Chapter 44: The 1990s Teacher Supporting Character Who Despises the Poor and Favors the Rich (21)

Chen Man complained about a lot of things to Fang Yuwei.

She originally thought that hanging out with Wang Haohao’s rich second-generation group meant she could live a life of luxury without working, but it turned out they just used her for fun.

Back then, Wang Haohao had his eye on Fang Yuwei, but after she rejected him, he turned his attention to another girl in Chen Man’s group. That girl got married.

Chen Man didn’t know she was pregnant and played too hard with Wang Haohao, which ended tragically. She divorced her husband, thinking Wang Haohao would marry her, but he vanished without a trace. The ending was miserable.

They followed those rich second-generation kids to parties and drinking every night, not caring who they went home with. Once they got tired of them, they were discarded.

After losing their benefactors and without anyone to support them, they had to find another “rice ticket” to survive.

As a result, their reputations became ruined, and their health deteriorated.

The money Chen Man got from the divorce could not support such a lavish lifestyle. Within a few years, it was all spent. Now she rented a rundown room, barely surviving.

She had hoped the divorce money would last until her child grew up. When her son inherited her ex-husband’s family assets, he would start supporting her.

But her ex-husband’s mistress already had three sons and was reportedly pregnant again.

Her son lived at home like walking on thin ice. After not seeing her for years, his eyes were full of complaints and hatred, yelling at her to stay away and not disturb his life.

The people in Wang Haohao’s circle were no better off.

Some had parents caught for corruption, some died from drug overdoses, others came from fallen families and ended up in prison for crimes.

Wang Haohao was the unluckiest. Drunk and causing trouble in a nightclub, he was beaten and stabbed to death.

“People like us don’t have a good ending,” Chen Man said, looking at Fang Yuwei. “You’re lucky, your life is better than ours. Your home got demolished. I wish I had that luck.”

“I didn’t know about the demolition,” Fang Yuwei said.

“You didn’t?” Chen Man was surprised. “Each person got over a million. A family got several million. You didn’t know?”

Fang Yuwei shook her head.

Seeing that Fang Yuwei didn’t seem to be lying, Chen Man urged her to ask around. Then, with a shameful face, she lowered her tone and said, “I’m a bit short on money right now. Can you lend me ten yuan for a meal? I’ll pay you back in a few days.”

Seeing her like this, Fang Yuwei felt a wave of pity.

Chen Man had once been so proud, always boasting about living luxuriously and saying she could marry anyone rich if she wanted.

She always acted arrogantly in front of everyone.

Now she had sunk so low she had to borrow money for a meal from a friend from a few years ago. How desperate must she be?

Fang Yuwei gave her a hundred yuan and said she originally wanted to treat her to a meal, but was too busy, so instead of borrowing, she was treating her.

Since last year, teacher salaries have risen significantly. Plus, Fang Yuwei got a promotion and various subsidies. Now her salary was a bit over two thousand yuan.

Chen Man’s eyes lit up as she held the hundred yuan. Just as she was about to say something, an imported Toyota car stopped in front of them.

From a distance, Lin Yan saw Chen Man and immediately felt alarmed, afraid she would take Fang Yuwei to some nightclub again. So he quickly drove over.

“We’re leaving now. There will be a traffic jam if we wait,” Lin Yan rolled down the window and tried to steady his voice when talking to Fang Yuwei.

He had booked the restaurant several days in advance to celebrate her. It was a bit far, so they had to leave early.

The car was newly bought this year. After moving to the city, the family found it inconvenient to get around, especially if it rained or was windy. The two kids would suffer.

After making money, Lin Yan’s first purchase was a car to make travel easier for the family.

Nowadays, only small bosses could afford to drive cars. Chen Man had only ridden in a car when with her ex-husband or when hanging out with Wang Haohao’s group.

But that life was far behind her now.

Chen Man looked at the shiny new car, then at Lin Yan in the driver’s seat.

Lin Yan had just come from a business meeting, wearing a casual black suit, perfectly tailored. His handsome face was calm and mature, adding to his charm.

