Rumors, though often inaccurate, spread quickly.
It had only been two or three days since Chen ilan returned, but not just the Seventh Brigade, the entire Yanguan Village knew about it.
Although everyone was unaware of the specific identity of the man due to Yan Zhao's constant absence, they all knew that ilan had brought a man to Yan Xishan's house.
Take Yan Xishan's current fiancée, Hu Xiaoi, for example.
At the Third Brigade, by the roadside, Hu Xiaoi and her mother Qi Dongi each carried a small red lacquered bag. They wore identical floral dresses, brand new leather shoes, and matching perd hairstyles. They stood by the road, waiting for Yan Xishan's car to pick them up.
"Teacher Hu, isn't it sumr vacation? Why are you and Aunt Qi back in the village today?" a student's parent passing by asked with a smile.
Hu Xiaoi smiled back, "There's so work-related business. We're here to see Director Hu."
The parent understood. Director Hu from the Jingdong Road Education Bureau lived in the Third Brigade. Hu Xiaoi was currently a private school teacher, still waiting for her position to be made permanent. She must be here to see Director Hu about that.
Qi Dongi had been staring at the sky the whole ti. Once the parent left, she rolled her eyes, "The parents from the village school all look so poor and uncultured. That woman actually called 'aunt', not realizing how old she looks herself. Once you beco a public school teacher, I'll have Fan Xiang help transfer you to Dongfang Elentary School."
Hu Xiaoi didn't want to keep teaching at the village school either. The salary was low, and the parents couldn't afford to give her gifts often.
But Dongfang Elentary School wasn't easy to transfer to. Only public school teachers could transfer there, and Hu Xiaoi was just a private school teacher. So she quickly said, "Mom, please talk to Uncle Fan. Xishan has plenty of money, he can pay whatever amount they ask for."
"Xishan's money ca from the connections I helped him make through your Uncle Fan. By rights, that house in Yanguan Village should have been given to our Xiao Hua. Now that Chen ilan is back, we need to have a good talk with him and find a way to get that house, understand?" Qi Dongi said.
Hu Xiaoi nodded, "Mm-hmm."
"When Xishan gets here, you know what to say, right? ilan is his ex-wife. We can only praise her, not criticize her, got it?" Qi Dongi asked again.
Hu Xiaoi was getting impatient, "Mom, I know what to say."
Qi Dongi's husband had died a few years ago, and she had remarried to a leader in the logistics departnt of Dongfang Factory nad Fan Xiang. What people didn't know was that she had actually been the other woman, getting together with Fan Xiang while his previous wife was still alive. When the ex-wife died, she conveniently beca the new wife.
Bringing along two stepchildren, she got her daughter a teaching job at the elentary school right after graduating from middle school. Her son never went to school and now worked as a manager at Yan Xishan's coal mine. Qi Dongi had managed to go from a widow to where she was today entirely through her own wit.
Suddenly, a red car ca speeding down the road. A man with big curly hair, fair skin, tall and thin, wearing a water-red shirt, stepped out of the car. Just looking at his features - thick eyebrows, big eyes, straight nose, deep-set eyes - he looked like a foreigner, strikingly handso.
This was Yan Xishan. With his looks, during the Cultural Revolution years, he had been labeled as having the face of an "Arican imperialist dog" and had nearly been criticized to death.
But last year, when Fei Xiang sang "A Fire in Winter" on Central TV, everyone realized that he actually looked exactly like the famous star Fei Xiang. From then on, Yan Xishan also gained the nickna "Little Fei Xiang."
Yan Xishan was the type of person who always had a smile on his face, but had more sches than the devil.
Because he had basically made his fortune with Qi Dongi's help, he was especially respectful towards her, usually addressing her as "mother-in-law" this and that. But today his face was ashen, looking quite unhappy.
Hu Xiaoi and Qi Dongi exchanged a glance, knowing without asking that he must have heard about Chen ilan's return as well.
After getting in the car, "A Fire in Winter" was playing, fitting the mood of the three people, each with a raging fire burning in their hearts.
Qi Dongi deliberately said to Hu Xiaoi, "I heard ilan is back. Xishan must be so happy, ilan is such a virtuous wife."
"Mom, don't even ntion it. ilan brought a man back with her. Haven't you heard how the villagers are cursing Xishan?" Hu Xiaoi intentionally chid in.
Qi Dongi continued, "What does that matter? Our Xishan doesn't care at all. If he's not afraid of his ancestors laughing at him, why would he care about others laughing? In my opinion, even if ilan found eight more n, Xishan would still love her."
Finally, Yan Xishan spoke up, "Mother-in-law, please stop talking about this. I'll send so people to deliver coal to Yanguan Village in a few days to check things out."
The mother and daughter exchanged a glance and smiled simultaneously: sending people ant sending coal miners. Coal was black gold, and several coal bosses in the area often got into disputes. Those coal miners frequently got into fights over business, with bloodshed being minor and broken arms and legs being common occurrences. They had plenty of fighting experience.
Although they still didn't know exactly who that strange man was.
