Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

After Ye Fan came out of Wei Jianshe's store, she went diagonally across to tell Dong Ying that Chu Guangming would come to her store to help in the future.

Dong Ying: "My store is too big for me to handle it alone. You should stay here."

"I heard that the Chu family is ignorant. I'm worried that they will come here to cause trouble and run into you." Zhang Xiaoming is a reliable partner, and Ye Fan doesn't want anything to happen to his family. "There are three salespeople next to my clothing store. My cousin learned how to quarrel from a rural shrew. The Chu family will not get away with it if they go there."

Dong Ying would fight but she wouldn't throw a tantrum or swear, so she didn't argue with her after hearing that.

Ye Fan was still happy when she came out of Dong Ying's store. She went from one store to another, just like she was inspecting stores. People who didn't know her would think that all these clothing stores belonged to her.

Coincidentally, some people really thought so and believed that Ye Fan’s business was very profitable.

What is important for a clothing store is the source of goods, so this person targeted her - Ye Fan and Chang Guangrong went south again at the end of October, and she followed them to the station to inquire about where the train Ye Fan took went directly to and what places it passed through.

This person was a neighbor on the street where Ye Fan's clothing store was located. After finding out the train number and going home to discuss it with her relatives and friends for a while, she concluded that Ye Fan was going to Hangzhou, and that the stylish winter clothes in Ye Fan's store were all imported from Hangzhou.

At the end of the 12th night of the Gregorian calendar, Ye Fan went south for the last time before the Spring Festival. As soon as the train started, several neighbors met Ye Fan by chance, and then took out the food they brought with them and asked Ye Fan to taste it. Of course, Ye Fan couldn't say don't follow us.

Although the clothes they got were the same as Ye Fan's, the wholesale price was more expensive than Ye Fan's because they had less stock, so it was only slightly cheaper than the retail price.

They didn't expect that they had been staring at Ye Fan all the time, so they didn't know where Ye Fan got the small commodities. After returning, they saw that there were many more small commodities in Ye Fan's store, and one of them tried to talk to Ye Fan's cheap cousin.

Ye Fan had reminded his cousin that doing business requires harmony to make money. If someone really asked him a few questions from time to time, he would tell him to prevent him from taking risks and having bad intentions. So the neighbor asked his cousin for the third time, and his cousin told her that the small commodities were also imported from the south, but not Hangzhou. When she said the name of the city, her cousin did not say the specific location because she did not know either.

After getting Ye Fan's source of goods, there were fewer sneaky people outside her clothing store.

The clothing store didn't need Ye Fan to worry about it before the New Year, so she focused on the company's affairs. The day after Ye Fan calculated the net profit, she bought several gifts with her own money and gave them to her tutor, school leaders, industry department leaders, and OEM factory leaders.

The gift was not valuable, and it could not be considered bribery when someone reported Ye Fan for something bad. Moreover, it touched the other party's heart. These people all thought that Ye Fan was a good person.

Ye Fan knew what the school leaders cared about most, so after giving out the gifts, he would go to Jinshi to file taxes, and when he came back from Jinshi he would get the dividends.

Ye Fan sent the school's share first, and then Chang Guangrong's share, but Chang Guangrong didn't want it. He asked Ye Fan to expand the scale. Ye Fan decided to take out 80% of her share to buy another house as an office and two more stores. In the end, five students each received nearly 2,000 yuan, and three junior brothers received 200 yuan in bonuses. Ye Fan stuffed the money into an envelope and handed it to everyone.

The junior fellow joked: "How can we be jealous?"

One of Ye Fan's classmates poured out the money, and the junior brother couldn't help but swallow his saliva when he saw more than a dozen bills. The classmate asked: "Are you jealous?"

The junior brother shouted: "Envy and jealousy! Put it away quickly! Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude!"

The classmates laughed.

Ye Fan waited until they had enough fun and then said, "This is not a year-end bonus. Please discuss the vacation time with the school leaders and tell me in advance. The year-end bonus and January and February wages will be paid the day before the vacation.

The junior fellow student asked: "February is a holiday and we still get paid?"

Ye Fan: "Paid vacation. By the way, I said before that the monthly salary will be 100 yuan in the first year and 200 yuan in the second year. I was not lying to you. From this month on, you will get 200 yuan per month. In two years, you don't have to split it 50-50 with the school. Our company's reputation will be well-known and the performance will be good. Your dividends will be at least double what they are now."

