The call was from his predecessor's mother.
"Hello, Mom, what's up?"
"It's nothing major. The chestnuts at home are ripe, so I sent you some. Remember there are also some of your favorite snacks like fermented bean curd, pickled cabbage, dried sweet potatoes, and sausage..." His mother rattled off a long list of items before hesitantly adding, "Old Four..."
"Yeah, Mom, I'm listening. What do you want to say?" Meng Zezhi said gently.
His mother paused for a moment, sighed inwardly, and continued, "Your eldest sister's children are getting married now, and our house is getting a bit crowded. Your eldest sister and brother in law are thinking about buying another apartment. What do you think?"
This seemed like a setup for Meng Zhezhi to fork out money. Over the years, including the filial piety given to mother Meng during new year and other festivals, the amount of money that his predecessor received from his home was no less than two million. Due to the incident with his third brother's family, Xu Jiaqing and his predecessor almost got divorced. After that, his predecessor became less involved in his siblings' affairs.
In this way, there was much more room for Meng Zhezhi to play freely. He said, "I remember eldest sister's house was built just a few years ago, wasn't it?"
In order to build that house, Mother Meng contributed ten thousand, and the predecessor took out eighty thousand, which, although not much, was all the savings the predecessor had at the time. On the other hand, his eldest sister's family, apart from spending a sum of money when the house was roofed and hosting a banquet, didn't really take much money out.
At that time, this ninety thousand was enough to build a two-story, seven bedroom and one-living-room small Western-style building in the countryside.
If it had been before, hearing her say that, old four would have undoubtedly agreed without hesitation.
At this moment, Mother Meng clearly heard the refusal in her son's words.
She instantly changed her tone: "Well, when your eldest sister's family was building the house, the foundation was actually laid quite deep, and now that it's not enough to live in, you can add another floor on top..."
In fact, it's not that he could not understand Mother Meng's feelings. *The palm and the back of her hand were all her own flesh and blood. Unfortunately, in order to send her youngest son out of the mountains, her eldest son and two daughters have made great sacrifices.
(Showing no favoritism towards ones children)
Now that her youngest son has achieved great success, it's naturally time for him to repay his siblings.
In her view, although her eldest son has married into the wife's family, fortunately, the bride's family was well-off and has never been short of anything. Now that he has a child with his own surname, his back has straightened, and his character has become much more cheerful.
As for her youngest daughter, although she married a disabled person, she was fortunate that her husband was an honest man with no parents of his own. As soon as she entered the door, she could take charge of the house. Although life was difficult at first, later her second son-in-law had a car accident, and her youngest son paid for his leg to be treated. Now he rides a motorcycle to carry passengers in the county. He works hard and is more than enough to support his family.
Only the eldest daughter married a widower and raised a group of stepchildren. After twenty-four years of marriage, she didn't even have a child of her own. As for her eldest son-in-law, he had achieved nothing and could only live by farming in the village. Moreover, now that he was getting older, he was becoming less physically capable. He would fall ill every now and then, and all the burden of the family would fall on her eldest daughter.
Her eldest daughter was only forty-three years old this year, but she looked like she was in her late fifties or early sixties, just like her fifty-six-seven-year-old eldest son-in-law. She would feel distressed whenever she looked at her.
Mother Meng felt sorry for her eldest daughter, but at the end of the day, her favorite was still her youngest son. Not only because her youngest son was successful, but mainly because this whole family was benefiting from her youngest son's favor.
So when Meng Zhezhi showed signs of refusal, Mother Meng instantly changed her mind.
But not everyone felt the same way.
"Can it be the same? The key is, which girl is willing to marry into the countryside now..."
There was a faint urging voice coming from the other end of the phone.
"What are you talking about!" Mother Meng scolded, and then the phone was snatched away.
