Chapter 122

"You can play the piano?" Jim seemed like he'd discovered a new world.

"You're not bad yourself," Yuanyuan said, leaning against the window.

Little Wang was quite proud, looking at Jim with disdain: "You little brat, I might not be better than you, but my sister is, right?"

Jim took something out, unwrapped it, and tried to feed it to Yuanyuan, but she swatted it away: "What are you doing?"

The item fell to the ground, and Little Lang picked it up and sniffed it: "Sister, it's chocolate."

Jim offered one to Little Wang, but he refused and gave him the middle finger.

Jim wasn't angry; instead, he gave Little Wang a big hug.

This foreign devil, who started off acting all cocky, was now being overly friendly.

Liu Xiuying went abroad in '82. Before leaving, she visited Yanguan Village one last time. Back then, people were so poor they couldn't even afford to use oil for cooking - they would use a cloth to wipe a tiny bit of oil on the pan, one wipe per meal, making a pound of oil last a whole year.

In places like Qinghai, most couples only had one pair of pants without patches between them - whoever went out would wear them.

She knew the domestic economy had improved.

With reform and opening up, people had money now.

But she never imagined Chen Meilan's daughter could afford a piano, let alone play it so well.

Little Wang and Little Lang might not be much, but Chen Meilan's daughter, even if she wasn't quite the "angel fallen to earth" as Gu Xiao described, was certainly exceptional among girls.

This realization left Liu Xiuying breathless.

She didn't want to accept this reality.

To make matters worse, Jim chose this moment to pierce her heart: "Mom, I want to play another duet with that girl."

Liu Xiuying suddenly exploded in anger, pointing at her son's nose and shouting: "I was almost paralyzed when I left the country, risked paralysis to give birth to you, and to raise you, I slept on benches in Central Park, ate from garbage, got free lunches from churches, all for you! I struggled and fought so hard, but look at you - even the kids from Hua Country are doing better than you!"

Jim stood frozen, tears welling up in his eyes from his mother's scolding.

Yan Wei couldn't bear to see Liu Xiuying scold her son and said, "Sister-in-law, Jim plays well, why are you doing this?"

Liu Xiuying ignored Yan Wei and continued berating Jim: "When others went abroad, they had wealth to back them up, but we had nothing. Everything depended on our own struggle and hard work. We ate from garbage, slept on streets. I suffered so much - if you don't make something of yourself, what's the point of my living?"

Pointing at her child's nose, she said: "I have to go to work now and can't take care of you, so you'll have to stay here for a few days. But you can't neglect your piano skills. You must practice three hours of piano daily, read for three hours, and finish that article about 'God Bless America' - it needs to be published in the school magazine when classes start, understand?"

Jim nodded repeatedly.

The child had been scolded into becoming as meek as a quail.

While Liu Xiuying was scolding her son, Chen Meilan was cooking in the kitchen.

There was ready-made beef and meat sauce in the refrigerator. She stir-fried a plate of veal with scallions, steamed a large bowl of egg cake, topped it with meat sauce, added some soy sauce and sesame oil, and sprinkled green onions - this was Little Lang's favorite.

She made a large plate of stir-fried tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant as a side dish - Little Wang loved this.

Then she made a meatball soup with premium plum meat.

Yuanyuan had a small appetite and preferred light foods, so this was for her.

Just as she took the steamed eggs out of the pot, she turned around to see Liu Xiuying, who had just been scolding her son, enter with a smile.

Still holding that form, she said, "Meilan, we're not rich people abroad either, and our elders never supported us. Ten thousand dollars - I'm begging you, don't tell Dad this is from me, but please have him sign this form, okay?"

"Sister-in-law, are you three and a half years old? Is there something wrong with your intelligence, or are you disabled, sick, or dying?" Chen Meilan suddenly asked.

Her expression was dead serious.

Liu Xiuying was stunned for a moment before realizing she was being insulted: "Meilan, how dare you insult me?"