Fang Yuwei just said she didn’t know Fangjia Village was demolished. She was just an ordinary teacher, how could she make money?

Seeing Lin Yan’s car and his outfit, Chen Man understood: Lin Yan had made money.

But in Chen Man’s impression, Lin Yan was still a poor kid. She thought Fang Yuwei was stupid to have children with him and raise them for free.

Chen Man had called Fang Yuwei to hang out but was rejected. She even threatened that Fang Yuwei’s life with Lin Yan was a hardship and she would regret it.

She even said Lin Yan was a poor man. Having two sons would only make them poorer. Fang Yuwei should quickly divorce him or she would be dragged down.

Now looking at her own situation and then at Lin Yan driving the car, Chen Man was deeply embarrassed. She lied, saying someone else was waiting for her, and hurried away.

Fang Yuwei watched Chen Man’s gloomy back without knowing what to say.

Chen Man was used to a degenerate lifestyle. Her hard days had just begun.

After getting into the car, Fang Yuwei remembered what Chen Man said about the demolition. She said to Lin Yan, “I heard Fangjia Village was demolished, and each person got over a million in compensation.”

The first year after she married, she went back to her parents’ home. After that, Aunt Fang would casually say her bride price was too little. It was a pity for someone so pretty not to marry a rich man.

Fang Yuwei had a strong sense of pride and quarreled with Lin Yan. Also, she knew Aunt Fang was stingy and didn’t really want her to return, fearing the cost of entertaining her and giving red envelopes to her two sons. So she hadn’t gone back in all these years.

If Chen Man hadn’t mentioned it, she wouldn’t have known about the demolition.

Lin Yan was driving. Hearing the compensation amount, he raised his eyebrows, “That much?”

The average salary had just risen to a little over a thousand, so over a million was a huge sum.

“I don’t know, I just heard it.” Fang Yuwei wasn’t sure.

“Let’s eat at the restaurant first. I’ll find out more tomorrow.”

Lin Yan took Fang Yuwei to a Western restaurant. They had imported steak, and someone played the violin.

Looking at the night view outside the window, she teased him for still being romantic even as an old married couple.

“No matter how many years pass, I will always arrange things like this.” Lin Yan not only booked the Western restaurant but also a luxury hotel.

They didn’t go home that night, nor the whole next day.

On Monday, when Fang Yuwei arrived at school and just sat down to grade papers, her waist began to ache badly. She reached back and lightly rubbed it.

“Teacher Fang, your waist hurts too? How many classes did you have today?” Teacher Zhao Li asked with concern.

Fang Yuwei’s expression stiffened. She slowly withdrew her hand, “A bit uncomfortable.”

She hadn’t even taught any classes yet today.

Lin Yan always did this. Even when she said no, he would coax her again.

What a big player!

Zhao Li sighed, “Being a teacher is like this. As long as you teach continuously, your waist and throat will hurt. You just have to endure it.”

Fang Yuwei replied vaguely, her ears quietly turning red, and kept grading to cover her embarrassment.

Soon other teachers finished classes and came into the office. Zhao Li kept talking about this, and a few discussed which medicated plasters worked best.

Fang Yuwei buried her head and didn’t join in.

Lin Yan soon found out the real situation in Fangjia Village.

The village was indeed to be demolished because the government planned to build a port there. The area had been very poor, full of mountains, with few nearby villages, so the land was vast but sparsely populated. That was why the compensation was relatively high, but it was not a million.

Those were all rumors. The confirmed compensation was about 350,000 per person.

Besides that, there were other subsidies for houses, trees, fruits, and so on.

The compensation payments had already been made. The villagers had signed and were beginning to move out gradually.

Fang Yuwei took a day off and went back to Fangjia Village.

After a few years away, the place had changed a lot. Where there used to be only poor tile-roofed houses, now there were spacious one-story brick houses, though unrenovated.

New houses were everywhere in the village.

Fang Yuwei and Lin Yan came to a bungalow. She thought she was in the wrong place and checked several times.

This had been the big tile-roofed house her parents built. How had it become a bungalow?

