Chapter 20

"That's fine then. Third Uncle, Village Chief, Party Secretary, I have an apartment in the Dongfang Group building. Yan Zhao can have this house - after all, he's my big brother." At this point, Yan Xishan could only pat Yan Zhao's shoulder, swallow his pride, and pretend to be generous.0As the Party Secretary, Yan Xiong had to conclude this matter: "As men, we should learn from Xishan and Yan Zhao. But let me say two things - while reform and opening up is good, young people being too casual about marriage afterwards is a big problem. It's best to stick with your original spouse if possible. Try to make it work and stay together if you can. Let's all try not to get divorced, okay?"0

"That's right. If you get divorced, other people end up beating your kids and sleeping with your wife. Who could be comfortable with that?" someone immediately chimed in.0

Wasn't this undermining things?0

Yan Xishan's handsome face, even more striking than Fei Xiang's, was already as red as a pig's liver. He was about to leave, but this comment stung him into turning back, nearly ready to hit someone.0

Fortunately, a group of people pushed him, forcibly shoving him out the door.0

Seeing it was almost 8:30, Yan Zhao also left with everyone else, as he had to go to work.0

His cousin Yan Yong was the village chief, and he had another cousin called Yan Bin who worked as a police officer at the Yanguan Police Station. These two were Yan Zhao's closest relatives in all of Yanguan Village.0

Moreover, Yan Peiheng had been serving in the military away from home for a long time, taking his two older sons with him in the army. Only Yan Zhao had stayed home to keep his mother company, growing up together with Yan Yong and Yan Bin. He was closer to them as brothers than to his two siblings in the capital.0

Regarding Zhou Xueqin secretly returning to the First Brigade a few days ago, he had discussed it with Yan Zhao, so this wasn't news.0

Furthermore, the reason Yan Zhao was transferred to the Jindong Road Police Station was, as Chen Meilan thought, for the security of Jindong District.0

Jindong District had the most factories in Xiping City. As they entered the 1990s, it was an era of frequent cases involving smuggling, trafficking of guns and babies, speeding trucks, gang fights over territory, and other such crimes.0

The Jindong Road Police Station had a particularly high number of such cases. But oddly enough, the positions of police chief and head of the criminal investigation team at this station were also the hardest to fill. As the saying goes, "The camp is iron, but the soldiers flow like water" - most people would leave after just a few days, and even those who stayed would eventually run into trouble.0

Police Chief Sun Nutao was Yan Zhao's former superior in the army. It was he who had specially submitted a report to the department requesting Yan Zhao as the head of the criminal investigation team.0

As they say, even a strong dragon can't crush a local snake. This place seemed calm on the surface, but the waters ran deep.0

Many capable and tough figures had been sent from the capital to rectify this place, but most returned empty-handed. The reason was that there were too many local snakes.0

Yan Zhao was both a strong dragon and a local snake.0

The higher-ups' goal was for him to investigate the long-standing cases at the Jindong Road Police Station, and hopefully, to be able to work there for a long time.0

Of course, Yan Zhao had mentioned marrying Chen Meilan to Yan Yong right after returning from matchmaking in Chen Family Village, so Yan Yong knew about it.0

This was also why Yan Zhao was so confident, knowing that he could drive away Yan Xishan with just one word.0

The two brothers left home together, but since Yan Zhao had to go to work, they parted ways.0

...0

Back at home, Chen Meilan finished sweeping the courtyard and went out to dispose of the garbage. Just as she reached the garbage station, someone suddenly dumped half a basket of coal ash, nearly covering her if she hadn't dodged quickly.0

She turned around to see Hu Xiaohua standing behind the garbage station with an iron shovel, smoking a cigarette.0

Having just dumped the coal ash, he left black footprints with each step, footprints that looked oddly familiar.0

Yan Xishan had returned home dejected, which didn't bother him much, but Hu Xiaohua was the most frustrated. After all, he had been eyeing this courtyard for a long time, always wanting to occupy it.0

He was venting his pent-up anger on Chen Meilan.0

"Isn't this Xiaohua? Where's your sister?" Chen Meilan asked.0

Hu Xiaohua came out from behind the garbage station: "Sister Meilan, my sister... ah, don't mention it, she's at home crying."0

"Couldn't get the permanent position paperwork sorted out?" Chen Meilan asked, feigning nonchalance.0

This was clearly a rhetorical question. Hu Xiaohua took a deep drag on his cigarette and threw the butt on the ground: "That shameless poor bookworm Huang Zhengde said he's going to report my sister to the Education Department. I think he has a death wish..."0

Suddenly, with a splash, Chen Meilan dumped a bucket of garbage directly onto Hu Xiaohua.0

