Chapter 562: The Passionate Cai Xiaoli

"You absolutely, absolutely must not buy things to show off your wealth, do you hear me? My grandma, my parents, they all unanimously agree that you're not bad, but that you're a spendthrift who doesn't know how to live a proper life, a prodigal son. That's the one thing they don't like; they're worried I won't have a good life if I'm with you."

"I think their worry makes sense, but it's not entirely correct." Wang Yan poured a cup of tea for Su Meng and laughed: "If you look at it from another angle, could I treat my own woman poorly? Husband and wife are of one heart; after we get married, we'll be earning money and spending it together. I've never heard of anyone having a bad life when they eat meat every day. Don't you think that's the logic?"

Su Meng was stunned for a moment, nodded, and then looked at Wang Yan suspiciously: "Aren't you only making twenty a month yourself?"

"What are you thinking about?" Wang Yan reached out and pinched her cheek, then pulled her into his arms: "Am I that kind of person? When your parents say I'm a spendthrift, isn't that exactly what they're thinking about? They also know that if I'm a spendthrift, I certainly won't treat you poorly; they're just worried that if we're together, we'll only live for today and not think about the future. If we don't save money, what if we have a headache or a fever, or run into some trouble later on? Are we just going to rely on borrowing money everywhere?"

"Since you know all that, why are you still such a spendthrift? If you had saved money early on, how could there be so many issues? How could my grandma and the others still be worried about this and that?"

"The most important thing in life is to be happy, the most important thing is to make yourself comfortable. Look at these muscles of mine; if I don't eat meat, I'm truly hungry."

"That's true, your body is indeed good." Just as she finished speaking, Su Meng gave Wang Yan's hand a hard slap: "Talk if you're going to talk, don't touch me randomly!"

Wang Yan pulled her into his arms, buried his face in her fair neck, and reached out to grope her body. Su Meng resisted a little at first, but in the blink of an eye, she softened.

After a good while, unable to bear that tingling itch anymore, Su Meng struggled hard to break free from his embrace, pressed herself against the cabinet behind her, straightened her skirt, and lowered her head, not looking at Wang Yan: "Before we're married, don't you think about anything. If you're still like this in the future, then I will... I will..."

"Then what will you do?"

"Then I'll ignore you!" The blush on Su Meng's face still remained; she glared fiercely at Wang Yan: "I'm not talking to you anymore, I have to go back, or my grandma will be coming to look for me in a while."

After saying that, she ran away quickly; this was truly not a place to linger.

Just after passing through the moon gate, she gave a start, instantly snapping back from the intoxicated feeling she had just felt, and said unpleasantly: "Cheng Army Supervisor, are you sick? Scaring people to death, don't you know that? I'm telling you, if you do this again, I'm going to scratch you."

"I have something to find you for." Cheng Army Supervisor looked earnest, looking like he was doing it for her own good: "I saw it this afternoon; you went out with Wang Yan from the front yard again. Su Meng, don't blame me for snitching to Grandma Su; I'm doing this all for your own good. How do I have to say it for you to believe me? That Wang Yan is a hooligan, he's capable of anything—cheating, swindling, you name it. Why won't you listen to reason?"

"I thank you so much." Su Meng originally wanted to curse a few times, but her face instantly turned into a smile: "Just because you snitched to my grandma, when I came back just now, she put me through a full interrogation. I hardened my heart and confessed everything. Guess what? My grandma and the others' reactions were truly unexpected; they agreed, and even said they'd invite Wang Yan to eat at home tomorrow night. Maybe in a few months, they'll have to invite you to drink at our wedding feast; you'd better bring a generous gift then."

"What? You mean you're dating Wang Yan?" Cheng Army Supervisor's eyes widened, full of disbelief. Seeing Su Meng nod, he said: "Su Meng, you must think this through clearly. Wang Yan is not a good person; you'll regret it when the time comes and it'll be too late. Besides, with your qualifications, why are you in such a hurry to marry yourself off?"

"You don't need to worry about me. Cheng Army Supervisor, I'm telling you, if I hear you say Wang Yan is a hooligan again, or that he's evil, I'll tell Wang Yan. Let's see if you have the guts to say it to his face."