But the mother and daughter knew Yan Xishan's temper well. He was the type to smile even if the sky was falling, so the fact that he wasn't smiling today ant things were really serious.
Of course, Chen ilan might not know about his feelings for her, but Qi Dongi understood all too well.
Back when Hu Xiaoi and he first got together, Chen ilan was still pregnant. For four or five years, the two of them had been sneaking around, even getting caught by the police once. To keep Chen ilan from finding out, Yan Xishan had spent a full five thousand yuan to smooth things over.
Although he resented Chen ilan for her bad temper and lack of sophistication, and had been considering divorce due to pressure from Qi Dongi, his plan with Hu Xiaoi was to get legally married but always take care of ilan and her child.
Hu Xiaoi was willing to agree, of course. After all, she was the other woman, and needed to be understanding for the man to like her.
Now that Chen ilan dared to bring a man to his house, Yan Xishan wasn't just going to lose the house. What man would be willing to let his woman sleep with another man?
Forget about flaying that man alive, even Chen ilan wouldn't get off easy. As for Zhaodi, poor child, she could forget about getting any of her father's money.
"Mother-in-law, shall we head back to Dongfang Factory?" Yan Xishan asked as they left the village.
Back then, after getting caught at the guesthouse, Yan Xishan had bought an apartnt at Dongfang Factory to make it easier to have an affair, becoming neighbors with Qi Dongi. It also made it convenient to curry favor with the factory leaders. They all lived at Dongfang Factory now, so naturally, they should be heading back there.
But Hu Xiaoi said, "Brother Shan, can you drop off at the First Brigade? I need to see ilan."
Yan Xishan frowned, his tone becoming harsher, "Why do you need to see her?" He was still being protective, how disgusting.
"Don't you know what the villagers are saying about ? Soone even reported to the Education Bureau, saying my conduct is improper. Now that I'm trying to beco a permanent teacher, I need ilan to help prove that there was nothing between us before, that we only got together after you divorced her. Otherwise, how can I beco permanent?" Hu Xiaoi retorted.
Hu Xiaoi was currently working on becoming a permanent teacher. The school leadership had already submitted her file, but due to so rumors in the village, other teachers were dissatisfied and making a fuss.
She needed to find Chen ilan and have her clear her na.
Otherwise, as an elentary school teacher, being called a howrecker and a mistress behind her back every day, how frustrating would that be?
Yan Xishan let out a long sigh, turned the steering wheel, and headed towards the First Brigade.
Hu Xiaoi was a people's teacher after all. Yan Xishan, being uneducated himself, particularly valued Hu Xiaoi's status. It was indeed necessary to have her et with Chen ilan to clear things up and strive for an early permanent position.
Chen ilan was naive and straightforward, still unaware of what had transpired between him and Hu Xiaoi.
She and Hu Xiaoi used to be such good friends, she would surely agree.
...
Human vacuum cleaner, bricklayer - Chen ilan didn't know how to describe Yan Zhao.
Moreover, his appearance was strange. Although his face was dark-skinned, when he took off his shirt, his skin transitioned from dark to bronze at the short sleeve line, then from bronze to white at the white undershirt line. So his body had three different skin tones.
Looking at his features, Chen ilan couldn't help but think that if his face were as fair as the white part of his skin, he would look quite different - undeniably handso, in fact.
It's just that he was a bit too cold.
A single glance from him sent chills down her spine.
He took Little Wang out for a while, and soon returned with cent and sand.
Moving the cabinets out the door only required Little Wang's help to lend a hand. Within an hour, the kitchen floor had been tiled smooth and flat. Even the walls had been sanded and whitewashed.
The kitchen was now bright and new.
The yard couldn't just be cented over. They had to dig up the vegetables first, then compact the loosened soil before laying cent.
Yan Zhao circled through several rooms and surprisingly found a stone roller in the storeroom that had been used by Yan Xishan's grandfather's generation, to be used for compacting the ground.
Zhaodi's original father was the eldest at ho, sitting in a lounge chair with a small teapot, making her mother do everything. But this new father was busy working, not needing her mother's help at all.
The child felt both excited and curious.
Too excited to sleep lying in bed, Little Lang pulled her down, then she sat up again, was pushed down again, and sat up once more, curiously staring at her new father outside, watching non-stop.
She really wanted to call him "Dad" now, but was too shy to say it out loud.
This was the hottest season of the year, dry and scorching. Apart from the sizzling of electricity in the wires, even the birds flying in the sky were silenced by the heat. The whole village was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
After Chen ilan took a brief nap and woke up, the floor had been smoothed neatly, and the yard was as smooth as a mirror.
Getting up from the kang bed, she saw the three children still cuddled together sleeping soundly. Chen ilan first boiled so water and cooled a bowl of plain water for each of them. After thinking for a mont, she sprinkled so white sugar into each child's bowl.
Children all love sweet things. When they wake up from their midday nap, they'll surely be thirsty. How nice to drink a bowl of sweet cool water each.
Chen ilan was actually a bit secretly worried. She had just learned that Yan Zhao knew Yan Xishan, who was her ex-husband.