Just as Hu Xiaohua was about to lose his temper, Chen Meilan exclaimed, "Oh, Xiaohua, I was dumping garbage. Why didn't you dodge?"0

He had deliberately covered her in ash, so she covered him in garbage. Wasn't that fair?0

Hu Xiaohua stood there stunned, wanting to get angry but unable to.0

It used to be that Chen Meilan was Yan Xishan's wife, so no one dared to bully her. Now, damn it, she had found herself a policeman, so he couldn't openly bully her anymore.0

"It was my carelessness, Sister Meilan. I'll be going now." Gritting his teeth, Hu Xiaohua turned and entered the coal yard.0

Chen Meilan returned to the courtyard to see Xiaowang crouching in a corner, once again counting his change coin by coin. She asked, "Little miser, money should be hidden away. How can you always keep it in your pocket? Be careful not to let thieves steal it. I keep all my money hidden, never in my pockets."0

"There are thieves in your village?" Yan Xiaowang asked with a curious and excited expression. "So where do you hide your money?"0

Chen Meilan happened to have 21 crisp Renminbi notes in her pocket. She solemnly took out the money, waved it around, then stood on tiptoe, lifted a tile from the eaves of the toilet, and put the money inside. "Look, I hide it here."0

"Even though I don't steal money, I saw where you hid it," Yan Xiaowang snorted. "And you've hidden the money in such an obvious place, it'll definitely be stolen soon."0

"This is where you don't understand. The most dangerous place is actually the safest place. Who would think I'd put money here?" As Chen Meilan said this, in the blink of an eye, she took all the money out again and put it back in her pocket.0

"I might not have thought of it, but I saw it," Xiaowang immediately retorted.0

Chen Meilan stood on her tiptoes and asked, "But can you reach it?"0

Xiaowang thought to himself, is this stepmother stupid? I may not be able to reach it, but if I really wanted to steal her money, couldn't I just use a stool?0

As the two were bickering, suddenly someone knocked on the door. Seeing it was a man, Yan Xiaowang immediately became wary again: "Uncle, who are you? Why have you come to our house?"0

It was Yan Dawei from the same village, who worked in the Materials Department of Dongfang Group and was Chen Meilan's neighbor to the right.0

"Meilan, how did everyone decide earlier? What's the outcome with your house?" Yan Dawei asked directly.0

Actually, half a year ago, before Chen Meilan had divorced, Yan Dawei had mentioned that he had some things to store but couldn't find a place. Since Chen Meilan's family had many houses and large ones at that, he wanted to rent two rooms from her to use as a warehouse.0

Chen Meilan guessed he had come for this and quickly said, "The house is of course mine. If you want to use it, we're from the same village, so we can negotiate a good price. I'll rent it to you."0

"Alright, I'll come find you when I want to rent," Yan Dawei said straightforwardly.0

Seeing Yan Dawei leave, Yan Xiaowang, acting like a little adult, immediately stuck to Chen Meilan again: "Auntie, people who rent houses are no good. Can we not rent out our house?"0

"Why is that?" Chen Meilan asked in return.0

Yan Xiaowang was like a little shadow.0

"My grandmother's family once had people renting. They liked to play mahjong and drink alcohol. They always invited my mom to drink with them, and when they got drunk, they would..." The little boy trailed off halfway, remembering how his mom would drink with others, and when drunk, she would get upset at others earning more and angry at his dad for not coming back. His eyes reddened, and he refused to continue.0

Even without him finishing, Chen Meilan could guess. This was a time when the movement of people between urban and rural areas was accelerating.0

Of those who rented houses, a large portion were doing small businesses. With a bit of money, they liked to drink and fight, so if you took in a few tenants, the house would never know peace.0

This was also why Chen Meilan only wanted to rent out the house as a warehouse and didn't want to take in tenants.0

Logically, such small matters didn't need to be discussed with a little kid. Chen Meilan's house was beyond even his father's control, let alone Yan Xiaowang's.0

However, to give this polite little fellow a sense of ownership, Chen Meilan still said, "We definitely won't rent our house to just anyone, but that uncle is different. He's a university graduate and a minor leader at the Dongfang Factory. Oh, have you met Ning? That's his daughter."0

These past couple of days, there had been a pretty little girl who often came to play with Zhaodi. So she was that uncle's daughter?0

Little Wang didn't know that Chen Meilan had already withdrawn the money, and he kept glancing up at the tiles above the toilet from time to time.0

Of course, he wouldn't steal the money, but he was worried someone else might steal it.0

One meat sandwich was enough to fill them up. At noon, none of the children wanted to eat. They just boiled some rock sugar mung bean soup to drink. On such a hot day, they then lay down for their afternoon nap.0

