The Divorced Wife of the Richest Man is Reborn

Chapter 139

The car entered the First-Class Military Family Quarters and stopped at the entrance of the high-rise building.

Yan Jun remained silent, motionless in the car, not even turning his eyes.

Though his face showed no expression, Chen Meilan secretly guessed that his heart must be in tremendous pain. Even tigers don't eat their cubs - having one son attempt suicide could be excused, but when both want to die, doesn't it demonstrate his complete failure as a parent?

And what Yan Jun had been most proud of was precisely his parenting methods.

Ironically, this wasn't someone deliberately trying to hurt him. The bitter fruit he was tasting now was the result of his own actions over the past decade. He had essentially dug himself into a hole he couldn't climb out of.

"Come on, let's get out," Chen Meilan said.

Yan Zhao and Hu Xiaohua had already gotten out, but Yan Jun remained seated, still silent.

In the sweltering heat, with the car stopped and no air circulation, sweat quickly gathered on Yan Jun's forehead and temples, streaming down from his eye sockets like rivulets.

Mixed in were probably his tears. At over forty years old, with graying hair plastered to his head, he looked like a wax figure about to melt.

Yan Zhao naturally ignored him. Chen Meilan, being a woman, was more sympathetic. Worried that Yan Jun might suffocate himself in the car, she opened the door and called Yan Peiheng's office.

Just then, someone darted out from the stairwell, face wrinkled with smiles - it was Liu Xiuying.

Holding a bottle of Jian Li Bao sports drink, she thoughtfully inserted a straw before handing it to Chen Meilan. "Like I always say, we're all family. How bad could things be? Meilan, thank you for going to the airport in this heat."

Chen Meilan was indeed thirsty and took a long sip before asking, "Since you're here, Sister-in-law, why aren't you waiting upstairs?"

In six months, Liu Xiuying had lost weight but didn't look haggard. If anything, her complexion had become healthier.

She had been in Hua Country for six months, staying with her family. She had two brothers in the capital who weren't particularly successful but made enough to get by. They treated their elder sister well, constantly trying new recipes to cook for her. Without work for the past six months, she often walked in various parks for exercise, and with a healthier diet, she had slimmed down considerably.

The reason she hadn't visited Jim wasn't because she didn't want to, but because Yan Peiheng wouldn't allow it.

Even after Jim came to the capital, the security guards at the First-Class Military Family Quarters had orders from Yan Peiheng not to let her in. No matter how desperate she was to see her son, she couldn't get in - that was the real reason she hadn't seen him in six months.

Of course, she had been incredibly angry and resentful at first, crying to her brothers every day about how Yan Peiheng was maliciously trying to ruin her child.

Her brothers were ordinary people who couldn't help her situation, and could only exchange worried glances and sigh.

But a month ago, Jim had submitted a short article to "Children's Digest." Written from the perspective of a Chinese-American youth, it described his life in Yanguan Village, the cultural differences between China and America, and vividly recounted his experiences getting drunk and his adventures with Little Wang and Little Lang.

For a nine-year-old child to go from learning Chinese to publishing an article in just six months was remarkable.

The editor found it interesting and made it the lead article in that month's issue.

As it happened, the editor of "Children's Digest" knew Yan Peiheng and personally delivered a copy to him at the military district.

That copy of "Children's Digest" was specifically sent to Liu Xiuying by Yan Peiheng, who had also specially permitted her to enter the First-Class Military Family Quarters today, though she wasn't allowed upstairs to see Jim - which was why she was waiting in the stairwell.

People's hearts are made of flesh, and everyone lives for their children's well-being.

Liu Xiuying had once been smug about her own parenting methods and looked down on others.

But Yan Peiheng had proved through Jim's six months in Yanguan Village that excellent children excel anywhere, regardless of whether there's strict discipline. What matters is their own desire to learn.

As long as the child is doing well, everything is fine.

On this point, Liu Xiuying now fully agreed, both in heart and word.

She was already overjoyed about this development.

Regarding Yan Jun, she had always felt that Yan Peiheng was all thunder and no rain - just making empty threats. She didn't believe he would actually have Yan Jun sentenced under military law. Even tigers don't eat their cubs - if Yan Jun were sentenced, how would she maintain her life in America and raise the children?

When facing her father-in-law, her children were still her biggest bargaining chip.

Just then, Yan Jun, looking like a melting wax figure, shakily got out of the car. Seeing him crying floods of tears, Liu Xiuying assumed Yan Peiheng had already forgiven him and became even more cheerful: "See? It's all fine now. Father was just trying to scare you..."

