The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

Chen Shi went into the house. The first floor was not tiled, but had a cement floor. Chen Ai explained, "We store grain on the first floor. It's not good to tile the floor. On rainy days, when Mom and Dad come back from working outside, the floor is slippery and they might fall."

Chen Shi hummed in agreement, then looked at the kitchen and bathroom, which were decorated just like those in city houses.

Chen Ai said, "We installed a toilet in the bathroom for my parents. Now that we have running water, flushing the toilet is convenient. My parents are getting old, and squatting is not easy for them."

Chen Shi nodded, then looked at his parents' bedroom. The bedroom was large, more than 30 square meters, with no floor tiles or wooden floors.

Zhang Gao glanced at Chen Ai, who quickly explained, "Xiao Shi, your brother-in-law wants to install wooden flooring for Mom and Dad, but they don't want it. They say cement flooring is fine, wooden flooring will get damp and moldy, and tile flooring is slippery, which is bad for their legs and they're prone to slipping and falling."

Chen Yanshi added, "I still prefer this cement floor. It's not slippery, it doesn't get dirty easily, and it's very practical in the countryside."

Chen Shi nodded and went upstairs.

The second floor has tiled floors throughout, four bedrooms, a living room, and no balcony.

Chen Ai pushed open the master bedroom door: "Xiao Shi, your wedding room will be arranged in this room. The master bedroom is more than 30 square meters. I chose the bed for you. According to the standard of wedding rooms, this bed costs more than 6,000 yuan. It is a 2-meter * 1.8-meter king-size bed."

"What do you think? Should we renovate again? Have your brother-in-law arrange it for you."

"The renovation is very good, no need to renovate anymore. Let's come back and stay in this room for a while. Yiqiu's parents gave us a wedding room in the county town. We won't be getting married at home, we'll get married in the county town."

Chen Ai asked, "Aren't we having a table at home?"

"We won't hold the event at home. Once we do, we can't control it. When people come, we can't just kick them out."

Yi Qiu's parents have chosen the wedding date: the sixth day of the first lunar month. They'll have a few tables set up at their house, and our family will just go over for a visit.

Chen Yanshi stood aside, feeling deeply distressed. His son, a high-ranking official, didn't even have a single table at his wedding; it felt like he was being treated like a son-in-law who had come to live with his family. He had originally planned to use his son's wedding as an opportunity to hold a three-day banquet, to make things lively and show the Chen family a different kind of family than before, and to let those who used to look down on him see who could put on a show.

Wang Xiufen was secretly delighted. Since Chen Shi wasn't holding a wedding banquet, she wouldn't have to return the gift, saving her some money.

The group accompanied Chen Shi to the third floor, where there were three bedrooms, each with an open-air balcony in front.

The three bedrooms have tiled floors throughout, while the balcony has a cement floor instead of tiles.

Chen Ai said, "My parents didn't contribute a single brick to build this house. It was all taken care of by your brother-in-law. He contracted it with a construction company, and the renovation cost a total of 370,000 yuan."

Chen Shi thought it was about right. The renovation was very simple. The first floor had whitewashed walls. The second floor had a suspended ceiling in the living room, dining room, and master bedroom, with floor tiles throughout and latex paint on the walls. The three bedrooms on the third floor didn't have suspended ceilings, just floor tiles and latex paint on the walls.

Chen Shi looked at Zhang Gao: "Brother-in-law, you've worked hard."

Zhang Gao smiled broadly: "Xiao Shi, they're family. Building a house for my parents is what I should do."

Wang Xiufen chimed in: "My sister's family has been making money these past two years. They run such a big coal mine and can earn tens of thousands, even more than 300,000 yuan a day. To them, it's just a few thousand yuan to us. It's nothing."

Chen Ai glanced at Wang Xiufen: "Xiufen, it's not easy to make money. The coal market is not doing well this year, and prices have plummeted. We've barely made any money."

"Sister, don't be modest. We're not asking you for money."