Chen Meilan measured the shoe sizes of Little Wang and Little Wolf with her hand, then left the house with money in her pocket, hiring a motorized tricycle to head straight for the department store.0

Originally, she wanted to buy a pair of Warrior brand shoes for each of the boys, but opposite the Warrior counter, a new counter had opened. The saleswoman was the same one who had sold cosmetics to Chen Meilan a few days ago.0

"Sister, are you buying shoes for the kids? Why not try the Victory brand spiked shoes? All the kids love wearing these now," the saleswoman greeted her enthusiastically.0

Victory brand spiked shoes?0

Chen Meilan remembered these all too well. They were a Korean brand with rubber spikes on the soles that made you bounce when you walked. Kids especially loved them. In her past life, Zhaodi had always wanted a pair, but because she didn't have money, she never bought them.0

These shoes cost 38 yuan a pair, making them the most expensive shoes at the time.0

What did these shoes mean to children of the 1980s? They were like the Warrior shoes of a few years ago. Many children who got a pair would strut out the door proudly, only to return home barefoot.0

Where were the shoes?0

They had been snatched or stolen by other children.0

But even so, every child of this era wanted a pair of Victory spiked shoes.0

"Give me three pairs, please. Bring the shoes over and I'll check the sizes," Chen Meilan said.0

The saleswoman, who had noticed Chen Meilan's generosity last time, immediately brought out several pairs for her to check the sizes.0

Chen Meilan confidently measured for all three children's feet and bought a pair for each of them.0

Two hundred-yuan notes slipped from her hand in a flash.0

Taking the motorized tricycle back, she didn't go home but instead went next door, knocking and calling out, "Qin Yu, are you home?"0

"Meilan, what brings you here?" A woman emerged from the house. Seeing it was Chen Meilan, she lazily found a comb and started combing her hair.0

This was Yan Dawei's wife, named Qin Yu, who taught at the Dongfang School as a vocal music teacher.0

However, she didn't usually come out to see what was happening, after all, she was a teacher with high standards.0

"Zhaodi's household registration is in our Yanguan Village, and she'll be starting primary school this September. I want to transfer her to Dongfang School. Do we need to pay some temporary schooling fees?" Chen Meilan asked.0

Qin Yu frowned slightly, "We're in the same district, so children from our village can attend as temporary students, but the fees are very expensive. Can you afford it?"0

"How much is it? Just tell me, I have money here. Should I give you two thousand as a deposit?" Chen Meilan said straightforwardly.0

Chen Meilan directly took out twenty hundred-yuan notes, but Qin Yu was puzzled: "Didn't you just marry Yan Zhao? It's your second marriage, right? Can you make decisions about the family's money? Also, are you only transferring your child, or are you including Yan Zhao's as well?"0

"Let's transfer them both. It's my own earned money, I can decide," Chen Meilan could barely hide her excitement.0

As for how she earned the money, she'd lie to Yan Zhao later if she could keep it a secret.0

At home, as long as they didn't argue, it would be fine.0

"Well, Meilan, I didn't realize you were so generous," Qin Yu couldn't help but say.0

In her past life, Qin Yu later resigned from Dongfang School and went into business, opening a chain of music schools. Because Lv Erniu studied there, Chen Meilan had quite a bit of interaction with Qin Yu, but Qin Yu always looked down on her and treated her very coldly.0

Chen Meilan could never understand why Qin Yu looked down on her, but now that she had been reborn, she understood.0

Just as Lv Erniu said after they fell out, even if she was the wife of the richest man, she was still just a parasite by Lu Jingyu's side. Qin Yu's status and position were earned through her own efforts. She and Qin Yu had nothing in common to talk about, so how could Qin Yu possibly respect her?0

"By the way, don't you teach vocal music? My Zhaodi loves singing. How about letting her learn vocal music from you? I'll pay for the lessons, what do you think?" Chen Meilan said, about to take out money again.0

Qin Yu directly pressed down her hand: "If Zhaodi really wants to learn, just have her come over every day. It's the holiday season anyway, I'll teach her along with Ning. No need for money, we're neighbors after all, I won't charge you."0

Since Qin Yu didn't want to accept payment, Chen Meilan didn't push it for now. But in her past life, when Lv Erniu learned to sing, the price for a private lesson went from 20 to 200, and later to 400 yuan. Add to that dance and piano, and by junior high school, interest classes alone cost over ten thousand a month. Whether Zhaodi wanted to learn music or not, Meilan had to set aside this money for her.0

So she had to make money, and a lot of it.0

The children were locked in the house by Chen Meilan, and in the middle of the day, they were all sound asleep.0

