Chapter 2: BH (QT) 17 - Phoenix Man (Extra 2)

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ugust 6, 2020Aris

Chapter Seventeen – Phoenix Man (Extra 2)

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, the small mountain village where the Yan family is located.

It’s the New Year, and the people working outside have returned to the village one after another.

For a person, the face is of the utmost importance. If they had made a good living outside, they had to come home in grandeur and show it off. If they didn’t, then no matter how rich they were, it would be meaningless.

At least, that’s what most people in this village think.

Therefore, even if some people eat chaffy vegetables outside, they have to save a sum of money and return to the village to show off during the New Year.

Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer people in the village. Those who usually live in the village are either the old or the children. However, at the time of the New Year, there is a lively activity again. The small shop opened by the village head Jiang is full of people who come and go to buy things.

The children in the village took their pocket money to buy snacks, firecrackers, and fireworks; the men in the village came to buy cigarettes, wine, and cards; the women in the village came to buy various condiments and daily necessities.

Occasionally, people who bought expired snacks came to the door to complain.

The old little shop was as lively as in previous years.

And in recent years, when everyone gathers to chat in the shop, they will definitely talk about it one topic, that is Yan Jing Ze, the eldest son of the crippled man of Yan family.

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“The luck of the crippled old Yan is really great. He didn’t have a good life but he gave birth to a promising son and turned his life around!”

“I said a few years ago that there must be a chance for them to turn over, looks like I was right.”

“I heard that Yan Jing Ze started a big company outside?”

“He started a big company when he was still in college, so he bought a house in the county town for his father to live in. Once he graduated, he went to open a big company and became the company boss. ”

“He brought his little sisters and little brother outside to study. The quiet little sister’s grades were not good but now she’s in the university.”

“Yan family’s little son, who used to be naughty and mischievous, is now also prosperous.”

“Yan Damei is also promising. When she came back this year, she came back by car.”

The villagers now have an unspeakable envy to the crippled Yan father.

He has been farming all his life and didn’t make much money. As a result, he gave birth to a good son and his family became rich.

In their village, some people did not study much, some went out to work and set up a shop, and finally made a lot of money. They said that the son of the old Jiang took his wife to the coast to build a small breakfast shop. He worked hard for a few years. Now he can earn one hundred and twenty thousand a year.

But compared with Yan Jing Ze who can be in the newspaper and on TV, it really is nothing.

“By the way, this Chinese New Year, crippled old Yan came back with his mute wife.”

“A year ago they also renovated their broken house.”

“Aren’t they coming back every year? You say… Will Yan Jing Ze come back for the Chinese New Year? Will he come back here again?”

“Definitely not. He is surely very busy. How can he come back to this place where you can see birds shit every day? He will come back to see what?”

“Oh, he probably looks down on this place, too. He has looked down on people since he was a child.”

As they talked about this topic, it went in a bad direction.

The village chief who smoked in the shop said, “What do you mean by saying this! Although he just stays for a few days, doesn’t he still come back every year? If you buy a house in the city and live comfortably, would you still be willing to come here and stay for more than half a month? Who is complaining to me that the signal is not good and can’t connect to the Internet every day these days?”

As soon as the village chief came out, those people stopped talking.

At this moment, the promising son of Old Jiang, who runs the shop, came.

So everyone started talking to him again.

Old Jiang’s son, Xiao Jiang, is the same age as Yan Jing Ze. He has been compared to Yan Jing Ze in terms of grades since he was studying. Later, when Yan Jing Ze was in high school, he went out to work.

At first, he worked in a bun shop and after learning the craft of making bun wontons, he first set up a small stall to sell bun wontons, then rented a shop and opened a breakfast shop.

He has worked like this for three or four years. Because of his hard work, he can earn more than 100,000 yuan a year. He also found himself a wife. He felt that he was already very successful, not worse than Yan Jing Ze who graduated from college.

When he went home that year, he wanted to show off. As a result, Yan Jing Ze also came back that year. He just went to college and brought money back. Not only did he repay his debts, he also brought his younger brothers and sisters to the town to go to school!

Looking at it, he seems to be nothing?

Xiao Jiang continued to work hard and in the next few years, he finally saved a lot of money. He returned to the county town to buy a house, and had a child with his wife.

He feels that he is definitely better than Yan Jing Ze in this way. Yan Jing Ze has just graduated but he may not be able to find a good job!

As a result, in that year, Yan Jing Ze bought a house in the county seat for his father, and the house he bought was bigger than the house he bought!

