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

Fu Gui looked at Chen Shi: "Xiao Shi, I'd like to ask you a question."

"What's the problem?"

"I came back on the 27th of the twelfth lunar month. Yesterday I went on a blind date. My blind date was a divorced woman with two children, a boy and a girl. The boy is the older one, he is five years old, and the girl is three years old."

She used to work in the coastal areas, married someone from another province, and now she's divorced and back. She has four children, and each of them received two.

She's 29 this year, two years younger than me. She sees that I'm honest and is satisfied with me. She's asking for a dowry of 50,000 yuan, to treat her child well, like her own, and to consider having another child in the future.

After we got married, I had to hand over my salary card; she was the one who made the decisions at home.

"What is your question?" Chen Shi asked.

"I'm hesitant about whether to agree to this marriage. She said she agrees, and we can get married after the Spring Festival."

I'm not young anymore; I'll be 33 after the New Year (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning), a year older than you. Plus, I'm not good-looking, so it's hard for me to find someone who likes me.

Chen Shi asked, "Do you like her?"

Fu Gui is over thirty years old and has never held a woman's hand. He is clumsy with words and has a thin skin. If he talks to a woman for a few words, his face turns as red as a monkey's bottom.

Given his wealth, it's indeed difficult for him to find a wife.

In rural areas, it's best to find a wife early, before the age of 25. After 25, it gets harder every year.

When you go on blind dates with people around your age, they are all seasoned veterans, very picky, and often the only ones left over in rural areas. Sweet talk is useless in front of them; you have to show them something real.

In rural areas, older single men often have nothing but increasing age and increasingly poor conditions; otherwise, they wouldn't still be unable to find wives at their age.

When I go on blind dates with younger people, they complain that I'm too old and we can't connect.

In Qinghe Village, Tian Guangming chatted with Chen Shi about the older single men. He said there were twenty or thirty of them, and the girls who went out to work all got married before the age of twenty-five.

In the entire Qinghe Village, there is not a single unmarried woman over the age of 25, except for those who are in college.

Fu Gui thought about it seriously. His requirements for a woman were very simple: as long as she was a woman, knew to run home when it rained, was no more than forty years old, and could still have children, that would be fine.

This woman is quite good-looking, but without children, she wouldn't even look at him.

He nodded; he liked it. In Wang Xiufen's words, he liked any woman, even if she was rich.

Chen Shi threw the cigarette on the ground and stomped it out: "Marriage is a major life event, and no one can make that decision for you. But I can help you with other things."

If you have a choice, don't become a stepfather. Look around you, being a stepfather isn't easy.

Chen Shi looked at Fu Gui: "What's this woman's family background? How many siblings does she have?"

"Her family is not well-off and still lives in an old tile-roofed house. She has an older brother who is already married and has three children. According to the matchmaker, when she came back to live at home, her sister-in-law often made veiled accusations, saying that she brought back two burdens."

She also has a younger sister, who married and moved to another province; I haven't met her. Her father is in poor health and needs medication frequently, and her mother, who is sixty years old, works away from home.

Given this predicament, it's no wonder they're in such a hurry to get married and desperately need someone to take over their marriage.

"We can start by dating and getting to know each other."

"She's going to work in the coastal areas after the Spring Festival, so she won't have time to date."

"After you get married, will she also go to work in the coastal areas?"

"After we got married, she stopped going to work in the coastal areas, and I earned money to support them."

"Don't rush into marriage. You need to understand each other clearly. You're already over thirty. A year earlier or later won't make a difference. But if you marry the wrong person, your later life will be difficult."

Wang Xiufen came from home, saw Chen Shi, walked over and called out, "Fugui, I heard you went on a blind date."

Fu Gui hummed in agreement, and Wang Xiufen teased, "Did the woman agree?"

Fu Gui hummed in agreement. Wang Xiufen continued, "It's rare. After so many blind dates, you've finally found a woman who likes you. It's a pity, though. This woman has been married twice, divorced twice, and married once, having two children. She had two sons in her first marriage, two daughters in her second marriage, and she's going to have two sons for Fu Gui in her third marriage."

Fu Gui retorted, "The matchmaker said she had only been married once and had four children, and she was awarded two of them."

"Fugui, don't you think about it carefully? If she had only been married once and had four children, would the man be willing to give her his son?"

This woman is from the village next to mine; I know her better than you do. Don't let the matchmaker fool you; you might get scammed into marriage and end up with nothing.

Wang Xiufen looked at Chen Shi: "Xiao Shi, come to our house tonight, your sister-in-law will cook you something delicious."

Chen Shi looked into the distance, ignoring Wang Xiufen, who went inside.

Fu Gui looked dejected and said, "I finally met someone who likes me, but she's been married three times, has two children, and two fathers."

Fu Gui couldn't accept it. He could accept a second marriage, but he really couldn't accept a third marriage. He shook his head.

Chen Shi patted Fugui on the shoulder: "Don't be discouraged. You have a stable job, and there will be girls who like you."

Fu Gui smiled bitterly, thinking that all he wanted was to find an ordinary girl to marry, so why was it so difficult?

He composed himself and forced a smile: "Xiao Shi, I've made some money this year. I want to build a house back home. With a house, it should be easier to find a wife."

Chen Shi looked at the village: "Now every household has a two-story house. If you go through the trouble of building one, it won't give you any extra points. When you go on a blind date, people will just think that this is normal."

You have a stable job in the county town, so why not buy an apartment there and go on blind dates? The results will be different.

In rural areas, almost every family owns a house, but in cities, some families own only a few, which is a plus.

The main issue is that you're building a house at home, but how long can you actually live there in a year? You might live there during holidays, and it's just for show; it has no real practical significance.

Fu Gui thought Chen Shi made sense; a leader's perspective on problems is indeed different.

"Let me think about it."

Fu Gui stayed at Chen Shi's house for a while before going back.

After putting away all the dishes and chopsticks, Jiang Yiqiu felt much more tired than after a day's work and went back to his room to rest.

As Chen Ai's family was preparing to return home, Wang Guihua gave Chen Ai some lean meat to take back with them.

Chen Shi sat in the living room. Chen Ai and Zhang Gao walked into the house. Chen Ai said, "Xiao Shi, we're going back now."

"I'm not busy at home, I'll stay one night and then go back."

Zhang Gao said, "We're going to Laoyan Town to check on the coal mines. We're giving the workers a holiday tomorrow so they can go home for the New Year."

Chen Ai chimed in, "The coal market is bad right now, it keeps falling. I've discussed it with your brother-in-law, and we'll see how it goes next year. If the market is still bad, we'll sell the coal mine."

Chen Shi said, "The coal market is not good. Even if we sell the coal mine, we won't get much money. We might as well keep it and wait and see."

Zhang Gao chimed in, "Xiao Shi is right. Anyway, we won't make much money. If the market isn't good next year, we'll close down and start mining again when the market improves."

"The main issue when operating a coal mine is safety, which must be taken very seriously," Chen Shi reminded.

Chen Ai added, "Our coal mine has the best safety measures, and your brother-in-law is the most safety-conscious."

Chen Shi trusted Zhang Gao quite a bit, as he was cautious and reliable in his work.

Chen Shi stood up and saw Chen Ai's family off.