Several of Ye Fan's classmates looked at the money in their hands and imagined that they would get 5,000 yuan in dividends a year. They couldn't help but gasp. As far as they knew, the highest-paid senior brother didn't make 5,000 yuan a year. Unless he went abroad to earn foreign currency.

However, earning and spending foreign currency abroad may not necessarily result in more left than in China at the end of the year.

At this moment, several students couldn't help but wonder if the students who went abroad would regret knowing this. Maybe not, Ye Fan said, if you have money abroad, you can do whatever you want. Students who have money abroad will definitely think that they are freer abroad than at home.

Hong Kong is also quite free, but people like Ye Fan are called "Northern Girl" in Hong Kong, and will be despised even more in foreign countries.

Several classmates imagined that in China, everyone envied them and would tolerate their tempers. But when they went abroad, they had to be cautious in everything and suddenly they couldn't stand it. They couldn't help but secretly joked that they were not destined to enjoy a good life.

Ye Fan didn't expect that her classmates would think of so much in an instant. She reminded everyone to close the doors and windows and pay attention to fire prevention and theft prevention, and then went home.

It was almost dark when I got home, but Erbao was not at home, nor was he outside in the alley.

Ye Fan asked her mother-in-law, "Where did Erbao go?"

Yu Wentao looked unnatural: "Maybe, at a classmate's house."

"Where is it?" Girls aged thirteen or fourteen are prone to falling in love prematurely, and Ye Fan was worried that she would suddenly come to her senses.

When Ye Fan got serious, Yu Wentao got scared and said honestly, "I went to Dabao's school with Xiaoqin."

"Why go to school?" Ye Fan asked curiously.

Yu Wentao was worried that Ye Fan would scold her, but she didn't say anything. There were only two of them at home, and no one would help her. She could only confess: "I was worried that Dabao would not be used to school, so I asked Erbao to bring him a roast duck leg."

Ye Fan: “…”

Yu Wentao said hurriedly: "Just this once!"

Ye Fan had a headache: "Only send it to him? He is a freshman like Sen Sen. What will Sen Sen think if he hears about this?"

"Sensen is older than Dabao."

Ye Fan opened his mouth, wanting to scold her: "No matter how old he is, he is still your grandson. If you can't treat him equally, then don't do anything!"

"Well, then, what about the last time?" Yu Wentao said.

Ye Fan checked the calendar: "Today is Thursday? They will all be back in a few days, Sunday. You go to the market in the morning to buy a chicken, and I'll ask my uncle to buy a few pounds of meat. We'll stew the chicken for lunch, and make dumplings in the afternoon. If they eat at home, I'll cook the dumplings. If they come back early, I'll steam the dumplings and take them to school as a midnight snack." He took out fifty yuan from the bag that he hadn't put down yet.

Yu Wentao: "It doesn't take that much."

"Take it. Chicken, fish, meat and eggs are more expensive now than they were a few years ago. With so many people in the family, twenty dollars a month is definitely not enough." Ye Fan stuffed it into his hand and said, "Remind Erbao not to tell anyone about this."

Yu Wentao nodded: "So let's cook now?"

"How long will Erbao be gone?"

Yu Wentao: "It's time to get out of school."

Ye Fan: "I'll go steam the rice, you prepare two dishes and I'll fry them. By the way, you didn't just buy one duck leg, did you?"

"How can that be possible?" Yu Wentao went to the kitchen and took out the roast duck from the cupboard.

Ye Fan asked her to tear it open first and heat it in the pot before eating.

Yu Wentao thought cooking was too troublesome, so she took out a cabbage and asked Ye Fan to stew the cabbage leaves and sweet potato vermicelli with lard, and used the cabbage stalks to make vinegar-braised cabbage.

Ye Fanxin said, you are really good at arrangements.

When Erbao returned home, Ye Fan warned her not to play with her grandmother anymore. Erbao nodded obediently. Ye Fan didn't know if she listened to him, so he warned Geng Zhiqin not to visit Dabao at school.

On the morning of January 12th of the Gregorian calendar, Yu Wentao went to the vegetable market, and Ye Fan met his uncle at the entrance of the alley.

It was cold in winter, so Ye Fan asked his uncle Yu to drink some hot soup before going to sell vegetables.

In the past, Uncle Yu was reluctant to eat out, but now his son-in-law and daughter have moved to the city, one son is at home taking care of the land, and one son is working in the town. Yu Hongwei also has the opportunity to return to the capital to teach. The old man doesn't need to work so hard to make money, so he listened to Ye Fan, drank tofu brain and spicy soup, ate a fried dough stick and a bun before continuing to sell vegetables.

