The Divorced Wife of the Richest Man is Reborn - Chapter 36

Seeing Chen Meilan’s constant smile, Zhou’s Mother thought to herself that no wonder Xueqin called her foolish, but with exceptionally good luck.0

It was true, Chen Meilan looked genuinely friendly, with a natural smile on her face.0

Zhou’s Mother first sighed, then slapped her thigh, and seeing Little Wang at the door, she pointed and said, “My Xueqin has had such a hard life, giving birth to these two children without dying from the stress they’ve caused her.”0

“Take your time, Auntie,” Chen Meilan said, but didn’t offer her a seat.0

She saw the grief and indignation on Little Wang’s face and suddenly understood.0

This was why the child watched his mother coming and going with Lu Jingyu every day, yet remained so calm, not even crying anymore.0

The child’s heart had long since grown cold.0

“Little Wang is only in first grade, but he’s never properly attended a single day of school. He can’t even read the basic phonics. As for Little Lang, I’m afraid there’s something wrong with his brain. He’s so stupid, always biting people and causing trouble in the village.” Fearing Chen Meilan wouldn’t believe her, Zhou’s Mother added, “Your elder sister-in-law must have told you about this.”0

Zhou’s Mother was also Chen Degong’s mother-in-law.0

However, the elder brother was upright and although he had married the elder sister-in-law, he always thought his mother-in-law was not a good person and rarely interacted with her family.0

The elder sister-in-law feared her husband and followed his words. Living far away in the countryside, she was considered a distant relative and didn’t meddle in this family’s affairs due to the distance.0

But the elder sister-in-law had indeed mentioned that Little Wang and Little Lang were good-for-nothing.0

The children were powerless, and with adults speaking of them this way, what could they do?0

Chen Meilan made no comment, gesturing for Little Wang to come in, telling him to go inside first.0

But Little Wang, like his father, was a child who noticed things that needed to be done. Seeing two new schoolbags soaking in a basin, he went to wash them.0

Though she was his grandmother, Chen Meilan could still be polite to Zhou’s Mother, but Little Wang wasn’t polite at all. As he lifted the washing basin, he tried to avoid his grandmother. Being small, he couldn’t carry it steadily, and accidentally spilled a bit of water on his grandmother’s foot.0

Despite Zhou’s Mother smiling so brightly at Chen Meilan, the moment a drop of water accidentally splashed on her foot, she exploded. She reached out to grab Little Wang’s ear: “You useless thing, you can’t do anything right. Let your grandmother ask you, do you listen to your new mother at home?”0

Chen Meilan grabbed her hand: “If you have something to say, just say it. This is my home, and I don’t like people getting physical here.”0

Zhou’s Mother immediately grabbed Chen Meilan’s hand in return, her eyes darting around: “I heard you got a construction project?”0

Chen Meilan instantly understood the old woman’s intentions.0

Her elder brother was currently managing the construction project for her.0

But the elder brother didn’t even call the second brother, he just hired people to build the building himself, so he definitely wouldn’t have told his brother-in-law and mother-in-law about this matter. Besides, he had only been to Yanguan Village once and had been living at the construction site ever since, so Zhou’s Mother hadn’t seen him.0

Zhou’s Mother must have heard about her construction project from the elder sister-in-law.0

She wanted to come and get a piece of the pie, no wonder she smiled like a flower as soon as she entered the door, and was desperate to bad-mouth Little Wang and Little Lang. A stepmother’s heart, needles at the bottom of the sea – what a stepmother loves to hear most is others scolding her stepchildren, right?0

Sure enough, Zhou’s Mother opened her mouth and went straight to the project: “Construction projects aren’t easy to manage. Even a small construction site costs money. The cook’s job, whether to use more or less oil, it’s all a skill. Managing people is also a skill. If you don’t have a tough foreman, all the workers will slack off on you.”0

“What do you mean, Auntie?” Chen Meilan was laughing coldly inside, but still asked.0

Zhou’s Mother moved even closer: “My son used to be a supervisor on other construction sites. He dared to whip the workers. He’s better at managing people than your elder brother. My daughter-in-law is an excellent cook. Meilan, I’m only saying this because we’re family. Let your elder brother go back home to farm, and hand over your construction site to my son and daughter-in-law.”0

