A leisurely life starting in a bar after being reborn

"Oh dear, come quick! Xiaoxiao! Xiaoyan!"

Fu Mingxiang grabbed Fu Yan's arm and looked him up and down: "Wow! My nephew has grown so handsome?! What did he eat to grow up like this in America?! He must be 1.85 meters tall!"

"Auntie, your eyes are like rulers! And I happen to be 185cm tall."

"Haha, of course! Look at you, you're even taller than your eldest uncle, who's the tallest in our family! Come on in, your youngest uncle is home!"

My uncle-in-law, Sun Hongqiang, was sitting on the sofa in the living room watching TV. He was wearing a gray sweater, had a cigarette between his fingers, and his hair was slicked back and shiny. He looked like the kind of person who had been around the block.

"Xiao Yan's back? Have a seat!"

Sun Hongqiang's voice was even louder than Fu Mingxiang's, and he had a gold tooth when he smiled. He used to be a construction foreman, with a strong sense of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry), and his speech and actions were always straightforward and decisive. Later, after marrying Fu Mingxiang and having children, he changed careers, bought a truck, and started a transportation business. Now he owns seven or eight trucks and can be considered a figure who can be called "General Manager Sun."

"Hello, Uncle-in-law."

"Great! You made a fortune in America? I heard you bought a car when you got back? A Volvo?" Sun Hongqiang's eyes lit up. "What model? What's the engine displacement?"

"XC60, 2.4".

"A 2.4?! That's powerful!" Sun Hongqiang perked up. "Let me drive it sometime? I've always wanted to try a Volvo; I've heard it's the safest."

"Okay, you can come and open it anytime during the Chinese New Year."

Fu Mingxiang rolled her eyes from the side: "What are you going to do? You can't even drive that beat-up truck properly, and you're trying to drive someone else's Volvo?"

"What do you know? That's a heavy truck, how can it be compared to a sedan?"

The couple exchanged a few words, and Fu Yan and Fu Xiao looked at each other, both suppressing their laughter.

Fu Mingxiang suddenly lowered her voice and whispered in Fu Yan's ear, "Xiao Yan, your cousin De Cheng is a senior in high school this year, and his studies aren't very good. What do you think we should do?"

Fu Yan glanced at the closed room in the corner of the living room, and could vaguely hear the sounds of a game coming from inside.

"Let him choose for himself. Forcing someone who isn't cut out for studying won't help."

"But he can't do anything except play video games!" Fu Mingxiang said with a worried look. "His dad said he should join the army, but I can't bear to see him go."

"Joining the army is good too. Zhang Hao from our village joined the army, didn't he?"

"That's different. Zhang Hao wanted to go, while De Cheng was forced by his father..."

Fu Yan didn't reply. Every family has its own difficulties, and he didn't want to say more.

……

The last stop was Aunt Liu Meijuan's house.

My aunt's house is in an old neighborhood in the south of the city, even older than my other aunt's house—a six-story red brick building. The hallway lights are broken and no one has fixed them. The paint on the walls is peeling off, revealing the cement underneath, and the hallway is filled with the smell of gas.

Fu Yan carried the things up to the fourth floor, and Fu Xiao followed behind, becoming much quieter.

My aunt Liu Meijuan looks about five or six points like Liu Meilan, but she is more than five years older than Liu Meilan—half of her hair is white, the wrinkles on her face are deeper, and the calluses on her hands are thicker. She was laid off early in her life and did odd jobs all her life, doing all kinds of dirty and hard work.

"Xiaoyan! Xiaoxiao!" Liu Meijuan grabbed their hands, her eyes reddening. "It's been so many years since we last met. Xiaoyan has grown into a big young man..."

Hello, Auntie.

"Okay, everything's fine." Liu Meijuan wiped her eyes and pulled the two of them into the house. "Your uncle has gone to work. The bureau is busy during the Spring Festival, and he can't get leave."

My aunt's husband, Liang Qingshan, worked as a contract worker in the Public Security Bureau his entire life. To put it bluntly, he was a public institution employee, not a civil servant—he was assigned there after being transferred from the military, but he couldn't get a permanent position. He was still on a contract until he was almost retired. Although it was a stable job, his salary was much lower than that of a permanent employee.