Su Meng glared at him, turned her head, and went home...

Cheng Army Supervisor stood there blankly; he couldn't accept this result.

They all lived in the same courtyard, so of course he knew clearly that Su Meng and Wang Yan getting together had only been a matter of this past month. Who would have thought that in such a short time, she would get together with a hooligan like Wang Yan? He had been fawning over her, getting his dad to pull strings to help Su Meng arrange a job at the Children's Palace, and even playing schemes to study Han Chunming—wasn't all of this just a waste of effort?

As for making trouble for Wang Yan, he truly didn't have the guts. He could only swallow this anger, using the saying "a gentleman's revenge is not too late in ten years" to comfort himself.

With his frustration having nowhere to vent, he kicked the wall fiercely. The counter-shock force made him hurt like crazy; he stood on one leg, baring his teeth and holding the wall, trying to ease the pain.

After a good while, he let out a long breath, walked through the moon gate to the Han family's main room in the front yard, and looked at the shadow of someone reading and drinking tea by the window, cast by the light from the east wing. He stared with a gloomy gaze for a while before turning his head and shouting: "Chunming! Chunming! Come out for a second, I have something to tell you."

Han Chunming hadn't even eaten two mouthfuls of dinner and was lying on the table feeling uncomfortable. Hearing the call, he reluctantly pushed open the window: "What is it?"

"You come out, come out and I'll tell you. I'm waiting for you outside, hurry up." After speaking, Cheng Army Supervisor turned and left. Passing by the east wing, he looked inside again. Although he couldn't see Wang Yan's face clearly because of the light inside, he could feel that Wang Yan was watching him. Without a word, he quickly quickened his pace and jogged out of the courtyard.

Han Chunming inside the room let out a long breath, got up, went out, and found Cheng Army Supervisor at the entrance: "Speak, what do you want with me?"

"Do you like Su Meng?" Seeing him not speak, Cheng Army Supervisor waved his hand, looking indignant: "I like Su Meng too, but now it's fine, neither of us needs to think about it. I'm telling you, there's no chance, someone has beaten us to it. Do you know who it is? Wang Yan. You tell me, aren't you stupid? You call him 'Lord Wang' every day, and in the end, he quietly started dating Su Meng. Su Meng just told me that her family knows about this, and tomorrow night they're letting Wang Yan go to their house to eat. If that goes well, in a few months they'll be married."

"Anything else? If not, I'm going back."

"Wait." Cheng Army Supervisor grabbed the impatient Han Chunming and frowned: "You knew?"

"I saw it when I came back from work. The two of them set their hearts on each other at the Temple of Heaven today; I know better than you. I'm annoyed, I'm leaving."

"No, Chunming, are you really willing to watch a hooligan like Wang Yan marry Su Meng?"

"This is Su Meng's choice. What can I do if I'm not willing? What can I do if I am? They're both willing, how does it concern you? I can see you're not willing, but what can you do? Huh? Don't tell me you dare to go make trouble for Wang Yan?"

Han Chunming's tone was very harsh, and his emotions were very agitated. These words weren't just for Cheng Army Supervisor, but also for himself. He truly couldn't do anything, and he truly couldn't make trouble for Wang Yan. It was indeed Su Meng's own choice; besides watching, he had no way at all. As for making trouble for Wang Yan, he didn't even have that thought; that guy was a master who fought his way to the top.

Unpleasantly brushing off Cheng Army Supervisor, he didn't go home either, but went to Old Guan's place; he needed to find this old man with many experiences to guide him.

Cheng Army Supervisor breathed heavily, watching Han Chunming leave. After a good while, having calmed his mood, he turned and returned to the courtyard...

Watching Cheng Army Supervisor run past the window quickly, Wang Yan picked up his cup to drink tea.

He knew Cheng Army Supervisor definitely held a grudge against him. Dating Su Meng was certainly one reason, but in fact, he had held a grudge long ago. After all, Cheng Army Supervisor was narrow-minded; he couldn't stand it when others were better than him, more impressive than him, or living better than him.