When Han Dawei learned that Uncle Yu was Ye Fan's relative, he asked him to buy two kilograms of pork and planned to go to his parents' house after closing the stall to eat with his brothers, sisters and children.

As soon as Han Dawei left home, Chu Guangming ran to his house. Seeing that his door was closed, he hurriedly looked for Zhang Xiaoming.

Zhang Xiaoming and his family of three were not at home either. Chu Guangming was at a loss, and the face of the young boy who should have been full of vigor and vitality was full of despair. His neighbor could not bear it and reminded him: "Call your father."

Chu Guangming hurriedly ran to the public telephone booth and almost bumped into Erbao who was playing at the other end of the alley. Erbao called him, "Chu Guangming, you didn't go to my store?"

Chu Guangming stopped and saw that she seemed to have regained her confidence: "Is your mother home?"

Erbao nodded subconsciously. Chu Guangming ran towards Ye Fan's house. Ye Fan stared at his son washing clothes and was as surprised as Erbao when he saw him come in: "You didn't go to the store?"

Chu Guangming burst into tears before he could even finish his words.

Ye Fan asked hurriedly: "What happened?"

"I-I, my grandpa is gone!" Chu Guangming hadn't cried loudly since he was abandoned by his parents, but at this moment he couldn't help but burst into tears.

Ye Fan didn't care about Dabao: "Don't cry first, tell me what happened first."

"My grandpa has not been feeling well these past few days, so I told Aunt Yu last weekend that I would stay home with him this weekend." The "Aunt Yu" mentioned by Chu Guangming is Yu Wentao's niece. "Grandpa was fine last night, but I thought he was not feeling well again when I saw he didn't get up this morning. I called him to eat but he didn't say anything, so I didn't take it seriously. After dinner, I washed the clothes, and when I remembered he didn't get up, I went to see what was wrong with him, but he, he——"

Ye Fan said for him, "Is your grandfather's body hard?"

Chu Guangming nodded vigorously: "Aunt Ye, I--"

Ye Fan interrupted: "Don't panic. You are the grandson, and you shouldn't be a child like you to bear all this. Do you know the phone number of your father's house, and the public phone near your aunt's house?"

Chu Guangming nodded subconsciously.

Ye Fan dragged him to Aunt Li's house.

Aunt Li heard everything clearly through the wall. When she saw the two people coming over, she asked, "What's the number?"

After two phone calls, Ye Fan gave money to Aunt Li, who said that Ye Fan insulted her. Ye Fan took the money back and asked Chu Guangming where his grandfather was.

Chu Guangming replied that he was at home.

Aunt Li: "Mother Dabao, you are young and inexperienced, so I will go with the child."

Yu Wentao is not a kind-hearted person, but seeing that Chu Guangming, who is the same age as Dabao, has to bear all this, she feels sorry for him. After hearing what Aunt Li said, she came out of the yard, "Ye Fan, Aunt Li and I will go over there." Then she persuaded Chu Guangming not to cry first.

With two elders accompanying him, Chu Guangming gradually stopped crying.

Geng Zhihui and Chu Fenghe arrived at the alley and saw the three people walking to the other end. Geng Zhihui asked, "Where are Dabao and Aunt Yu going?"

Dabao just came out of the yard.

Geng Zhihui was stunned for a moment: "Then - it's not you?"

Dabao: "Uncle, please get a pair of glasses. I am half a head taller than him. Also, he wears the same thing as I do?"

Chu Guangming's clothes didn't fit him well. He was wearing snow boots, casual pants and a down jacket. It was obvious that they were from two different worlds.

Geng Zhihui was choked and simply ignored him and asked Ye Fan: "What happened?"

Ye Fan: "It's a long story. Let's go inside first."

Geng Zhihui was worried that Ye Fan would only report good news and not bad news when something happened at home, so he went inside, poured himself a glass of water to warm his hands, and sat down to wait for Ye Fan to explain.

Ye Fan started with Chu Guangming's parents, saying that they divorced in 1977 or 1988, and Chu Guangming was less than nine years old at the time, and was left alone with his grandfather. It was hard for Chu Guangming to not go astray after this incident.

Finally, she talked about how Chu Guangming came to her to buy goods a few days ago, but she didn't dare to use child labor, so Zhang Xiaoming stepped forward to help him. She kept talking about how Chu Guangming went to the store to help every weekend recently.