The living room wasn't big, and the furniture was all old-fashioned. The TV was one of those big CRT TVs, but it was very clean. There were peanuts, melon seeds, and oranges on the coffee table.

Two photos of Liang Wei and Liang Kun in military uniforms hang on the wall—Liang Wei and Liang Kun, Fu Yan's twin cousins, who look exactly alike and are indistinguishable. Both are currently serving in the military, third-term sergeants, making them career soldiers.

"Your two cousins ​​won't be coming back for Chinese New Year this year; they have missions in the army." Liu Meijuan sighed. "That's good. It's less of a worry for them in the army; they have enough to eat and wear, which is better than messing around outside."

Fu Yan put down the New Year's gifts, and Liu Meijuan, seeing the pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and two bottles of Wuliangye liquor, quickly waved her hand, saying, "Your mother is going to waste so much! Why bring so much stuff? We don't need any!"

That's what she said, but she picked up the two bottles of Wuliangye and looked at them again and again, her eyes filled with undisguised joy—the most expensive liquor she had ever drunk in her life was Wuliangye, which Liu Meilan brought over for the Chinese New Year two years ago.

"Auntie, my brother is rich now, this little thing is nothing," Fu Xiao chimed in from the side.

"Even if you have money, you can't spend it recklessly." Liu Meijuan gave her a reproachful look, but the corners of her mouth were turned up.

Fu Yan sat on the sofa, looking at the simple but tidy home, and suddenly remembered something.

"Auntie, how much is my two cousins' monthly allowance in the army?"

"A little over three thousand, I don't know the exact number, they won't tell me either." Liu Meijuan sighed, "It's just that your uncle has it tough, he's the only one earning a salary to support the family, and your two cousins ​​in the army can't help at all."

Fu Yan didn't say anything more, but kept it in mind.

……

It was already getting dark when I left my aunt's house.

Fu Xiao sat in the passenger seat, staring blankly out the window.

"What's wrong?" Fu Yan asked.

"It's nothing... I just think my aunt's house is too old." Fu Xiao's voice was a little muffled. "Last time I came, her water heater was broken, and she had to use a basin to collect water for bathing."

Fu Yan didn't say anything, but rolled up the car window to block out the cold wind.

"Brother," Fu Xiao turned to look at him, "could you help Aunt's family?"

"I'm already thinking about it."

Fu Xiao didn't ask any more questions. She leaned back in her seat and quietly watched the night view of Bincheng outside the window.

Fu Yan drove his white XC60 through the old town, the light from the streetlights sweeping across the roof of the car one after another.

He was thinking about something—two aunts, one maternal aunt, plus his own family, that was all the Fu family owned in Bincheng. His grandparents and maternal grandparents had returned to their ancestral home in Qi Province years ago, and his uncles and aunts had stayed there with them. Those who remained here were all married daughters, each living in their own homes.

My eldest aunt's family is the best off; they have high pensions and live a comfortable life. My youngest aunt's family is also doing well; they have stable jobs and run a small company, so they don't lack money. Only my eldest aunt's family... has been struggling their whole lives. Her two sons are in the military, her husband is a contract worker, and she does odd jobs. Their life is like a tightly wound spring; if you loosen it even a little, it will fall apart.

I gave the five million card to my parents yesterday, but my aunt's family's problems can't be solved with money alone—she won't accept the money even if you give it to her; she'll feel indebted and uneasy. After all, a nephew isn't a son, and I wouldn't feel so comfortable taking it.

We need to find a different approach to this.

As Fu Yan was thinking, the car had already reached the entrance of an alley in the old town.

He turned off the engine and glanced at Fu Xiao in the passenger seat—she had fallen asleep against the window, with a little drool on the corner of her mouth.

Fu Yan chuckled softly, turned up the car's heater by one notch, then took out his phone and sent Lin Xiaochen a text message:

"Could you check if the Public Security Bureau in Bincheng has a window for handling social donations of supplies?"

He wanted to donate a few police cars to the Bincheng Public Security Bureau, saying it was a sponsorship brought in by his uncle-in-law. According to the meritorious service regulations of the public security system, could his uncle-in-law be transferred to an administrative position? That way, it wouldn't be too much to ask for a higher pension after retirement, right?

This has to be done secretly, without letting Auntie know that he paid for it. Most importantly, Uncle needs to agree, otherwise, given his stubborn nature, he might refuse the donation no matter what.