Chapter 172: Thought You Had More Backbone Than That

Originally, Ding Surong could have stayed in the city—her family had already lined up a job for her, just waiting for the other party to finish the retirement process so she could go through the paperwork and take over the position.

But someone wrote an anonymous report letter to her father's factory, so her parents had no choice but to send her down to the countryside.

Time was so tight that her parents could only find someone to send her to the countryside nearest to Jing City, thinking she could still go home to visit from time to time.

But she hadn't expected the educated youth post to be so run-down. The house being shabby was one thing, but the rooms inside were also cramped—apart from the communal sleeping platform, there was only a narrow passage left for people to walk through. Even if she wanted to buy a cabinet, there was nowhere to put it.

What she hadn't expected most was that these old educated youths would gang up to exclude her.

The more she thought about it, the more upset she got, and her eyes immediately reddened.

It left Wang Zhijun at a bit of a loss as to what to do.

Seeing her like this, he thought of something: "If you want to live more comfortably, then spend your own money to build a house. Two educated youths before did exactly that."

Ding Surong fell silent at these words. It wasn't that she didn't have the money to build a house, but her mother had told her she would find a chance to let her return to the city as soon as possible. If she couldn't return to Jing City, she'd find a way to get her to her maternal grandfather's place in Jin City. So she didn't want to waste money for nothing.

At that moment, a man came out of the male educated youths' room: "If you don't want to build a house but still want a room to yourself, why not go ask Liu Chuxue's family? Her family is building a new house right now, and it'll be done in just a few days.

Once her family moves into the new house, you can rent the house they're currently living in."

Ding Surong heard this and asked: "Isn't her family's old house pretty run-down?"

Xiang Qianjin waved his hand and said: "That's where you're wrong. Her family's house isn't run-down at all—the main room is even half brick. They only built a new house because of some other reasons."

Wang Zhijun disagreed somewhat: "Their new house isn't even finished yet. How do you know they'd be willing to rent it out? You're just talking nonsense."

Xiang Qianjin, however, wore an indifferent expression: "I'm just making a suggestion. As for whether they rent it out or not, you'll only know after you ask. Besides, if they move into the new house, the old one would just sit empty anyway. Renting it out would bring in rent—no one in their right mind would refuse."

Shen Zipeng, who had come with Ding Surong, said: "Settle in first, and when you run into that family, ask them then."

Ding Surong was actually amenable to advice: "Got it."

But the moment she stepped inside, Zhang Yijia clicked her tongue: "Thought you had more backbone than that?"

However, this time Ding Surong didn't talk back to her.

The Fu Family in Jing City

As soon as the third daughter-in-law, Zhang Yurong, got home, she sidled up to Fu Mother Geng Ruzhi: "Mom, I want to tell you something."

Fu Mother's hands didn't stop working: "What is it?"

The third daughter-in-law scooted even closer to her, but the breath from her mouth nearly sent Fu Mother to her grave on the spot. Fu Mother reached out and pushed the third daughter-in-law away: "There's no one else at home right now. If you have something to say, just say it. Why are you crowding so close?"

The third daughter-in-law didn't notice anything off about her mother-in-law: "Mom, I heard Ding Runlan has come back."

Hearing this name, Fu Mother's face instantly darkened: "Let her come back if she wants. What does it have to do with us?"

The third daughter-in-law was about to scoot closer to her again, but Fu Mother reached out to stop her: "Talk, don't crowd against me."

Only now did Zhang Yurong finally understand—after all, her husband had recently told her to brush her teeth more often, saying she might be getting heatstroke lately, and her breath was very heavy: "Mom, I'm sorry, I didn't do it on purpose."

Fu Mother also knew the third daughter-in-law had been getting some heatstroke these past few days and didn't want to embarrass her: "Fine, tell me what it is first."