Wang Yan was just that kind of person; he had suppressed Cheng Army Supervisor from childhood to adulthood, and hadn't even put Cheng Army Supervisor in his eyes at all. Everywhere he went, people called him "Lord Wang" and flattered him, while few people recognized Cheng Army Supervisor even after he left this alley. Of course he had held a grudge long ago.

But now, it was useless for Cheng Army Supervisor to hold a grudge, because he didn't even have a job. His dad was a section chief, his mom worked at the neighborhood committee, and they had no ability to cause trouble for Wang Yan at all. Now that Su Meng was dating Wang Yan, he wouldn't dare to badmouth Wang Yan in front of Su Meng even without her telling him. He truly didn't dare to provoke Wang Yan; he wished he could stay eight hundred meters away, not enter Wang Yan's line of sight, and be a transparent person.

This was the benefit of being a hooligan and a bastard; as long as he didn't take the initiative to provoke others, it was already a very good thing in the eyes of others. The bottom line was very low, so the requirements were also low.

However, Wang Yan knew how to act like a decent person. Although everyone knew he fought and brawled, in the social circle around here, he was the "child of someone else's family" with a great reputation.

After reading for a while longer, Wang Yan washed up, tidied up, and went to bed to sleep the lonely sleep that was already counting down...

The next day, it was the same early morning exercise as usual. Because he hadn't cooked dinner yesterday, there were no leftovers in the morning. Wang Yan only ate some biscuits he had bought earlier, washing them down with hot tea to fill his stomach. He was indeed not full, but skipping a meal didn't matter.

Just as he finished eating and was washing up, Su Meng, still wearing two big braids, a shirt, a long skirt, and carrying a small bag—looking like she had been carefully dressed—happily pushed her bicycle out from the backyard.

"Yo, Lord Wang, why are you only washing up now?"

This little lady's joy and anger were all on her face; she would pout as soon as she was unhappy. Looking at her pouting appearance, Wang Yan brushed his teeth "ka ka ka" and muttered: "I just checked the time, it's only 6:50, what are you pouting for?"

Seeing Wang Yan didn't take it seriously, Su Meng giggled: "Isn't it almost time? It's my first day at work, no matter what, I have to go early and perform well. I'm telling you, I didn't sleep well last night; I was so nervous thinking about officially starting work today. Hurry up, don't dawdle."

"You're only fresh for these two days; you don't even need much time, just a week and you won't be performing anymore. Why don't you wait in the room for a while? I'll be ready in a few minutes."

"No need, I'll supervise here, you hurry up."

Wang Yan stopped paying attention to her, took a sip of water, gargled "hu lu lu" a few times, spat it into the sink, and then washed his face and hair. He finished the battle in three to five minutes, returned to the room to change into his work clothes, and after the whole set, it was only 6:55.

After locking the door, Wang Yan pushed the bicycle by the wall: "Let's go, off to work."

The two of them pushed their bicycles out one after the other, then pedaled side by side, weaving through the small alleys, turned out onto Changan Street, and joined the crowd of early morning commuters.

"It's really lively." Su Meng sighed, as if she were rediscovering the capital, finding everything fresh.

Wang Yan chatted with her happily, sending her all the way to the entrance of the Children's Palace.

"Alright, I've arrived, you hurry off to work, don't be late." Just as she finished speaking, Su Meng said "ai" again and grabbed Wang Yan: "You absolutely must not buy things, absolutely don't think about performing. You've been eating potatoes every day, don't end up not even being able to eat potatoes after today. And this is what my parents said, this isn't a lie, it's not just being polite."

"Don't worry, I guarantee I won't buy anything. I'll just bring a mouth to your house and eat to my heart's content. I'm off, see you tonight." As he spoke, Wang Yan pedaled his bicycle away.

Not until Wang Yan's figure disappeared around the corner did Su Meng turn to look at the entrance of the Children's Palace, let out a long breath, and push her bike inside...

In the food factory workshop, work had just started in the morning. Cai Xiaoli patted Li Chengtao, who was working seriously in front of her to show his presence: "Hey, look..."

As she spoke, Cai Xiaoli gestured with her head in a certain direction.

Taozi looked in that direction and saw Han Chunming staying alone in the corner, listless, his eyes hollow as he fiddled with raisins one by one.