"Old Four, I'm your eldest brother in law. Both your nephews are twenty-seven and twenty-eight years old now, but they still haven't found a daughter in law yet. Now our family has finally negotiated with a girl, and her family doesn't want a dowry, they just want a house. Where can we find such a good thing?"
The tone on the other end of the phone softened instantly. "But you also know the situation in our family, Old Four. Now the whole family relies on your sister alone to support us. Even if we empty our savings, we still can't come up with that much money. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked you."
The predecessor's eldest brother in law was named He Zhenli.
Meng Zhezhi listened and only asked, "How much do you need?"
He Zhenli's tone immediately became excited. "It's not too much, six hundred thousand will be enough."
The small county town where the predecessor belonged was remote with inconvenient transportation, and the economy was not developed. Naturally, the housing prices were not very high either. The price of a not renovated house was just over two hundred thousand, and prices were even lower in more remote areas.
Six hundred thousand would definitely be enough to buy two three-bedroom and one living room houses. With a little extra money, they could even do some simple renovations.
He Zhenli included his youngest son's marriage house in this calculation as well.
Sure enough, he chuckled and said, "When your eldest nephew gets married, won't it be your second nephew's turn? I just want to prepare the house early so that we don't end up like we are now, running around like headless flies."
He Zhenli didn't think he was asking for too much. After all, Old Four had already spent six hundred thousand on his third brother's son and nearly four hundred thousand on treating his second sister's husband's leg. It wouldn't make sense for him to spend only eighty thousand when it came to their family.
The eldest sister is the eldest. It's not too much for him to ask for six hundred thousand now.
Meng Zhezhi chuckled angrily. When did the predecessor ever help the family without giving his all? Can you measure it purely by the amount of money?
Meng Zhezhi only knows one thing, I can be grateful but you cannot be addicted to sucking my blood.
Meng Zhezhi remained calm and said, "Is my eldest sister there? I'd like to talk to her for a moment."
Although He Zhenli didn't understand what Meng Zhezhi was up to, money talks. For the sake of that six hundred thousand, he had no choice but to pass the phone to eldest sister Meng.
"Hello, Old Four..." A hoarse middle-aged woman's voice came from the other end of the phone.
Meng Zhezhi paused. "Eldest sister, are you feeling unwell?"
"Cough..." Eldest sister Meng cleared her throat and said, "It's nothing, just the other day when I went to pick up Xiaoning from school, it suddenly started pouring halfway, I got wet in the rain, and caught a cold."
He Zhenli's ex-wife left him with two sons and one daughter. Compared to his two sons who haven't married yet, his youngest daughter got married early, and Xiaoning was her son.
Because his daughter looked like his ex-wife, He Zhenli always doted on this daughter the most. After Xiaoning was born, his grandparents were unwilling to take care of him, and his daughter and son-in-law were busy working, so He Zhenli had no choice but to bring him back home and let eldest sister Meng take care of him.
Eight years has passed since then, and Xiaoning was now in elementary school.
Meng Zhezhi took a deep breath and asked, "Eldest Sister, what do you think?"
Hearing this, He Zhenli quickly signaled to her with his eyes.
"Well..." Eldest sister Meng opened her mouth, then as if she remembered something, her expression slightly dimmed, and she hesitantly said, "What else can I think."
Meng Zhezhi understood and said, "I see. Give the phone to Mom."
"Hello, Old Four?"
"Mom, is Third Brother and the others there?" Meng Zhezhi asked.
"They're not here, what's wrong?"
"Could you call them back first? I have something to tell them."
"...Alright." Mother Meng hesitantly nodded, feeling that her youngest son's tone seemed a bit off. But she also knew that this unease wasn't directed at her.
She glanced at He Zhenli, then followed Meng Zhezhi's instructions to find Third Brother's name in the phone's contacts and called him.
"Mom, what's going on?" He Zhenli asked, feeling a sudden unease rising in his heart.
Mother Meng ignored him and urged Third Brother and the others to come over quickly.
