Praise You

The black car drove out of Jiutao Village. The scenery flowed and time seemed to have fast-forwarded a hundred years.

Secretary Ma felt tormented, her stagnant heart forming a stark contrast to the rapidly changing world outside. The man in the back seat remained silent, a vast darkness enveloping the entire car.

His phone vibrated and he picked up the call.

It was Shen Pei'an who called. He had just joined Shen's company a few years ago and had no big ambitions. He was very satisfied with being a logistics manager. His work style was also very meticulous and he would report every little thing.

"Big brother."

"What's going on?"

"Mizuki is getting married soon, and she wants to access her trust fund."

"What is it used for?"

"Give it to her husband as start-up capital."

Years ago, Shen Meiyue fell in love and met a young talent who had made his own fortune at a party. But half a year later, the two were going to get married.

Chen Yan thought this girl thought she was smart but was always stupid. With her character, she had no perseverance. What was the point of taking it out? If she got divorced, there would be no guarantee. "As long as your mother agrees, I have no objection."

"One more thing..."

"What's up?"

"My aunt came to make trouble again last week. Now she and my fourth uncle share a driver. My fourth uncle is out and she has no one to look after her when she goes shopping. She made a fuss many times last week and she wants a driver to serve her exclusively."

Grandpa spoiled his children to no end, especially since he and Grandma only had one daughter, my aunt, and he raised her like a lawless child. When my fourth uncle was in charge, everyone in the family did have a driver, but the family fell on hard times and everyone cut back on their expenses.

"Why do you need so many drivers? A driver earns five or six thousand yuan a month, and that money goes into the public account. If she hires a separate driver, the others who share the job will inevitably complain, and it will harm everyone's interests." Chen Yan'an made the decision expressionlessly, "We won't hire a driver. If Auntie has any objections, let her come to me."

"Okay, big brother." Shen Pei'an got the imperial edict and hung up the phone contentedly.

Secretary Ma thought that the boss was fair in his dealings, but his attitude was particularly tough this time. He might have been offended by Miss Ye's incident. Shen Lianxing had gone too far, which made the relationship between the two even more complicated and confusing.

We shouldn't have broken up like this. I'm not sure I'll ever find someone I love this much again.

He said something without thinking, "Miss Ye is very good."

Chen Yan was stunned for a few seconds, then he suddenly smiled again, "Well, she is very good."

After saying that, he fell silent.

Secretary Ma didn't dare to persuade him anymore.

It was Chen Yan who asked him first, "Xiao Ma, do you have someone you like?"

Secretary Ma scratched his head awkwardly because he was unexpectedly asked about personal matters and said, "Not yet."

Before Chen Di'an could answer, the phone vibrated again. This time it was his grandfather calling. The person who made the complaint was very fast.

When the call was connected, Shen Wentian's unhappy voice was heard. Once a person gets older, it seems that even the decisiveness of the past becomes old. But that unreasonable energy is getting younger and younger.

"How on earth did you bully your aunt? A driver only costs a few thousand yuan, I can just pay for it from my own pocket! Why do you have to withhold it from her? Can't our family even come up with a few thousand yuan? Can you still be the head of this family? If not, then step down immediately. If the Shen family hadn't been in trouble, it would never have been your turn to be the head of this family."

He started to scold me harshly.

Chen Yan listened to this as if it were normal. His anger was usually hidden deep within his gentle exterior, and he would not easily express it. However, his edges and corners were still sharp and fierce, and his gentle appearance did not diminish it in the slightest.

"I don't need to be this family."

Shen Wentian was almost pissed off, unable to catch his breath. No one in this family had ever dared to speak to him like that. If Shen Yan'an had been arrogant in his youth, now he was acting like a general, threatening, and making trouble. He knew clearly that no one else could control this ship that had lost its way.

"Aunt or me, you choose one." His voice was steady and clear, without any emotional fluctuations, but the words he said seemed to be sharp and wind-like, "It's either me or her. If you think it's okay, you can hand Shen's over to her now."

"Unfilial son!" The angry old man hung up the phone.

In the deep mountains of early summer, a black off-road vehicle was driving alone in the thick fog, and the roaring engine sound pierced the silence of the night.

The road ahead is dark, and those who have nothing can only fight their way through. As he grows stronger, no one can stop him.

*

Ye Yuanyin went to his home.

The house she once thought she would never enter again was like a nail piercing her fragile heart. Unable to face the only property left by her parents, she had circled around it countless times in her dreams, leaving her wandering soul without a place to rest.

Perhaps because they were afraid of disturbing others, there were still people working on the project so late at night. The village electrician was standing on the top of the electric pole to connect the wires.

There was a person standing under the electric pole, wearing a blue safety helmet and looking up.

"Are you ready?"

"immediately."

"How many more shots?"

"Just seven or eight more rods up this mountain road and it'll be over."