Geng Zhihui asked: "Why didn't he go to find Zhang Xiaoming or your classmate Han Dawei?"

Ye Fan: "It's the weekend and there are a lot of people on the street. Zhang Xiaoming should be helping out in the store. Han Dawei may be reuniting with his children at his parents' house."

Chu Fenghe frowned and asked, "Why does the story about Chu Guangming's parents sound so familiar to me?"

Geng Huihui wanted to say something, but suddenly remembered that her mother's last name was "Chu", and she couldn't help but exclaimed: "No wonder I always felt that the name "Chu Guangming" was awkward. It's because I was worried that he was not what he seemed. It turns out that he has the same last name as my grandmother's family."

Dabao: "Second Mom, Chu Guangming is not your relative, right?"

Chu Fenghe shook his head: "No! If it was my relative, there is no way I haven't heard of it."

"It's hard to say!" In the past, Geng Zhihui always tried to smooth things over when he encountered things related to his father-in-law's family, because he was worried that it would be difficult to face his father-in-law if things got out of hand. Now that his son has severed the relationship between the two families, Geng Zhihui doesn't have to go to his father-in-law as a grandson and doesn't bother to talk nonsense. "What Chu Guangming's father did was despicable, and it's normal for his father-in-law and mother-in-law to disdain to talk about his family. Maybe they wish there was no such relative."

Chu Fenghe asked Ye Fan what Chu Guangming's grandfather's name was.

Ye Fan shook his head: "I don't know!"

Dabao: “I’ll go ask.”

Ye Fan reminded: "Don't go in."

"I'm not afraid of ghosts." Dabao put on his hat and scarf, "Brother Sensen, help me take out the clothes after washing them."

Geng Sen Sen waved his hand and told him not to worry.

When Dabao arrived at the gate of the compound, he saw his little sister leaning over to look inside. Dabao pulled her aside and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"See why grandma hasn't come out yet."

Dabao: "Grandma didn't come out so quickly for something as serious as a death. Go home!" He then said to the children in the alley where his family lived, "Go home! You are watching all the excitement! Do you think you can watch it?"

Several teenage boys and girls were worried that Dabao would go back and tell on the matter, so they immediately ran back together.

Dabao then asked Chu Guangming's neighbor what his grandfather's name was and who other relatives he had. He then lied that he was Chu Guangming's classmate and that his family had a phone so he could help Chu Guangming notify his relatives.

The neighbor did not suspect anything and said that the Chu family had several powerful relatives, but they went to other places during the Cultural Revolution and no one knew whether they had returned. The neighbor said that she would not bother the little classmate and would ask Chu Guangming later if he knew about it. If he did, she would help inform him.

Dabao waited at the door for a while, and when he didn't see his grandmother come out, he went back to report.

Chu Fenghe had no idea what Dabao said Chu Guangming's grandfather was called: "Dabao, does his grandfather have a nickname?"

If someone comes to the alley and asks where "Geng Yanyan" lives, the kids in the alley will definitely say they don't know. But if you ask "Geng Dabao", both adults and children can give the correct answer.

Dabao regretted not asking more questions when he thought about it. "I forgot to ask. But he is a railway worker. Your family doesn't have any -" Seeing his second mother was stunned, "Is he really your relative?"

Many years ago, Chu Fenghe saw Chu Guangming’s grandfather at the train station when he sent his parents north to work. “By the time of Chu Guangming’s father and I, we are still within the fifth generation. It seems that my father and Chu Guangming’s grandfather have the same great-grandfather.”

Dabao: "Your great grandfather and Chu Guangming's grandfather are brothers?"

Chu Fenghe nodded, and when he remembered something, he asked Ye Fan: "Should I go take a look?"

Ye Fan said, "Normally, he should go. An old man passed away in Yujia Village a few days ago, and Aunt Yu gave my uncle a few dollars to buy firecrackers and paper money to send over. When my father-in-law passed away, except for my two uncles, all the relatives within the fifth degree of mourning in the Yu family sent someone to burn paper money."

Chu Fenghe stood up, then sat down again when he remembered something.

Dabao was surprised and leaned against his mother and asked quietly, "What happened to Second Mom?"

Ye Fan ignored his son: "Auntie Li has a phone at home, 20 cents a minute, give her one dollar to make a call and ask. I just helped Chu Guangming make two calls without asking for money."