Xiao Jiang: “…”

Gradually, Xiao Jiang no longer compares with Yan Jing Ze. In fact, as long as he ignores Yan Jing Ze, he will be a successful person in the village.

Just like today, as soon as Xiao Jiang entered the little store, the people sitting and chatting in it all praised him and asked him various questions.

Xiao Jiang touched his growing belly and triumphantly said that he planned to sell the house in this county and buy a small house where he opened his own shop.

His shop is in a small city where the house prices are taking up.

Everyone suddenly envied.

Envy Xiao Jiang, everyone thought of another person again: “By the way, do you still remember Jiang Ping Xiu?”

They are all from the same village and of course, they remember Jiang Ping Xiu.

“Jiang Ping Xiu…he hasn’t come back in ten years, right?”

“That time, he seemed to ask Yan Jing Ze to pick up his grandmother? I asked Old Yan where they went and Old Yan said he didn’t know.”

“There’s no one occupying their house anymore.”

“I don’t know how he’s doing outside…”

“What else is he doing? I guess it’s just a part-time job and barely making a living so he doesn’t have the face to come back.”

…

Old Jiang, who runs the shop, is actually the younger brother of Mrs. Jiang’s husband.

Back then, he was afraid that Mrs. Jiang would want them to help when she lost her husband so he broke off his relationship with Mrs. Jiang early. But now everyone in his family is financially stable and when he recalled it, he was a little embarrassed and thinking about his sister-in-law came: “Ping Wa’s grandmother is not too young and I don’t know if she can get used to the life outside.”

“How can she get used to it? She can’t walk around in the small rented house and there is no one to talk to. She’s definitely sick of it.”

Xiao Jiang asked, “Why doesn’t Jiang Ping Xiu come back? If he comes back, I can let him go to my store to help with things.” When Xiao Jiang was a child, he always bullied Jiang Ping Xiu. This should actually be his nephew. Looking back to it now… he was also a little embarrassed.

However, some people did not feel a little embarrassed, a person the same age as Xiao Jiang said: “Brother Jiang, do you really want that jinx, Jiang Ping Xiu, to work for you? Are you not afraid of him to bring you bad luck?”

“Stop saying nonsense!” Xiao Jiang said.

As a result, the person said: “Am I wrong? That Jiang Ping Xiu is a  disaster star!”

Xiao Jiang and the old Jiang who ran the shop were suddenly a little unhappy.

But they didn’t say anything yet, suddenly there was some movement outside which attracted everyone’s attention.

It was the sound of cars and there were other noises, which were very lively.

When everyone walked outside, they saw three cars lined up into the village. The one leading was an old Santana, the middle car was an ordinary Honda, and the last one was a tall off-road vehicle. The chassis of that vehicle is particularly high, the exterior is elegant, it looks very expensive at first glance.

Is this someone who has come back to the village, or is there someone who has come to them?

The car stopped quickly and the person on Santana got off first. There was a person in it and the villagers were very familiar with him. Isn’t that the cadre in charge of poverty alleviation work on their side? The cadres in the town came down with him!

Upon seeing this, the village chief hurried up.

Everyone in the village felt that there was definitely a big man here!

“Who is here?”

“Is he here to supervise the poverty alleviation work?”

“Or are they going to do development here?”

…

The villagers were curious and at this time, the two cars behind were also parked.

Someone got off the second car… Looking at them, they should all be cadres.

Why are there so many cadres in their village?

People were surprised and at this time, the door of the very high-end off-road vehicle at the end opened.

Sitting in the car, Jiang Ping Xiu hesitated for a while and finally got out of the car.

He hasn’t returned for ten years, and now he is finally back. He feels a little bit of longing and a little bit of fear.

The life he had lived in this village before was so bad that he didn’t want to remember it.

It’s strange that he met Yan Jing Ze here. He thought he would at least keep some good memories here but ever since Yan Jing Ze accepted the roast duck, he suddenly didn’t want to remember the past.

Now that he came to this land again, he feels that the past things are extremely far away.

Now, his heart is full of all the goodness of the past ten years.

Thinking of those things, Jiang Ping Xiu no longer hesitated, got out of the car firmly, turned around and went to help his grandma.

As Grandma Jiang walked down, she said: “This car is really high but it feels very comfortable to sit inside!”

After getting out of the car, Jiang Ping Xiu looked around.

Over the past ten years, many, many things have changed here, but there are still some familiar things… When Jiang Ping Xiu looked around, those around him were also looking at him.

