Chapter 436: Bangeng's Regret

Worry surged into the hearts of Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu.

What can we do about this?

If someone really takes a fancy to their Jia Family house and completes the payment procedures at the street office, Qin Huairu's family will have to move out.

By then, not only would Bangeng be unable to find a house to marry, but even the Jia Family mother‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law who had lived in the house for decades would have to roll away in disgrace.

Just thinking about ending up sleeping on the streets.

In an instant, the thought of causing a ruckus with the neighbors vanished, as did the idea of targeting Shazhu's house; Jia Zhangshi followed behind Qin Huairu, and the two widows ran one after the other toward the street office.

They arrived at the street office.

They saw many people queuing, and some were paying money.

Stacks of banknotes.

Seeing this, Jia Zhangshi's heart was in turmoil.

So much money!

Because they arrived relatively late,

they ended up at the back of the queue.

Amidst their grievances,

some talk about houses flew into the ears of the Jia Family mother‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law.

"Comrade, I have a question: if in our Dayuan, some households refuse to pay the lump‑sum rent, while other neighbors in the Dayuan have a need for housing, could we spend money to buy the house of those who refuse to pay?"

Since the content concerned the Jia Family, Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu immediately perked up, listening intently to the street office worker's reply.

"If the other party refuses to pay rent, does not seek to resolve the rent issue, and also refuses to move out of the original house, this invisibly causes a loss to the street office; essentially it is a bullying act, which we sternly condemn. In such a case, if someone else has a need for housing and has enough money to support paying the rent, the house can be owned by the neighbor who pays the money. If, even knowing that someone else has bought their house, the party still refuses to move out, the street office will intervene—detain and arrest as needed."

Jia Zhangshi's heart.

rose to her throat.

On Qin Huairu's face.

also appeared a miserable expression.

The Jia Family mother‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law secretly groaned in misery.

Truly, whatever one fears, that is what comes.

Indeed, someone really is eyeing their Jia Family house.

It concerns their own interests.

They couldn't worry about much else.

Turning back, they retraced their steps toward the Siheyuan.

All the way, they said nothing.

Returning home, Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi each wore a look of utter despair on their faces—the old widow's hardship, the young widow's suffering.

Both were helpless.

What can be done about this?

Even a clever woman cannot cook without rice.

Who let the Jia Family have no money? They originally had some spare cash, but because Bangeng slept with a widow, they ultimately paid a heavy price of one thousand.

The crucial money was spent.

Yet Bangeng still married a widow who brought three children.

As a widow‑rich family, Jia Zhangshi not mentioning it, just saying Qin Huairu saw through Bangeng's future at a glance, estimating that the Jia Family truly would end up with no heirs and the incense line cut off.

Just thinking that their family house might not be kept.

Jia Zhangshi felt anger surge to her heart.

She began to weep bitterly.

"Unlucky child, she is unfilial—how could she go to the countryside on her own? For such a big matter as marriage, she didn't even notify us; does she still have this grandmother in her eyes, does she still have this mother?"

She scolded Xiao Dang.

Whether it was her initial departure without notice, or her marriage in the countryside, Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu, as Xiao Dang's relatives, were completely unaware of this.

According to Jia Zhangshi's thinking, Xiao Dang's appearance in the surrounding few street offices would be ranked first.

The matchmaker who came to propose marriage stepped on and broke the Jia Family's threshold.

But because she ran to the countryside, Jia Zhangshi pointlessly lost five hundred; if she had those five hundred, the Jia Family would not face the situation of losing their house to a buyer while having nowhere to live—the anguish in her heart cannot be explained by a single miserable word.

Jia Zhangshi wept.

Qin Huairu also wept.

Having no place to live, she too would have to wander the streets.

"How can this life be managed? How could a perfectly good house become private property? How could those people do this? Why is my fate so bitter? Without a house, where am I to live?"

Her voice split the void.

It flew into the ears of everyone in the Siheyuan.

Those unaware of the situation mistakenly thought the Jia Family mother‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law were causing trouble again, while those who knew the truth understood why the Jia Family women cried more than they urinated.

One sentence.

It's all about money.

They also blamed Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi for not knowing how to behave; in previous years, relying on the title of the Yagangchang know‑mistake‑correct‑long‑study group, although they did not bully the neighbors like Liu Haizhong did, they everywhere showed an air of superiority over the neighbors.

This amounted to offending all the neighbors.

……

A certain village in Dongbei.

Bangeng sat on a stool with a gloomy face.

As the village's educated youths gradually returned to their original families, the once bustling educated youth compound grew desolate; within a radius of twenty to thirty li, among seven or eight villages, the only educated youth still remaining in the village was Bangeng of the Jia family.

It's not that he didn't want to go back.

But he simply had no way to go back.

On one hand, he had married a widow with several children; on the other, returning to the city required completing relevant procedures—the widow's father-in-law was the head of the production team, her own father was the head of the people's commune, and Bangeng's application to return to the city, after being submitted to the team, was often sent straight back the same way.

Bangeng knew.

This was the widow's way of retaliating against him.

One month after the marriage.

The widow then gave Bangeng a stern warning: you may return to the city, but you must bring my mother and a few others; otherwise, if you disagree or don't bring the widow's mother and three others back to the city, you will never be able to return in this lifetime.

Bangeng had thought of a way.

That is, divorce.

But to divorce he also had to file a divorce application.

Just like with the city-return application, as soon as he submitted the divorce application, it was sent straight back to him the same way.

Besides being ineffective and unable to dissolve the marriage, Bangeng also got a scolding.

In front of the whole village.

They scolded Bangeng until he was drenched in filth, openly saying he was a fickle man who liked whoever he saw, a bad man, and gave him the nickname Chen Shimei.

Bangeng trembled all over with anger.

Yet he had no solution at all.

He had thought of running away.

In the end, the idea of running away was extinguished.

To describe it with a common saying.

The world is vast, yet there is not a single place for Bangeng to take refuge.

It's obvious: since Bangeng cannot divorce, even if he went to the city he would still be the widow's later husband and the stepfather of those children.

He also blamed Liu Guangfu and the others for being bastards, as they had clearly revealed Bangeng's address in the capital city.

Moreover, Bangeng had no money in his pocket.

Thus, the idea of escaping amounted to mere talk on paper.

This is also why Bangeng's heart is as cold as ashes; he feels on the verge of collapse—though they are all sent-down youths, why do Liu Guangfu and Yan Jiekuang have no troubles, while he ends up marrying a widow and being unable to return to the city?

The depression in his heart.

It cannot be described in words.