Chapter 479: Huairu, take some time to bring Bangeng back

It's not just that Jia Zhangshi told Shazhu to sell the house and immediately made over six hundred.

Envy is envy.

But she knows that under the current rules, one can improve one's life a bit by putting in labor or mental effort.

The old lady who used to make shoes together with Jia Zhangshi now makes shoes for money, producing three pairs of cloth shoes a week, each pair netting one yuan, so she can earn at least over ten yuan a month.

Jia Zhangshi also wanted to learn to make shoes for money, but the Jia family's dire circumstances no longer allow her to improve her life by making cloth shoes for cash.

In about twenty days.

If the Jia family cannot come up with the money to buy the house.

Then this house will have no relation whatsoever to the Jia family.

By then, the Jia family won't even be allowed to stay in the siheyuan, let alone live there—the neighbors won't permit it.

Three years of silence, then a single cry that astonishes all.

Jia Zhangshi is hatching a huge plan to once and for all solve the Jia family's housing problem.

The key to breaking the deadlock.

It lies with the three Liu brothers.

Jia Zhangshi plans to report the matter of Liu Guangtian and his two brothers buying the house at a high price; even a dim-witted Laoqianpo knows that behind the Liu brothers' house purchase lies a secret unknown to outsiders—not the childhood memories they claim, nor filial piety, but something else.

She hasn't yet figured out exactly what it is, but she knows this is her only chance to save the Jia family's house.

The night before last.

Yan Fugui convened a special meeting of the big courtyard, where he spoke about settling scores after autumn and urged the neighbors to report any clues to the street office.

Jia Zhangshi felt moved.

During the day, she paid special attention to such matters—some were praised, some rewarded, and some scolded.

Jia Zhangshi had a strong premonition that reporting the Liu brothers would earn her a reward from the street office.

This is also why she looked pleased.

And she even went so far as to make dinner—something unprecedented.

Waiting for Qin Huairu to return home exhausted at night, having just washed her face and hands and preparing to cook, she saw Jia Zhangshi swiftly lay out the prepared dinner before her.

Qin Huairu was dumbfounded.

Is this really that lazy, gluttonous mother-in-law? She actually let Qin Huairu have a ready-made meal.

Courtesy always comes with an ulterior motive.

Her heart instinctively leapt to her throat.

Looking at Jia Zhangshi.

With a puzzled look.

Seeing Qin Huairu on guard against her, Jia Zhangshi felt a flicker of displeasure, but then recalling what she had done to Qin Huairu in the past...

She then felt relieved.

If she were in Qin Huairu's place, being constantly manipulated by the mother-in-law, she would have quit long ago—it's hard for Qin Huairu to have endured this long.

As her age gradually increased, Jia Zhangshi seemed to have seen through the myriad aspects of life.

Toward Qin Huairu.

She no longer had that kind of manipulation toward Qin Huairu as before.

"Huairu, Mom wants to apologize to you. Over these years, I've made you suffer. Let me say something from the bottom of my heart: Mom knows you've suffered, and Mom knows you want to find support for yourself, but because of me, you've come to nothing. Don't blame Mom; Mom also has no choice. If you remarry, the Jia family would no longer be the Jia family. Even if you bring your three children—Bangeng, Xiao Dang, and Huaihua—when you remarry, what would Mom do? People marry you, Qin Huairu, not because they lack a mother. So Mom has been acting shrewish toward you, always putting on a shrewish act in front of the neighbors, just to create the reputation of a wicked mother-in-law, to block your path to remarriage. All that is in the past now. If you want to remarry, go ahead; Mom will absolutely not stand in your way."

Those words.

Her words brought Qin Huairu to tears like rain.

Her tears flowed like water from an opened gate, continuously streaming down her cheeks.

If you want to remarry, then remarry.

She is already forty-four this year; Bangeng married a widow and faces the difficulty of returning to the city; Xiao Dang married an old bachelor over ten years her senior and also faces the difficulty of returning to the city; Huaihua didn't go to the countryside, but faces the difficulties of further education, finding work, and getting married.