When he first got off the car, the people around him were very curious: “Who is that?”

“Where did this young master from?”

“Looking at him, he looks really rich!”

“Maybe he is the son of a high-ranking official.”

…

Then Jiang Ping Xiu helped his grandma down…

Jiang Ping Xiu’s changes were too great.

When he left the village, he was a thin and small sixteen-year-old boy, but now he has grown into a twenty-six-year-old handsome boy, so that no one recognizes him, but Grandma Jiang is different.

Even if Grandma Jiang changed her clothes, she didn’t have the previous gloom on her face, but the old people in the village could still recognize her: “Isn’t that Jiang Ping Xiu’s grandma?”

“Why is she in the car?”

“The person supporting her is who?”

…

Suddenly, someone said: “It shouldn’t be… Jiang Ping Xiu, right?”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was quiet.

Jiang Ping Xiu was the most unpopular one in the village back then. Everyone felt that this child without a father or mother would have no future, but now…what have they seen?

Jiang Ping Xiu subconsciously

ignored the existence of people in the village and went forward to speak with the leaders of the county who came with him.

This time, he came here on behalf of Yan Jing Ze’s company and planned to donate money to build a boarding elementary school and a boarding junior high school in the county seat.

These two schools will accept students from his hometown. Both the students in their towns and those in the mountain villages can go to school without tuition.

As for why the school is built in the county seat… Firstly, it is to give them better teachers. Secondly, because of the population loss, if the school is built in the town then it will not recruit many students.

Jiang Ping Xiu was very willing to do this. He talked to the people in the county seat a year ago and he came here this time, hoping to sign a contract with the people in the county seat after repairing his parents’ graves.

As a result, after learning that he was going home to repair his grave, a leader from the county town insisted on staying with him, and then a few people came from the town…

Actually, not many people came, he was a little unaccustomed to it but he can still handle it. After all, he also has several years of work experience.

In the first three years of his university, Jiang Ping Xiu took all the certificates to be tested.

In his senior year, he went for an internship at Yan Jing Ze’s company.

Yan Jing Ze took good care of him and the people in the company knew that he was the lover of Yan Jing Ze. Therefore, he had a very good life in the company and made great progress in interpersonal communication.

At this moment, he can chat and laugh with the leaders of the county.

Even Grandma Jiang doesn’t have stage fright at all. She speaks in dialects. When others praise her grandson, she smiles and curls her mouth: “He doesn’t have much ability to help his boss.”

That’s what Grandma Jiang said but she actually thinks her grandson is very good, cough, even his skills of looking for a partner is good.

The county leader came over, saying that he was here to lead Jiang Ping Xiu and then told the village head to take good care of Jiang Ping Xiu, and left.

When they were there, the people in the village looked at Jiang Ping Xiu from a distance and they were a little afraid to come over but when they left, all these people came over.

Xiao Jiang was in the village recently and he walked with his back straight, but when he met Jiang Ping Xiu, he unconsciously shrank his back: “You, are you Jiang Ping Xiu?”

Jiang Ping Xiu smiled, “Yes.”

“You… how are you these years?” Xiao Jiang asked again.

“Very good,” Jiang Ping Xiu answered.

Jiang Ping Xiu looked good and Grandma Jiang also looked good.

In the village before, Grandma Jiang looked much older compared to those of her age, but now it is different. Now Grandma Jiang is not old at all compared to her peers, but looks younger.

Her dress is even more fashionable. There is no old lady more fashionable than her in their village.

Those who used to look down on these two people and always bullied them, now began to shrink their necks and hide, and those who thought they had no grievances came over to talk to them.

Jiang Ping Xiu only answered politely when others asked him questions. Grandma Jiang is different. She has a feeling of raised eyebrows right now. She is obviously small, but her head is very high: He got into a good university and got a good job.”

“But it is also thanks on Yan Jing Ze’s help.”

“Xiao Yan is a good person.”

“Now Ping Xiu is a college student and works in Xiao Yan’s company, earning twenty to thirty thousand a month!”

… …

Grandma Jiang said these things and the village people are secretly gossiping about them: “I thought all these years, Jiang Ping Xiu was hard to survive outside. Did not think he was doing fine.”

“How can Yan Jing Ze help him? I don’t see Yan Jing Ze helping any of us!”

“Jiang Ping Xiu seems to have a really good time.”

……

Everyone was talking about Jiang Ping Xiu. In the Yan family residence, Yan Damei and Yan Ermei are trying to persuade their father who wants to give Jiang Ping Xiu trouble.

