveled from south to north, carrying pagers, sitting on trains every day, having to guard against pickpockets, thieves, and hooligans.
They too were risking their lives for money.
Why was it that while everyone else was struggling, Feng Yu could easily become wealthy just by selling off military assets, using Wang Gebi's resources?
Chen Meilan couldn't help but feel this burning envy.
Stepping out, she saw Yan Xishan indeed chatting with people at the garbage station, speaking eloquently and at length. Chen Meilan glared at him but didn't acknowledge him, only calling out to Little Wang: "Little Wang, come here, mom needs you for something."
Little Wang, who had been listening to Yan Xishan boast, hurriedly ran over when he heard Chen Meilan calling him.
"Mom, Yuanyuan's dad is such a braggart, I can't stand it!" Little Wang said, exasperated.