The Jia family's house faces the danger of being confiscated.

Under these circumstances.

Not to mention that no one wants Qin Huairu; even if someone did, they wouldn't agree to marry her.

The fact lying before our eyes.

Do you really think they're fools?

Moreover, the current Qin Huairu, after over a decade of cleaning latrines, is not only aged and faded but has also lost the charm of the former Yagangchang belle, and moreover carries a faint stench.

Jia Zhangshi urged Qin Huairu to remarry.

Saying it is tantamount to saying nothing.

Moreover, Qin Huairu's reputation isn't very good either.

Several years ago.

She once married a man named An Jiahe, who beat her day and night, causing the neighbors in the courtyard to feel a faint sympathy for Qin Huairu.

Frankly, An Jiahe's treatment of Qin Huairu was like catching a mischievous little devil.

Speaking of which, it's also strange.

Ever since An Jiahe began beating Qin Huairu daily, she surprisingly stopped committing any faults as a woman; however, due to some reasons, An Jiahe mysteriously disappeared, and because of this, Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi were specially summoned to the police station for questioning, but ultimately, due to lack of evidence, the matter came to nothing.

Shazhu's home.

Yu Li looked at the money before her.

Her mind was dazed.

She was truly frightened by the Liu Guangtian brothers' act of buying a house, and even more stunned by her own man's grand gesture; she had thought making a profit of a hundred yuan by reselling would already shatter her notion of how fast money could be made, but she didn't expect that Shazhu, on top of that, would increase it severalfold.

Originally, the Liu family's house.

Yu Li spent three hundred sixty.

Who could have imagined that, just over ten days later...

The Liu family's house was sold by Shazhu for a full one thousand, and the buyer was still the seller's son.

Such a god-like turn.

It left Yu Li unable to pull herself away for a long time.

Their gaze stayed fixed on the money from start to finish.

They couldn't help swallowing several mouthfuls of saliva.

"Kid's dad, I'm not dreaming, am I?"

"Not dreaming."

"With so much money, how should we spend it, and when will it last?"

"Take it slow spending it, Weiguo's grown up—should he get a wife? Xianghong's grown up—should she marry? Jian Guo, Xiao Hong, Shitou and the others—food, drink, and bodily needs all cost money." Shazhu took out two hundred from the one thousand, stuffed it into his own pocket, the remaining eight hundred he handed to Yu Li, saying, "You keep this money safe."

"I'll go deposit it in the bank tomorrow."

Adding these eight hundred, the family has a total of thirty-five hundred in cash, four Yagangchang quotas exchanged for twenty-four hundred, and there's still one quota that Shazhu hasn't acted on.

Keep this money.

It was meant to be a jointly operated Bai Xu restaurant.

However, due to certain irresistible factors, the Bai Xu restaurant became nominally under Yagangchang's jurisdiction, but in reality remained independent of Yagangchang's system.

The money was kept at home.

After all, that's not very safe.

Earlier, when Yu Li was at home, before the Bai Xu restaurant was to open in a few days, Shazhu had already settled the terms with Yu Li, and Yu Li went to work as the hall manager at the Bai Xu restaurant.

A true husband leads, wife follows.

This is also something Yu Li has long looked forward to.

She also didn't want to spend her life just eating and waiting to die, always revolving around the stove or around her husband and children; she had to live for herself at least once.

"Just handle it as you see fit."

"Kid's dad, what's going on with Guangtian and them? How did we end up buying back their old house just like that? Just now when I went to the toilet, I heard many people talking about it. Right, Third Aunt even congratulated me, saying our family made a fortune."

"You know Liu Haizhong became team captain, you're not unaware; I reckon there must be something at home."

"Then what about us?"

Yu Li's tone.

carrying a hint of confusion.

Not to mention her.

Many in the courtyard didn't understand why Shazhu sold the house for just one thousand; just from the Liu brothers' behavior, one could tell this wasn't simple.

"Some things aren't just taken; holding them burns your hands."

Upon hearing Shazhu's explanation.