A good-looking woman came out from inside. She was heavily pregnant and asked, “Who are you looking for?”

Fang Yuwei didn’t recognize her and was about to ask when Aunt Fang also came out. Seeing Fang Yuwei, she looked shocked and uneasy, then warmly said, “Xiao Wei is back? Oh, come in and sit.”

She then introduced the woman: “This is Su Jiao, Fang Wei’s wife.”

Fang Wei was the second son of Uncle Fang.

They had three sons. Before, they had no money to marry off their wives. When Fang Yuwei married, the bride price went to the eldest son Fang Feng to marry his wife. Now that the village was being demolished, the second and youngest sons hurried to get married because each bride could get tens of thousands in compensation.

So they quickly found good-looking girls. Both wives were pregnant. They originally thought the children’s births would bring extra money, but the demolition went so fast the compensation finished before the babies were born.

“Fang Wei got married? I didn’t even know.” Fang Yuwei followed Aunt Fang inside and looked around.

The interior was unrenovated and very simple, probably just built recently.

“We haven’t held the wedding banquet yet. But we’re not planning to hold it. We’ll have a full-month celebration instead to save money.” Aunt Fang smiled.

Su Jiao standing beside her looked unhappy but said nothing.

“When was this house built?” Fang Yuwei asked as she sat down.

Aunt Fang sighed helplessly, “Isn’t it because Fang Wei and Fang Zhou are getting married? The old house was too shabby, the girls wouldn’t accept it. We just borrowed money to build this one, borrowed quite a lot.”

Hearing this, Su Jiao looked puzzled and glanced again at Fang Yuwei, but wisely said nothing.

“This was my parents’ house. If you rebuild it, you should have told me, right?” Fang Yuwei frowned and saw behind the house a simple two-story building. The old storage rooms were gone.

“Well, didn’t you forget?” Aunt Fang looked awkward. “It’s not too late to tell you now.”

Fang Yuwei asked again, “You said before that after demolition, you’d leave me a room. Where is my room?”

Aunt Fang looked troubled. “You see, the house is so small. These rooms have to be shared by Fang Wei and Fang Zhou, the two brothers. Their wives are also going to have babies. There’s not enough space.”

After saying that, she pointed to the two-story building behind and began complaining, “That is their kitchen and bathroom. It’s very small. Aunt really has no way. You just have to pity your two brothers. We’ve taken care of you all these years, and we worried a lot.”

Lin Yan saw that Aunt Fang was starting to use moral pressure, so he said coldly, “Stop lying. This place is going to be demolished. These houses were all built just to cheat for demolition compensation, right?”

Demolition compensation has specific requirements. This place is poor, and tile houses are basically worthless. So all the villagers hurriedly built brick houses on any land where they could, so that the compensation would be much higher.

Aunt Fang, caught in her lie, stubbornly said, “The demolition came later. The houses were built before the demolition, otherwise how would your two brothers get married?”

Fang Yuwei said, “Why did no one notify me that the family home was being demolished? This is my parents’ house. How come you made all the decisions alone?”

She had not heard a single word about it.

Aunt Fang said, “Didn’t we agree that this land was for your brothers’ weddings? That belongs to your brothers. The demolition compensation has nothing to do with you.” Then she earnestly told Fang Yuwei, “A daughter who marries out is like spilled water. Taking things from your parents’ home will make people criticize you and bring bad luck to your family. Don’t do this. The villagers will scold you.”

“I am already married and hardly come home. Why should I be afraid of that?” Fang Yuwei thought it was ridiculous. She had to admit that sometimes these old-fashioned ideas are pretty strict—worried daughters would come home to claim property and cause all sorts of trouble.

Aunt Fang’s expression stiffened when she heard this, “What do you mean by that?”

Fang Yuwei said, “The land belonged to my parents. I will definitely take the demolition compensation. By the way, my household registration is still here. Didn’t they say each person gets about 350,000? Don’t I have any?”

“You definitely don’t have any. You are married out and belong to another family now.” Aunt Fang’s tone was displeased, thinking her request unreasonable.