"You're forty-three years old and still expecting support from your elders. If you're not mentally challenged, you must be physically disabled, right?" Chen Meilan said.

What normal person would still expect their father's support at forty-plus years old? How unsuccessful must one's life be?

But Liu Xiuying had plenty of reasons. Slapping her thigh, she said, "Meilan, Dad never supported us back then. My leg condition started in Qinghai. If Dad had been willing to pull some strings, how could I have ended up like this?"

"In the sixties, an entire generation went to the countryside as educated youth, and most of them developed various health problems. Is that all Dad's fault too?" Chen Meilan countered.

"But some people returned to the city early through their parents' connections. Why didn't our Dad help us?" Liu Xiuying raised her voice.

Chen Meilan remained extremely calm: "Some people died early in Qinghai - how come you didn't?"

Liu Xiuying's hands were shaking violently. Just as she was about to speak, Chen Meilan quickly said: "This house belongs to me, Chen Meilan. I work for my own money and spend my own money. I've never used a penny from Yan Peiheng."

Liu Xiuying took another deep breath and put the form on top of the refrigerator, still forcing a smile: "If you get Dad to sign this, my brother and I can get our green cards, and we won't come back to the country anymore. That's good for you too, right? After all, Dad has two houses in Beijing - without us, they'd all be yours?"

Chen Meilan smiled too: "I own a building in Xiping City. I don't care about houses."

Finally, Liu Xiuying stopped smiling.

Chen Meilan actually owned a building?

From her initial arrogance to later scolding her son for sympathy, to now practically begging Chen Meilan, this wasn't how Liu Xiuying had imagined her return to the country would be.

But she took a deep breath and still said: "Go convince Dad to sign this, Meilan. Trust me, it's good for all of us!"

Chen Meilan grabbed the form and was about to throw it at Liu Xiuying when someone called from outside: "Boss Chen, are you there?"

It was Qi Songlu, who got off work later than Chen Meilan and had just returned from the factory.

Chen Meilan put down the form and went outside.

Not only was Qi Songlu there, but Cui Min was also present.

Seeing Chen Meilan come out, Cui Min immediately grabbed her hand and ran to neighboring Uncle Yan's house, getting straight to the point: "Meilan, although Little Qi has repeatedly assured me otherwise, I still want to ask you - has our company ever issued inflated invoices to distributors and partners?"

Inflated invoices were one of the ways private enterprises currently evaded taxes.

The specific method was to write only a few dozen yuan on the company's retained copy and the tax bureau's copy of the invoice, but write amounts of tens or hundreds of thousands on the copy given to business partners.

This way, the company could pay less tax or avoid paying taxes altogether.

The tax money would, of course, be saved.

Seeing Cui Min's anxious face, Chen Meilan stated firmly: "We have never issued inflated invoices."

Cui Min let out a long sigh of relief. Even at forty years old, she was jumping with joy: "If you say we haven't, then we really haven't! Meilan, you and Little Qi must have made our Factory 271 proud again!"

"What's going on?" Chen Meilan asked Qi Songlu.

Qi Songlu said: "Today, after you went home, Gu Xiao called and said he had already sent accountants from Singapore to Xiping City to audit the books of several factories he invested in. He asked me if we had ever falsified accounts, and I said no. He then said that for every company he invested in, if they truly never issued inflated invoices or used fake invoices, and never falsified financial or tax reports, he would personally reward the general manager with a fifty-thousand-yuan bonus. However, if they had, he would station financial personnel in the enterprise for permanent financial supervision and, if necessary, file lawsuits against the general manager."

So Gu Xiao had sent his own accountants to audit the books in Xiping City?

And if her accounts showed no problems, Gu Xiao would reward her with another sum of money?

Cui Min kept patting her chest, looking frightened: "Meilan, these days fake invoices, inflated invoices, and false accounting are so common. You probably don't understand these tricks yet. We're lucky to have dodged this bullet! And what an unexpected bonus - we'll even get a 50,000 yuan reward!"

