Mixed in 1980

Chapter 514 Past
“I asked you first, but you turned the question back on me. No wonder your daughter said that her father likes to fight and never suffers a loss.” Ni Ping smiled.

I wrote "Grandma's Sayings" because I promised to write it for my grandmother when she was alive. I also believe that my grandmother's words contain many simple philosophies of life, and I hope to pass on these life wisdoms to readers.

The book has now sold over a million copies.

As for the other book, "Chatting," it records the confusion of 16 women regarding their families of origin, career choices, and other issues, and shares their experiences in overcoming difficulties.

Essentially, it's about sharing real-life examples to provide direction for women who are feeling lost, and to convey the power of being "soft yet firm."

After finishing her own business, Ni Ping looked at Chen Fan.

Xu Jinqiu chuckled: "He's different from you. He doesn't have any original intention for creating anything. If you have to say he does, it's because he's poor, and he's just making a fuss about being poor."

"Really?" Ni Ping asked in surprise.

Xu Jinqiu glanced at her husband and teased, "He used to have a childhood sweetheart. After he came back from being sent to the countryside in 1980, his childhood sweetheart was working at the Children's Palace, while his childhood sweetheart was an unemployed youth."

Xiao Sa seized the opportunity and teased, "Back then, they should have been called unemployed youth, right? If you've never had a job, you can't be considered unemployed."

Xu Jinqiu nodded and said, "It's still called Hutong Chuanzi."

"Teacher Xu, that's enough. I don't count. I've only been unemployed for a short time since I came back." Chen Fan's face darkened. This woman was doing it on purpose.

Xu Jinqiu teased, "How can it not count? Back then, your childhood sweetheart invited you to a party, and you didn't go. What did her mother say?"

"Xiaoying and the others who went to the party together all have jobs, so it would be awkward for you to go."

“Oh my, Mom’s face turned black back then.”

"How did you coax Mom back then? You said you were going to marry three wives in the future, and that when Mom went out, she would need someone to support her on both sides, and someone to carry her bags behind her."

The viewers watching the live stream were stunned.

The Chen family, now considered extremely wealthy, with charitable donations equivalent to the net worth of a billionaire, was once so destitute.

What kind of humiliation is it to be confronted by Qingmei's mother who says, "Xiaoying and the others are going to the party together. They all have jobs. It would be awkward for you to go."

Their faces were pressed to the ground and rubbed.

“Teacher Chen, so you just because of this sentence…” Xiao Sa keenly seized the opportunity, raising three thumbs up, representing marrying three.

"Am I that kind of person?"

"Isn't that right?" Xiao Sa retorted.

“No, it’s not. Some things are just accidents,” Zeng Ali said at the right moment.

There has been much speculation about this topic. Since I'm here today, I'll take this opportunity to address it openly, so as to avoid people repeating what they've heard and making up all sorts of stories.

After thinking for a while, she explained, "Back then, the three of us sisters worked at the Beijing Dance Troupe, which was located at No. 45 Mao'er Hutong. His family lived at No. 46 Mao'er Hutong, which was a large courtyard house."

"He spends all day loitering around the dance troupe's entrance."

"I was just looking for a pretty girl, but I fell for Teacher Xu at first sight. Teacher Xu is easy to fool, and I was just coaxed into it."

"What do you mean by 'coaxed'?" Chen Fan gritted his teeth.

Zeng Ali quipped, "Isn't that right? It's all a routine. It's only because Teacher Xu is so naive that I would punch you first."

"And what about you?" Ni Ping asked at the opportune moment.

Zeng Ali touched his nose and said awkwardly, "It was an accident. In the summer of 1981, he opened a publishing house in Hong Kong and was going to carry out management reforms."

"At that time, several of us went to help."

"After the project was finished, we celebrated at home. None of us can hold our liquor, so we all got drunk. The next morning, I was lying next to him."

"That's it?" Ni Ping asked in surprise.

Zeng Ali blushed and nodded slightly. Ni Ping then looked at Zhao Yuanyuan: "Teacher Zhao, what about you?"

"Me? I'm just unlucky."

Zhao Yuanyuan glanced at her husband and curled her lip in disdain: "In 1983, he went to a land auction, and I went to join in the fun."

"On the way back, while sitting in the car, I was shot at by a group of kidnappers. I was so frightened that I developed a psychological trauma that I couldn't get over it for a long time."

"He protected me when we were in the car."

"For about six months, I could only fall asleep at night when he was by my side."

At this point, Zhao Yuanyuan looked at her two older sisters with disdain: "Then, these two rascals found an opportunity to get us drunk and throw us into the same bed."

As soon as he finished speaking, the viewers of the live stream were stunned.

People can understand Zeng Ali's situation; he made the mistake and then took responsibility, which is only natural for a man.

Especially in the 1980s.

