Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Nanny Xiao Wang said that the house became lively when her aunt came back.

Yu Wentao believed it and heard the humming sound of the hair dryer, and said, "Don't blow dry your hair all day long. It will blow away your good hair."

Ye Fan touched his thick hair and said, "It's better if some of it falls off. It saves me from having to thin it out."

Yu Wentao looked at Ye Fan's thick black hair and said, "It's obvious that your mother took great care of you when you were a child."

"That's right. If I hadn't had good nutrition when I was young and had a strong body foundation, I might have become bald before I turned 30." It's hard to blow dry too much hair, and there's no need to worry about catching a cold in hot weather, so Ye Fan simply tied up his half-dry hair. But he tied it loosely, so he didn't have to worry about smelling.

After dinner, before it got dark, Ye Fan went back to his room to rest. Seeing this, Yu Wentao asked Xiao Wang to go to the courtyard to enjoy the cool air. Seeing the empty wing room, Yu Wentao asked, "Xiao Wang, what do you think of me moving in here?"

Xiao Wang: "Isn't this the bedroom of Sen Sen's parents?"

Yu Wentao said, "When his parents come back, they will stay in a guesthouse arranged by the higher-ups. They won't stay here."

"Why move?" This happened so suddenly that Xiao Wang felt a little uneasy.

Yu Wentao glanced at Ye Fan's bedroom and whispered, "Let's go to the living room to watch TV and enjoy the cool air. She won't be able to sleep because of the noise of the noise coming in and out."

There was one thing Yu Wentao didn't say. Every time Geng Zhiye came back, she always felt that the two of them were making a noise in the room. Sometimes she would get up on purpose to take a look, but there was no sound at all. It was as if she was hallucinating and it was as if there were ghosts around her, which was really creepy.

Yu Wentao didn't have the courage to ask Ye Fan if the two of them stopped quarreling as soon as they heard she got up, as that would make her seem like an old and unruly mother-in-law.

They are already in their forties or fifties, and I don’t know what’s so funny.

Yu Wentao didn't understand, nor did she want to understand, she just wanted to stay away from it.

Xiao Wang asked: "Won't grandma have to watch TV in the living room after she moves here?"

Yu Wentao looked towards the north and said, "There is an old TV in Dabao's study. He can't come back often, so let's move it over and watch it."

Ye Fan didn't like watching the sad drama. She told her that she could live with him but couldn't live with him. What was the point of quarreling? She could just fight him if she didn't agree. However, Yu Wentao and Xiao Wang liked watching it, so much so that the three of them couldn't see eye to eye.

Ye Fan was busy at work, so it was normal for her to want to watch something relaxing after get off work. Yu Wentao could understand and indulge her. Ever since Xiao Wang learned that Ye Fan was studying at Peking University and was studying computer science, which she had never heard of, she felt that Ye Fan was unfathomable. She didn't dare to say a word when watching TV with her, fearing that she would say something wrong and be disliked by Ye Fan.

If it is possible to move out and reduce contact, Xiao Wang would be willing to do so.

"What about your bedroom?"

Yu Wentao: "It's used as a cloakroom for your aunt. I cleaned it for her two days ago and it was full."

"Auntie has so many clothes."

Yu Wentao: "It's not just that she has a lot of clothes. Her clothes are made of good fabrics. The clothes she wore ten years ago still look like new. If we assume she has seven or eight sets of clothes a year, that would be a lot in ten years."

Xiao Wang has eight sets of clothes after working at Ye Fan's house for a year, and Ye Fan must have more than that. Xiao Wang imagined that he could fill a wardrobe with clothes for one season: "Auntie needs a cloakroom."

"We'll move next weekend when Erbao, Sensen, and Huihui come back."

The next morning, Ye Fan heard that his mother-in-law was going to move to the wing room but did not stop her. Geng Zhiye complained more than once that since the old lady lived across the street, he had to be careful in everything he did.

It was winter when we moved here from the Siheyuan, and there was no air conditioning installed. Ye Fan said he would install air conditioners later.

On Sunday morning, a few kids helped Yu Wentao move things while Ye Fan went to buy an air conditioner.

At first, Ye Fan planned to install air conditioners in all the bedrooms where he lived. Dabao thought that he didn't come back often, and Geng Huihui also said that she often lived on campus. So he later installed one in the study, and one in Sen Sen's and Er Bao's rooms. When Dabao and Huihui came back, they would live with Sen Sen and Er Bao.

