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But that was all in the past, so there was no need to bring it up.

The woman was only wearing a thin sweater and was terribly cold, shivering even wrapped in a blanket. Yan Zhao took off his undershirt and held her close to warm her up.

...

Afterwards, Chen Meilan got up and first gave Yan Zhao a pager. The phone was now installed on this side. She picked up the phone, dialed 126, and when the operator answered, she said, "Please call 1168." After hanging up, the pager in Yan Zhao\'s hand had already buzzed, displaying their home phone number on its narrow screen.

"So this is a pager?" Yan Zhao\'s eyes were full of caution and a hint of wariness. "I heard these things cost over 2,000 yuan. Who gave it to you?"

Chen Meilan, holding her own pager, continued to show off: "Someone gave it to me because of the project. Don\'t worry, it\'s clean."

They had just finished having sex, but there wasn\'t a trace of warmth on this man\'s face. He truly resembled the golden shield on his shoulder, his face full of vigilance.

So Chen Meilan took out her notebook from the drawer.

She had a habit of keeping accounts, from her first few trades in government bonds to Dongfang Group and Qinchuan Group. Every transaction, in and out, was carefully recorded.

Moreover, Yan Zhao\'s biggest concern should be that contractors usually have to go out to entertain clients, drink, and sing karaoke, but this was actually a misconception.

Dealing with the client and the design team requires someone who understands the ways of the world, enjoys drinking, and has a bit of social standing. Give them a title like manager.

This job, paying Yan Bin a thousand yuan a month all-inclusive, he\'d jump at the chance, after all, he likes going out and socializing.

On the construction site, there\'s Chen Degong, who can take care of everything from bringing in materials to supervising workers. He\'s called a supervisor or foreman. In his previous life, Chen Degong was Lu Jingyu\'s foreman, and he never gave Lu Jingyu a moment\'s worry in this aspect.

So Chen Degong is very reliable. It can be said that without Chen Degong, Chen Meilan couldn\'t be a contractor.

And the client, which is the head of Qinchuan Group, is who Chen Meilan needs to socialize with.

She just needs to win over Mrs. Ma, which is like capturing the king to win the game. One word from her can command the entire situation.

She\'s not greedy either. She\'ll take on one project at a time, win over Mrs. Ma first, then move on to the next leader.

Being a contractor doesn\'t require clocking in and out every day, and she can still take care of the children. What\'s wrong with that?

"The construction industry is very complicated," Yan Zhao said after listening to Chen Meilan\'s long explanation and closing her account book.

This was after sex, when men are usually most agreeable. Chen Meilan said softly, "Then how about I report every transaction to you first in the future?"

"Including the bribes, kickbacks, and favors you give to people?" Yan Zhao raised an eyebrow.

Just because he didn\'t find any favors in the accounts doesn\'t mean they don\'t exist.

Yan Zhao wasn\'t stupid. Although bribes and favors are typically a willing exchange between two parties, and unless the government investigates, no one would report it, bribery is still illegal!

Little Lang was whimpering on the other side, not because he needed to pee, but probably because he found Chen Meilan missing in the middle of the night and was deliberately making noise.

Chen Meilan had to go back to her side. She sat up and started getting dressed. "Well, let\'s try it then, see if you can find any flaws in my work."

At least for the Qinchuan Group project, she didn\'t need to give anyone kickbacks. For future projects, she\'d take it one step at a time. She had already lived an extra lifetime, surely she could handle these things.

"Lie down. I don\'t have high demands in that area, once a day at most. I won\'t touch you again," Yan Zhao suddenly reached out, pulled Chen Meilan back down, and moved aside a bit.

Although it was spring, tonight there was rain and snow outside, and it was particularly cold. Chen Meilan would catch a cold if she went out.

But Yan Zhao\'s way of asking her to stay made Chen Meilan very uncomfortable. He had never actively hugged her before. If he had just reached out and held her, played coy, or said something nice, she would have stayed willingly.

But he didn\'t. He had to say it in such a harsh way.

"Little Lang is crying," Chen Meilan said.

In her heart, she thought: Can\'t you not lie so far away? Communication isn\'t just for that moment. Shouldn\'t there be some affection between husband and wife?