After hanging up the phone, Meng Zhezhi turned and walked towards the laboratory.
Hearing the sound, Zhu Zhengqing put down the instruction manual of the instrument he was holding and looked up at Meng Zhezhi, calmly asking, "Is the call finished?"
"Yeah."
At this moment, Meng Zhezhi's mind was filled with thoughts of family matters, and he had completely forgotten about the romantic scene from earlier.
He said, "By the way, Professor Zhu, something came up at home, so I'm going back first."
The school was crowded and noisy, not a good place to deal with problems.
"..." Seeing Meng Zhezhi's indifferent expression, as if nothing had happened just now, Zhu Zhengqing nodded reluctantly and said, "Okay."
"Then I'll come find you in a couple of days."
With that, Meng Zhezhi turned around and left the laboratory.
Listening to the gradually fading footsteps, Zhu Zhengqing regained his composure.
Was Meng Zhezhi not interested in him, or was he simply clueless?
Zhu Zhengqing pursed his lips and decisively chose the latter.
Should I raise this old *stump of elm or not?
(Refers to a stubborn person)
Zhu Zhengqing frowned slightly, feeling troubled!
Meanwhile, Meng Zhezhi had just returned home, when Mother Meng's call came over.
Meng Zhezhi closed the door behind him and asked while taking off his coat, "Mom, are Third Brother and the others all here?"
"Yes, they're all here," Mother Meng said worriedly.
"Okay, please turn on the speakerphone," Meng Zhezhi said as he threw his coat onto the sofa and poured himself a glass of water.
"Old Four, why did you call us over?" Third brother Meng asked.
Taking a few sips of water, Meng Zhezhi said, "Well, just now, eldest brother-in-law called me and said that his two sons are getting married and asked me to pull out six hundred thousand to buy them a house."
Old Four, you have more to say about this!
Second sister Meng and third brother exchanged a glance, both with a serious expression on their faces.
He Zhenli looked embarrassed and his heart became more and more uneasy. He shrank back and said. "Uh, Old Four, if you're short of money, then forget about it..."
"It's just six hundred thousand. I don't lack this money," Meng Zhezhi slammed his hand on the coffee table. "But I just want to ask one thing, what does your two sons' marriage have to do with me?"
"This... this," He Zhenli was startled, stuttering, "Well, they are your nephews after all, even if not by blood, but they've been calling you uncle for over twenty years..."
"I'd rather not have these two nephews—" Meng Zhezhi said angrily, fully immersing himself in the identity of his predecessor.
"In my whole life, the one I've wronged the most is my eldest sister. For the sake of sending me to school, she was forced to marry a widower who was a whole round older than her, and became the stepmother to three children the moment she stepped into that house. She was only eighteen years old at that time."
Hearing this, eldest sister Meng looked dazed.
Mother Meng's eyes turned red directly, blaming herself for not having the ability, only able to rely on selling her children, her daughters to send her youngest son to school.
"If she had been living well, that would be one thing, but in reality, she's been married for twenty-four years, and as a woman, she doesn't even have the right to get pregnant and have a child. Why?"
"Because her widower husband already has three children who can carry on the family name, and with the poor conditions at home, there's no need to burden themselves with another child. Anyway, he remarried just to find a cheap nanny to take care of his whole family."
"Old Four, what nonsense are you talking about?" He Zhenli was flustered, but no one paid him any attention.
Hearing this, Second Sister Meng and Third Brother also realized that Meng Zhezhi's anger wasn't about them eyeing his money, but about He Zhenli.
They both secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"For the sake of that measly 1,500 yuan dowry, she's been serving four of you father and sons for twenty four years, and it's still not enough. She even has to serve your grandsons and granddaughters. There's no such good thing in this world. What's most ridiculous is, He Zhenli, you still have the nerve to ask me to give money to those two little brats to buy a house!"