"My book has finally been accepted by a publisher," Yan Jun needed to share this good news first.

Philosophy had always been dismissed as useless by Liu Xiuying. Whenever she argued with Yan Jun, she would say, "Scholars are good for nothing, and philosophers are the most useless of all. You'll never amount to anything."

For ten years, from learning to write in English to writing books, submitting manuscripts only to have them rejected time after time.

Liu Xiuying had never thought her husband would amount to anything.

But his book was really going to be published?

After ten years in America, he had finally achieved something?

Then, Yan Jun told Liu Xiuying about being invited to become a lecturer, which made her even happier.

Of course, Yan Jun had to mention Mike's situation: "Mike has attempted suicide three more times and has taken a leave of absence."

"Didn't he just start school? What's he causing trouble about now?" Liu Xiuying, who had never met Mike, frowned and said, "If he causes trouble, won't the school expel him? What about our green card?"

"Xiuying, the children are more important than the green card, and now that I have a job, I can get a green card too," Yan Jun said.

Liu Xiuying certainly knew children were more important than green cards, but with suicide attempts, as long as they were unsuccessful, you could always say they were just acting out. Since the person didn't die, in common understanding, it was like village women threatening to drink pesticide or hang themselves - just attention-seeking behavior.

That was foolishness, something people did when life was too comfortable and they were bored.

Liu Xiuying had spent ten years in Qinghai under such harsh conditions, but she had never seen anyone attempt suicide.

So she immediately said, "I'll go back and talk to him, scold him."

Yan Jun opened his mouth but suddenly found himself unable to explain the situation to his wife.

Just thinking about it himself was terrifying, and he still felt dazed.

Just then, Yan Peiheng arrived. One cough from the old man made Yan Jun's hair stand on end.

Father and son hadn't seen each other in ten years.

Yan Jun first handed his bag to his father, then obediently extended his hands to be handcuffed by the military police.

Seeing this, Liu Xiuying became angry: "Yan Jun, what are you doing? Father was just trying to scare you. Let's go home. Jim has been doing so well lately and is waiting for you."

It's not such a big deal, Liu Xiuying thought, always quick to read the situation.

She believed Yan Peiheng was just putting on a show, and that once she cried while holding Jim, Yan Peiheng would surely soften his heart, seeing how excellent Jim had become.

How could Yan Jun be so foolish as to voluntarily let himself be handcuffed?

And knowing where the military court was, Yan Jun actually walked in that direction after being handcuffed.

This made Liu Xiuying even angrier. She shouted: "Yan Jun, I must have been blind to marry a man like you. You studied philosophy your whole life, and just when you finally got a book published and an invitation to be a lecturer, when you could get a green card, you choose to degrade yourself and go to prison in Hua Country. Fine, go ahead! I've wasted twenty years following you, suffered for twenty years. If our three sons' education is ruined because of you - never mind Mike's suicide attempts - Yan Jun, I'll take Jim and John and commit suicide together."

Yan Jun opened his mouth but still said nothing.

Liu Xiuying's words were deliberately meant for Yan Peiheng to hear. She continued: "I used to work so hard, kneeling before people everywhere. How can you treat me like this? Yan Jun, you might as well die!"

It was getting off work time.

Although people in the military district restrained themselves from openly watching the family drama of their leaders.

Many people had opened their windows, pretending to work while standing near them, curious to listen in.

While in America, whenever things didn't go her way, Liu Xiuying would curse at Yan Jun and their children, saying things like "You're worthless" and "You might as well die" - these were her common refrains.

Yan Jun was already in handcuffs. He turned to look at his enraged wife, and realized his philosophical approach wouldn't work anymore. No matter how much he wanted to escape, once that thought had taken root in his mind, there was no running from it.

His son must have committed suicide to escape from them as parents.

What a cruel reality. Before seeing Yan Peiheng, he could still make excuses for himself, but now, seeing his elderly father - his more hunched back and graying hair - everything came flooding back.

He remembered how Yan Peiheng had quit smoking just to save money to buy him cookies and snacks.

He recalled how when he burned the noodles while cooking, his father would pick out the good portions for him while eating the burnt parts himself, scraping them bit by bit from the pot, forcing them down with a pained expression.

Back then, Yan Peiheng would always say: "Little Jun, Dad is enduring hardships for your sake. You can't let yourself fall behind. You must make something of yourself and carry on your father's aspirations, understand?"