He asked puzzled: "He's usually very active at work, why is he slacking off today? No, something must be up."

"I think so too, do you know what happened?"

"How would I know? He was fine when we left last night, and now he's like this today."

Cai Xiaoli murmured: "Is someone in his family sick? That shouldn't be it; he should have told us about something like that. Then what is it for?"

Taozi shook his head and stuttered: "Aiya, what can we guess by guessing here? Why don't we just ask?"

After speaking, he walked over with Cai Xiaoli, who followed him consciously, and patted Han Chunming on the shoulder, calling him back to his senses. Then, pretending to work together, he asked: "What's your situation? I've seen you weren't right since you came in this morning. Did something happen at home?"

Han Chunming shook his head: "No."

Cai Xiaoli followed up and asked: "Then what is it? Is there anything you can't tell us? Why don't you tell me secretly."

Han Chunming let out a long breath; there was no need to hide this matter. After all, he had told both of them long ago that he liked Su Meng. Now if he hid it and didn't say anything, it wouldn't be able to be hidden when he talked to Wang Yan about these things later. After all, they were all in the same factory, and there would always be a day when they knew.

So he looked at the two of them and said: "Su Meng and Lord Wang have gotten together..."

"What?"

As soon as these words came out, both Cai Xiaoli and Taozi widened their eyes in disbelief, but their reactions that followed were different.

Cai Xiaoli was smiling, because she had previously expressed that she liked Han Chunming, but because Han Chunming liked Su Meng, he had pushed her hard toward Taozi. Now that Su Meng and Wang Yan had gotten together, by succession, didn't she have a chance? And she also knew, and felt, that Han Chunming had feelings for her. Now that Su Meng was gone, there was a high probability they would be good together.

It's over... This was Taozi's first thought after realizing it. So unlike Cai Xiaoli's undisguised happiness, his face instantly fell, as uncomfortable as if he were constipated. He had taken a fancy to Cai Xiaoli, Cai Xiaoli liked Han Chunming, and now Han Chunming had lost Su Meng, so naturally, he had lost Cai Xiaoli...

"What's going on? I asked you two days ago and you said everything was fine, how did Su Meng get together with someone else today?" Cai Xiaoli asked with concern, digging for the inside story.

Han Chunming sighed and roughly repeated what Wang Yan had told him yesterday: "So the two of them just got together like that, and they even said they'd eat with Su Meng's family tonight."

"I understand now. It's just that Su Meng was in contact with you and that Lord Wang at the same time. Most likely she felt that Lord Wang was much better than you, so she went with him. Looking at it this way, this Su Meng isn't a good woman either; how scheming she is. Even without that Lord Wang, you couldn't marry a woman like Su Meng; she's so bad." Cai Xiaoli happily bumped Han Chunming with her shoulder: "Great, you have no reason to refuse me this time, right? Han Chunming, you have to fight back. Su Meng is dating Wang Yan, so you date me. Su Meng is marrying Wang Yan, so you marry me. I'm willing, and I don't want any 'three turns and one sound' from you; as long as we have a place to live, that's fine."

Taozi listened from the side, the corners of his mouth twitching. He had come to comfort Han Chunming, but now he had become the victim. Bad luck; it was hard enough to find a girl he liked, and he had thought there was still hope, but now it was cold. He didn't speak either, kept his head down, and turned to leave.

Han Chunming quickly grabbed him and looked at Cai Xiaoli: "Don't leak the fact that I liked Su Meng before to Lord Wang's side. He never knew about this from beginning to end. Now that he and Su Meng have gotten together, don't go looking for trouble."

Seeing the two of them nod, he let go of Taozi, let him go to the side to grieve alone, and said to Cai Xiaoli: "Don't talk nonsense, and don't think nonsense..."

"I don't care, anyway, you can't count on Su Meng anymore, you can only be with me, you must be with me, it's settled." Regardless of Han Chunming's reaction, Cai Xiaoli happily ran to the side to work.

Cai Xiaoli was a direct person; her liking for Han Chunming had never been hidden. Now that heaven had given her a chance, she naturally seized the opportunity. She had to win Han Chunming over; if she couldn't win him over, she had to win him over anyway—forcefully win him over. Anyway, she had set her heart on this man.