Chu Fenghe took two yuan and went to Aunt Li's house to call her parents. Chu Fenghe just informed them without asking them whether they would go or not. After leaving Aunt Li's house, she called Geng Zhihui, and then the couple went to Chu Guangming's house. Geng Huihui asked in confusion: "Chu is not a big family name. The Chu family and my mother are both in the west of the imperial city. Why didn't I think about it in this way before?"

Ye Fan: "I thought it was a coincidence that Chu Guangming's last name was Chu, but I didn't expect that the two families were really related."

Dabao asked: "Mom, my only relative is dead, what will Chu Guangming do in the future?"

Ye Fan touched his son's head and said, "Now that the market is open, there are no purchase restrictions on many things. He can survive if he has money."

Geng Huihui: "My aunt's classmates and Xiao Ming live next to his house, so the neighbors don't dare to bully him."

Ye Fan nodded: "Most of them want to save face. If people know that they bully orphans, it will be difficult for their children to find a partner." Speaking of finding a partner, he couldn't help but look at Geng Zhiqin.

Geng Zhiqin stood up and walked out: "Let me see where Erbao ran off to."

Ye Fan sneered and turned to Dabao: "Have you reminded your aunt about her date recently?"

Dabao: "Didn't you notice? You don't need me to remind you recently."

Ye Fan didn't pay attention: "So there's hope?"

"If my aunt doesn't act so pretentious, there will be a chance. I've never heard my aunt say that people don't respect her." Dabao complained that his aunt was immature a few days ago. He felt that the person his mother introduced was better than the one his aunt found herself.

Although Sun Laifu has no job, the clinical department of Beijing University Hospital is profitable, and Sun Laifu will definitely be able to get a two-bedroom apartment in a few years. Liu Ning is not sure when it will happen. Besides, the Liu family and the Sun family are incomparable. Sun's relative is Chang Guangrong, and Liu Erjie married a second-married male worker.

Geng Huihui: "My aunt said Sun Laifu was lukewarm towards her."

Dabao felt more and more disgusted with his aunt's immaturity, and snorted, "The hospital is so busy. The school is so quiet. If Sun Laifu goes out with her as often as Liu Ning does, I won't feel comfortable with her marrying Sun Laifu."

Ye Fan patted his son's head and said, "You've grown up."

"I knew before that my aunt shouldn't look for Liu Ning."

Ye Fan: "You said Liu Ning was good before."

"That's because I don't know his family. My aunt should be careful when choosing a partner, but she doesn't know them either." Dabao pushed her mother's hand away and saw Erbao entering the yard, "Mom, you old girl is having fun."

Ye Fan laughed: "Don't talk nonsense." He waved to Er Bao: "Is it hot?"

Erbao took off his red down jacket: "Mom, it's not convenient for me to jump rope."

Ye Fan: "Don't take off your hat, it's windy outside."

"Okay." Erbao tore off his scarf and threw it into his mother's arms. He went to the yard and saw a badminton racket on the windowsill. He took the ball and racket and went out to call his friends to play.

Geng Sensen asked: "Dabao, we have nothing to do at home, shall we go to your school to play basketball?"

Dabao took his mother's hand and looked at the clock. It was a little after ten o'clock and there were still more than two hours before lunch. "No need to take the basketball. I have one at school."

Ye Fan: "Watch out for cars when crossing the road."

"Don't worry." Dabao went to the bedroom to change into sneakers, and gave his cousin his unworn sneakers. Geng Sensen was embarrassed to wear Dabao's branded sneakers. Dabao whispered, "Ask Boss Ye to buy some later. She has money, so we can just rob the rich to help the poor."

Geng Sensen was speechless but wanted to laugh: "Isn't my aunt's money your family's money?"

Geng Dabao: "I haven't seen her give me more money. She treats her employees better than me."

Geng Sensen really wanted to say, your pair of shoes is equivalent to someone's monthly salary. But thinking back to the moment when Dabao was sitting next to his aunt in the main room, he was still as clingy to her as before, and there was no problem with the relationship between mother and son. This must be just a casual complaint and should not be taken seriously.

Geng Sensen thanked him, and Dabao gave him a baseball cap: "This looks cool."

When two cool college students arrived at school, they attracted the attention of the female students living in the dormitory.

Dabao called his roommates downstairs and gathered them to the basketball court. There were already several female classmates wandering around the basketball court. Dabao and his group started playing basketball, and the female classmates stopped.

After more than twenty minutes, the basketball court was surrounded by female students from all grades and departments.

Although there are usually female students watching when the boys play basketball, this is the first time that there are so many people, which is comparable to a formal competition between colleges and universities.