"Let him cry," Yan Zhao said coldly. "He\'ll naturally stop when he\'s cried enough." He lay far away, motionless, making one want to hit him.

Sure enough, after crying for a while and not getting his mother\'s attention, Little Lang really did stop.

Yan Zhao didn\'t make a sound anymore, which seemed like permission. Chen Meilan boldly tugged at the man\'s ear, which was soft and burning hot.

Yan Zhao probably didn\'t expect Meilan to pinch his ear. His whole body stiffened, and he instinctively grabbed her hand. His eyes were full of sternness: "You can do the project, but you absolutely cannot cross policy red lines or break the law."

Although that was the principle, Chen Meilan still felt a bit uncomfortable. She withdrew her hand that had been rebuffed in her attempt to caress him, and asked Yan Zhao in a low voice, "Captain Yan, do you know what comes after \'a dog biting a dumbbell\'?"

Yan Zhao thought for a moment: "A hard mouth?"

Chen Meilan nodded: "Yes, a hard mouth." His mouth was indeed hard, stubbornly hard.

Although even if Yan Zhao strongly opposed, Chen Meilan would still complete the Qinchuan Group project with quality and quantity, but since Yan Zhao didn\'t object, she could now spread her wings. If not to make a big splash, at least she could save some money for herself.

In the midst of the wealth boom of the 1990s, if not risking everything like Zhou Xueqin to ride the waves, at least she could save up some nest egg for a more comfortable life in the future.

Of course, at first, she thought Lu Jingyu was just angry because she had rejected him before, and wanted to intentionally badmouth her in front of Yan Zhao. She thought she just needed to explain things to Yan Zhao and it would be fine.

But early the next morning, Chen Meilan felt that it might not be that simple.

That guy Lu Jingyu was like a stye in her eye. Chen Meilan tried hard not to pay attention to him, but he kept appearing in her life.

Today was the weekend, and it was raining and snowing. The children were all playing on the kang bed, singing "Gongxiami" together.

Yuanyuan and Little Wang worked well together. Little Lang didn\'t know many of the lyrics and couldn\'t join in, so he kept drinking water from his cup, occasionally kissing his little Doraemon alarm clock, pouting with a resentful look on his face.

Because exams were coming up, the two older ones had to study hard. Chen Meilan ordered them to practice writing and review their lessons.

But as soon as the two older ones started writing, Little Lang would sing a line: "Gongxiami..." Yuanyuan would immediately respond: "My relative."

He might not be good at singing, but he was great at causing trouble.

Chen Meilan had to go to the construction site, so she took Little Lang, the biggest troublemaker, with her. She put a fur hat and gloves on him, and for going out, she had urgently bought him a pair of green little rain boots. As they walked down the street, the little one jumped and hopped ahead, leaping into every puddle he saw.

Suddenly he stopped: "Mommy hasn\'t hit me in a long time."

"You little rascal, when has mommy ever hit you?" Raising a child to be more wronged than Dou E, Chen Meilan felt so unfortunate.

Little Lang jumped again: "It was snowing, daddy didn\'t send money, and mommy kicked Little Lang into a snow pit!"

Chen Meilan thought to herself, that was your birth mother. This stepmother doesn\'t rely on your father to make money, we have a new way to make big money.

Children under three don\'t have fully formed memories, so he probably just suddenly remembered because of the rain and snow.

After he turns four, he probably won\'t remember these things anymore.

Going out meant taking the bus and transferring twice. Holding a soft, fluffy bundle, Chen Meilan didn\'t feel cold, but she sincerely felt that as a contractor, once she earned a bit more money, she should buy a car to drive.

When they arrived at the construction site, they first saw Jinbao, who was using a small cart to move bags of cement. Only thirteen years old, he was tall and strong like Chen Degong, very sturdy. Rural schools have early holidays, so he had come to help with work after school let out.

"No one else is working today, so you shouldn\'t either. Go back to the work shed and rest," Chen Meilan said, touching the boy\'s frozen ears.

Jinbao said, "My dad says if snow seeps into the cement, it\'ll be ruined. If others aren\'t working, I have to. This is our own job."

That\'s true, his father was relying on this project to save up tuition for him and his two sisters.

"Let\'s go inside first," Chen Meilan picked up Little Lang. "Play with Little Lang for a while. Little Lang, say hello to your big brother."

