Chapter 151: It

On the second floor, Wang Daye was sitting by the table, puffing away on a water pipe with a gurgling sound.

Like many others in the building, Wang Daye's children lived in a first-tier city and could only return once a year during the Lunar New Year.

His wife died early, so now the old man lived alone.

In fact, Wang Daye was also a bit unhappy about the matter of installing the Elevator.

They had come a few times, saying he wouldn't have to spend any money, but he didn't need the Elevator anyway, and he had heard someone say last time that it would block his light.

The lighting wasn't very good to begin with, and if an Elevator suddenly appeared in front, it would certainly block quite a bit.

But since they didn't bring it up, and they had been neighbors for many years, he really felt embarrassed to ask for money.

But if he didn't say anything and just let them build it, he still felt very uncomfortable.

So, for a period recently, Wang Daye had been unhappy.

The door was knocked, and Wang Daye got up to open it, saying, "Who is it? Coming, coming."

Opening the door and seeing who it was, Wang Daye was a bit surprised: "Xiao Zhou, when did you get back? Come, come, hurry in and sit."

Looking at what the other person was holding, Wang Daye feigned anger: "You coming is enough, why bring things? I'm not lacking food or drink."

"Alright, I'll go pour you a cup of tea. I have some good tea here that someone gave me!"

Like Liu Nainai, these older folks were very enthusiastic toward young people; whenever someone visited, they would treat them to all sorts of good food and drink.

Perhaps it was because their own children were not by their side.

"Here, Wang Daye, don't go to any trouble, I'm just sitting for a moment." Zhou Yi placed the items he brought on the coffee table and said hurriedly.

Whenever one visits, especially in this kind of situation, it is best to bring something.

As the saying goes, one can never go wrong with being polite!

"Sitting for a moment doesn't stop you from drinking tea," Wang Daye laughed heartily.

He soon poured the tea and brought it over, and after waiting for Zhou Yi to take a sip, he asked happily: "How is it? Good tea, right?"

Zhou Mouren, of course, would not say that he was like a cow chewing on a peony, unable to taste it at all.

"Good tea, truly good tea!"

Hmm... why does it always feel like I've said this somewhere before?

"Xiao Zhou, I heard your mom say last time that you went to Jingzhou. Why are you back again? Did you find a job, or did you find a partner?"

This rapid-fire question made Zhou Mouren almost spit out the tea in his mouth, and he hurriedly said: "Uh, no, no, I came back this time because of a matter."

Swallowing the tea, Zhou Yi then said: "Wang Daye, didn't we talk about this last time? Our building is going to install an Elevator."

"This is no small matter, so I thought I'd come back to take a look."

"I heard from my mom before that you know more about this, so I wanted to come up and ask what the progress is on this Elevator now and what the plan is."

"So it's about this," Wang Daye laughed: "You made a special trip for this. This Elevator, how should I put it? The kid from the family on the sixth floor told me a few days ago that it could be installed right away."

Hearing this, Zhou Yi's brows furrowed. Right away? Such a major event, and without much discussion, it's going to be installed right away?

"But Wang Daye, didn't my mom mention the issue of blocking light and noise before? Why is it going to be installed right away now?"

Wang Daye shook his head and said: "I don't know about that. Anyway, it has always been those kids from the fifth and sixth floors handling it."

Zhou Yi nodded, then added: "Then, has there been any mention of compensation for us residents on the lower floors?"

"There really hasn't been. It seems that from the moment they started discussing building the Elevator, there was none. When they came to find me, they didn't say anything about any compensation."

"They just told me not to worry, that the money for the Elevator would be covered by those upstairs, and that they definitely wouldn't make us on the first and second floors pay."

Zhou Yi was a bit puzzled upon hearing this; of course, he certainly wouldn't say this to Wang Daye.

He was just curious: were those people upstairs truly foolish, or were they pretending to be?

Those downstairs don't need the Elevator and shouldn't have to pay, but once the Elevator is built, issues like noise, light obstruction, and blocking the path all need to be resolved—did they never think about even a little bit of compensation?

Zhou Yi felt that it wasn't that he absolutely needed a certain amount of money, but that this money represented their gesture as neighbors!

If you don't even have that gesture and just say we must agree to install the Elevator for no reason, that really doesn't make sense.

Wang Daye didn't know too much either, so Zhou Yi planned to go to the Property Management to ask again; although it wasn't the same Property Management, he was familiar with this place.

However, just as he was chatting with Wang Daye, the door was knocked again.

Wang Daye laughed: "Today is not bad. This old man actually has so many people coming to visit. Good, good."

He joked while getting up to open the door.

Zhou Yi also smiled. Wang Daye was not young, but his spirit was quite good; it was very nice.

