Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Ye Fan was silent for a long time, so long that Chen Xiaohui was worried about being kicked out, so she had to take the initiative to speak: "It's not an antique treasure. I'm not looking for you for a dead thing, but for a living thing."

"Isn't that a living person?" Ye Fan was surprised.

Chen Xiaohui: “It’s a human.”

"You mean a living thing?" Ye Fan was speechless.

Chen Xiaohui was embarrassed, "I, I said something wrong."

"Long story short."

Chen Xiaohui: "It's not short at all."

Ye Fan raised his eyes and stared at her, looking like he was going to leave without saying anything. Chen Xiaohui didn't dare to linger, but it was really hard to say.

The person Chen Xiaohui saw in the interest class was none other than her ex-husband - her husband in her previous life, referred to as "ex-husband".

In her previous life, Chen Xiaohui didn't want to go to the countryside, but if she wanted to stay in the city, she had to either marry someone with a job or find a job herself. Unfortunately, there were too many people and too few jobs in her time, and even Ye's father couldn't find a job. Fortunately, Chen Xiaohui was a girl and had just been adopted by the Ye family. Everyone could understand that Ye's father and Tao Chunlan wanted to keep their daughter by their side. No one would criticize Ye's father for arranging a job for Chen Xiaohui behind his back.

As the saying goes: A girl should get married when she is old enough.

Chen Xiaohui had a job and wanted to get married without being talked about. However, most of the educated youth of her age and family background lived in the countryside. Those who were afraid to go to the countryside were either lazy or cowardly. The Ye family naturally could not marry Chen Xiaohui to such a person. Apart from these, Chen Xiaohui did not want to live apart from her husband, so her choices were even narrower.

Ye's father and Tao Chunlan really cared about her. They would rather choose someone with an average family background than someone with good character. The person should not be too short or ugly, so they finally chose a worker's son for her.

The man worked in a military factory as a skilled worker, a few years older than Chen Xiaohui. His parents had participated in the revolution and were also old factory employees. He had good character and had no worries about food and drink.

But society is developing. Before the reform and opening up, Chen Xiaohui had a good life. After the reform and opening up, those who get a fixed salary are not as comfortable as those who can make money. In her previous life, Chen Xiaohui was aloof and stubborn. She did not want help from her parents, nor did she allow her husband and children to accept help from their parents. As a result, her life was neither good nor bad, and she did not have much savings.

In her previous life, Chen Xiaohui complained about her husband's incompetence. But Father Ye chose an honest man for her. It was normal that he was not smart enough and not good at making money.

Chen Xiaohui's husband has a similar personality to Zhang Xiaoming. When Chen Xiaohui learned about Zhang Xiaoming's character, she thought of her husband in her previous life, and she no longer blamed her husband for his incompetence in this life.

However, Chen Xiaohui never thought of looking for him. With his conditions, he could find someone with similar family conditions to live a stable life. The other person might live a better life without her.

Chen Xiaohui didn't want to run into her again and cause trouble for herself, so she would sometimes deliberately avoid the places her "ex-husband" often went to. As a result, the two of them had never met once in Xicheng over the years.

She was totally unprepared for this chance encounter with Chen Xiaohui, which made her feel as if she were in another world. She wanted to do something but didn't dare to.

She didn't dare to mention anything about her past life. Chen Xiaohui said, "Yesterday I met a friend in my interest class. He helped me before. I want to help him, but I don't know how. Can you give me some advice?"

Ye Fan looked at her and asked, "It's working hours now. What kind of friend can make you skip work?"

"Don't worry about it for now."

Ye Fan laughed: "Then tell me what his character is like, whether he is black or white, where is his home, and how old is he."

"Are you checking your household registration?"

Ye Fan sneered: "You know nothing, but you asked me to help you. Am I stupid or do I owe you something? If I owe you anything, it should be the Chen family. I have never heard of asking children to pay back the debts owed by parents!"

"I-I just want you to help me make an idea."