He was timid, weak, unlike his iron-willed father, which was why he always tried to run away.

That's why he had been desperate to go abroad, and Mike was the same way, always trying to escape.

What about John and Jim? Would they end up like Mike too?

At this moment, all he could think about was his father tossing and turning in bed during those nights when he was trying to quit smoking, and how the burnt taste would linger in his mouth for days no matter how many times he brushed his teeth after eating those scorched meals.

More than wanting to face justice, he wanted to avoid facing his father, so he left without looking back.

Liu Xiuying had always been a shrew. When she couldn't maintain her nice facade, she would throw tantrums. When tantrums didn't work, she would cry and make scenes while holding onto her son. Her husband had finally become a professor in America, and with her father-in-law doing this, Liu Xiuying would threaten to slash her wrists, jump off buildings, or kill herself to force her way - she would never let her father-in-law imprison her husband.

Just as she was contemplating her next move, Yan Peiheng said: "Xiuying, go upstairs first. Wait for half an hour, and I'll resolve your situation."

"Dad..."

"Go upstairs now. Just half an hour. If you dare make a scene, you can forget about ever going abroad or setting foot in the Grade One Family Quarters again," Yan Peiheng said sternly.

As a veteran leader who had spent his entire life in the military dealing with all kinds of difficult soldiers, Yan Peiheng was tough and efficient. Like Yan Zhao, he was the type who would quickly resolve any problems that arose, never dragging things out.

And today, the most important task for father and son was to deal with the eldest son's family.

As Liu Xiuying tried to speak again, Yan Peiheng had already gone after Yan Jun.

She had no choice but to go upstairs.

...

Yan Zhao and his wife couldn't go home yet because they still needed to buy groceries.

With four children at home, three of them being growing boys who could eat their parents out of house and home, food expenses were their biggest expenditure. In the scorching heat, the couple walked slowly. Just as they reached the market, Chen Meilan's mobile phone rang.

Yan Zhao was selecting tomatoes when he turned and asked, "Is that Gu Xiao calling?"

Gu Xiao had stood up the entire military region and was now a VIP at the Commerce Bureau. Chen Meilan figured it must be him calling. He should have arrived at the hotel and settled in by now. When she was in the capital, he had mentioned wanting to give Yuanyuan a gift, so she assumed he was calling to invite her and Yuanyuan to meet him.

But when she answered, it was actually Yan Dongxue calling.

Chen Meilan got straight to the point, asking Yan Dongxue: "Dongxue, Gu Xiao promised to come to Food Factory 81, so why did he go with the Commerce Bureau people instead?"

"Sister-in-law, Professor Gu just found out that you're now in charge of Food Factory 81. He's very sorry about breaking his appointment with you, but from an investor's perspective, he couldn't possibly invest in a milk powder factory. He asked me to convey his apologies, and also, he has a very important gift for Yuanyuan. Tomorrow evening, please bring Yuanyuan to the International Hotel, Professor Gu will be waiting for you."

So Gu Xiao truly had no intention of investing in the milk powder factory and had deliberately played Zhang Xiangming.

Though they were potential partners, Gu Xiao's behavior made Chen Meilan very angry.

While Zhang Xiangming's greed made him unsightly, how could Gu Xiao claim to be a gentleman when he manipulated people this way?

She knew that Yan Peiheng placed great importance on the milk powder factory. He had even gone to the hotel and asked a certain military region commander to move out of the suite to accommodate Gu Xiao.

He had also made dinner reservations, planning to meet and dine with Gu Xiao that evening.

While Yan Peiheng could be very tolerant, Gu Xiao's actions were truly petty.

One shouldn't maintain deep relationships with petty people.

Thinking this, Chen Meilan said: "Dongxue, please tell Professor Gu that my Yuanyuan doesn't lack anything, we don't want anything. Since he doesn't want to cooperate, let's not meet. I'm very busy anyway."

Yan Dongxue laughed slightly: "Sister-in-law, you're angry because Professor Gu stood you up today, aren't you? But the gift he wants to give is truly precious, worth much more than an investment in the milk powder factory. Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"

If she hadn't experienced rebirth, Chen Meilan might have been tempted. Regardless of what Gu Xiao wanted to give, she would have at least gone to see. But as someone who had been reborn, she wasn't greedy for money or wealth. After being stood up and played, what was there to be curious about?

In fact, she had already decided not to seek investment from Gu Xiao anymore.