Han Chunming had just experienced heartbreak, so of course it was impossible for him to walk out of it so quickly. But knowing that Su Meng was hopeless, he could naturally see Cai Xiaoli's good points. Especially since she had just said those few words so firmly, making him feel that kind of passionate love.

He shook his head and went to Taozi, who was grieving alone, to comfort him.

Actually, it wasn't a big deal. He hadn't known Taozi for long, and Taozi had known Cai Xiaoli for even fewer days. Where could there be any talk of love or affection? Even if there was, they were just people who had just come into contact, so how deep could the feelings be...

When getting off work in the evening, Wang Yan waited for Han Chunming as usual.

Unsurprisingly, he saw Taozi, who looked like he was dying, Cai Xiaoli, who looked happy, and Han Chunming, who was caught in the middle looking helpless.

Wang Yan asked as if nothing had happened: "What's going on? Three people with three expressions, this is truly strange."

"Nothing, nothing." Han Chunming still didn't know how to face Wang Yan, so he said: "Lord Wang, you go back first, the three of us will go for a stroll and come back later."

Cai Xiaoli on the side grabbed Han Chunming's shoulder: "That's right, Lord Wang, thank you. We have to eat and drink outside before going back, and we'll have to trouble you to tell Chunming's mom when you go back, so she doesn't worry."

"Yo, are you two dating?" Wang Yan laughed: "Chunming, you didn't see me get together with Su Meng yesterday and feel a crisis, did you?"

Han Chunming opened his mouth awkwardly to explain, but was blocked by Cai Xiaoli's words: "Of course, Lord Wang, you two are the same age. Now that you have a partner, Chunming's mom should be urging Chunming soon. It just so happened I told him today, and he agreed. By the way, Lord Wang, tell your Su Meng when you get back, we're classmates anyway. It won't be long before we live in the same courtyard. You and Chunming have such a good relationship, and you take such good care of Chunming, our two families should interact more."

Wang Yan looked happily at Taozi, who looked like he was already dead, and at Han Chunming, who wanted to explain but was being held tightly by the arm by Cai Xiaoli, with one hand secretly pinching his flesh to keep him from speaking. He said: "Chunming, you kid have potential. I thought I and Su Meng were unexpected enough, but I didn't expect that after only one day, you'd make me re-recognize what 'unexpected' means. Very good, Xiaoli is so straightforward and beautiful, you have to treat her well. I'll go back and tell your mom about this. She'll be so happy tonight she'll eat two extra bowls of rice. I'm off, see you tomorrow."

After speaking, under the gaze of the three, he pedaled his bicycle away to go home and pay respects to his future father-in-law.

He didn't know how uncomfortable Han Chunming was, or what his psychological activity was, but he believed there was a high probability that Han Chunming and Cai Xiaoli could become a pair. A woman chasing a man is separated by a layer of gauze. Without Su Meng hanging over him, a man like Han Chunming, whose spring heart had just risen only to be ruthlessly shattered, couldn't withstand Cai Xiaoli's fierce offensive. It was just a matter of time.

Cai Xiaoli wasn't as self-centered as Su Meng, nor was she as capable of causing trouble; she was truly someone who lived a proper life. So if the two were together, there would absolutely not be the long-term tug-of-war between Han Chunming and Su Meng as in the original drama; they would be able to marry and have children very soon.

It was another unhurried journey, mingling in the crowd as he leisurely returned home.

Just as he arrived outside the door, he saw Su Meng leaning against the wall, swaying back and forth, playing at bumping her back against the wall. She worked at the Children's Palace and got off work after four, so she had been back for a long time.

"Waiting for me?"

Su Meng gave Wang Yan a slap unpleasantly: "Asking what you already know."

Thanks to Wang Yan's hooliganism of groping and touching beyond kissing, they had achieved a certain degree of physical intimacy, narrowing the distance between the two and taking a big step forward in their relationship. So now Su Meng was more natural and more open.

"You didn't buy anything, right? I'm telling you, I'm blocking you here, I'm worried." As she spoke, she picked up the bag in the bicycle basket, opened it, and looked inside; there were only two loaves of bread. She looked up in surprise: "Is the bread for me?"