Ye Fan: "You work at the Cultural Relics Bureau, and the people you know are all studying dead objects. All your connections over the years are in this area. How can you help him? Is he also interested in cultural relics, or did he study history and archaeology like you?"

This question stumped Chen Xiaohui.

Ye Fan: "Let me remind you, you haven't said how you want to help. Help with the job or give money? No matter which one, it seems like you need me to step in."

Chen Xiaohui can also help people find jobs, but as Ye Fan said, people who ask her for introductions must have professional knowledge. However, these days, people who know a little about history and antiques can set up a small stall in Panjiayuan and live a carefree life without her help.

So if Chen Xiaohui wanted to help the other party in other ways, she could only turn to Ye Fan.

Chen Xiaohui hadn't figured out how to help him, so she was stumped by Ye Fan's question again.

Seeing this, Ye Fan was speechless but wanted to laugh: "So you asked me to help him even though you haven't thought it through yourself?"

"I-He suddenly appeared in front of me, and I was a little confused."

Ye Fan: "It sounds like they didn't ask you for help. Do you feel guilty if you don't do something?"

Chen Xiaohui nodded repeatedly: "I knew I had found the right person."

"Bullshit!" Ye Fan couldn't help but swear.

Chen Xiaohui was startled.

Ye Fan was helpless, so he suppressed his temper and asked, "What does he need?"

"He has a house, enough for him to live in. He has a job, and his salary is enough for him to live on." Chen Xiaohui thought for a moment, "But he doesn't have an extra house, and he doesn't have a lot of money."

Ye Fan: "Most citizens don't have a lot of houses or a lot of money, but that doesn't mean they're unhappy. Besides, when they see you, they don't cry about being poor or complaining, which means they don't want you to repay them. If you rashly approach them and try to get close to them, they might suspect you have ulterior motives."

Chen Xiaohui shook her head subconsciously.

"No?" Ye Fan said, "That means he's a good person. If that's the case, I can help him. What does he need?"

Chen Xiaohui didn't understand: "Need it?"

"What does his family need?" Ye Fan asked.

Chen Xiaohui: "You can't just give money and a house, right?"

Ye Fan rolled his eyes at her, with the word "nonsense" clearly written in his eyes.

Chen Xiaohui choked, but because she knew her temper well and had gotten used to it over the years, she said, "I asked Jingjing yesterday afternoon, and Jingjing heard from his daughter that he had been divorced for several years, and his children were with him." Ye Fan had a bad feeling, "You don't want to find him a wife, do you?"

"OK?"

Ye Fan was speechless and wanted to raise his hand to tell her to go away.

"Can not be done?"

Ye Fan said with a fake smile: "Okay."

Chen Xiaohui couldn't help but lean forward and asked eagerly: "Then what do you think——"

"I think you are a good fit." Ye Fan interrupted her.

Chen Xiaohui was stunned, then blinked uncomfortably, wondering what Ye Fan meant. Could it be that Ye Fan had guessed it? Impossible! Chen Xiaohui was sure that she had not mentioned her past life to Ye Fan. She had been worried that Geng Zhiqin had been deceived for a long time, so Chen Xiaohui did not dare to say it clearly.

Chen Xiaohui thought about it carefully again and was sure that even if Ye Fan had a wild imagination, it was impossible for him to think that she had memories of her past life, so she was not panicked. As soon as she was sure of it, she saw that Ye Fan was speechless and immediately realized that she was overthinking. Ye Fan just said casually: "I'm serious."

"I'm serious too." Ye Fan said, "Have you ever thought that some people firmly believe that a small fortune is enough to be content. If you give them too much, they will be restless and may even bring disaster to them."

Chen Xiaohui didn't understand: "What's so difficult? Ye Fan, don't scare me. I'm not just growing older without increasing my IQ."

Ye Fanxin said, who are you?

"If you earn 100 or 200 yuan a month, which is just enough for you and your two children, your relatives and friends will feel bad for you because you are raising your children alone, even if they know you have saved some money. But if you become rich, do you think they will still be so considerate?"