After another ten minutes or so, Dabao couldn't stand it anymore. It wasn't that he couldn't stand his classmates, but he couldn't stand his cousin. He was like a peacock king.

During the intermission, Dabao was sweating and asked his classmates if the show was over. Before his classmates could answer, an alumnus on the sidelines wanted to take Dabao's place.

Then no one asked Dabao for his opinion. They all fought for half an hour as if they were full of energy. But they called it a day because their weak bodies couldn't take it anymore and they were afraid of making a fool of themselves in front of their female classmates.

Seeing his cousin's excited face, Dabao felt embarrassed to pour cold water on him, so he criticized him a few words and told him to go home.

When he got home, grandma was back, but his second mother and second uncle were still in the slum.

Dabao asked: "Grandma, is Chu Guangming's grandfather the second mother's cousin within the fifth degree of mourning?"

Yu Wentao nodded: "Your second mother recognized him as soon as she came over."

Dabao: "Have her parents gone?"

Yu Wentao: "I didn't see the old couple. Maybe they don't want to go."

Dabao sighed like an adult: "They are still role models. Don't they know that elders are the best teachers for the younger generation?"

Yu Wentao felt that Dabao was praising her, and couldn't help but laugh and scold: "What do you know? If you ask me, it's these scholars who are the most heartless and ungrateful. The former Chen Shimei and Du Shiniang's husbands were all scholars!"

Ye Fan looked at his watch and said, "Let's cook."

Geng Zhiqin: "Will you do it after my second brother and his wife come back?"

Yu Wentao said, "It's uncertain when. Let's wait and see. Chu Guangming's father and aunt haven't arrived yet. Your second brother and his wife are the only relatives in the Chu family. If they don't come, your second brother will have to change the old man's burial clothes."

Dabao couldn't help but exclaimed: "Isn't this too much? The one who died was their own father!"

Yu Wentao also felt it was excessive.

There are also unfilial children and grandchildren in the village, but no one dares to let the elders die without a burial place. Even if the family is too poor to buy a coffin, or has no money to cremate the ashes, they will dig a hole and bury the old man in the ancestral tomb.

Yu Wentao asked: "Ye Fan, what has Chen Xiaohui been busy with recently?"

Ye Fan was stunned, not understanding why she thought of Chen Xiaohui: "You - looking for her?"

Geng Zhiqin: "I met her some time ago. She said she was going on a business trip with her professor. It seemed that a tomb had been robbed and many experts and scholars were needed, so her tutor took her along."

Dabao: "Auntie Xiaohui is not an archaeologist?"

Ye Fan said, "She has been taking archaeology courses during her college years, and many courses in the archaeology and history departments are heavy, so she switched to archaeology as a graduate student."

Chen Xiaohui often talks about antiques at home. Dabao subconsciously thinks she wants to find a bargain, but he didn't expect that she changed her major: "She is really persistent."

That was because Ye Fan had said more than once that if you didn't understand the industry, you would be cheated. Chen Xiaohui wanted to find a bargain but didn't dare to rely solely on luck, so she had to study this industry seriously.

Ye Fan: "Aunt Yu, why are you looking for Xiaohui?"

Geng Zhiqin understood her mother: "Let Xiaohui tell the teachers and students at school that a relative of the Chu family who was within the fifth degree of mourning passed away, and the old couple of the Chu family did not go to burn a piece of paper."

Dabao was confused: "Grandma wants them to show up? Wouldn't that cause trouble for Chu Guangming?"

Ye Fan: "Dabao, people who are too aloof are not all bad. In the eyes of the neighbors, university professors are very powerful. After the two of them came to the Chu family, no one dared to bully Chu Guangming. When someone asked Huihui's grandparents if they had this relative, they dared not say no for the sake of face, and had to say that they would often help Chu Guangming. In theory, Chu Guangming is his father's responsibility. Isn't this something I can't count on?"

Yu Wentao didn't think so much. Yu Wentao and the old couple of the Chu family had always been at odds, so she wanted to take the opportunity to ask Chen Xiaohui to make things difficult for the old couple of the Chu family.

But Ye Fan made her sound so kindhearted that Yu Wentao was too embarrassed to say "I'm not that kind-hearted." "Huihui, go ask your mother later if she wants you to cook for Chu Guangming. Before, I didn't know about this relationship, so I could just pretend I didn't know how pitiful that child was. Now that you know, you still don't care. What's the difference between us and your grandpa's family?"
Ye Fan reminded: "First ask Chu Guangming's father and aunt if they are here. Remind your mother not to tell my family about it."

