"Zhenniang" - The Three of Us (30)
Everyone is happy to be reunited after a long separation, but eventually there will be a day of parting.
Lan Shuyan's return this time was not long; she would return after finishing her business to pick up her family and head south.
When they forced Lan Shuyan to marry, her family said some very harsh things, but now that Lan Shuyan has returned home in glory, their attitude has changed completely.
Lan Shuyan wasn't surprised by this Sichuan opera face-changing performance; what she didn't expect was that during the time she was away from home, her father had actually had an affair.
Lan's mother could only tolerate it before, but now that her daughter is back and so successful outside, she immediately couldn't bear it anymore and complained to her, demanding that her father break up with the other woman!
Lan Shuyan might have had a lot of emotional reactions to her mother in the past, but being away for a while had dulled her emotions somewhat. She didn't say much and simply told her family to go south with her.
Lan Shuyan's father and brother were somewhat unwilling.
Couldn't we find them a good job in Ping'an City? Having some connections there would make it easier for her to maneuver in higher positions later!
Lan Shuyan couldn't help but laugh. She was carefully managing things up there, but her family was using her influence to act like local tyrants in their hometown, taking concubines. Dream on.
What kind of foundation can someone who would sell her out at the first sign of trouble provide for her?
Why not take him with you? You could save some money on housekeeping by having him as a butler, and he'd be somewhat useful.
Lan Shuyan is quite realistic towards her family, but surprisingly generous towards her friends.
The county magistrate of the Southern government would definitely appoint someone from their own faction, but she secured a position as deputy county magistrate for Zhang Ying.
Military power will certainly not be relinquished, but the sheriff can be one of his own. He looked at Zhao Zhenniang to see if there was anyone suitable to be the sheriff.
This practice of assigning official positions like dividing a cake is so satisfying! Zhao Zhenniang pursed her lips, thinking about who was still waiting to be assigned a job, and then realized that they had all been arranged.
After much deliberation, I'll let Aunt Huang do it!
She used to manage the village's accounts, but when she reached retirement age, her eldest daughter took over.
However, even though she has reached retirement age, she is not in a state of retirement. She can't stay idle at all and always wants to come back to the public eye.
Her daughter couldn't stand her doing anything else, so let's make her a bureau chief!
Lan Shuyan: ...
Based on your description, if she were a police chief, would she still be able to run...?
Zhao Zhenniang took it for granted; their former bureau chief weighed three or four hundred pounds, and he would pant after walking ten meters, let alone run.
Aunt Huang can drive and shoot; she's much more capable than their former bureau chief.
Does a bureau chief need to be able to run?
Lan Shuyan: ...
Fine, fine, whatever you say goes.
She no longer understands local affairs. The once honest and simple Boss Zhao is now a very sophisticated local tyrant.
...
Even knowing that Lan Shuyan wasn't fleeing her marriage in a sorry state, but was returning to the capital as an official, he still couldn't help but feel a lot of sadness about parting when it was time to board the ship.
The three embraced one last time at the dock. This time, Lan Shuyan not only left them an address, but also a radio station.
"Don't forget to write to me!"
With communication tools available, the sadness of parting was instantly lessened. The three hugged tightly and promised to meet again when they had the chance!
The farewell atmosphere was pleasant, and even Jian Yu'an unusually refrained from speaking.
She used to have countless complaints about Lan Shuyan, but this time there really wasn't anything to complain about.
There's just an indescribable feeling of frustration in my heart.
It's likely that she had already developed a dislike for the female lead through her past life's storyline and countless similar plots.
Human emotions cannot be changed by objective conditions, so naturally, one feels resentful and cannot swallow it down.
It's an unavoidable psychological phenomenon to dislike someone for objective reasons, and then, because of that dislike, to unconsciously fabricate more accusations against that person.
His mouth was gagged but his heart wasn't shut up; Jian Yu'an felt like he was about to suffocate!