If you are poor in a busy city, no one will ask you about it. If you are rich in a remote mountain area, you will have distant relatives. Chen Xiaohui immediately thought of this sentence: "Then just pretend you have never met?"

"Can you really pretend you haven't seen it?"

Having never met him before, Chen Xiaohui could pretend that she didn't know there was such a person in the world. But now that she had met him, Chen Xiaohui couldn't pretend that she didn't know him: "It's a bit difficult."

Ye Fan: "Then send Jingjing to interest classes every few days, become friends with him, praise his daughter for being smart and sensible, and tell her that she can come to you if she encounters any problems in the future. But you have to remember, this matter cannot be rushed. You two haven't seen each other for so many years, and if you ask for help right away, she will suspect that you want to kidnap his daughter and sell her off."

Chen Xiaohui thought about it and realized that his daughter's need for help meant that his family was in trouble: "This method also works."

Ye Fan: "If someone really comes looking for you, what are you going to do?"

Chen Xiaohui: "Do what you can."

"Your own energy?" Ye Fan asked.

Chen Xiaohui said helplessly: "What are you doing now——"

"You have no right to say that I'm stingy." Ye Fan said, "I've helped you a lot over the years. Chen Xiaohui, let's not talk about anything else, just talk about Shencheng. I'm not being a bad guy and forcing you to break up with them. They have to come to you four times a year just like buying clothes for the changing seasons!"

Chen Xiaohui muttered: "Why don't you say they are your adoptive parents."

Ye Fan paused for a moment and wanted to chase her out again: "Let's not talk about them. Let's just talk about the antiques you encountered in the past few years. You couldn't afford them and didn't want them to be sold to foreigners, or because you couldn't find a buyer to take them abroad, so you asked me to buy them. How much did I buy?"

“But if you buy it, you earn it.”

Ye Fan sneered: "Who told you that?"

"I know. Everything I asked you to buy in recent years was high-quality."

Ye Fan: "If I buy some gold now, will it increase in value in the future?"

Chen Xiaohui nodded.

Ye Fan: "If you know, why don't you stockpile it?"

"It's not easy to cash in." Chen Xiaohui blurted out.

Ye Fanqi laughed: "So you also know that it's hard to cash it out? When I needed money to set up a factory, it happened that people in the capital who like to collect didn't have that much money. Who could I sell it to at that time? I can go to the bank for gold bars, but banks accept antiques?"

"I, you—"

Ye Fan interrupted: "Don't say that it's just a small amount of money for me. My company is a money-eating beast, and there will be many places to spend money in the future."

Chen Xiaohui had to admit that Ye Fan was a "money-eating beast". Sometimes she wanted to persuade Ye Fan to focus on trade and not make himself so hard.

But then again, how can a sparrow know the ambition of a swan? She didn't have such a big vision, didn't have such great courage, couldn't understand Ye Fan, and couldn't pour cold water on him knowing that Ye Fan was very successful in his previous life, and in this life he was working on computers, which she knew best, and success was only a matter of time, so she was embarrassed to pour cold water on him.

Chen Xiaohui nodded: "I admit that if you hadn't helped me, I might have even lost the money to support my parents' coffins."

Ye Fan: "It's good that you know. No matter how you help that family in the future, there is a prerequisite. You can only use your own money and connections."

Chen Xiaohui said: "If that's the case, I can't help much."

Ye Fan could understand why Chen Xiaohui wanted to help him so much. If she met someone who indirectly helped her find her biological parents, she would also want to help him. But Ye Fan was afraid that she would lose herself in a moment of carelessness, so he deliberately said, "His two children are not small, right? They can have two children without you taking care of them——"

"No!" Chen Xiaohui interrupted.

Ye Fan felt relieved, as long as he didn't think about marrying the other person, "Then introduce him to a girl?"

"What if there is a stepmother and a stepfather? Wouldn't that harm his child?"

Ye Fan was tired and a little impatient: "This is not okay, that is not okay, what is okay?"

(End of this chapter)