There are three in the main courtyard: Yu Wentao's bedroom, Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye's rooms, and Ye Fan's study. There is also one in the room of the nanny Xiao Wang in the front courtyard.

The young nanny comes from the countryside and is used to being frugal. She doesn't turn on the air conditioner during the day and only turns it on for an hour before going to bed at night. She turns it off before falling asleep and turns on the fan.

Once, Ye Fan was busy in the study room until late at night. Before going to bed, he checked the doors and windows and found that she had turned off the air conditioner. He gave her 30 yuan each for high temperature fees in July and August. When the nanny Xiao Wang received the money, she was stunned: "What is the high temperature fee?"

Ye Fan: "It's the money for popsicles and sodas to buy groceries on a hot day."

The little nanny thought to herself, the big boss is really particular.

Xiao Wang also has a holiday. Since there are many people at Ye Fan's house on weekends and she needs to do some work, she takes Monday off. On the Monday before the Mid-Autumn Festival, she said she wanted to see her cousin. Ye Fan called Chang Guangrong, who went to the factory after breakfast and went to Ye Fan's house to pick her up.

When Xiao Wang saw her cousin, she asked, "Does the factory provide high temperature allowance?"

Her cousin said, "We stay indoors every day and don't get exposed to the sun." Then she envied her cousin, "Boss Ye is really particular. By the way, did he give you a raise?"

Xiao Wang shook his head: "When I was buying groceries, I met a nanny like me. She also made 100 yuan a month, but she didn't have work clothes, and there was only a small fan in her room. It's not as good as my aunt's."

When her cousin heard that a monthly salary of 100 yuan including food and accommodation was the market price, she stopped urging her cousin to raise her salary: "If it's so good, just work hard. Save money this year and come to the factory next year. Although sewing machines are not difficult to operate, it is also a skill to learn."

"I can also learn skills at my aunt's house. I can cook. I can open a restaurant in the future." This was not arranged by Ye Fan. Usually Dabao and Erbao were not at home. After dinner, Xiao Wang had to wash several pieces of clothes and clean the house. Xiao Wang had nothing to do in the afternoon, so Yu Wentao asked her to learn something.

Xiao Wang has a low level of education and can hardly understand any of the books in Ye Fan's house. Yu Wentao asks her to help out in Han Dawei's store.

Han Dawei had never thought of opening his cold food cart and breakfast stall all over the city, and he was not worried about losing business, so as long as friends and relatives recommended him, he would teach him if he thought he could do it. Xiao Wang looked simple, and Han Dawei thought of the first few years when he and his wife returned to the city, so when Xiao Wang came to his house, except for the first few times, he let Xiao Wang do it himself.

Xiao Wang boasted to his cousin: "I think I'll be able to sell breakfast and cold dishes in two years."

Her cousin wanted to say something, but seeing that she was full of expectations for the future, she swallowed her words and reminded her again that opening a store requires capital, so she should work hard and save money for two years first.

Ye Fan did not go to the company that day, but went to the mooncake factory to buy mooncakes.

There is no need to go north this autumn, so Ye Fan plans to have a good Mid-Autumn Festival as he is not busy or tired. Therefore, he went to the mooncake factory at the end of July of the lunar calendar to order a batch of mooncakes. The mooncake box is also specially designed - a man and a woman are standing back to back, with a computer in front of them, and on one side is a potted persimmon with golden persimmons hanging on the branches, symbolizing a good harvest, and on the other side is a box of mooncakes. The little man is holding a mouse in one hand and a mooncake in the other hand and stuffing it into his mouth.

In addition to these, there are ten more words - Fanhua Computer celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival with you!
This idea was thought up by Ye Fan, but drawn by Er Bao. Er Bao complained that her mother didn't waste any money on her. Ye Fan gave her two hundred-dollar bills, and Er Bao immediately shut up and changed it until her mother was satisfied.

Ye Fan had had enough of traditional five-nut mooncakes, so out of a box of eight-yuan mooncakes, he only had two five-nut ones. Ye Fan prepared 120 boxes, keeping 20 for himself, giving one to the babysitter, and taking the remaining 99 to the company.

On Thursday afternoon, Ye Fan called his secretary in and asked her to distribute mooncakes to everyone one by one. Everyone got one except himself, including the company's cleaners, security guards and receptionists.

The secretary asked, "What about those who are out of town?"