...
Jian Yu'an was very upset, but Zhao Zhenniang was overjoyed. A huge undertaking had been accomplished with an unexpectedly good result.
With the connections of the special envoy, the Chinese Business Alliance can now act with impunity in this area.
Of course, she could have acted arrogantly before, but she just wasn't arrogant anymore.
Zhao Family Fort is now a local tyrant with guns, cannons, money, and power.
Your career is pretty much set in stone, it's just a matter of a little more or less. Once your career is established, you should start thinking about your children's education.
Aunt Huang, who was already of retirement age, was suddenly promoted and happily took up her post as bureau chief.
The whole family had important matters to attend to. Her youngest daughter, Zhao Zhenlan, had also grown up and was eagerly anticipating going out to do important things, just like her older sister.
Zhao Zhenniang, however, decided to send several of her children of the same age abroad to study and continue their education.
Zhao Zhenlan: ...
Zhao Family Fort built its own primary and secondary schools. Because of the second sister, the content taught was more practical than that of schools outside, and many people from outside came to study there. It was the best private secondary school in the whole city.
However, given the overall technological advantage abroad, there is still much to learn, so Zhao Zhenniang decided to send a group of people abroad to study.
With the current situation in chaos, the children are the most important next generation in Zhao Family Fort, and cannot be ignored. Zhao Zhenlan's older sister, Zhao Zhenmei, often travels to foreign countries to resell cars, so Zhao Zhenniang asked her to personally look after these children who went abroad to study.
Zhao Zhenmei's eyes widened: "They go to study, and I'll be their babysitter?"
Zhao Zhenniang: "You can learn it if you want."
Zhao Zhenmei: ...
She's just too lazy to take care of the unruly child; in reality, she's past the age of wanting to study...
Sending children to study abroad is certainly a good thing, and Zhao Family Village has another joyous occasion, celebrating with great excitement.
Zhao Zhenniang is no longer as stingy as before. Even if she owes money, she will spend it on the villagers and let them squander it, since the money will always come back eventually.
This kind of life, where spending money is like making money, is too comfortable. Zhao Zhenniang wants to live like this forever.
But the prosperity wrapped in paper is always fragile, and time moved forward again: the Japanese army invaded, and the three northeastern provinces fell.
...
Zhao Zhenniang folded the newspaper.
When the news of the fall of the three northeastern provinces arrived, the whole country was shocked, and newspapers everywhere were filled with the news, but she no longer needed to get the news from the newspapers.
The refugees and defeated soldiers who had fled from the occupied areas had already escaped to the outskirts of the city.
Ping'an City is not far from the scene of the incident, and as soon as it happened, it immediately became one of the main destinations for refugees to flee.
As the de facto rulers of Ping'an City, Zhang Ying and Zhao Zhenniang immediately began to devise solutions upon receiving the news.
We are all brothers and sisters, so of course we can't just stand by and do nothing.
However, with such a large number of exiles, even if they were willing, they couldn't possibly absorb them all, so proper handling became extremely important.
Prioritize the needs of the elderly, children, women with bound feet, and pregnant women.
Most of those who flee are in family units. If anything happens to these groups during the escape, they will definitely be the first to be abandoned.
For them, fellow escapees might not be safe either, so at the first stop on their escape route, they would directly take in these groups who were not suited for long journeys.
Those who remain and continue their arduous journeys need food most of all.
I am truly grateful to my third aunt for her constant reminders to stock up on grain; Zhao Family Fort now has a large grain reserve.
If we don't open the granaries and release grain now, we don't know when we'll be able to.
In other places, Zhao Zhenniang also offered credit and persuasion, saying that the grain harvest would be plentiful next year, and that out with the old, in with the new.
With the full support of the Chinese Business Alliance led by Zhao Zhenniang, the pressure of settling the refugees was finally alleviated.