This old woman was ruthless enough. Just to get some benefits, she was even willing to tarnish Chen Degong’s reputation. That was her son-in-law, after all. If her son-in-law earned money, wouldn’t her daughter spend it too?0

“Alright, why don’t you have your son start working now? And your daughter-in-law, when can she start?” Chen Meilan said calmly.0

Zhou’s Mother didn’t expect Chen Meilan to be so agreeable. She was elated: “Today is fine. My son happens to be free recently and is looking for work.”0

The lonely child sat on a small stool, originally with his back to Chen Meilan, washing the schoolbags.0

Suddenly, he turned around, his red eyes staring at Chen Meilan. After a while, he shook his head and lowered it.0

This child was confused by everything that had happened today. He hadn’t expected his grandmother to come to the door with a smile.0

Nor had he expected Chen Meilan to chat so happily with her, let alone that Chen Meilan would actually let his uncle go to her construction site as a supervisor.0

In that moment, the child felt he didn’t know Chen Meilan anymore. He even felt that, from the bottom of her heart, she had never wanted him from the first day.0

His father was the same, just as Zhou Xueqin had said: “You think your father is any better? If he’s so good, why didn’t he come home for so many years? Why didn’t he become a contractor and get rich? He just doesn’t love you guys, doesn’t love me, that’s why he stayed in the army for so many years without coming back.”0

Little Wang had always known that no one loved him and Little Lang. They were just unwanted burdens.0

But just then, Chen Meilan added: “Auntie, you don’t have a job either, right? I heard your family owes quite a bit of debt and needs money. There’s a really good job at my construction site that needs you to do.”0

Little Wang shed two tears, but Zhou’s Mother was overjoyed, almost jumping up: “What job? Tell me.”0

“No one’s cleaning the toilets. You can help me clean them,” Chen Meilan said calmly.0

Zhou’s Mother, who had been happily jumping up, nearly tripped in anger: “You actually want me to clean toilets?”0

“We’re all family. If I use you, I won’t have to pay wages, and you’ll definitely help me do the job well, right?” Chen Meilan said matter-of-factly.0

Zhou’s Mother felt something was off. What did she mean by not paying wages?0

This Chen Meilan’s heart was too black, how had she not noticed before?0

“Bah! You’re really dreaming! My two plump grandsons are already slaving away at your house, and now you want our whole family to be your slaves?”0

“You just said Little Wang was useless and Little Lang had brain problems. But Yan Zhao told me that his two sons are both excellent, each more promising than the other,” Chen Meilan immediately countered.0

“That’s because they’re Yan Zhao’s own children, of course he dotes on them.” The old woman was confused by Chen Meilan’s words, but then realized something was wrong: “My grandsons are just two plump boys, I love them very much in my heart. Otherwise, why would I let my son help you look after the construction site?”0

But she was anxious, while Chen Meilan wasn’t. She immediately said: “Right, so for the sake of raising your two big grandsons, hurry up and go to the construction site to work for me. Bring your own food, I don’t provide meals.”0

“Don’t get too cocky, Chen Meilan. Little Lang and Little Wang are Xueqin’s children. If you keep this up, we’ll go to court. You can keep Little Wang with Yan Zhao, but we must take Little Lang. Don’t think I don’t know, Yan Zhao is quite rich, and our Little Lang could be a child star.”0

She had finally shown her true colors.0

If she wasn’t given work, she threatened to take the child, specifically Little Lang. Moreover, Zhou Xueqin must have revealed that Little Lang could be a child star.0

Just then, Zhaodi and Little Lang came over for water. Zhou’s Mother smiled and went to greet them: “Little Lang, it’s grandma.”0

She thought she had won the child over by sending him sausages twice before.0

But Little Lang looked at Zhou’s Mother, paused for a moment, then suddenly shouted: “Wolf grandma, rat poison!”0

And as soon as Zhou’s Mother reached out her hand, Little Lang bit it, clamping down and not letting go.0

“Ugh, this little wolf cub, why does he still love to bite people?” Zhou’s Mother panicked and shook her hand, nearly flinging Little Lang off.0