"I'll go now. If I'm too late, my mother will let the secret slip and the cunning guy will find out. He will definitely take the opportunity to get close to our family." Geng Huihui said and went.

After running to the compound, Geng Huihui first asked if the Chu family's relatives had come. The neighbor said two of them had come. Huihui knew they were her parents. Huihui didn't dare to approach the dead, so she leaned over the door and shouted, "Mom!"

Geng Zhihui stood up to block the old man's head. Geng Huihui went in and whispered to his father, "Don't say your last name is Geng." She then said to Chu Guangming, "Don't mention my aunt and uncle later."

Chu Guangming asked anxiously: "What will grandpa do if my dad doesn't come?"

Chu Fenghe: "I'll go find him. Take out your grandfather's clothes first, and wait for your dad to come and change them for him."

More than half an hour later, it was almost one o'clock, and Chu's father came late, but his wife didn't show up. Chu Fenghe almost fainted from anger. She wanted to say something, but Geng Zhihui stopped her in advance. Then Chu Fenghe watched Chu's father take his son and his sister and brother-in-law to send the old man to the crematorium, and buried him that afternoon.

Zhang Xiaoming was stunned when he heard about this when he got home in the evening. Then he came to his senses and sighed to Dong Ying: "Xiaojun wasn't too much, was he?"

Dong Ying opened her mouth but couldn't utter a word for a long time: "Go to the Chu family and see if they need help. Don't tell them you are the son-in-law of the Dong family!"

Zhang Xiaoming ran into Han Dawei at the gate of the compound and saw that he was hesitating to move forward: "Why don't you go in?"

Han Dawei whispered, "Guangming's father and aunt are inside."

Zhang Xiaoming dragged him to the yard, and Chu Guangming's father said, "Here are two hundred yuan, enough for you to use until you reach adulthood—"

"You're sending away a beggar?" Aunt Chu's shrill voice came out: "This little boy is eating me out of money. Just food costs me 200 yuan a year! How can I get clothes for him to go to school?"

Chu's father: "Go ask his mother. He is not my son!"

Aunt Chu was concerned about Chu Guangming's impure motives, and at this moment she couldn't help but stand up for her nephew. She slapped her eldest brother in the face and then gave him a beating.

Han Dawei instinctively wanted to go in, but Zhang Xiaoming held him back and leaned against the window to listen to whether Chu Guangming and his aunt had suffered any harm.

Hearing that Chu Guangming's uncle was inside, Zhang Xiaoming whispered, "It's okay."

The neighbors didn't dare to come and speak for Chu Guangming, for fear that Chu's father, who had bad behavior, would bear a grudge against him.

More than ten minutes later, Chu's father ran out in a panic. A few minutes later, Aunt Chu and her husband rode away on their bikes. Zhang Xiaoming went in and saw Chu Guangming sitting on his grandfather's bed, looking lifeless. The two of them were scared. If they hadn't come, the child would have committed suicide in the middle of the night.

Zhang Xiaoming winked at Han Dawei, and Han Dawei picked up two sums of money on the bed, one for fifty and one for two hundred. The "fifty" should have been given by Aunt Chu.

Han Dawei put the money in his pocket, and Zhang Xiaoming pulled Chu Guangming up. The three of them went to Zhang Xiaoming's house, and Han Dawei gave the money to Zhang Xiaoming. Zhang Xiaoming took out the envelope from the cabinet and put it together with the money Chu Guangming had earned before and handed it to him: "Guangming, look, this much money is enough for you to finish high school. There is no tuition fee for college, and your hard days will be over after you graduate from high school."

Chu Guangming started crying as soon as he opened his mouth.

Zhang Xiaoming went over and hugged him: "I was your age and managed to survive in the countryside where I didn't know anyone. You can do it too."

Han Dawei: "You still have us."

Chu Guangming thought of how Geng Huihui's parents had told him before they left that he should look for Huihui if he encountered any problems in the future. Huihui was his cousin, not an outsider. He felt less uneasy: "If I don't sleep so soundly at night, will Grandpa——"

Dong Ying interrupted, "No. Don't blame yourself. When an old man is sick and goes to the hospital, doctors don't dare to use medicine. It's useless if you find out that he is uncomfortable in the middle of the night."