The shipping company of the Chinese Business Alliance suspended all operations to focus on ferrying refugees. The elderly, weak, sick and disabled were allowed to enter the city directly, and soup kitchens were set up at the docks to provide relief to the refugees.
The refugees were temporarily housed in the homes of farmers who owned land. When the farmers sold their grain, they would usually keep some extra food for themselves, so that they would have enough to eat for at least a short period of time.
Later, Zhang Ying promised to exempt farmers from agricultural taxes for three years. She said that one more person means one more laborer, and she hoped that the villagers could cooperate.
Meanwhile, in the city, people are being recruited to build collective resettlement camps, and money is being spent on their construction.
We should also enforce the Labor Protection Law more strictly to provide more jobs and do everything we can to accommodate more people.
The people of the three provinces lost their homes and were displaced, with refugees everywhere; the scene was indescribable.
Zhao Zhenniang led the Chinese Businessmen Alliance to fully support the resettlement of refugees, and the entire Ping'an City operated efficiently, ultimately accommodating 50,000 refugees.
We were lucky that nothing too serious went wrong, but the environment is definitely different from before.
Thanks to the efforts of many parties, the original Heian City achieved a relatively satisfactory balance, with monks and porridge available, which people were happy to enjoy.
With such a massive influx of people, not only is there no porridge to feed the monks.
With the Northeast shield lost and the Japanese guns right in front of them, even if things were temporarily peaceful, no one could maintain their former optimism under such circumstances.
The most important thing that Auntie San mentioned was that consumers began to dare not spend, and foreign merchants, who had once been squeezed out by Chinese merchants, also took the opportunity to emerge.
Zhao Zhenniang looked at the shareholder who was about to transfer his shares to the Japanese company and asked, "Don't you know the meaning of the term 'Chinese businessman'?"
Previously, thanks to my second sister's advanced technology, many industries of the Chinese business alliance surpassed those of foreign firms, and many people boarded this big ship.
But now that the Japanese army is almost at our doorstep, how can this factory continue to operate? Many people, seeing the situation is not good, immediately want to jump ship.
The Japanese army did not launch an invasion suddenly; they had been active on this land for a long time, and the Chinese-owned factories there had always coveted it.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, they immediately began plotting to seize control.
However, this area belonged to Zhao Zhenniang, and her people were everywhere. Before they could make a move, Zhao Zhenniang had already received the news.
The man probably didn't expect Zhao Zhenniang to be so well-informed. He immediately knelt down and begged for mercy. He didn't want to either, but he had an eighty-year-old mother and a two-year-old child. His family had to survive!
When Zhao Zhenniang was managing the Chinese Business Alliance, she was always gentle and approachable, always smiling. But this time, she was unusually quiet and didn't smile.
She slowly raised her head, without a trace of emotion, simply stating a fact.
“I will buy back any shares of anyone who wants to exit at market price.”
“But if any of you dare to trade with the Japanese, I will make sure your whole family doesn’t leave Heian Castle safely.”
"You can try and see if I can do it."
Everyone: ...
The Japanese are formidable, but Zhao Zhenniang, who has cultivated her influence over many years and completely infiltrated this land, is no less formidable.
The collapse of the Chinese Businessmen Alliance had barely begun when Zhao Zhenniang forcefully thwarted it.
When Zhao Zhenniang encountered the owner of the Japanese trading company across the street at the entrance of her shop, he did not show any discouragement. Instead, he bowed to her and gave her a smile.
Despite his extremely submissive posture, Zhao Zhenniang clearly saw the ease and confidence in his smile.
Zhao Zhenniang clenched her fingers, remembering for the first time that her third aunt had predicted a ten-year period of good fortune for her, without mentioning what would happen next.
It turns out that it wasn't unpredictable, but rather that ten years later the country would be destroyed and the land shattered, leaving no room for individual destiny.
A country that is falling downwards as a whole, and everyone living in it can only fall down with it.
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