Chen Xing glanced at Wang Xiufen: "My sister and brother-in-law don't earn money easily. They save every penny to build a house for our parents. The whole Qinghe Village praises my sister and brother-in-law for their filial piety. Among the married daughters in the surrounding villages, my sister and brother-in-law are the first to come back and build a house for their parents."

Wang Guihua said, "Don't stand there, come down and sit down. It's past 12 o'clock, and the dishes haven't been cooked yet."

Chen Ai's expression softened; she didn't want to pay any attention to Wang Xiufen. As long as Chen Shi remembered this favor, that was enough.

"Xiao Shi, the vegetables are all chopped. It's cold, so I cooked them too early. They're all cold when you come back. I'll go help Mom cook them. It'll be done in a minute."

Jiang Yiqiu, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up: "Big sister, you rest for a bit, I'll help Mom cook."

"You just got back and need to rest for a bit. I'll go cook some dishes."

Jiang Yiqiu and Chen Ai went downstairs to the kitchen to help Wang Guihua cook.

Seeing Wang Xiufen standing still, Chen Xing glanced at her and said, "Is it appropriate for you to stand here? You're not taking care of the child, so why don't you go and help with the cooking?"

Wang Xiufen reluctantly went downstairs to help with the cooking.

Chen Shi and the others went down to the living room on the second floor to chat. After waiting for more than half an hour, the dishes were ready, and the whole family sat around the table.

Chen Xing brought over some good wine, which Chen Shi had asked Yang Bin to bring back. He opened the bottle and filled it for Chen Yanshi and the others.

The family ate and chatted, creating a lively atmosphere.

Jiang Yiqiu felt that he had no status in the Chen family. No one asked him to sit down, and he had to serve himself rice and find a place to sit.

She is the executive vice principal of the No. 1 Middle School, and wherever she goes in the county, she is a popular figure.

Chen Jianhua looked at Jiang Yiqiu: "Yiqiu, how are Chen Long's grades at No. 1 High School?"

When Chen Long was mentioned, Jiang Yiqiu was speechless. His grades were at the bottom of the regular class. There was no distinction between arts and sciences, and the total score was 1050. In the final exam, Chen Long scored 490, less than half the marks.

"Chen Long's foundation is too weak and needs to be improved."

Chen Jianhua's face turned bright red after drinking.

"Yiqiu, you're the principal of No. 1 High School, you need to arrange the best teachers to tutor your nephew. He told me that next semester we'll have to choose between arts and sciences. Do you think it's better for him to study arts or sciences?"

Jiang Yiqiu thought to himself, with his grades, it doesn't matter what he studies, he can only get into a junior college at most.

"Let him choose science, so he'll have an advantage when choosing a major in college."

"He came back and said that he couldn't understand physics at all. He got 5 points on the final exam and still chose humanities. He could have gotten over 60 points on history."

Jiang Yiqiu was speechless. He had already decided to choose liberal arts, so why was he asking him this question?

Chen Jianhua added, "After the division into arts and sciences, you need to put Yi Qiu in the honors class. The regular class won't work because the students around him are too playful and it will affect his studies."

Jiang Yiqiu sneered inwardly. Did Chen Long not know he was ranked at the bottom of the class? With his grades, did he even need to be affected? There was no room for him to fall any further; it was he who was affecting others.

Chen Jianyong chimed in, "Brother, Chen Long's foundation is weak. He probably can't keep up even in a regular class. If he goes to the honors class, it will be even harder for him to keep up, which will affect his motivation to learn."

Principal Jiang already went to great lengths to get him into the top high school; he shouldn't even think about getting into the honors class.

Chen Jianhua said loudly, "Chen Long's foundation in junior high school was good, it's just that the teachers weren't good at teaching him. Once he enters the top class, his grades will definitely improve by leaps and bounds."

Chen Shi looked at Chen Jianhua: "Brother, education emphasizes teaching according to aptitude. Chen Long had a good foundation in junior high school, so how come he only scored over 400 points?"

The top classes are full of academic superstars; he simply can't keep up. He should stay in the regular classes, build a solid foundation, and try to get into a university.

Only when Chen Shi spoke did Chen Jianhua dare not refute.