Qi Songlu then said: "Sister Cui, Boss Chen has always been strict about accounting and checking invoices carefully. She warned me long ago never to use inflated invoices just to save on taxes. Our Boss Chen isn't naive or just lucky - she was prepared!"

How could it be mere luck?

Chen Meilan knew that Gu Xiao, being a greedy capitalist, wouldn't just quietly walk away after using his own money to help establish Store 271.

He had waited a year, plotting for a year, just waiting for this audit.

If Chen Meilan had dared to falsify the accounts, Gu Xiao's accountants would have filed a lawsuit without hesitation when they came, and she would have gone to prison.

Inflated invoices and fake receipts involving amounts over 10,000 yuan were criminal offenses.

The minimum sentence started at three years.

If Chen Meilan had given in to greed and falsified even one entry, she would have faced three years in prison.

Then, Gu Xiao's financial team would have smoothly taken over Store 271's accounts.

This had been Gu Xiao's true objective all along, carefully planned over an entire year.

But Chen Meilan had remained vigilant, and she was above such petty fraud anyway. Being prepared meant she wouldn't fall for his trap.

With capitalists sharpening their knives overhead, you had to stay alert, or you could find yourself sued and thrown in jail at any moment.

Setting work matters aside, when Chen Meilan returned home after saying goodbye to Cui Min and Qi Songlu, Liu Xiuying had already left.

Yan Wei had cooked two extra dishes in the kitchen and called Qi Songlu over to eat together.

He and Qi Songlu were now married, having obtained their marriage certificate, though they hadn't held the wedding banquet yet. If Qi Songlu hadn't been busy working closely with Chen Meilan every day, she would have already moved to the city.

Jim was also at home today.

Little Wang, Little Lang, and Yuanyuan were running in and out, playing while waiting for dinner.

Jim stood in the corner, silently playing his violin, the squeaking sounds full of the loneliness of being abandoned by his mother.

Yan Wei set the table and, since Jim was still family after all, said: "Jimmy, come eat."

Qi Songlu looked at the boy's blonde hair, ruffled it and said: "He probably isn't used to our food, right?"

Jim said: "It's fine, I like Chinese food, but I must practice violin for an hour and a half before I can eat."

With his mother gone and no one to back him up, the timid boy was being especially well-behaved.

Little Wang ladled a small bowl of egg drop soup and deliberately waved it in front of Jim: "Smell that? Isn't it fragrant? Don't you want some?"

Jim's violin continued to squeak, but his nose couldn't help following the movement of the spoon.

Yan Wei had taken a liking to his chubby little nephew. Seeing him sweating, he personally helped remove his clothes and took away his violin: "You must eat first, then practice."

Jim was actually so hungry his stomach was growling, so he found an excuse for himself: "Then I'll make up the time after eating."

"This child speaks such fluent Chinese?" Qi Songlu was surprised again.

Yan Wei smiled and said: "I heard most Chinese people in America still live in Chinese communities, eat Chinese food, and speak Mandarin, just like we do here."

"No no, we live in a white neighborhood, and I only speak Chinese at home. Outside, I must speak English, and I go to the best school in the white district," little Jim said while eagerly shoveling food into his mouth, especially helping himself to the steamed eggs.

Every word and gesture of the little boy betrayed a thick sense of upper-class superiority.

"So you're upper class in America too?" Qi Songlu asked.

Jim shrugged: "We live in a very nice neighborhood."

In Hua Country, people believed in equality and didn't talk about upper and lower classes.

Qi Songlu was annoyed by the way the child spoke, so she stopped talking to him.

Jim then turned to Little Wang: "What's your name?"

Yan Wei clicked his tongue: "Your brother and sister-in-law didn't even tell this child Little Wang and Little Lang's names?"

Qi Songlu rolled her eyes: "They're upper class in America, they don't consider you family, so stop flattering yourself."