Why do many children nowadays feel that their elderly parents have truly become like children, always going against them?

Nothing is ever right; they are the particularly stubborn kind.

That is actually because the elderly have psychological issues.

Some people always think that giving their parents a meal is taking care of them, bringing the elderly to their side where they don't know anyone, and when they go out, there isn't even a place to walk.

We young people would have psychological issues if we stayed alone for a long time, let alone the elderly.

Wang Daye had already opened the door on this side and soon saw the person outside, a middle-aged man of about forty.

"Eh, Qiu Mingjun, you're here. Come, come, come in and sit."

Zhou Yi also stood up at this moment to show his welcome; it was the most basic politeness.

Wang Daye brought the person in and had already started introducing: "Qiu Mingjun, this is the kid from the Lao Zhou family on the first floor, Zhou Yi, who is currently in Jingzhou."

"Xiao Zhou, this is the eldest son of that old lady's family on the sixth floor, Qiu Mingjun."

Upon hearing the other person's identity, Zhou Yi's eyes flickered. Looking at the person opposite, he seemed a bit stunned as well, as if he hadn't expected to run into himself here at Wang Daye's place.

But after all, he was a middle-aged man, and he soon reached out his hand and said: "It's Xiao Zhou. Oh my, I used to hear your parents talk about you all the time. When I saw you before, you were still small..."

Zhou Yi also smiled: "Uncle Qiu."

"Not bad, Xiao Zhou, being able to stand on your own feet in Jingzhou now, that's good. You young people should go out and venture more."

Both sides exchanged pleasantries and sat down with smiles on their faces.

They chatted about all sorts of trivial matters, as if their relationship were exceptionally close.

Zhou Yi remembered that when he was young, he felt very dissatisfied with his parents always chatting and gossiping with friends and neighbors, thinking there was nothing worth talking about.

Every time he went to someone else's house, he was very unhappy; a bunch of adults would be chatting there, and he felt he would definitely not be like that in the future.

But now, he suddenly realized that he was chatting even more familiarly, even though, strictly speaking, it should be the first time both parties had met.

Perhaps it wasn't the first time, but in any case, they certainly hadn't spoken before.

During the chat, Zhou Yi also learned that this Uncle Qiu lived on the other side of Lincheng, and this place was where the elderly lived.

Zhou Yi could roughly guess what this person had come to find Wang Daye for; after all, as Wang Daye said, on ordinary days, no one would ever come to visit an old codger like him.

It's just that, you don't say it, I don't say it, and I'm not leaving either.

At worst, we'll just have a meal together at Wang Daye's house today!

Qiu Mingjun really hadn't expected Zhou Yi to be here; he had come today just to tell Wang Daye to sign the consent form in a day or two.

As for Zhou Yi's home on the first floor, Qiu Mingjun was conflicted because Zhou Yi's mother had previously mentioned how the noise and light-blocking issues would be handled.

How to handle it? How else could it be handled? This old Small Residential District renovation isn't the only one of its kind; what else could be done? Just handle it with money.

Copying someone else's homework is so simple; we just do what others did.

But, if it were really that simple, that would be great.

Everything sounds fine when talking, but once money is involved—and not a small amount—then it needs to be carefully considered.

Now, seeing that Zhou Yi wasn't leaving, Qiu Mingjun didn't quite know what to do.

After a few pleasantries, Wang Daye spoke up: "Mingjun, is there something you came for today?"

Qiu Mingjun couldn't lie; what could he say? Should he say, "Wang Daye, I just came to see you today because I had nothing to do"?

Are you kidding? He hadn't visited in eight lifetimes, and then he claimed to be visiting someone without even bringing anything in his hands—you call that visiting?

So, there was no other way; Qiu Mingjun could only say: "Well, Wang Daye, I mainly came today to talk to you about that Elevator matter."

"It's perfect that Little Zhou is here too, saves me from going to your place later, haha..."

Uncle Qiu was laughing, and Zhou Mouren was, of course, laughing along; that's right, just say what you have to say, why be so stifled?

"It's like this, Wang Daye, and Little Zhou, the preliminary plan for our Elevator has already been made, and I am now..."

Qiu Mingjun's words were interrupted by Zhou Yi just halfway through.

"Uncle Qiu, what Elevator?"

"Ah? Little Zhou, you don't know? Didn't your parents tell you?"

Zhou Yi shook his head; don't ask, asking means they didn't tell him.

Wang Daye's eyes were already wide open; he suddenly felt that this Zhou Yi, whom he had watched grow up, was not what he had imagined.

"It's just that our Small Residential District is an old Small Residential District, six stories high, and it has never had an Elevator. You see, there are so many elderly people upstairs who can't go downstairs many times a year."