Before the predecessor was admitted to a university, He Zhenli's three children never once called the predecessor "uncle." Whenever predecessor went to their house to visit during the New Year, he often witnessed them embarrassing eldest sister Meng in front of relatives.
When the predecessor's family was around, they were already so unscrupulous. It can be imagined what kind of life eldest sister Meng lived when the predecessor's family wasn't around.
But now that predecessor has succeeded, they would call him "uncle" as sweetly as possible.
"You… you..." He Zhenli, burning with shame and anger, reached out to grab the phone from mother Meng's hand.
"What do you think you're doing?" Third Brother Meng and Second brother in law stood up from the sofa, shielding mother Meng behind them, glaring at He Zhenli with fury.
Mother Meng breathed a sigh of relief.
Now she finally understood why Old Four insisted on calling Third Brother Meng and the others back first.
On the other end of the phone, Meng Zhezhi took a sip of water, calming his anger, "In the past, It was my fault to think in the wrong. I always thought that my eldest sister was getting on in years, and without her own biological children, she would have to rely on those two little brats to support her in her old age, so let's just put up with it."
This was not only the mindset of his predecessor but also mother Meng's mindset.
"I guess you thought the same way," this was obviously directed at He Zhenli.
"So that's why you dare to recklessly ask me for money, and as soon as you open your mouth, it's six hundred thousand."
Perhaps being hit right in the heart by Meng Zhezhi's words, He Zhenli's face alternated between red and white, creating quite a scene.
Eldest sister Meng burst into tears, holding onto second sister Meng's and crying bitterly.
Hearing this, He Jiaming, He Zhenli's eldest son, became furious and shouted, "Why wouldn't we dare? If it weren't for our family's 1,500 yuan back then, do you think Meng Zhezhi could be where he is today? That money was bought with my mother's life."
He Zhenli's first wife died in a car accident, and the driver who caused the accident paid two thousand yuan in compensation.
"So my eldest sister has worked hard for your family for over twenty years, I gave you eighty thousand yuan to fix your house, isn't that enough?"
Meng Zhezhi said coldly, "My family doesn't owe you anything anymore."
He continued, "With just this performance, eldest sister, do you still expect him to support you in your old age?"
"What exactly do you want?" He Zhenli gritted his teeth. He didn't believe that Meng Zhezhi could still persuade eldest sister Meng to divorce him.
Meng Zhezhi responded as he wished, "Six hundred thousand, I have it. Eldest sister, I'll give you two choices."
Eldest sister Meng sobbed, sat up from second sister Meng's arms, and wiped the corners of her eyes with her sleeve.
Never before did she feel that her little brother was so reliable.
"First, you stay in the He family, and I'll give you six hundred thousand to buy two houses. In the future, if any member of the He family dares to disrespect you in any way, you can kick them out."
Hearing this, He Zhenli's face turned red with rage as he stared hatefully at the phone in mother Meng's hand.
"Second, you divorce He Zhenli, and I'll still give you six hundred thousand. You can move back home to live with mom, or buy a house to live in alone. You're only forty-three years old this year. Plenty of people have children at this age. If necessary, you can even adopt a child. By the time the child grows up, you'll only be in your sixties, perfect for them to take care of you in old age."
"How dare you?" He Zhenli felt as if he had been struck by lightning, never expecting that Meng Zhezhi would actually come up with such an idea.
No, this won't work. If eldest sister Meng really divorces him, who will take care of Xiaoning? He can't handle heavy work now, who will take care of the seven or eight *mu of land at home, not to mention the wedding houses for his two sons…
(Equivalent to 0.165 acres)
He Zhenli's face was filled with horror. He instantly calmed down, and looked towards Third Brother Meng as if seeking help.
Third Brother Meng remained indifferent. On the one hand, he felt sorry for his eldest sister, and on the other hand, he did not wanted to get involved. Isn't it obvious? Old Four is angry with He Zhenli's family, and if he rushes to defend He Zhenli, he'll inevitably offend Old Four.