Back then, it wasn't like it is now. Even if you were seriously dating, before marriage, you could only hold hands at most, and you had to be sneaky to kiss.

But Zhao Yuanyuan's situation...

Anyway, it's quite unbelievable. As someone who's trying to liven things up, Xiao Sa casually chatted for a few minutes before changing the subject and asking, "If you were to label each other, what labels would you give each other? For example, Teacher Chen?"

"Damn it!" the three responded in unison.

Xiao Sa was taken aback: "This is not what I expected. I thought you would say something like, 'Teacher Chen is talented,' why is it an insult?"

“He’s really awful!” Zeng Ali said with a wry smile.

After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Anyway, in my entire life, I've never met anyone more wicked than him."

"Can you tell me?" Xiao Sa asked.

Zeng Ali looked at her husband with amusement. The reason he was appearing on the live broadcast today was actually to reveal the secrets of their family and talk about some private matters.

The family's image must be established.

Just like Chen Fan's image in Hong Kong, there are both very positive and very negative aspects. Being too positive makes it easy to be morally blackmailed, while being too negative makes people dislike him.

As long as the general direction is correct, it's fine.

“At that time, my two sisters and I lived together. My younger brother was only nine years old. He liked playing with Teacher Xu and said that he would marry Teacher Xu when he grew up. So he had his eye on her.”

“Once, when I went to the courtyard, the children couldn’t write compositions, so I asked him to teach them. At that time, he was a writer who was somewhat famous. Do you know how he taught them?”

“My father was ruthless. When he beat me, he never showed any mercy. He was extremely cruel and heartless, without any compassion.”

“My mother is cunning and shrewd. When my father beat me, she likes to fan the flames, add fuel to the fire, and make things worse, which is terrifying.”

When this matter was brought up, Chen Fan coughed a few times.

Zeng Ali ignored this and continued, "That day, my brother got a mixed doubles beating, and his butt was all swollen. Tell me, isn't that awful?"

"Your brother is stupid, whose fault is that?"

Chen Fan teased, "Don't you think about how bad your brother was back then? He never passed any exams. But after I tricked him, he suddenly became motivated."

"He even got into Peking University and is now a professor. My father-in-law and mother-in-law still speak highly of me." Zeng Ali said disdainfully, "Stop patting yourself on the back. It's because he's smart. Haven't you played him for a long time?"

"How did you mess with him back then?"

“Your eldest sister takes after your mother, your second sister takes after your mother and your father, so who do you take after? You just took after whoever you wanted.”

“Have you ever asked how you came to be? Did your mother tell you that you were adopted? Think about it carefully, isn’t that right?” Zeng Ali mimicked her husband’s tone.

At this point, she couldn't help but get angry and slapped her husband: "He's only nine years old, and he actually believed it after being fooled like that."

"I always thought I was found."

"It wasn't until I went to college that I secretly got a paternity test and found out I was their biological son. Tell me, is this how a brother-in-law should act?"

Upon hearing this, Ni Ping and Xiao Sa couldn't help but laugh.

Viewers watching the live stream couldn't help but comment that it was rare to see someone so malicious. A writer and a wealthy man, playing such a prank on a child—they were not acting like human beings at all.

Zeng Ali continued, "He's a master at brainwashing people. Do you know what he did when my sister-in-law was pregnant with her second child?"

"Call your eldest niece aside."

"Is your uncle good or not? How could he not be good to his eldest niece, whom he dotes on the most? Then he told his eldest niece, 'Your uncle is so good because your mother beats him.'"

"Good brothers are all disciplined by their older sisters."

"With just a few words, my eldest niece decided that her brother should hit her. My poor nephew, now he's like a mouse seeing a cat whenever he sees his sister."

“Teacher Chen, you’re a pro at fooling kids.” Xiao Sa couldn’t help but laugh.

Chen Fan was speechless, but Zhao Yuanyuan chimed in, "He can fool not only kids, but also adults, and he's a master at it."

“I was young at the time, and my parents weren’t in a hurry. They thought they could raise their daughter for a few more years. But she was in their way and got in his way, so he went to brainwash my parents.”

"Who knows what he said? I'm only twenty years old, and my parents are already panicking, afraid that I won't be able to get married. They're arranging blind dates for me everywhere. It's enough to drive a person crazy."

"Teacher Chen, what did you say?" Ni Ping asked curiously.

Chen Fan shrugged: "That's easy. Late marriage was popular in Hong Kong back then. Just list out all the pain points of older single women."

Ni Ping smiled wryly; this person was indeed malicious.

He looked at Xu Jinqiu and said, "Teacher Xu, what about you? Do you also think he's sarcastic? Could you share your thoughts?"

Xu Jinqiu glanced at her husband teasingly: "There are too many to count. Let's start with Lao Gu. You know Gu Haiyang, right? He's the owner of HaiLe Home Appliances."