Ye Fan: "The shelf life of these mooncakes is still more than 20 days. Ask other colleagues to bring them over later. Contact them by phone and ask them who to ask to bring them over, or who to give their share to."

Employees from other places are very curious about the mooncakes prepared by the company. Even though they are not worth much, they don’t want to give them to their colleagues, so they ask their colleagues in Beijing to keep them for them.

Finally, there were a few boxes left, so Ye Fan asked his secretary to send them upstairs and opened them for everyone to have afternoon tea.

When Ye Fan got home, she divided the 20 boxes of mooncakes into two, leaving two boxes for her parents and two boxes for her mother-in-law to take back to her parents' home. She also asked Chang Guangrong, Zhang Xiaoming, Wei Jianshe and others to give a few boxes to friends and subordinates, and to leave a few boxes for her children and nephews and nieces.

On Monday morning, Erbao brought a box of mooncakes to the office and said that it was given to her by her mother's company.

When everyone saw the little man on the mooncake box, they teased Erbao: "After eating this mooncake, do you have to ask your mother to buy you a computer?"

Erbao shook his head slightly: "My mom said that the supply has been insufficient to meet the demand recently, and I don't need your support." Then he showed off, "The pattern above was drawn by me." "You have this skill?" Erbao's direct superior stopped.

Erbao nodded: "I suspect my mother asked me to learn painting just for today."

The boss followed her words and teased: "Then your mother is worthy of being a businesswoman."

Erbao gave her one piece.

The boss smiled apologetically and said, "I'm not used to eating five-nut mooncakes."

Erbao: "This isn't it. It's filled with red bean paste, similar to a snack."

The company also distributed mooncakes, so everyone was not interested in Erbao's mooncakes, but when they heard this, several people took a piece and broke it open, breaking it in half and giving half to their colleagues. Several people who like to eat five-nut mooncakes also got half a five-nut mooncake.

Dabao's boss discovered that there were all kinds of flavors and thought that Ms. Ye Fan was really extraordinary.

Ms. Ye, an extraordinary person, is currently in the army.

Friday was the 15th of August, but Dabao and Erbao were not at home, so Ye Fan moved the family's Mid-Autumn Festival to Sunday. She went to her mother's house alone on Saturday. Tao Chunlan felt uncomfortable not seeing Dabao and Erbao: "They have grown up in the blink of an eye."

Ye Fan: "Jingjing is still young. Xiaohui is also by your side."

It would have been fine if she hadn't said anything. Once she did, Tao Chunlan became even more worried: "What will happen to Xiaohui if we leave?"

Chen Xiaohui immediately said, "I'll adopt a child someday."

"Who would be willing to throw away a good child? It's not like they didn't have enough to eat before."

Chen Xiaohui subconsciously looked at Ye Fan, and when she saw Ye Fan's expression change slightly, she said, "No one is willing to give up a healthy boy, but girls are everywhere. If you and my dad are willing to help me take care of him, we can go to the welfare home tomorrow to take a look."

"Are you serious?"

Chen Xiaohui nodded. Tao Chunlan was worried that she would do what she wanted and regret it tomorrow, so Ye Fan happened to have a car, so she asked Ye Fan to drive Chen Xiaohui to the welfare home. Ye Fan was busy at the welfare home for a long time, and on Sunday, the children came back and it was another busy day. Ye Fan was exhausted physically and mentally, and when he arrived at the army, he said, "It's still better here."

Geng Zhiye put his arm around her waist and went upstairs: "You are so kind but you didn't bring me anything delicious."

"You have one." Ye Fan went to the dormitory and opened his bag. Geng Zhiye saw the two little men and the computer on the mooncake box and was both angry and amused: "The advertisement has been shown in the army."

Ye Fan opened the box, lowered his head and smiled, "It's time to advertise."

Before the Olympics were over, Chang Guangrong had already found a few champions of unpopular sports to advertise for him, and had newspapers in the champions' hometowns report the news, further increasing the popularity of "Rongguang". In the third quarter, Ye Fan would get a lot of money, and if she added the money she made in the first half of the year, it would be enough to buy half of the management rights of a factory. With her own factory that could produce in large quantities, she could ask Dabao to shoot commercials.

Geng Zhiye didn't know her plan yet, so he asked, "You have to buy a lot of things from other people. Will they suddenly stop selling to you if they see that you have good business?"