"You also know that elderly people should walk around in the courtyard more; staying at home all the time can make them sick."

"It just so happens that the state now has subsidies for the renovation of old Small Residential Districts, so a few of us were thinking, let's install an Elevator too."

"That way, all these elderly people upstairs will be able to go downstairs whenever they want."

Hearing this, Zhou Yi nodded very seriously and said: "That's a good thing, Uncle Qiu; the elderly really should go downstairs more."

Seeing Zhou Yi's expression, Qiu Mingjun suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

So he said again: "And now our preliminary plan is basically finished. I came today to tell you, Wang Daye—yes, and you too, Little Zhou—about your family."

"In a day or two, we can sign that consent form."

"Don't worry, Little Zhou, the money for installing this Elevator, apart from the part subsidized by the state, will all be covered by the families upstairs; you don't have to spend a single cent."

Qiu Mingjun's face was glowing, looking very generous.

Hearing this, Zhou Yi looked at Wang Daye, then asked with some confusion: "Uncle Qiu, is it going to be built already?"

"That's right, as soon as the consent form is signed, the construction Company can move in."

Zhou Yi hesitated and said: "But Uncle Qiu, where will our Elevator be built? Is it being built outside the unit door?"

Qiu Mingjun nodded and said: "Yes, it can only be built there."

"But Uncle Qiu, if it's built there, it will block the living rooms of our house and Wang Daye's house!"

"Then the light in the living room will become very poor, and there will be a lot of noise when this Elevator is running. Have these problems been solved?"

Zhou Yi stated his questions.

He wasn't acting; in fact, regarding the renovation of old Small Residential Districts, is adding an Elevator a good thing? Of course it is!

Zhou Yi wasn't that kind of stubborn mule.

In some Small Residential Districts, people have already done everything they could, but unfortunately, there are still people who disagree and want to open their mouths like a lion; that certainly won't do.

But that doesn't mean you can just ignore these problems!

Qiu Mingjun's smile froze, and it took a while before he said: "Little Zhou, I don't know much about these things, but since it can be built, they should all be solvable."

"And actually, the impact isn't that big..."

"Whether the impact is big or not, it's still an impact."

Zhou Yi also saw it; this Uncle Qiu really didn't seem to have thought about giving any compensation.

"Little Zhou, this has all been decided after meetings by our Community Office and Property Management, and construction can start immediately."

A look of embarrassment appeared on Qiu Mingjun's face.

"Uncle Qiu, that's not right; how can it be decided? We didn't know anything, and it's already decided?"

This sounded a bit harsh, and this Uncle Qiu was a bit unhappy.

"Little Zhou, you can go to the Property Management and Community Office for this; you can also go to the sub-district office; they have already decided."

"Wang Daye, then it's settled."

After saying this, Qiu Mingjun turned and left.

"How about it, Little Zhou? Look at them, they've already settled everything with the Community Office and Property Management, they even held a meeting," Wang Daye said, looking at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi shook his head and smiled upon hearing this: "Wang Daye, don't be fooled by those words. What do you mean it's settled? This is about repairing an Elevator; if holding a meeting was enough to settle it, that would be outrageous."

"None of us have even agreed to it yet."

"But what about this... consent form?" Wang Daye expressed his confusion.

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said: "It's alright, Wang Daye. I'll ask a friend of mine later; that friend will definitely know."

In truth, Zhou Yi didn't know why the other party seemed to have everything completely under control, but with Fang Dazhuang around, Zhou Yi wasn't worried.

Property Management and the Community Office must be questioned, but before that, he had to consult Fang Dazhuang about this issue.

He made a phone call, and it was answered quickly. Zhou Yi roughly explained the previous issue and then said: "Fang Dazhuang, do you think there's a problem here? Can they just go ahead and repair it even if we don't agree?"

Fang Dazhuang on the other end of the line laughed upon hearing this: "I felt there would be trouble when you went back this time. See? Isn't the trouble knocking on your door again?"

"Regarding the Elevator installation, there are many such issues now with the renovation of old Small Residential Districts. No need to think about it; that person either doesn't understand it themselves, or they are just lying to you."

"Zhou Yi, you only need to remember one thing: any project that involves many people must have a public notice period!"

"And if you want to oppose it, you must do so in a very formal written format. You must never just say it with your mouth, understand?"

The update is here. This Elevator incident probably scrapped three outlines before finally having one that Jiu Jian is very satisfied with, plus there are many legal issues involved... In short, it's a bit troublesome, but basically everything is resolved now. Let's resume three updates tomorrow. Anyway, the Small Residential District is locked down, and I can't go anywhere while staying at home...

(End of this chapter)