In Jinbao\'s memory, Little Lang was always in tattered clothes, fiercely biting people. But now Little Lang wore a big cotton coat, had fair skin, and looked adorably chubby.

"Oh, aunt, this child doesn\'t bite anymore," Jinbao said in surprise, after testing with his finger and finding that Little Lang actually licked him.

As cousins, they naturally had an affectionate bond. Little Lang tugged at Jinbao\'s ears, while Jinbao patted the dirty shoes on Little Lang\'s feet.

Just as they reached the work shed, they could hear faint sounds of arguing from inside.

"Meilan, the contractor, why are you paying the workers extra? Are you stupid? Don\'t you know other contractors don\'t do this at all? If we keep doing this, we\'ll lose money sooner or later." It was Zhou Qiaofang, arguing with her husband.

Jinbao, used to his parents\' arguments, held Little Lang and said, "Aunt, you should go back. They do nothing but argue when they\'re not eating or sleeping. It\'s so annoying."

Chen Meilan felt something was off. She had never let Chen Degong lose a penny; her brother had always been making net profits. How could her sister-in-law say he was losing money?

"Sister-in-law, what\'s going on? Who is my brother giving extra money to?" Chen Meilan asked as she lifted the curtain to enter.

While other contractors used worn-out cloth and felt for their work sheds, Chen Meilan\'s was made of wool felt with an outer layer of red and white woven fabric. On rainy and snowy days, with the stove lit inside, it got so hot that Chen Degong was sitting there bare-chested.

When Zhou Qiaofang was on good terms with Zhou\'s Mother, she wouldn\'t see Meilan. But whenever Zhou\'s Mother beat and scolded her, driving her out of the house, she would be willing to see Meilan.

She was baking flatbread and brewing hot tea. After washing a teacup, she handed Chen Meilan a cup of freshly brewed bitter tea with a large piece of rock sugar added. Then she said, "You\'re giving Li Guangming two yuan a month, but your brother is secretly giving him an extra yuan. That\'s thirty yuan a month, which is a semester\'s tuition for three kids. Meilan, you might be fine, but if your brother keeps subsidizing wages like this, won\'t he end up losing everything?"

"Zhou Qiaofang, Li Guangming needs money, but do you?" Chen Degong retorted.

Just as Zhou Qiaofang was about to jump up, Chen Degong quickly said, "If you don\'t want to work, then get out. Go back to that pigsty of your mother\'s home."

The sister-in-law took a deep breath and began to cry softly. During Zhou Xueqin\'s recent visit, she had given Zhou\'s Mother a lot of money. When Zhou\'s Mother compared her to Zhou Xueqin, she had scolded her out of the house. How could she dare to go back now?

But even though the sister-in-law wasn\'t entirely right, the issue of wages was indeed her brother\'s fault.

So Chen Meilan said, "Brother, we agreed on three yuan for skilled workers and two yuan for unskilled workers. I said before that Li Guangming gets two yuan, and that\'s what it should be. You can\'t give him three yuan."

"He\'s pitiful," Chen Degong said.

As Zhou Qiaofang was about to speak, Chen Meilan stopped her: "There are plenty of people as pitiful as him. Brother, we\'re not running a charity. Besides, if you give him three yuan for unskilled work, the skilled workers will find out and demand a raise. Even if we raise their wages by one yuan, we\'d still have a profit. But what do you think other contractors will do when they find out? We\'d be disrupting market prices, don\'t you understand?"

"Yes, yes, Meilan is right," Zhou Qiaofang said. "These past few days, I met someone educated and experienced, who used to be a contractor. They said the same thing."

Criticized by the two women, Chen Degong fell silent for a while, then said, "Alright, I\'ll talk to him."

"You\'re so stubborn. Oh, Meilan, I made a pair of shoes for Yan Zhao. Can you take them back for him to wear?" Zhou Qiaofang said.

Willing to make shoes for Yan Zhao – clearly, the sister-in-law had been hurt deeply enough by Zhou\'s Mother.

Some things are better left unsaid once understood. Chen Meilan accepted the shoes and said, "Thank you, sister-in-law."