Yan Damei has graduated from university and is now in graduate school. Now her whole personality is becoming more and more like Yan Jing Ze. When she looked at her father, she was very majestic: “Dad, Big Brother is not willing to go home anymore. If you had a conflict with Jiang Ping Xiu, he would definitely not be willing to come back!”

These years, her elder brother has rarely come back. Even if he does, he will leave after a while. Not only that, but they also don’t even know where her elder brother lives in the city. They can’t go to him… According to her elder brother’s statement, it’s because he was afraid they will scare Jiang Ping Xiu.

Of course, the relationship between the two parties has always been there. They are all raised by her brother.

“He is my son, why can’t I care about him?” Father Yan was very unhappy.

Yan Damei said: “Big brother is much better than you, why do you need to take care of him?”

Father Yan: “…”

“Dad, if you want big brother to treat you well and value you, you should treat Jiang Ping Xiu better.” Yan Damei said.

“You…your brother has a wife and forgot his mother!” Father Yan was a little bit sad.

“Yes, eldest brother is such a person! We can’t help it, right? He’s all like this, if you treat Jiang Ping Xiu badly… he may not just forget his mother!” Yan Damei said: “He may even stop giving you money!”

Father Yan was immediately frightened.

Prices have risen over the years and Yan Jing Ze has given him more money than before, giving him four thousand yuan a month.

He is not contaminated with foxy women, gambling, drugs, at best, he just likes to eat something delicious and it is not expensive to eat in the county. The money makes him live very comfortably.

If his son doesn’t give him money…

Father Yan completely rests the idea of giving trouble to Jiang Ping Xiu.

Yan Damei said again: “Dad, let’s go, let’s say hello to Jiang Ping Xiu.”

“Why do you want me to greet him?” Father Yan asked.

Yan Damei said: “I’m going anyway, whether you go or not.”

After Yan Damei finished speaking, she went out. Yan Ermei and Yan Xiaodi also quickly followed her behind.

Upon seeing this, Father Yan and Mother Yan looked at each other and followed.

They soon saw Jiang Ping Xiu.

The Yan couple have not seen Jiang Ping Xiu all these years, but now they suddenly see. They find Jiang Ping Xiu is really handsome, no wonder their son likes him.

Yan Damei met Jiang Ping Xiu six years ago but she hasn’t seen him all these years and she feels amazed when she saw him. She secretly sighs that her brother has a good eye.

Her brother is really a winner in life. Not only is he smart and capable, he has done a good job in his career, but he is also very good at finding someone.

She still has many contacts with her brother. Although her brother didn’t go home very often, he would care about their younger siblings from time to time. She saw him frequently. She knew a lot about her brother and Jiang Ping Xiu.

Jiang Ping Xiu is devoted to her brother and listens to her brother in everything, how good is that?

She also wants a husband like this, even if her husband doesn’t look like this, it doesn’t matter.

When the Yan family saw Jiang Ping Xiu, Jiang Ping Xiu also saw the Yan family and suddenly felt a little frustrated.

His grandmother knew about his relationship with Yan Jing Ze but the Yan family probably didn’t know about it.

Yan Jing Ze is the pride of the Yan family but he made Yan Jing Ze bent. If the Yan family knows the truth, they will definitely hate him.

In fact, he didn’t dare to come back for this reason.

Jiang Ping Xiu was very guilty, and so was Grandma Jiang.

Yan Jing Ze is the child of the Yan family but she has been living with him all these years and providing for her. She is a bit embarrassed and… Yan Jing Ze is with her grandson and has no son…

Jiang Ping Xiu is a little uneasy and Grandma Jiang, who was talking just now, stopped talking and smiled embarrassedly at the Yan family.

Father Yan gave a “humph”.

Jiang Ping Xiu became even more guilty.

Father Yan doesn’t like him now. If he knew about him and Yan Jing Ze, he would definitely dislike him even more.

“Brother Jiang, my brother told me you want to come back and let us entertain you. Come to our house for dinner,” Yan Damei smiled.

“Your brother told you about me?” Jiang Ping Xiu was taken aback. Yan Jing Ze… would he tell his family? He always thought that Yan Jing Ze would not say anything, after all, their relationship was not easy to explain.

“Of course he did.” Yan Damei smiled and Yan Ermei also smiled. As for Yan Xiaodi, he looked up and down at Jiang Ping Xiu curiously.

Father Yan “hummed” again.

Yan Damei gave her father a look, and then looked at Jiang Ping Xiu: “Come on, follow me.”