If the milk powder factory couldn't get investment, she wouldn't mind discussing with Little Wang about selling the wholesale market, or convincing Yan Xishan to invest in Yuanyuan's name. She wanted to run the milk powder factory herself, without being controlled by Gu Xiao.

With this in mind, Chen Meilan replied decisively: "No."

...

Yan Zhao had finished buying groceries and was about to look for Chen Meilan when he glimpsed Zhou Xueqin in the crowd, standing outside the iron gate, waving at him.

This was the market inside the Grade One Family Quarters, with a small iron gate that only opened during morning and evening hours for deliveries, remaining locked at other times.

Zhou Xueqin couldn't enter these quarters without an invitation.

She knew Yan Zhao's habits - that he always did the grocery shopping when he was home. She was deliberately waiting for him here.

Chen Meilan was still on the phone chatting with Yan Dongxue and hadn't noticed his side. So Yan Zhao walked over.

As former husband and wife who hadn't seen each other for several years, upon seeing her, Yan Zhao had to ask: "Zhou Xueqin, how did you end up looking like this?"

Zhou Xueqin's wine-red permed hair looked like dead grass, her lips had an unusual red tint that seemed painted on, and her eyes were lined with two caterpillar-like strokes that clashed terribly with her sallow skin. It was like she had painted an amateur theatrical mask on her face, looking extremely bizarre.

Her voice trembled as she spoke: "Yan Zhao, the Math Olympiad results are out. Someone named Yan Wangqi got third place."

Yan Zhao nodded without speaking.

How many children could be named Yan Wangqi? And who else could it be but Little Wang, who had taken the exam with Chen Meilan?

Zhou Xueqin had checked the results that afternoon, and when she saw the name Yan Wangqi, she already suspected it was Little Wang, but she couldn't believe it, or rather didn't want to believe it, which was why she came to ask Yan Zhao.

But now she had to believe it - her son had really placed third in the national Math Olympiad.

She took a deep breath and added: "Lu Jingyu's child only placed 36th."

Thirty-sixth place was already quite good, but Zhou Xueqin wasn't satisfied. At the same time, she was shocked. Before Yan Zhao's nod of confirmation, she couldn't believe that Yan Wangqi - who in her previous life had skipped school, gotten into fights, sold pornographic videos, and ended up in juvenile detention - could place third.

Third place! If he worked a bit harder, he could get first place and receive special admission to Tsinghua or Peking University.

This made her especially eager to see her son, so she continued: "Yan Zhao, I've been waiting outside this gate all day but haven't seen Little Wang. Let me talk to him, I want to see him."

So, when she thought her child had no future, she abandoned him to raise someone else's child.

Now that he was doing well academically, she wanted to come back and reconcile with him?

Yan Zhao's voice turned cold: "Zhou Xueqin, we've been divorced for exactly five years. I haven't asked for a penny in child support. If you want to see the child, I'll demand the past five years of child support..."

"I'll pay," Zhou Xueqin said. She had money now and could pay anytime.

Little Wang's current behavior made it worth paying.

"By the way, I just arrived in the capital and heard that Lu Jingyu opened a company here, planning to do something in real estate. Has he gotten his business license? Has he registered with the tax bureau?" Yan Zhao asked.

Having been married before, Zhou Xueqin knew Yan Zhao too well. Others might make empty threats, but not Yan Zhao. He rarely threatened people, but when he did speak up, he definitely had evidence.

This proved that he already knew about Lu Jingyu's company in the capital and was aware of its many illegal and non-compliant aspects. If she dared to secretly meet Little Wang, Yan Zhao would have his military comrades investigate Lu Jingyu and cause trouble for him.

Although Zhou Xueqin and Lu Jingyu were an unhappy couple, she was entitled to half of Lu Jingyu's earnings. Cutting off someone's financial means wasn't right, so she immediately exclaimed, "Yan Zhao, how heartless can you be? I just want to see my child, and you're thinking of going after Lu Jingyu? Aren't you cutting off my source of income?"

"If you don't harass Little Wang, I won't do anything. But if you do, well, who knows?" Yan Zhao said before walking away.

Chen Meilan stood at a shop entrance, still on the phone, not looking in their direction.

It was a gift shop that also sold flowers. She held a mobile phone, smiling while talking, her smile particularly gentle. She seemed to be having a pleasant conversation with Yan Dongxue, constantly smiling at whatever was being said.

Yan Zhao often wondered how two such completely different types of women could exist in this world.