Wang Yan imitated her appearance just now and gave her a light slap unpleasantly: "Asking what you already know."

"So annoying." Su Meng hit him back, then said: "Hurry back and wash up, dinner is already made, just waiting for you to come back and eat."

Laughing and joking, they pushed their bicycles into the courtyard. Just as they turned past the shadow wall, they ran head-on into Old Man Guo, who had just finished washing his face at the water pool. He looked at the intimate appearance of Wang Yan and Su Meng and asked: "Little Yan, you and Su Meng, you two are... I haven't seen you two this familiar before..."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile: "Just as you think, we're dating. You just wait to drink at our wedding."

Old Man Guo choked, seemingly not expecting Wang Yan to admit it so straightforwardly. Looking at Su Meng, who was blushing on the side, he said: "Ho, that's sudden. I'll just wait for you to hold the wedding feast..."

Watching Old Man Guo return to his room, Su Meng finally raised her head. Wang Yan raised his eyebrows at her: "I'm about to see my father-in-law, can't I say we're dating? Don't worry, by tomorrow night, our business will be spread around."

"Shameless." Su Meng turned her head and left: "Hurry up."

Arriving in the courtyard, Wang Yan propped up his bicycle: "You wait a moment, Chunming is out dating someone, he'll be back later, let me go tell his mom."

Su Meng asked suspiciously: "You said Han Chunming is dating?"

"Yeah, surprised? I'm surprised too. He got together today, with someone he works with. You even know his partner; she said she was your classmate."

"Who is it?"

"Cai Xiaoli, she hasn't been at our factory for many days. I heard from Chunming that they were sent down to Fangshan together before. At that time, Cai Xiaoli's family member was sick and needed money, and it was Chunming who gave it. That's a life-saving grace, and there's a bit of a meaning of 'giving herself to him.' Here's the key, open the door and wait inside first, I'll be right back."

Wang Yan turned and went to the Han family's main room, telling the people who were eating about Han Chunming's matter. At this moment, Han Chunming's second brother and second sister were not yet married, and were already sitting at the table eating. It wasn't that they weren't waiting for Han Chunming, but they estimated that Han Chunming would be back soon, so they started eating first.

Hearing such sudden and explosive news from Wang Yan, the Han family people were overjoyed, pulling Wang Yan to ask all sorts of questions, making it incredibly lively...

Outside, Su Meng watched the liveliness of the Han family, thinking about the things between her and Han Chunming in the past. After a long time, she smiled, turned around, took the key, opened the door, and went inside. She carefully examined the environment in the room; if nothing unexpected happened, she might be living here in the future. Thinking about all sorts of messy things, she blushed herself...

"What beautiful things are you thinking about?"

"None of your business? Hurry up, just waiting for you, dawdling." Seeing Wang Yan take off his short-sleeved shirt and reach for his belt to take off his pants, she quickly ran to the side: "What are you doing?"

"Changing clothes." Wang Yan took off his pants without caring at all, looked at Su Meng, who subconsciously covered her eyes with her hands but still left a big gap between her fingers, laughed, picked up the big shorts thrown on the bed and put them on, changed into a tank top, turned around, carried a basin from the outer room, draped a towel over his shoulder, and went out to wash up.

Su Meng eased from the stimulation of just now, trotted behind him and went out: "I found that you're not nervous at all?"

"What's there to be nervous about? Can your grandma and the others eat me?"

Wang Yan splashed water, washed his face and hands, locked the door, and swayed behind Su Meng to the backyard. Under Cheng Army Supervisor's peeping, he entered the Old Su family...

The Su family also had three rooms, not as big as the Old Han family's, but separated into three rooms. Cooking, eating, and staying were all in the middle living area. As for the two side rooms, one was for Su's father and mother, and one was for Su Meng and Grandma Su.

Wang Yan was led into the room by Su Meng. Grandma Su, Su's father, and Su's mother all stood up. It wasn't for any other reason, just that they were nervous. The development was truly too sudden; they actually weren't prepared yet. A kid who had lived in the same courtyard for so many years was suddenly developing in the direction of a son-in-law; they couldn't adapt yet... ===== CHAPTER 563 =====