The electrician standing under the power pole saw Ye Yuanyin at a glance. They were new employees who had just joined the power supply station. Freshness was like a fish still jumping in the freezer. He smiled and chatted with her, "Miss, why are you alone?"

At that time, she was in a state of despair, her eyes swollen like walnuts from crying. "I'm going home."

"Oh, so you're the owner of this house?" The electrician couldn't contain his excitement. "I'm so happy! We finally see the real person."

She was puzzled, and the electrician on the pole connected the electricity and came down.

The electrician at the bottom of the pole pointed at her excitedly and said, "That's her, that's her!"

She was so confused that she was completely bewildered.

The electrician who came down from the pole kept looking at her, feeling extremely surprised. He said to his colleague, "She is so young! I thought she was an old lady with poor eyesight. Otherwise, why would she keep saying she was afraid of the dark?"

"Girl, a 200 kVA transformer was just installed near your house. I guarantee that 10,000 lights will be on around your house at the same time! Now it won't be dark anymore, right?"

After hearing this, Ye Yuanyin's tears that had just stopped began to fall again.

Why is this person like this, she wondered? He always pokes holes in people's hearts without even saying anything. Was she complaining about the physical darkness of the village? What she hated was her own cowardice and incompetence within the vast worldly rules.

The electricians took the walkie-talkie in their hands and said to the person on the other end, "Push the power switch and see."

In three or four seconds, it was like a dormant dragon lighting up the lights in the sky. Along the long mountain road, the majestic and heavy mountain ridge gradually woke up, and one bright lamp after another was lit, and the sky and the earth were as bright as day.

The electricians looked at the light reflected on each other's faces. The light was like little stars falling into the earth.

"How about it, girl? It's not dark in here anymore, is it?"

Like someone who had made a serious mistake, she quickly complimented, "It's really... too bright."

*

When I pushed the door open and went in, the lounge chair was still placed in the yard as usual.

The wind rustled the leaves of the tall crabapple tree. Three years ago, he had just come here from Ancheng to engage in research and development. The fragmentary conversation between the two of them seemed as if they were still lying on the armrest of his arm.

The door creaked open, and Ye Yuanyin suddenly turned around, as if he saw the dim light swaying on the door lintel falling on his shoulders.

"Sister." Yaya walked in from outside holding Chunfen.

"Meow..." The fat cat jumped out of Yaya's arms, nimbly jumped onto the rocking chair, and found a comfortable position to nestle there.

The chair seemed to come alive when it stepped on it, and the yard seemed to come alive too.

The dancing of the crabapple blossoms, the scent of green grass, the texture of bare feet stepping on the soil, the figure of grandma coming in and out, Yaya's liveliness, the silence of the branches, his leisurely smile... In an instant, all the time hidden deep in the memory came alive.

"The year Auntie passed away, the crabapple tree in the yard withered." Thirteen-year-old Yaya seemed to have a lot to tell her. "Trees have spirits, too, don't you think, Sister?"

Ye Yuanyin stood up and walked straight to the tree. She brushed her hand across the trunk, and sure enough, there were no carving marks on it.

Dad liked to mark her height on the tree. One cut this year, another next year, and another the year after that when she grew taller... As she grew taller, the scars grew wider and longer as the sapling grew stronger. Dad held the trunk and said proudly, "Look at my little Ayin! Her fate is so unyielding! She thrives like a mighty tree."

The tree that represented Ain died, and the Ain of the past also died.

"Uncle planted it again. Secretary Long said, 'If a tree is moved, it will die, but if a person is moved, he will live.' It couldn't survive. But it came back to life." Yaya chattered restlessly, "Uncle often visited Zhizhi, and Zhizhi even drew a picture for me."

She took out a painting from her pocket. It was a painting from the stars. Ye Yuanyin didn't even dare to guarantee that she could paint such a painting with such gorgeous colors.

"Is it beautiful?"

"Um."

"Sister, I want to go to Ancheng with you." The little girl's eyes shone brightly. She said, "Zhizhi has become very good, and I will become very good too. I'm not afraid anymore. There, I will meet someone as good as Uncle."

"Yes." She agreed with Yaya's point of view.

A new day has begun, and they always have to look forward.

*

On the second day, Ye Yuanyin did not return to Ancheng, but Maha came with several people from the team.

The young boy who seemed to know her identity also came over to the dinner.

Ye Yuanyin arrived late, so she didn't know many people. The boy took the opportunity when no one was around to introduce himself to her, "Cousin, I'm Zhou Ye."

Who is Zhou Ye? Her expression betrayed her inner thoughts.

"Oh, cousin, you are so heartless. You make me so sad. Your husband calls my mother aunt."

It turned out to be the son of her aunt Shen Lianxing. They had only met once in the Shen family's villa halfway up the mountain, and there had been no intersection in their lives since then. She couldn't remember his face at all.

"Why are you here?"

"Guess what," the child laughed, speaking in a slick way that was very similar to Qin Ling, "I'll come find you, okay?"