"Meilan, there\'s a contractor in the neighboring village, Lu Village, who\'s really good at his job. First, he knows how to cut costs and deduct workers\' wages. Second, he\'s great at networking. A few years ago when there weren\'t many projects, he didn\'t make much money. But now that he\'s back in business, he can use all his old connections. I heard he\'s bidding for a residential building project for the Dongfang Group, which is worth 200,000 yuan. Look at your brother, he has no ambition and just keeps losing money on workers. Meilan, if we keep doing projects like this, we\'re bound to lose money. Why don\'t you let me introduce you to someone? You could subcontract the project out," Zhou Qiaofang thought Meilan was on her side, so she continued.

The contractor from Lu Village could only be Lu Jingyu.

Yesterday, Yan Zhao had mentioned Lu Jingyu, and today the sister-in-law was beating around the bush, but still talking about Lu Jingyu.

Although Chen Meilan didn\'t know the specifics yet, it was clear that Lu Jingyu had not only approached Yan Zhao about her, but had also given his opinions on her project in front of the sister-in-law.

The sister-in-law was still smiling, but Chen Degong was fuming. Chen Meilan gave a cold laugh: "Sister-in-law, if the contractor from Lu Village is so good, why don\'t you go work for him? We\'ll mind our own business."

The smile froze on the sister-in-law\'s face. "Meilan, I\'m just thinking of your best interests."

"Sister-in-law, I appreciate your concern, but I need to think about my brother\'s and Jinbao\'s future. I have to do this project myself," Chen Meilan retorted.

The sister-in-law turned around to see Chen Degong about to utter the word "get out," while Jinbao, holding Little Lang, didn\'t even look at her as he walked out.

Seeing that neither her son nor her husband was willing to acknowledge her, the sister-in-law angrily sat down by the stove and repeated, "How did I become the odd one out everywhere?"

Chen Meilan gave another cold laugh. Her attitude towards her sister-in-law was always the same: you\'re free to leave, no one\'s stopping you.

She was about to head home with Little Lang when, just as they left the construction site, they ran into a small police car. The driver, Little Liu, recognized her and waved, gesturing for her to come over.

Chen Meilan thought it might not be appropriate to hitch a ride in an official police car.

Yan Zhao was sitting in the back seat. After Meilan got in the car, he explained, "It\'s the weekend. I just attended a meeting and happened to pass by. Let\'s go home."

Yan Zhao had attended a meeting at the city bureau, but he had left early and specifically drove around the Qinchuan Group\'s residential area. He had looked at all the big-character posters on the walls and circled the construction site.

Little Liu had noticed that the contractor\'s name posted on the construction fence was Chen Meilan\'s. He thought to himself, Captain Yan is quite considerate of his wife, caring so much about her small project.

But sister-in-law is impressive too, being a contractor. She must be the first female contractor in the whole city.

Leaders all have their preferences. Sun Nutao loves to listen to revolutionary-era red songs like "Return from Target Practice" and "Unity is Strength." The newly arrived Deputy Bureau Chief Zhao likes "Sweet as Honey" and "Small Town Story." No one could figure out Captain Yan\'s taste, but Little Liu had one song that he was sure would make the leader give him a thumbs up tomorrow if he played it.

The problem was that the cassette was buried deep in the pile, not easy to find. He had to search while driving.

Yan Zhao\'s gaze fell on the cloth shoes. He took them and asked softly with warm eyes, "Did you make these?"

Could a female contractor with golden hands make something like this for him?

Meilan smiled, curious to see what else this man would say.

Yan Zhao said, "Make a few more pairs. I like wearing cloth shoes, but the ones sold outside wear out too quickly."

Chen Meilan nodded seriously: "It\'s not that cloth shoes are no good, it\'s that the cement pavements in the city wear them out quickly. You\'d need a new pair every three to five days. I\'m afraid I couldn\'t keep up even if I stayed home making shoes all day. How about this: why don\'t you transfer to a rural police station as a local officer? Even if you walk a lot, the soil won\'t wear out the shoes as much. Then I could make you a pair every month?"

Yan Zhao turned to look at Chen Meilan: ... This idea actually sounded pretty good?

Chen Meilan, not to be outdone, smiled and stared back at him.

"Meilan, Meilan, I love you, just like the captivating orchid. Meilan, Meilan, I love you, when I see plum blossoms, I think of you." Finally, Little Liu found the song. As soon as he started playing it, he adjusted the rearview mirror to watch Captain Yan\'s expression.