Ye Fan shook his head: "Not for now. One day, when my products are exported to other countries and they share the market with them, they will definitely stop supplying me. But this situation will take a few years. Now I am just an unknown small business in the eyes of big capital."

"So you sponsored the research at the institute just to cope with the future?"

Ye Fan nodded: "I don't work for one year or two and then quit. I don't think I'll die in my 50s or 60s. You said I'd live to be 70, have a glorious life, but in the end I'll be a loser, how embarrassing."

Geng Zhiye put down the mooncake box, hugged her, and asked softly, "Is it hard?"

"It's not hard. It's not like I'm doing the research myself." Ye Fan said, "I know I have limited talent in this area, so I do what I'm good at and make money by hiring them to do the research. The patents are all mine, so I'm not afraid of them leaking them. I've cooperated with a law firm, and they will be my company's legal team in the future."

Geng Zhiye pushed her away a little: "When did it happen?"

Ye Fan was too busy before and couldn't remember clearly: "I think it was proposed at the end of the year before last. He had to review the contracts of Dabao, Guangming, and Huihui, and he said he was too busy. I suggested that he start out on his own, and said that if he did, he wouldn't need to find a house, because I had two houses in the university town. It happened that the two houses were vacant after the Chinese New Year, so he found a few junior brothers and sisters to set up a law firm. Dabao introduced Chang Guangrong's friend who ran a film and television company to him, and he introduced him to the directors, screenwriters and investors he knew. The money he gave me last year was enough for our whole family to use."

Geng Zhiye was convinced: "You are really capable. I thought you would lose a lot of income if you ended international trade. It seems that when things get dark in one place, there will be more to come, right?"

"Don't tell anyone else about this."

Geng Zhiye: "Because lawyers often walk in gray areas?"

Ye Fan shook his head slightly: "I'm not a legal person, so I'm not afraid of being implicated. Some people think lawyers can do anything. I don't want them to often find lawyers through me just because they know I'm a partner in the law firm."

Geng Zhiye took her in his arms and sat down: "I don't want you to be too busy."

As long as Ye Fan doesn't have to go abroad and doesn't have to worry on long-distance flights and trains, and has work every day, it is fulfilling for her.

"So I came to your place to rest."

Geng Zhiye was very happy and couldn't help hugging her.

The army was too quiet, and it was easier to calm down here than in front of the Buddha, so she rested after two days in the army. She couldn't stay too long, otherwise she would be annoyed by the boring days.

Geng Zhiye also understood that she couldn't stay, and he didn't want her to stay for too long or not want to come for half a year, so when she wanted to go back, Geng Zhiye generously let her go.

A few days after returning home, it was Saturday again. Ye Fan went out at four o'clock and went to Erbao's place. Seeing that she had closed the doors and windows tightly and was ready to go home after work, he waited in the house. It was almost time to get off work, so Ye Fan drove out of the community and went to the gate of her unit.

Erbao saw the familiar car running towards him and said, "Mom!"

Ye Fanxin said, no wonder her second brother and second sister-in-law were worried about her going out to work: "Erbao, no one bullies you, right?"

"No!" Erbao took the icy soda his mother handed him. "Did mom just buy it?"

Ye Fan: "I took it from your refrigerator."

Erbao's hands froze, and his smile froze: "You, you, you, did you see it?"

"Mom didn't scold you." Ye Fan carefully turned the car around. "At their age, mom and dad can't help but drink some soda and eat some popsicles. It's just that drinking too much soda is not good for the body. If it damages your nerves, then you should go and be a primary school teacher."

Erbao relaxed: "Mom, I only drink two bottles a week. When I'm busy, or when grandma comes over, I can't drink more than one bottle a week."

"Grandma doesn't allow you to drink?"

Erbao shook his head: "No. Grandma and Xiao Wang made me some soup, which is enough for me to have for several meals. I don't have room for soda. Mom, should we give Xiao Wang a raise?"

Ye Fan: "It's not your concern. I know what's going on."

"Then let's talk about what I should care about. You see, I have a stable job now, so why don't you buy me a car?" Er Bao didn't wait for her mother to refute, "Alto will do. Chu Guangming's Alto is pretty easy to drive."

Ye Fan didn't answer.

When the mother and daughter got home, there was an Alto parked at the door. The license plate was Chu Guangming's. Erbao jumped out of the car and said, "Mom, Mom—" pointing at the Alto, "What do you call this? Fate! You deserved to buy me an Alto!"

(End of this chapter)