I have to admit that An Lan looks good when she smiles. Her red lips and white teeth are particularly beautiful.
There was a strong wind on the roof, which messed up An Lan's hair. As if she thought it was in the way, she took out a rubber band from her bag and simply tied it together.
In short, this woman gives me a very casual, but very casual and natural feeling.
Just like her beauty, it is natural, not the result of cosmetics or plastic surgery.
"So, you were quite rich before?"
I admit that I was a little entranced, and it wasn't until she spoke again that I came back to my senses.
I smiled, subconsciously lit a cigarette for myself, looked into the distance, took a deep breath and said, "It's okay, I'm not particularly rich."
"But your reputation doesn't seem to be very good in the village!"
I frowned and said, "They even told you this?"
"That man named Chen Dapao and Chen Shifang, who are you?"
I was stunned for a moment, then replied with a wry smile: "One is my uncle, and the other is my third concubine... Is that what they told you?"
"It seems that your personnel relations are not good."
"If you believe whatever they say, then I think you are nothing more than that."
He seemed to be very concerned about my affairs, and then said: "Okay, please explain it!"
I wanted to explain, but suddenly I felt it was unnecessary. I thought for a while and said, "Forget it, let's not talk about the past. I still say what I said, you can dismantle our house if you want, and I won't force you if you don't want to."
"
An Lan didn't say anything more, turned around and went downstairs.
When he was about to leave my house, my mother hurriedly ran out and called An Lan: "Girl, let's go after lunch! I'm already doing it."
An Lan waved his hand at my mother ungratefully and said, "No, Auntie, I have something to do and have to go to the next town."
Then I echoed: "That's right, Mom, just let her go! She is a busy person."
My mother couldn't persuade her, so she had to go back to the house and bring a large bag of oranges to An Lan and said: "Girl, these are picked from our orange tree. They have not been treated with pesticides. You can eat them. They are very sweet."
.”
An Lan didn't want to pick it up, but after taking a look at me, he took it and said, "Auntie, thank you. I'll come see you another day. There are indeed a lot of things going on today."
My mother nodded and sent An Lan to the door again. I heard her ask An Lan in a low voice: "Girl, can our house be demolished?"
An Lan also whispered back: "Auntie, we have to go back to discuss this, don't worry."
After saying that, she got in the car and left.
In fact, I know that the demolition of my house will most likely be a no-brainer.
I feel sorry for my mother, she is both cooking and delivering oranges.
But what I didn't expect was that the news of my mother sending oranges to An Lan would soon spread in the village.
My mother gave gifts to the developer and wanted to bribe the developer.
I was speechless when I heard these words. Giving a few oranges is just a bribe, which is really shameful.
But in the countryside, this bad thing spreads faster than 5G, and soon the whole village knows about it.
Thinking with your toes, you also know that it was my uncle or the third lady who went out to talk nonsense, and they don't want to see our family well.
I was very angry, but I didn't have any temper at all.
Because I'm facing the whole village, I can't possibly compete with them on my own, otherwise I'll drown in my saliva.
My mother was also very angry at home. She wanted to explain to the folks, but I stopped her.
I don't think it's necessary. The more you explain, the more others will make fun of you.
Things in the countryside are not as good as outside. It's better for me to be at home now. Others have to be wary no matter what, knowing that I have a bad temper.
But once I leave, my mother will be miserable!
But I will not sit idly by and do nothing. I will pay back this debt slowly.
…
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the village director called everyone to the village committee again and said that the developer still had some work that needed to be signed.
I didn't expect An Lan to come back again. I was standing on the edge at that time.
After she talked about some things, she got to the point: "We planned to demolish seven households in your village, but we discussed it at noon and decided to take away one quota. I also went to the site to investigate, and there is indeed
Not suitable for demolition.”
Everyone started to get anxious, especially those families who had been selected.
I'm not in a hurry at all, because I know that the one being eliminated is my family.
Sure enough, An Lan began to announce: "The head of the household that was eliminated from the quota is called Chen Feng."
Everyone looked at me one after another, as if they were gloating about my misfortune, and they were even more excited than when they learned that their home was going to be demolished.
Then An Lan said something about building a beautiful countryside, saying that it requires the active cooperation of all villagers, and some of the following tasks will be handed over to the village director to complete on his behalf.
After the meeting, An Lan and her team left without saying a word to me.
The pack of oranges my mother gave her was gone forever.
I just feel sorry for my mother who is so kind!
At this time, the villagers all started cheering, saying that someone else gave me a gift, but the developer also took away the quota. Anyway, they said some ugly words, which made me very angry.
An Lan, I really remember you!
Immediately afterwards, the village director asked the villagers to stay, saying that something happened to be delayed yesterday, and everyone was here now to collect donations for the old village director.
The whole village had great respect for the old village chief, and no one left. Even some people who had not come to the meeting came.
And my reputation now is not good anymore.
Think about it! My mother gave gifts to the developer, but the developer still did not include our family in the demolition. What a joke is this?
So those folks stayed away from me and even gossiped about my mother and me behind my back, obviously ostracizing me.
I wanted to leave, but when I thought about raising money for the old village chief, I had to endure it and stay.
I remember that when there was any big event in the village, I was always surrounded by them and they asked me to stand up and speak to everyone.
At that time, my wife was also standing beside me, holding my hand very obediently, surrounded by envious eyes.
That feeling of being the center of attention is still vivid in my mind.
But now, not only do I have no sense of existence, but I am also ostracized by everyone as if I were a foreigner.
In terms of seniority, I am not inferior.
The old village chief is only of my father's generation, and there are really not many people here who are senior to me.
But just because I'm down and out, and because I didn't do them much good at first, now if something happens, they just want to remove me from the surname Chen.
If this group of white-eyed wolves hadn't built the road for them, would they be happy now?
I should have known a long time ago that the better you treat them, the more they will take it for granted.
When you treat them badly one day, they will think that you are a sinner.
You have to experience these truths before you can understand them, but at this time, they are already heartbreaking.
When I was donating, I suddenly received a phone call. I didn't expect that the call would be from An Lan.
After I answered her call, when I knew it was her, I lost my temper and said coldly: "You still have the nerve to call me!"
"Why am I so shameless?" An Lan asked calmly.
"If you have a conscience, quickly bring back the bag of oranges my mother gave you. Now my mother and I are almost being spitted to death by the whole village."
"Isn't it? Is it that serious?"
"It's more serious than you think."
"But these oranges are quite delicious, so there's no reason why I should give them back."
I laughed out loud: "Then what do you mean by calling me?"
"Two things," An Lan said without any nonsense, "The first thing is that I want to cooperate with you, and the second thing is that I really don't intend to demolish your house, but I have other uses, anyway.
It will cost you a penny."
An Lan's words immediately stunned me. What does this mean?
You still want to cooperate with me, what should you cooperate with?
After being stunned for a moment, I asked her: "Please explain more clearly, I didn't understand."
"I want to cooperate with you. I want to use the plan you mentioned in my office last time. Please give me a price!"