This was a declaration of love, after all.

The route from Jinnan back to Jindong District passed through Yanguan Village and the First Squadron.

It had just rained and snowed today. Chen Meilan was afraid Little Wang wouldn\'t be able to resist going out to play in the snow and mud, so she had closed the courtyard gate. But in this kind of rainy and snowy weather, children loved to play outside, splashing about in garbage dumps and mud piles – their favorite places.

This was the entrance to the First Squadron village. Yan Zhao\'s large courtyard house with its gray bricks and big tiles was hidden in a haze of mist.

From a distance, it looked tall and imposing.

Little Liu glanced in the rearview mirror with a smile, only to see Captain Yan\'s murderous glare.

What was wrong now? Did he dislike this song too?

"Stop the car!" Yan Zhao said.

At the village entrance, several children were digging in the mud. Among them was a chubby boy, his bottom sticking up as he vigorously dug for water. He wore a large padded jacket made of nylon with cotton lining on top, and fashionable bell-bottom pants on the bottom, all covered in mud like a pig.

This was Lu Dabao, and Chen Meilan was very familiar with that little chubby bottom.

As soon as the car stopped, Chen Meilan noticed Yan Zhao\'s face had completely changed. Then she saw Dabao and understood why.

The "Glorious Military Family" plaque, the only one in Yanguan Village, had been taken down by Lu Dabao and was being used to dig in the mud.

Yan Zhao got out of the car and strode over. With one swift motion, he lifted Lu Dabao up: "Little friend, what\'s that in your hand?"

"Who do you think you are, sticking your nose in everything? Get lost, you poor excuse for a cop," Lu Dabao said defiantly.

The five-pointed star, the bright red characters spelling "Glorious Military Family" - it belonged to Yan Zhao. His father\'s was in the capital.

Such a plaque wasn\'t easy to obtain. Only those who had been on the battlefield, who had rolled in the gunpowder smoke of war, could receive one.

During the Cultural Revolution, having it on your wall was a symbol of honor. It even meant an extra twenty jin of white rice rations per month for the family. But now it was bent, covered in mud, twisted and warped like a piece of scrap metal.

Yan Zhao took the plaque, wiped it clean with a handkerchief, and placed it in the car. When he returned, Lu Dabao was still cursing, with the other children chiming in.

Yan Zhao bent down, raised his head, and listened carefully in the sleet for a moment. Then, calmly and deliberately, he reached out and yanked down Lu Dabao\'s pants. With his iron-like hands, as the child struggled, he delivered a resounding slap.

After the slap, he lifted Lu Dabao and planted him back in the muddy garbage pit. Then he headed towards the village.

He would soon discover that his home had been turned into a pigsty by Zhou Xueqin and Lu Jingyu.

Lu Dabao stood there, his mouth twisted, about to cry. When he saw Chen Meilan, he paused, probably trying to recall where he had seen her before.

Chen Meilan turned away, continuing to straighten the metal plaque. Little Lang, seeing her struggle, reached out to help: "Mama, Little Lang is strong, let Little Lang do it."

Chen Meilan no longer looked at the little brat she had raised in her previous life.

In that life, she had argued with him, scolded him, hit him, and cried for his future, pouring her heart and soul into raising him.

She had cared for him just as much as she had for Yuanyuan.

The little brat had grown up to have a successful career, with a big beer belly, always calling her "Mom" even more affectionately than Yuanyuan.

But when she and Lu Jingyu were on the verge of divorce, not only did he not support her, he stood with his hands in his pockets, smiling, and said: "Mom, Dad\'s career is successful, and he\'s still so young. Look at you, wrinkled face, just an old hag. You were so mean to us when we were little, did you think I wouldn\'t hold a grudge? If it weren\'t for your good cooking, and the fact that you\'re actually a good mom, I\'d be encouraging him to divorce you. Why are you being so dramatic?" Not a good mom, just a good housekeeper.

If he truly saw her as a mother, he should have been like Little Wang, who at six or seven years old would wash his own clothes and help with housework, because he understood the need to care for adults.

After that, Meilan moved out to live on her own and never cooked for Dabao\'s family again.

Good. In this life, he wouldn\'t have the chance to hold a grudge.