He has no prospects. In the future, he will have to rely on Old Four to help his two sons. At this point, does he dare to go against Meng Zhezhi?
This was the honest truth.
In a state of desperation, He Zhenli gritted his teeth and turned to Eldest Sister Meng, speaking in a low and pleading tone: "Jingshu, Jingshu, I admit, I've wronged you in the past. I'll change, I'll really change. Considering that we've been husband and wife for over twenty years, Jingshu, please give me a chance…"
Seeing this scene, Eldest Sister Meng looked bewildered, torn between freedom and the person she had been married to for over twenty years.
“Don't rush,” Meng Zhezhi said, “Eldest sister, you can take your time to think it over and let me know when you're ready.”
He loosened his tie: “It's too noisy, Third Brother, kick these two out.”
Not long after, the urgency in He Zhenli's voice over the phone grew: “No, Jingshu, Mom, I know I was wrong… Old Four, Old Four…”
Finally, peace returned.
Meng Zhezhi continued, “Alright, eldest sister, you can stay at Mom's place for now. Third Brother, I'll rely on you to take more care of Mom and eldest sister during this time, so that He Zhenli doesn't do anything bad out of desperation…”
After sorting out the affairs at home, Meng Zhezhi felt a wave of exhaustion washing over him. Rubbing his temples, he wondered if he had forgotten something important.
But the more he tried to remember, the more chaotic his mind became.
Deciding to let it go, he covered his mouth and yawned. He got up and went to the bathroom, took a shower, came out, crawled into bed, and fell asleep instantly.
Early the next morning, he drove to the bank and emerged with an additional seven million in his card. Then, he made calls to several major experiment apparatus manufacturers, consolidated their quotations, and placed orders for a batch of experimental instruments he needed. In less than half an hour, two-thirds of the seven million he had just acquired was gone.
After dealing with the instruments, Meng Zhezhi took out a collection of over 10 centimeters thick papers on the proof of the Goldbach Conjecture both domestic and international, meticulously organized by the predecessor in the past 3 years, from the bookshelf. It took him a full two days to go through all these papers and he got some gains. At least he now had a rough idea of how to prove the Goldbach Conjecture.
His eyes fell on the title of one of the papers: "Calculus of Variations."
He decided to start from here.
Just as Meng Zhezhi was about to take out a piece of paper to start drafting, his phone rang.
It was Xu Jiaqing calling.
"Meng Zhezhi, did you forget what day it is today?" she asked.
Meng Zhezhi thought for a moment. It seemed like today was Saturday. Glancing at the time on his computer, which already showed nearly ten o'clock, he immediately stood up from his seat. "Sorry, I'll be there soon."
With that, the phone has already been hunged up on him.
Tidying up his desk and locking the door, Meng Zhezhi first went home to gather his documents before heading to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
For the first time ever, Chen Yinglong wasn't accompanying Xu Jiaqing.
"Let's go," Xu Jiaqing said coldly when she saw Meng Zhezhi approaching, and stood up to walk towards the counter.
Verifying their intention to divorce, signing the review and processing form, canceling their marriage certificate, and receiving the divorce certificate—all these procedures took less than ten minutes.
Throughout the process, neither of them uttered a word. It wasn't until they stepped out of the Civil Affairs Bureau building that Meng Zhezhi spoke up to stop Xu Jiaqing. "By the way, I still have a lot of your things at my place. Maybe you should come over sometime to tidy up."
According to the divorce agreement, each person's property under their respective names belonged to them individually.
"No need. You can just throw those things away," Xu Jiaqing replied without even looking back. It can be seen that she had truly moved on from the predecessor.
Since Xu Jiaqing said so, Meng Zhezhi felt no qualms about it. However, Xu Jiaqing's belongings were quite substantial—three closets full of clothes and shoes, along with some cosmetics and jewelry, most of which were branded items. It would be a pity to throw them away.