Little Wang enthusiastically told Jim: "My surname is Yan, and my given name is 'Father.'"

"Father, hello. What's his name?" Jim pointed at Little Lang.

"He's called Yan Brother, and she's Yan Mother," Little Wang said.

Jim's spoon paused as he suddenly realized: "You're making fun of me."

Yuanyuan was also angry at Little Wang and pinched him hard: "Brother, how could you do that?"

Chen Meilan also glared at Little Wang: "No mischief."

Little Wang spread his hands: "What did I do? I'm being perfectly nice!"

Jim wasn't happy about being tricked and said angrily: "You're just like how my father describes children from Hua Country - mediocre, always trying to show off, full of schemes, but only able to fool themselves."

Chen Meilan's chopsticks froze, and Yan Wei's expression darkened.

Yan Jun, having studied philosophy, certainly had an artistic way of insulting people. The phrase "forgetting one's ancestors" perfectly described him.

Little Wang nearly jumped up to fight.

Fortunately, Little Lang and Yuanyuan held him back.

After dinner, it was past nine, and Yan Zhao still hadn't returned. Yan Wei sighed: "From what sister-in-law said earlier, they really struggled when they first got to America."

Sleeping in parks, collecting garbage, getting free lunches - it sounded like they had lived like beggars.

Setting aside the matter of them giving away the land certificates, Yan Wei felt troubled and uneasy about all the hardships his brother and sister-in-law had endured abroad.

Moreover, Yan Peiheng was naturally impartial and unwilling to use connections to help his son find work, which had left his brother stuck in Qinghai for seven full years. It seemed somewhat normal that his brother would harbor resentment.

Qi Songlu then asked: "Were those land certificates really given to them by our mother?"

If Su Wen had truly given the land certificates to Yan Jun and his wife, who then gave them to someone else, the brothers would have no right to complain.

What Yan Jun and his wife did was wrong, but they hadn't broken any laws.

Yan Wei figured that must have been what happened. When his brother wanted to go abroad but had no money or capital for bribes and connections, he went home and knelt crying before Su Wen, telling her how desperate he was and asking for her support and help.

Su Wen was his birth mother, after all.

When her son, over thirty years old and tall and strong, knelt before her crying, how could she not worry and feel heartbroken? So she gathered all her assets at the time and gave them to Yan Jun.

She wanted to help her son get through his difficulties.

But as soon as Yan Jun got to the capital with the temple property, he gave it away to curry favor with others.

So now, while Yan Wei couldn't forgive his brother, he also had no real grounds to hate him or demand an explanation. He felt troubled but helpless, and could only keep these feelings bottled up inside.

Jim was squeaking away on his violin again.

With school about to start, this was the last time for Little Wang and his siblings to have fun, and the children were watching a video tape.

It was a Stephen Chow movie, and the children were laughing uproariously.

After practicing for a while, Jim couldn't resist: "Hi, what are you watching?"

"Call me father and I'll tell you," Little Wang said.

Jim wasn't actually a particularly stubborn child, so he indulged Little Wang's mean joke: "Father."

Little Wang then said: "Good son, come watch with us. It's called 'Fight Back to School,' it's really good."

"No, I need to practice violin, I still have three hours of reading to do today, and an essay to write," Jim said while continuing to play. S~eaʀᴄh the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Yuanyuan was shocked: "Jimmy, do you ever have time to play?"

"Only people who accept mediocrity need to play. We don't need to play, our lives are only about studying," Jim said.

"He must be an idiot," Yuanyuan turned back to watch the video.

Although Jim was still practicing the violin, his eyes kept busy, glancing at Stephen Chow on TV, then looking at the Little Wang siblings who were cracking sunflower seeds and eating ice cream while laughing heartily. He played while saying, "Father, if you don't read books or think deeply, you'll forever be stuck in the chaotic and dirty Hua Country, living a vulgar and meaningless life, passing your days in mediocrity. You'll never understand the meaning of life and existence. Without thoughts, you're no different from animals..."