“He’s been on my show,” Xiao Sa replied.

The talk show "Let's Talk" has invited many private entrepreneurs, and Gu Haiyang is one of them. He is a leader and pioneer in the home appliance industry.

"Old Gu had a tough time back then."

"In 1980, he was transferred to work in Guangzhou and wanted to sell his small courtyard in Beijing, but his uncle and aunt stopped him from selling it and wanted to take it away."

“Whenever someone comes to look at the house, they come up and cause trouble, which makes Lao Gu very miserable. He has to sell his house in Beijing to have money to buy a house in Guangzhou.”

"We happened to be looking at houses at that time."

“Old Gu’s uncle, aunt, and cousins ​​all came up and started cursing at the door. They not only cursed Old Gu, but also cursed him and called me a vixen.”

"Chen Fan refused as soon as he heard that."

"I secretly tore a hole in my clothes and a hole in my cuff, and then opened the door."

“A scuffle broke out on the spot. He said his clothes were torn and asked someone to call the police. Those clothes were gifts from friends in Hong Kong. There were two pieces, and he had to pay more than 800 yuan in compensation.”

"It immediately stunned people."

"The police didn't dare to handle it casually either. His reputation was so bad back then that no one dared to associate with him. Teacher Ni Ping should know his nickname back then, right?"

Upon hearing this, Ni Ping laughed: "Of course, those rogue intellectuals are like ghosts that dread. Anyone who works in an office will run away from them as fast as they can."

As he spoke, he looked at the camera and explained, "Teacher Chen's collection of editorials is specifically designed to criticize people. He can always turn a small matter into a social phenomenon and cause a huge reaction."

“Social phenomena such as moral blackmail, the 'saintly heart,' and the intelligence stations in the alleys have always existed, and it was Professor Chen who first exposed them.”

"At that time, Mr. Chen had a very high reputation among readers, but many people were also afraid of him, fearing that he would criticize them as a social phenomenon."

Zeng Ali chimed in at the opportune moment: "But it cannot be denied that a person's reputation cannot be too good. A bad reputation can also be very useful and can solve a lot of troubles."

"Like me."

"At the time, I was the mainstay of the dance troupe. To be honest, quite a few people wanted to get close to me, especially when we went out to perform, there were even more leaders who wanted to toast me."

"I don't drink alcohol outside."

“If you push me too far, I’ll throw the wine on the ground like I’m going to a funeral, and I’ll do it three times in a row, so I’ve offended quite a few people.”

"After Chen Fan became a rogue writer, things became very simple. Once, when he went to Sanhe to perform, the leaders toasted him and were particularly good at putting him on a pedestal."

"The moment they open their mouths, they say that if you don't drink, you're looking down on the people of Sanhe and betraying their good intentions."

“At that time, I asked someone to bring over a large bowl, poured eight ounces of liquor into it, and then told the leader that my brother-in-law Chen Fan doesn’t allow me to drink, but since the leader is so enthusiastic, I have to drink to my heart’s content.”

"And guess what happened?"

"The leader was afraid of being targeted by Chen Fan, so he downed two large bowls of liquor. After finishing, he said he needed to go to the restroom, but he collapsed on the ground halfway there and couldn't get up."

"A person's reputation shouldn't be too good."

At this point, Zeng Ali sighed: "There was another time, at the Quyi Center, there was a man named Huang He, right? His parents were also leaders at the Quyi Center."

“You chased me all the way to the dance troupe.”

“That guy has a girlfriend. He just joined the dance troupe and his girlfriend came looking for him. She made it seem like I was interested in Huang He, and she even came to make a scene at me.”

"Yuanyuan couldn't stand it anymore, so she went up and slapped the woman. Then Huang He knocked her away and she fell to the ground and got injured."

"I was annoyed at the time."

"He picked up a brick from the ground and smashed it against the back of Huang He's head. Blood flowed everywhere on the spot, and we almost thought we had killed him."

"This matter has caused quite a stir."

"Huang He's parents came to me and set conditions: either I marry Huang He or they send me to jail. I'm seriously injured and will probably be in jail for three years. My family has no choice."

“Things changed as soon as Chen Fan arrived.”

"First, have Yuanyuan pretend to be sick, say she hit her head, is dizzy, nauseous, and wants to vomit, and has a concussion. The instruments can't detect it, so the situation turns into a fight."

"Then he went to Huang He's parents and gave them two choices: either send me to jail for three months, and then he would write an article to scold Huang He and ruin Huang He's future."

“They could either pay them some medical expenses, but Huang He hit Yuanyuan, so he has to apologize to her. They chose to apologize, which is the benefit of a bad reputation.”

P.S.: This book will be finished next month. From now on, I'll be updating daily with over 4000 words per day as I start preparing for my new book. Thank you all for your support so much!

(End of this chapter)