Zhou Xueqin was always angry and complaining, while Chen Meilan was always smiling.

Little Wang used to be dissatisfied with everything and had a fierce temperament, but under Chen Meilan's influence, his personality had become much more peaceful. Little Lang and Chen Meilan were like natural mother and son, sharing similar personalities and temperaments.

Bending down, Yan Zhao picked out a bouquet of red roses.

"Why are you buying flowers? Are you giving them to someone?" Chen Meilan asked after hanging up the phone.

"For our home," Yan Zhao said.

Chen Meilan had already seen Zhou Xueqin earlier. This man was clearly worried she had seen her too, so he deliberately blocked the view of the iron gate and brought the flowers over: "Aren't they beautiful?"

"They are," Chen Meilan said sincerely.

"If you like them, then pay for them," Yan Zhao surprisingly said.

Chen Meilan stood there holding the flowers, stunned. He bought flowers but wanted her to pay?

But it was fine since Yan Zhao's money was all in Chen Meilan's hands anyway, so she had to pay. While gifts for women weren't the most expensive, flowers were definitely the ones that made women happiest, even if they were a bit eye-catching.

Outside the iron gate, Zhou Xueqin gripped the bars with both hands, still watching the couple even after they had walked far away.

Suddenly, Zhou Xueqin shook the iron gate, making it clang loudly.

She kicked the gate once more before turning around angrily and leaving.

In the hot weather, before going upstairs, Chen Meilan picked out a large bag of popsicles from the small shop. She was much more thoughtful than Yan Zhao in this regard. If it were up to him, he would always buy the same old popsicles, never even glancing at the colorful new products.

But Little Wang liked milk popsicles and always ate two at a time, so they needed to buy extra.

Little Lang loved the snowman-shaped ones the most, and he was even more impressive – he would eat however many they bought, never leaving any overnight, so two was enough, otherwise they worried he'd get a stomachache.

Yuanyuan's favorite was the Seven Dwarfs – each package had seven small ones, and she would open a package and make it last three to five days in the refrigerator. Jim's favorite was the green tongue popsicle; that kid especially loved the magical green tongue effect and always liked to make it as long as possible.

Chen Meilan carried the flowers while Yan Zhao held two bags of groceries as they headed home.

They met Little Wang in the hallway. When his black dad wasn't around, he would act much more mischievous. His legs were shaking as if hit by an electric shock while waiting for the elevator, half-humming, half-singing: "I want to walk from south to north, I want to walk from white to black, I want people to see me, but not know who I am..." However, when he caught a glimpse of Yan Zhao from the corner of his eye, he immediately shut his mouth.

Father and son entered the elevator together. Because Little Wang kept shaking one leg, Yan Zhao looked down for a long while before asking, "Yan Wangqi, do you have lice in your pants?"

"No, Dad, why would you ask that?" Little Wang said.

"Then why are you shaking your leg? Aren't you trying to shake off lice?" Yan Zhao asked again.

As soon as he finished speaking, Little Wang's leg immediately stopped shaking.

When they got upstairs, the door was wide open, and the house was quite lively.

Minister Cui, Minister Xu, and even Commander Liu, who was in the process of retiring these days, were there. Yan Peiheng was directing Little Lang and Jim to look for cigarettes and tea, while Liu Xiuying sat on a chair on the balcony.

Yan Peiheng was keeping his word – today, the old man was going to deal with both Liu Xiuying and Yan Jun's matters at once.

What caught everyone's attention was Yan Jun's suitcase on the coffee table.

It was a slightly worn suitcase with Yan Jun's self-written English philosophy book on top, and on top of the book were ten neat stacks of US dollars.

"That's US dollars, isn't it, Mom? US dollars!" Little Wang exclaimed.

Indeed it was – a full hundred thousand dollars.

The official exchange rate published by the Central Bank was six yuan to one dollar, but because the country was desperately short of foreign exchange, at major banks like Industrial and Commercial Bank or Construction Bank, one dollar could sometimes be exchanged for nine or ten yuan. On the black market, it could even reach fifteen or sixteen yuan.

In other words, when converted to RMB, this was at least a million yuan.

The leaders hadn't seen such a huge sum before and were all looking at it. Little Wang was also sniffing the smell of money, while Liu Xiuying, ashen-faced, stared intently at the money.

Yan Zhao and his wife naturally had to go to the kitchen to cook.