Meng Zhezhi thought for a moment and decided to sell these items to a second-hand goods dealer, earning nearly two hundred thousand yuan in return. Then, he donated this money to the Red Cross in Xu Jiaqing's name.
After tidying up the room, Meng Zhezhi's ordered batch of laboratory equipment arrived, along with the Chinese Moccasin snake venom he had previously ordered from the snake farm in Cao County.
After installing the laboratory equipment, Meng Zhezhi took the small bottle of snake venom and went to the laboratory.
Meanwhile, Zhu Zhengqing was also busy. On one hand, he needed to integrate and select a group of professional researchers to quickly form a research team. On the other hand, he had to prepare research projects. In addition, he also has to teach professional courses to students regularly, keeping him constantly occupied.
In the course of time, the number of people in the laboratory has increased.
Meng Zhezhi's experiments progressed smoothly, but he encountered a barrier when it came to the Goldbach Conjecture. Indeed, it was a world-class mathematical challenge!
Meng Zhezhi put down his pen, feeling overwhelmed. He rubbed his tired eyes and reached for the cup on the table, only to find it empty except for some tea leaves.
With a sigh, Meng Zhezhi shook his head in resignation, stood up, and decided to go to the water dispenser in the adjacent room to get some hot water. But then, his stomach grumbled loudly.
Glancing at his watch, he realized it was already noon.
He decided to eat first!
With this in mind, he turned to Zhu Zhengqing, who was still standing motionless in front of the amino acid autoanalyzer. It seemed he wouldn't be free for a while.
Since that was the case, Meng Zhezhi had no choice but to go alone.
He locked all the manuscripts on the table in the drawer and left the laboratory.
Seeing this scene, Xu Yehua, who had been paying attention to Meng Zhezhi's movements, hesitated for a while before finally putting down the data in his hands and walked towards Zhu Zhengqing. He asked, "Professor Zhu, do you know much about Meng Zhezhi?"
"Hmm?"
Hearing Meng Zhezhi's name, Zhu Zhengqing forcibly shifted his gaze away from the analyzer and turned to Xu Yehua.
Although he didn't understand why Xu Yehua was asking this, Zhu Zhengqing still replied with restraint, "Professor Meng seems to be a steady person, kind-hearted, and has a good personality..."
With each word Zhu Zhengqing uttered, Xu Yehua's expression of horror increased. This attracted the attention of others in the laboratory, causing them to stop what they were doing and gather around.
Xu Yehua said with difficulty, "Professor Zhu, as a newcomer, you may not be very familiar with the actual situation."
Zhu Zhengqing was confused, "What do you mean?"
At this point, there was no need for Xu Yehua to speak further. The people gathered around had already begun to explain.
In the end, Xu Yehua concluded, "I noticed that Professor Zhu seems to be quite close to Meng Zhezhi, so I couldn't help but say a few words. Well, Professor Zhu, it's better to have less contact with Meng Zhi in the future to avoid tarnishing your reputation."
After the crowd dispersed, Zhu Zhengqing's eyes were filled with confusion.
A man who caused his wife to miscarry due to domestic violence, had a sinister personality, and stole his students' research results...
How could the person they described possibly be Meng Zhezhi?
Or did he misjudge Meng Zhezhi?
Just as he was frowning with worry, Meng Zhezhi returned.
"Why are you the only one left here? Where are the others?" Meng Zhezhi asked.
Zhu Zhengqing suddenly raised his head, and his eyes scanned Meng Zhi up and down like a scanner.
Meng Zhi had meticulously groomed hair, sharp and slanted sword eyebrows, thin and slightly closed lips, sharp and distinct facial features, long legs, and he was dressed in a black suit. When he didn't speak, he exuded an aura of restraint...
Then, Zhu Zhengqing remembered the rather vigorous hair on Meng Zhi's forearms, and his ears turned slightly red!
The author has something to say:
Zhu Zhengqing: I want to praise the old man to the skies!