Little Lang had a mouthful of saliva, hanging from his grandmother’s hand. Chen Meilan had to pull him back.0

As she wiped the child’s mouth, Chen Meilan calmly said: “Auntie, raising children isn’t a one-person job. Yan Zhao works hard every day, leaving early and returning late to earn money to support our big family. What’s it all for? It’s so that I can take good care of his two sons. But his salary isn’t enough, so your family must provide monthly living expenses for the children. If you don’t work for me, I’ll go to Zhou Xueqin to demand living expenses.”0

As soon as she said this, Little Wang’s face turned pale.0

However, Chen Meilan immediately winked at him, indicating that she was just trying to scare Zhou’s Mother.0

But Zhou’s Mother didn’t know that, and was furious: “You… you really can’t find a way to make money, can you?”

0

“Don’t children cost money to raise? This is your family’s child, you should help me ease the burden.”0

“You… just you wait…”0

Although Zhou’s Mother’s voice was loud, she surprisingly ran away, and quite quickly at that.0

Little Lang and Yuanyuan thought the old lady was truly like a rat poison peddler, and chased after her, shouting: “Wolf grandma, rat poison!”0

Little Wang, however, crouched back down on the ground and began rubbing the two new schoolbags.0

After rubbing for a while, he looked up at Chen Meilan, smiled, then lowered his head again.0

The little one should understand now, his father’s mountain-like paternal love.0

Just like his father, this little rascal was particularly good at household chores. When washing schoolbags and shoes, the biggest fear is not cleaning them thoroughly and leaving water marks. But the little one washed the schoolbags over and over again, tirelessly rinsing them with water until all the suds were completely cleaned off, only then hanging them up.0

On the two schoolbags, Little Wang deliberately pinched and pulled here and there on Yuanyuan’s She-Ra while it was still wet, shaping it nice and square.0

His own, which Chen Meilan had specially picked out for him with Superman on it, he purposely crumpled until it looked like a wrinkled pile of poop.0

Just now his grandmother said this kid likes to skip school, but Chen Meilan didn’t quite believe it. She decided to use this as a starting point to have a good chat with him.0

“Your grandmother was just making things up, right? Our Little Wang doesn’t skip school, does he?” Chen Meilan said.0

The result was a big surprise, as Little Wang seriously replied: “Actually, I don’t want to go to school at all. Why don’t we discuss it, and you can tell my dad to give me the tuition money instead? I’ll go out and do business.”0

Doesn’t he think his dad might beat him to death for this?0

“Isn’t studying just for making money when you grow up? I already know how to make money now. I won’t starve myself, really,” he added.0

This child was only seven years old, in second grade. The kind of things he was saying were beyond what a child who skips school out of defiance would say.0

This was the talk of a child who fundamentally didn’t want to go to school at all.0

For a moment, Chen Meilan didn’t know how to respond.0

“Auntie, can we seriously discuss something?” Little Wang said again.0

“Go ahead.” This little brat, always contradicting Chen Meilan, she was starting to lose patience with him.0

“My original mom definitely won’t want me, and even if she did, I wouldn’t go back. But if she comes to take Little Lang, you absolutely can’t give him back to her, okay?”0

Seeing Chen Meilan only smile without saying anything, the little one got anxious: “Little Lang calls you mom now, you can’t let him down!”0

“Tell me, why?” Chen Meilan grabbed the little one and ruffled his ear. Oh, it really was soft.0

Little Wang’s eyes reddened, he bit his lip for a long time, but shook his head and ran off: “Anyway, you just can’t.”0

Regarding Zhou Xueqin wanting to take Little Lang away, Chen Meilan had anticipated this since the day it was confirmed that Little Lang had fallen ill from eating paint.0

In her previous life, although Little Lang was always sickly, he was said to be a bit more promising in his studies than Little Wang.0

Although in Zhou Xueqin’s eyes he would eventually be an ungrateful wretch, he was after all younger than Little Wang, and his personality wasn’t fully formed yet. If the child grew up to be good-looking, Zhou Xueqin would definitely be tempted to take him back.0