Yan Xiaowang's belly looked bulging. When Chen Meilan came in and quietly lifted his shirt to check, she found that the little guy had all his saved money taped to his body - a bundle of small bills stuck to the child's sunken belly.0

Chen Meilan gently covered Xiaowang's belly and went straight to the toilet. Just as she stood by the toilet, she heard heavy footsteps - Yan Zhao had come home.0

Light green short-sleeved shirt, dark green trousers - the 1983 version of the police uniform looked like it was made for him, as if he were a model.0

It was strange, Chen Meilan didn't feel this way about others, but one look at Yan Zhao always made her feel like a criminal, blushing and heart racing.0

Priorities first. Seeing him dripping with sweat, Chen Meilan brought out a bowl of cool water and handed it to Yan Zhao, then said in a low voice, "Before your divorce, did you discuss it with the children? Xiaowang has been saving money, probably wanting to go find his mom."0

"Impossible, he chose to stay with me himself," Yan Zhao retorted.0

"If he doesn't want to run away from home, why is he saving money? He must be planning to run away. If the child runs off, where would we look for him?" Chen Meilan questioned again.0

After gulping down the cool water, Yan Zhao spat out, "I'll handle it. A good beating will do the trick."0 Sёarᴄh the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

A beating - was that his so-called way of educating children?0

Chen Meilan was dumbfounded.0

How could this man not protect his own child at all?0

If she were really an evil stepmother and said a few nasty things to provoke him, wouldn't Yan Zhao beat his son to death?0

"Forget it, forget it. I'll handle the children's matters. I'll talk to Xiaowang. I have something else I need your help with," Chen Meilan quickly changed the subject.0

Earlier, when she was chatting and joking with Xiaowang, she had put the 2,100 yuan under the eaves.0

Xiaowang really thought she had hidden the money under the eaves.0

But she was bluffing, actually trying to catch a thief, and she was certain that thief was Hu Xiaohua, Hu Xiaomei's brother.0

Chen Meilan hadn't changed the front door key since she came back.0

And Hu Xiaohua often came to Yanguan Village. Through Hu Xiaomei, he must have a key to her house.0

The coal yard was also nearby, so he could easily come in when no one was looking, which is why she hadn't changed the lock yet.0

When she left earlier, she deliberately sprinkled some coal dust on the ground. Although it was broad daylight, no one was outside at noon. If Hu Xiaohua heard there was money under the tiles, he would definitely climb over the wall to check, and once inside, he would leave footprints.0

Also, there would be fingerprints on the tiles.0

Although her husband was a police officer, Chen Meilan still needed to prepare sufficient counter-evidence.0

After all, the police force now wasn't as clean as it was a few years ago. Yan Xishan was someone who could climb high and dig deep, able to bribe and corrupt both high officials and lowly clerks. If she wanted to get the money, she had to be prepared.0

The last time she was robbed, she had found a black footprint left on a newspaper.0

First taking the newspaper with the footprint, Chen Meilan then pulled Yan Zhao to the toilet door and explained the situation to him.0

After listening, Yan Zhao immediately said, "If you suspect it's Hu Xiaohua, you should report it to the police right away!"0

Halfway through his speech, he added, "Comrade Meilan, although I'm just a police officer, I won't give you any special favors due to my position. We should trust the country and the government in all matters and follow the proper procedures."0

The way he said it made it sound as if she wanted to take advantage of his position to do something improper.0

"Then I'll go file a report. I trust the country and the government. Sigh, the last procedure I started still isn't finished. I guess I'll finish that one first," Chen Meilan said with an intentional sigh.0

No wonder Zhou Xueqin disliked this rigid and old-fashioned man.0

It was the 1990s now. Yan Xishan could use his connections to directly transfer her household registration out of Xiping City.0

Couldn't he at least file a report without needing connections?0

The last time she went to file a report, the police at the station nearly confiscated her newspaper after hearing her story. If she hadn't realized those guys were in cahoots with Yan Xishan and snatched the paper back, she would have lost her evidence too.0

And now he wanted her to continue following procedures?0

Apparently, this man had joined the army at 16 and had been serving for a full 12 years now. Had military service made him foolish?0

But just then, Yan Zhao turned to leave: "It's too hot. You rest here. The work at Yanguan Police Station has been getting worse lately. I'll go file the report and take the opportunity to inspect their work."0

This statement finally convinced Chen Meilan that she had married a man with some humanity.0

Come to think of it, the skin behind his ears was still pink.0

And while the muscles on his body were hard, the texture of his ears looked particularly delicate, as if they were especially soft.0

Especially that pink hue on the back, so different from the front, like a little rabbit's ears. It made Chen Meilan want to give them a gentle squeeze.0