Zhang Xiaoming nodded: "Stay at my house tonight, go home tomorrow morning to pack up, eat something at your uncle Dawei's stall and then go to school. Your grandfather must hope that you will be able to go to college and have a bright future." After saying that, he winked at Dong Ying, and Dong Ying went to the side room to help Chu Guangming make the bed.

Upon hearing this, Han Dawei remembered that he needed to go to bed early. Seeing that Chu Guangming's tears had gradually stopped, he said goodbye and went home.

The next morning, Ye Fan bought fried dough sticks and tea eggs and happened to meet Chu Guangming eating. Ye Fan walked up to him and said, "If anyone bullies you at school, tell Erbao."

Chu Guangming wanted to cry, but he held back his tears and said, "I know."

Everyone thought that the old man was fine after being buried. Unexpectedly, four days later, someone found the Chu family. Chu Guangming was at school, and the neighbor asked the person to find Han Dawei. Han Dawei didn't know what to do and took the person to Ye Fan's house.

Dabao was on vacation at home from university and was about to go to his mother's company to learn computer. When he met two people at the door, Dabao asked Han Dawei what the two men wanted from his mother.

The person who came was Aunt Chu's mother-in-law. Because Aunt Chu beat Chu's father, she and her husband were locked up by Chu Guangming's stepmother.

Dabao could understand every word, but when they were put together, he was confused: "What does that mean?"

Han Dawei: "Guangming's stepmother felt sorry for her husband being beaten, so she used her privilege to have him arrested. We were there that night, and no serious injuries were caused. When we reported it to the police station, they just gave him a few verbal warnings. Because there were reasons for the incident, under normal circumstances, the police would criticize Guangming's father and persuade his aunt to calm down."

The old lady was panicked: "Do you know which shift Guangming is in? Ask Guangming to beg his father? Tell him that his aunt knows she is wrong."

"It's useless." Dabao shook his head. "Chu Guangming's father would hate to not have this son. Seeing Chu Guangming will only make him angrier."

The old lady choked up and said, "What should I do? My son and his wife are worried about Guangming too."

Dabao thought about what his mother would do.

After a while, Dabao had an idea. He looked around and saw that there were only three of them. Dabao was also worried that there were ears on the other side, so he whispered, "I'll give you an idea. Do you dare to swear?"

"What oath?"

Dabao: "If a fourth person besides the three of us knew about this, your grandson would die a miserable death, right?"

The old lady was superstitious and didn't dare to swear on her grandson. But when she thought of her son suffering in there, she immediately raised her hand and swore, and then she set her sights on Han Dawei.

Under the old lady's murderous gaze, Han Dawei swore on his own children, then glared at Dabao and said, "I'll tell your mother when I get back!"

Dabao pretended not to see it and whispered, "Go find Chu Guangming's mother and ask her what to do. No matter what she says, when you leave her house, find someone to write a few big words and go to the door of Chu Guangming's stepmother's father's workplace, saying that his stepmother's father used his privilege to force someone to death. Others will think it was his biological mother's idea, and the revenge will be against his biological mother."

Han Dawei said hurriedly: "No! This matter will be exposed once it is investigated."

"So what if they found out? Who can they blame for being suspicious and misunderstanding Chu Guangming's mother?"

The old lady: "That's what I said, but he is so powerful——"

"Your son may get into trouble after he goes in." Dabao was not trying to scare her. "It would be strange if such a petty woman could get rid of her anger by just locking up your son. If it's too late, he might be beaten to a pulp by people bribed by his stepmother. If you make a big fuss, everyone will think that Chu Guangming's stepmother is to blame for any trouble that happens to your family. By then, let alone bullying your family, she is most afraid of something happening to your family."

The old lady: "Her family is powerful, who dares to say that they are harming people?"

Dabao: "It is impossible for a person in a high position to have no enemies. If you hand over the knife, someone will clean up his family for you. For example, my father only knows how to train soldiers and has never bullied others. My mother has helped many people, but there are also people who don't like my family. If you are still worried, ask Chu Guangming's biological mother if you can do the same. But don't mention me."

The old lady looked at his young face and felt that he was "hairy and unreliable". "Is your mother not at home?"

"My mother went out." Dabao said, "Didn't Uncle Han see it?"

Han Dawei thought about it carefully. When the stall was closing, he seemed to see a female comrade wearing a black coat and leather cotton shoes. Only Ye Fantian was dressed like a movie star. "It seems to have gone north."

The north is so big, where can I find him? The old lady was frightened by Dabao's words and dared not delay any longer. She immediately said, "I will go find his biological mother!"

(End of this chapter)