Little Lang jumped up: "I want to beat him to death!"

Little Wang held his brother back: "Your fists are too strong, it'll be trouble if you really kill him. Let me handle this."

If it weren't for Yuanyuan holding them back on each side, these two would have beaten little Jim to death.

Yan Wei couldn't stand listening anymore, and since he was still waiting for Yan Zhao to return, he prepared to take Jim away.

This child looked particularly similar to Qilin when he was young, which made Yan Wei both sad and unable to resist feeling affection for him.

But if he continued speaking in that tone, even Yan Wei would want to hit him.

Just then, there were footsteps outside, followed by Yan Zhao pushing open the door.

In his crisp police uniform, holding his cap in his arms, he entered and immediately noticed the yellow-haired boy under the eaves, walking straight towards him: "Is this Jim?"

This was their Yan family's grandson, who should naturally have black hair - who the hell dyed it yellow?

After a day of internal struggle, Yan Wei was now ready to forgive his elder brother and sister-in-law.

With his natural tendency to make excuses for others, he said: "Third brother, sister-in-law just said that mother gave her the land certificate, and she didn't personally give it to Wang Gebi - he got it from someone else. Sister-in-law is quite pitiful too, saying they once lived very poorly in America, receiving welfare and sleeping in parks."

Yan Zhao frowned, watching Jim play the violin terribly off-key, sounding like a wailing ghost.

Looking at Yan Wei, his eyes suddenly sharpened: "I told you to come early, and this is all you found out, and you let them leave? What if Liu Xiuying runs away? What if she abandons the child and returns to America? Why didn't you confiscate her passport? Do you even know where she went?"

This series of questions left Yan Wei stunned.

"Who did she actually give the property deed to? The three temples are worth nearly three million, that's embezzlement and bribery - who's the one who embezzled it? Also, how did she and our elder brother get the land certificate from mother? Is there a written will? If not, are there at least two witnesses? If neither exists, they're guilty of theft and privately appropriating mother's property - did you ask about any of this?" Taking a breath, Yan Zhao continued: "I told you to come back early - is this how you handle things?"

One question after another left Yan Wei dumbfounded.

Chen Meilan then handed Yan Zhao Liu Xiuying's most treasured paper: "Sister-in-law came for this, saying it was for getting a green card, wanting father to sign it, and offered me ten thousand US dollars."

Yan Zhao took the paper, looked at it for a while, then thrust it at Yan Wei: "Look at what this is?"

Yan Wei frowned as he looked at it, saying: "I've forgotten most of the English I learned, but this should be a letter of recommendation?"

Yan Zhao didn't know much English either, so he had to find the household Chinese-English dictionary to translate and guess the meaning: recommending someone to go somewhere, stating they're qualified enough to handle certain work.

Aliali: 674aecfcc4f3f33ac49acb42

It was a recommendation format, where key elements like names and places needed to be filled in manually.

Yan Wei said: "Maybe our elder brother is looking for work and needs father's recommendation?"

"Our father lives in the country and isn't some big shot - what connection could he have with Americans?" Yan Zhao questioned.

Yan Wei smiled: "True, how could our father, a military leader in Hua Country, help our elder brother in America?"

Yan Zhao held the document and suddenly realized the issue.

Suppose they wrote the name of a West Point Military Academy examiner or instructor at the top of this recommendation letter, and signed Yan Peiheng's name at the bottom.

Then wrote Mike as the recommended person.

Even if the examiner or instructor didn't know Yan Peiheng, they might give Mike special consideration just because of his position and status in Hua Country.

It was very possible that even if Mike wasn't that exceptional, they might make an exception to admit him.

So this must be why his elder brother and sister-in-law were so eager to have Yan Peiheng taken to court and sever family ties with them - that's why they prepared this document for him to sign.