No matter what Zhou Xueqin was like now, the fact remained that she had given birth to two sons during Yan Zhao’s military service, and it was also a fact that she had only seen her husband three or four times in a full eight years.0

If one day she really came to take Little Lang back, using the hardship of living as a grass widow for seven or eight years to pressure them, what would Yan Zhao do?0

Would he relent and send Little Lang back?0

Zhou Xueqin had embarked on a path to wealth that could only be described as frenzied.0

Meanwhile, at Chen Meilan’s small construction site, in order to ensure good quality, they used the highest grade of cement. Working diligently, she built the small canteen to be as sturdy as a bunker. In Teacher Huang’s words, the foundation could withstand an magnitude 8 earthquake.0

She was determined that there was absolutely no way she would send Little Lang back. In a while, she needed to have a good talk with Yan Zhao about this matter.0

“Dad.” With Yuanyuan’s call from outside the door, Yan Zhao had also returned from work.0

Seeing Yan Zhao enter, Chen Meilan was just about to call him into the kitchen for a good chat, but Little Wang had already started tattling while Yan Zhao was washing his hands and face.0

A blast of water from the hose to his head, a lather of soap, another rinse with the tap water, and a shake of his head – Yan Zhao was refreshed and clean.0

However, upon hearing that his former mother-in-law had visited, Yan Zhao immediately turned off the faucet, his brows furrowing: “Yan Wangqi, are you a man or not? Why didn’t you call me right away?”0

A man nearly 1.8 meters tall, with a dark and fierce face, asking a skinny little monkey if he was a man?0

Little Wang wasn’t a man yet, and he was cowed by his father’s anger: “I… I forgot.”0

Although Yan Zhao had made Little Wang memorize his office phone number the first time his mother-in-law came, and had repeatedly instructed Little Wang to call him immediately if his grandmother or uncle’s bunch dared to approach him privately, the child had never relied on his father before. When faced with a crisis, his instinct was not to seek help.0

Moreover, his grandmother hadn’t come secretly; she had arrived openly.0

“Next time she dares to come, call me immediately.” Yan Zhao’s tone was a bit severe as he asked with a stern face: “You’re already seven years old, don’t tell me you still haven’t memorized our police station’s phone number?”0

It wasn’t that Little Wang hadn’t memorized the number, it was just that he had never been by his father’s side since he was little.0

When faced with a crisis, his instinct was not to seek his father’s help.0

But having been scolded, he wasn’t about to back down: “Who needs you? My mom sent her packing with just a few words.”0

Yan Zhao turned to look at Chen Meilan through the kitchen window. Hearing the father and son argue, she was actually smiling, her cheeks pink, shaking her head as she smiled.0

The most important point was that for remarried couples, the biggest fear is the ex showing up to cause trouble, endlessly nagging and fussing.0

For instance, when Yan Xishan showed up, Yan Zhao didn’t say anything, but he was furious inside.0

But strangely, when Zhou’s Mother came, Chen Meilan clearly wasn’t angry. She was so calm that it made Yan Zhao feel like it wasn’t even a big deal.0

But Zhou’s Mother was so clever and cunning, full of tricks. Surely Chen Meilan hadn’t been outsmarted by her?0

Handing his father a towel, Little Wang chimed in at the right moment: “You think we’re scared just because you’re not here?”0

Yan Zhao’s brow furrowed again.0

Little Wang became even more smug: “My mom even asked my grandma for living expenses. One sentence scared my grandma away. Unlike you, always giving them money whenever they cry, always giving in when they cry.”0

Under his father’s bewildered gaze, Little Wang’s little tail of pride was about to curl up to the sky.0

Just look at how amazing this mom is.0

Of course, Little Wang hadn’t realized that this was the first time he had called her “mom,” and he had done so so naturally.0

“Little Wang?” His dad called out.0

Little Wang couldn’t be bothered to respond.0

Yan Zhao caught his son and sniffed his stinky little head, then started to lather it with soap. He was going to wash his son’s hair too.0

“Do you want to listen to music tonight?” Yan Zhao asked.0

Little Wang remained sulky.0

Yan Zhao added: “Dad can’t sing, but I can learn.”0