The living room was filled with smoke, as most of the leaders smoked except for Yan Peiheng, and they were all lighting up cigarettes now.

Minister Gao picked up a stack of money and patted it: "Back in the day, on the Korean battlefield, American soldiers would often airdrop these things to tempt us to surrender. You know what we did when we found them? Used them to light cigarettes and wipe our bottoms."

Minister Cui thought he was really going to use it to light a cigarette and quickly said, "Old Gao, you can't do that now. The country is desperately short of US dollars; every bill is precious."

"The American imperialists, those capitalist dogs, the smell of money," Minister Gao said as he threw the money back. "Now that we've reformed and opened up, we can't use it to light cigarettes or wipe our bottoms anymore. After all, economic warfare is what's trendy now."

To think that they once used US dollars to wipe their bottoms and light cigarettes – some soldiers even made them into sky lanterns to show the American air force how Chinese soldiers viewed money as worthless as dirt.

The 38th parallel was won with their blood, sweat, and young lives.

But now it's different – these have become precious, they're weapons too. The changes of time are just that cruel, washing these old waves up onto the beach to die.

Yan Peiheng, currently the top leader, looked around and cleared his throat, ready to speak, and everyone immediately sat up straight.

The ownership of this hundred thousand, and what to do about Yan Jun – there should be quite an argument starting now.

In the kitchen, Yan Zhao surprisingly knew how to arrange flowers, using a jar to arrange them with varying heights, creating a nice pattern. After adding water, he handed them to Chen Meilan and said softly, "These are for you."

Chen Meilan rolled her eyes and ignored him.

So Yan Zhao asked, "You don't like them?" After a pause, he added, "Did you see something today?"

Just as Yan Zhao would become instantly irritated whenever Yan Xishan appeared before Meilan's eyes, now that Zhou Xueqin had come today, if Chen Meilan hadn't seen her, that would be fine, but if she had, she would surely be angry.

Could it be that she was angry because she saw Zhou Xueqin?

But probably not, because Chen Meilan looked outside and rolled her eyes: "Officer Yan, your father wants to keep Jim, but he doesn't have the ability to take care of him himself, so he'll probably want me to do it. What should we do? Besides Jim, there's also John, and he might want to call back John and Mike too. What should I do?"

Though they still didn't know Yan Peiheng's attitude towards the US dollars and Yan Jun.

From the moment he used the Little Red Building as collateral to keep Jim in Yanguan Village, Chen Meilan understood that Yan Peiheng definitely wanted to keep Jim.

She wasn't running a kindergarten - why should she always raise other people's children?

Yan Zhao stood there stunned. Regarding Zhou Xueqin, he could silence her with just one sentence, making her not dare to make trouble.

But as for what to do about Jim, he truly didn't know.

"If you're asking me now whether I'm feeling unwell, I'll help you figure out a solution for Jim's situation," Chen Meilan picked up the flowers and gave her husband a meaningful look.

Yan Zhao was taken aback and instinctively asked, "Are you really not feeling well?"

"Speak louder," Chen Meilan said.

"Are you really not feeling well physically?" Yan Zhao raised his voice.

Chen Meilan held her head and said, "Oh my, I am feeling a bit dizzy, but I can manage. Let's cook dinner."

The room happened to be completely quiet at that moment, and when Yan Peiheng heard this, he immediately said, "Meilan, go rest. Little Wang, Jim, go help in the kitchen."

The boys who had been gathering around to look at the American dollars and watch the commotion were thus sent to the kitchen by their grandfather.

Carrying the flowers out of the kitchen, as Chen Meilan passed through the living room, Minister Cui smiled and said, "Meilan, you've worked hard, go get some rest."

The other leaders also chimed in, "No wonder Old Yan always praises her. His daughter-in-law is truly virtuous, trying to cook even when she's not feeling well. With so many children in the house, preparing a meal is no easy task. It must be really exhausting."

"You've worked hard, go lie down for a while," someone else added.

Holding the roses, Chen Meilan went into the bedroom.

That's how life is - you need both substance and appearance.

In such hot weather, who would want to spend three meals a day in the kitchen?

Why should her sister-in-law get help raising her son without paying a penny for food, and why should she, being a daughter-in-law just the same, get to sit on the balcony enjoying the cool breeze?

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Usually, Chen Meilan would cook, but today with Liu Xiuying present, she wouldn't.

However, she couldn't ruin her reputation as the most virtuous daughter-in-law in the military compound!

So you see, only after everyone urged her to rest did she go!