Jiang Ping Xiu followed them and walked forward. Along the way, he was thinking about what he would do to make the Yan family like him. .

It seems… it doesn’t matter how good he is?

Even if he is a female, the Yan family would not like him, let alone he is a male.

Jiang Ping Xiu was very tangled. As a result, as soon as he entered the door of the Yan family, he heard the Yan Damei say: “Sister-in-law, don’t be nervous, we won’t eat you!”

Jiang Ping Xiu almost fell on the ground. Standing still, she tremblingly asked: “What did you call me?”

Grandma Jiang also couldn’t respond: “Huh?”

“You don’t like me calling you ‘sister-in-law’? Then I’ll call you Brother Jiang?” Yan Damei said. “My brother asked me to call you sister-in-law, so I called you, it seems it’s not very good.”

“No… you know what the relationship between me and your brother?” Jiang Ping Xiu was shocked.

“Don’t you know that we know about you and my brother?” Yan Damei was also shocked.

In the beginning, her brother was so anxious that he went home and came out of the closet. She thought it was Jiang Ping Xiu’s request… But Jiang Ping Xiu didn’t know about it?

“When did you know?” Jiang Ping Xiu couldn’t help asking.

“Six years ago, I saw my brother with you during your college entrance examination and then my brother told us,” Yan Damei said.

“I didn’t know…” Jiang Ping Xiu’s mood was unspeakably complicated and a little sweet but Yan Jing Ze came out to his family so early!

The Yan family and Jiang Ping Xiu looked at each other.

In the end, Grandma Jiang broke the somewhat embarrassing scene: “I didn’t expect Xiao Yan to have already told you, didn’t he scare you? When he first told me, I was shocked!”

Father Yan is talkative. Those who love to chat are a bit unable to hold back their own words and now they even said: “Of course, I was scared! He scared me, he is so good, why does he have to like men?”

Grandma Jiang said “I can’t figure it out! But it’s all like this, I can’t do anything.”

“I can’t do anything, this kid won’t listen to me!” Father Yan and Grandma Jiang complained.

He actually wanted to talk about Jiang Ping Xiu but thinking of what his daughter said to him, he didn’t dare to say it. He was afraid that Jiang Ping Xiu would go back and file a complaint and his son would get angry.

But talking about Yan Jing Ze is different. This is what Jiang Ping Xiu’s grandma said first!

The two elders just started talking. Jiang Ping Xiu looked at Yan Damei: “What did he tell you about me?”

Yan Damei said: “My brother just praised you all the time.”

Yan Damei talked about the past.

Jiang Ping Xiu listened, his eyes were a little sour and his heart was warm and bulging.

He thought he was destined to have difficulties with the Yan family, but he did not expect that Yan Jing Ze would have helped him clear the obstacles.

Yan Jing Ze is really good to him.

How fortunate that he met Yan Jing Ze.

Before returning to this place, Jiang Ping Xiu felt uneasy in his heart. He still has the unhealable wounds left by being bullied in his childhood

but now… seeing the way those who bullied him now treat himself, the old sadness in his heart has healed.

At this moment, even the anxiety in his heart completely disappeared.

In this world, there is a person who will always love him and remove obstacles for him. He is naturally fearless.

In the future, he will definitely live the better.

At the same time, Yan Jing Ze was originally planning to go back with Jiang Ping Xiu but he encountered some things and couldn’t go back with him. He suddenly frowned.

He seems to have forgotten to tell Jiang Ping Xiu that he has come out?

Because Father Yan had always had opinions on Jiang Ping Xiu, he was afraid that Father Yan would disturb Jiang Ping Xiu, so he isolated the two of them. He used to go home without Jiang Ping Xiu.

The two couldn’t meet, Jiang Ping Xiu never asked about his family affairs. After a long time, he forgot to tell Jiang Ping Xiu that he had come out.

But it should not matter if he doesn’t say it, right?

His dad has accepted the reality now, plus it is the New Year and the two sisters are at home. Jiang Ping Xiu will certainly not be wronged.

Thinking about this, Yan Jing Ze stopped working and took a look at the phone.

There was a message from Jiang Ping Xiu on the phone, with three words on it: “I love you.”

In addition, there was a message from his younger siblings. His younger siblings told him everything that happened in the village.

Yan Jing Ze smiled and gave his father a sum of money to play, gave the brother and sisters red envelopes, and finally turn to Jiang Ping Xiu.

He also replied to three words: “I love you.”

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