Yan Xishan was known for drinking, gambling, visiting prostitutes, and keeping thugs as bodyguards. The coal miners he led were the worst of ruffians, with a terrible reputation throughout Xiping City.
As the saying goes, one takes on the color of one's company. Could Yan Zhao have so ulterior motives towards her?
Otherwise, how could he have been working silently since he arrived, without saying a word to her?
Couldn't he at least talk to her?
After cooling a cup of boiled water, Chen ilan took it out, intending to strike up a conversation with him.
Until now, they hadn't had a calm, candid chat.
"Have so water," she smiled as she handed him the bowl. Since the mountain won't co to , I'll go to the mountain. She took the initiative to break the ice.
Yan Zhao took the bowl but didn't even look at Chen ilan's face. He drank it in one gulp and said, "Thanks."
He not only didn't look at her, he didn't even raise an eyebrow.
"Your family is from the First Team too. Why didn't you say so before?" Chen ilan said.
The First Team of Yanguan Village was a place of hidden talents. In the future, there would be nouveau riche springing up like bamboo shoots after rain, as well as countless ruffians and thugs, mostly surnad Yan, all originating from this village.
"I've already moved away. No need to ntion it," Yan Zhao coldly shut her down.
Every ti Chen ilan opened her mouth, she would be rebuffed by him. How could they continue the conversation like this?
Yan Xishan would certainly co to make trouble. What would Yan Zhao's attitude be then?
Were he and Yan Xishan brothers or enemies? What was their relationship like before, and now?
He had to be willing to talk for Chen ilan to continue the conversation.
At this point, the cent in the yard had almost hardened. Yan Zhao picked up a large stack of newspapers, laying down a sheet with each step, from the bedroom to the kitchen, and from the kitchen to the front door.
He bent down to test the cent on the kitchen floor with his hand, found it was still soft, so he opened the kitchen window for ventilation.
Without even needing to catch his breath, he imdiately started nailing window screens.
He was like an emotionless working machine.
But suddenly he asked Chen ilan, "How did you end up marrying Yan Xishan?"
This was like interrogating a criminal. Didn't this man understand that she was his wife, not his prisoner?
"Through an introduction. He was poor then and couldn't find a wife in the city, so he married from the countryside."
The matchmaker at that ti was Zhou Xueqin's father, who said he would introduce Chen ilan to a soldier, but Yan Xishan showed up instead.
However, Chen ilan didn't mind Yan Xishan's background, and they were very much in love at first.
When they first married, if there was a puddle, Yan Xishan would carry her across it on his back. When she was pregnant with Zhaodi and craved waterlon, Yan Xishan would walk across half the city to find her a fresh one.
She had truly loved Yan Xishan.
Yan Zhao still didn't look at Chen ilan, focusing on the window. Suddenly he gave a thumbs up, which seed odd - why did he suddenly give a thumbs up?
Looking down, he swiftly cut the window screen and pressed it against the window. This man seed to have a ruler in his eyes - the cut screen fit the window's width perfectly.
With a few hamr strikes, the screen was nailed in place. "His character wasn't great. You must have known that, right?" he said.
One should look not just at appearance, but also at character. Yan Xishan was purely inflated by money. But actually, all n are the sa. When they have no money, their character seems fine - not because they're inherently good, but because poverty forces them to behave.
Money is an aphrodisiac that further releases their true nature. Once they have money, they show their true colors.
Yan Zhao's interrogating tone made Chen ilan feel very uncomfortable.
Moreover, he suddenly stopped what he was doing mid-sentence and went into the room, leaving her behind.
This was too much. No wonder Zhou Xueqin chose to divorce him rather than be the wife of a police chief.
This man didn't have a shred of human warmth.
But just as Chen ilan glared at Yan Zhao's room, he swooshed the curtain aside and ca out.
Their eyes suddenly t. Yan Zhao avoided her gaze, while Chen ilan looked at him quite calmly.
Go ahead and interrogate, she thought. She wanted to see what else he wanted to ask.
Handing Chen ilan an envelope, Yan Zhao said slowly and deliberately, "During your marriage to Yan Xishan, did you really not know anything about what he was doing outside, what kind of things he was involved in?"
Yan Xishan not only indulged in drinking, gambling, and visiting prostitutes, but also had a large gang of thugs under him. He would co ho dead drunk every day, though he rarely ca ho at all. Chen ilan really didn't know what he was doing outside.
She didn't even care to know. After all, Yan Xishan might smile on the surface, but he was full of deceit. It wasn't just that their relationship had broken down; she and Yan Xishan had different values.
And why did Yan Zhao sound so angry?
As she took the envelope, Chen ilan's fingers accidentally brushed against Yan Zhao's. He suddenly flinched, snatching his hand back like lightning, and put the envelope on the windowsill, saying softly, "Take your ti to look at it. I'm going to nail the screen on the opposite window."
Chen ilan suddenly realized that this man wasn't angry - he was shy.
A man approaching thirty, who had had a wife before and had two sons, was actually shy when facing a woman?
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