“Does the government care about that when paying demolition compensation? I checked, if your household registration is here, you get it.”

“Our village doesn’t have such a rule.” Aunt Fang stood up, unwilling to talk anymore, and said with a stern face, “Anyway, once married out, you get nothing. Not a penny.”

Her attitude made Fang Yuwei press her lips tightly.

At that moment, a few women came over and angrily shouted at Aunt Fang, “Why were our names removed from the land loss insurance quota? Are you just relying on having three sons? Why can’t we get it?”

“Yeah, why? Don’t be so greedy.”

“Your family must have colluded with the village committee leaders. Aren’t you afraid of retribution?”

Aunt Fang glared at them and started cursing, “That’s just the rule. What does it have to do with us? Daughters who marry out get nothing. How long have you been married? You still have the nerve to come back and take things, aren’t you afraid of bringing bad luck?”

“What are you saying?” Fang Qiuhua, the leader, rushed up to hit her. Aunt Fang had been a bit scared and silent, but when she saw her second son Fang Wei come back, she immediately straightened up.

In Fang Yuwei’s impression, Fang Wei was slightly chubby and quiet because of the poor family background. Seeing the women causing trouble, he scowled and shouted angrily, ready to fight.

Once people get money, they become quite arrogant.

The women with Fang Qiuhua quickly stopped them and left indignantly.

Fang Wei saw Fang Yuwei and gave a faint greeting. When he heard she came to ask about the demolition, his face turned bad and he bluntly said, “What business do you have with the demolition, a girl?”

“So you mean you secretly took my share of the money?” Fang Yuwei stared sharply at him.

“What do you mean by secretly taking it? It was never yours.” Fang Wei spoke firmly, “I was adopted by your dad. That’s mine!”

According to village custom, if a family has no sons, they adopt a son from brothers to continue the family line and inherit all property. Daughters are not involved.

“Does the law say it’s yours?” Lin Yan asked coldly.

Fang Wei was displeased with Lin Yan’s tone and shouted, “What’s it got to do with you? What, your family is too poor and you’re mad when you see money?”

Now that he had money, he was very arrogant.

Fang Yuwei’s face turned cold and she looked at them, ordering, “Now, immediately move out of my parents’ house.”

Aunt Fang was so upset she almost jumped up, “We built the house, you are the one who should move out!”

“Then tear it down and restore my parents’ house.” Fang Yuwei looked at her and said firmly, “Now. Restore it.”

“Who do you think you are?” Fang Wei glared and raised his voice, pointing to the door, “Get out!”

Before he finished, he eagerly tried to grab Fang Yuwei and push her out.

Lin Yan’s anger showed clearly on his face. His eyes grew cold and sharp, and he knocked away Fang Wei’s hand when he tried to touch Fang Yuwei.

Fang Wei got angry and raised his fist to hit Lin Yan.

Aunt Fang had been watching like a spectator. Lin Yan looked tall and thin, but her son was big and strong. However, Fang Wei’s hand was grabbed and twisted up, causing him to grimace in pain and scream loudly.

“Let go, let go—” Aunt Fang panicked.

Lin Yan released his grip. Fang Wei was still unhappy and tried to rush at him, but was kicked and barely stood up.

Fang Yuwei didn’t want to waste time arguing. She called the police and demanded Fang family immediately move out of her home.

Uncle Fang and Fang Zhou also came back. Seeing what Fang Yuwei did, they were angry and kept saying that it was their money building the house and why should they move?

The police saw it was a family dispute and wanted to mediate. But after hearing that the Fang family had demolished the house left by Fang Yuwei’s parents and built new ones without permission, they felt something was wrong.

Uncle Fang, holding a cigarette, stepped forward to say more. He had been elected team leader last year and had perfected his flattering skills.

The police pushed the cigarette away and scolded, “You demolished someone else’s house without permission, what right do you have? What village rules? You must follow the law!”

This matter got serious. Both sides went to the police station to give statements. But Uncle Fang was not worried at all. When he came out, he didn’t even glance at Fang Yuwei and just left.