A flicker of lingering fear crossed Yu Li's face.

It was only after Shazhu's reminder that she recalled certain things.

"Kid's dad, our mom came to our house this morning and told me something—you know Wang Xiaofeng from the big courtyard, right?"

Workers of the textile mill.

He could be considered a Liu Haizhong who isn't actually Liu Haizhong.

He also became the team captain of the textile mill.

Then he was removed.

"The son of the textile mill's boss came back, saying he was some sort of foreign whatever merchant, produced a list of his family's assets, the Security Section found many items in Wang Xiaofeng's home, all belonging to that textile mill boss. Originally Wang Xiaofeng had enjoyed twenty years of free meals, but hearing they'd switch to peanuts, his son and daughter also went in to keep him company, and his wife fainted on the spot."

"Let's not meddle in the Liu family's affairs; we just need to live our own good lives."

Shazhu glanced outside at the neighbors idly chatting, and seemed to hear similar talk about the Liu family.

Just from the neighbors' reaction.

The Liu brothers can't have anything good.

If it weren't for the public high-price house purchase.

Their affairs could still proceed covertly.

Buy the house back for one thousand.

That in itself is a topic.

The neighbors aren't stupid; naturally they'd think about this treasure, and the Liu brothers wanting to secretly dig for treasure isn't easy.

There were enthusiastic neighbors in the courtyard, under the pretense of enjoying the cool, who squatted in the back yard, eagerly listening to the movements inside the Liu family's old house.

Crucially, the Liu brothers weren't united.

They each harbored their own ulterior motives.

They all feared the other would swallow the treasure alone; after the house was transferred to the Liu brothers, the three brothers all crowded into the Liu household, eating, drinking, and bodily functions together.

This matter appears to have Shazhu at a loss.

In fact, Shazhu profited, earning several hundred more, and shoved the trouble onto the Liu family.

He began to instruct Yu Li.

"Wife, we don't know anything about this matter, we just know the Liu brothers spent one thousand to buy back their old house."

"As the head of the household, I know what to say." Yu Li seemed to recall something, and said to Shazhu: "Kid's dad, have you figured out how to settle Weiguo's matter?"

Weiguo!

What's wrong with him?

Shazhu furrowed his brow.

Staring at Yu Li.

I couldn't figure out what was wrong with He Weiguo.

「You're muddle‑headed, talking about going to the countryside—Weiguo is fifteen now; in two years he'll be old enough to go to the countryside, and the Bangeng situation—you know that too—I can't bear to lose Weiguo; if something happens to him, how can I go on living? 」

Shazhu shook his head, unable to speak.

He understood Yu Li.

After all, she's a mother.

Some things can't be said to Yu Li; even if you tell her, she won't believe them—for instance, in two years the subsidy for going to the countryside will be cancelled, so even if Shazhu tells Yu Li now, she'll still worry.

All I could do was awkwardly comfort Yu Li, spouting pointless nonsense like "I'll figure something out later" and "I'll get Weiguo a job at the restaurant."

……

「Mom, what's going on with the neighbors? When I came back, I heard them talking about buying houses, about a thousand dollars—what's going on? 」

Qin Huairu was drinking thin porridge.

She was nibbling on a steamed bun.

Eagerly, she turned to Jia Zhangshi and asked.

Having finished dinner, Huaihua, who was busy with her homework, answered for Jia Zhangshi.

「Mom, Uncle Shazhu sold the old Liu family's house in the backyard to Guangtian and his gang—do you know how much they paid? 」

One finger.

He held it up in front of Qin Huairu.

「One thousand dollars—exactly one thousand. I've lived this long and never seen so much money. Uncle Shazhu is amazing—he sold a 360‑dollar house for a full thousand. 」

「Ah! 」

Qin Huairu exclaimed in surprise.

The Liu family's buying back their old house had already frightened her; the fact that Shazhu opened with a bid of one thousand and the Liu family countered with one thousand frightened her even more.

She glanced around the Jia family's house.

A faint bitterness welled up.

One thousand.

She estimated it could buy two Jia family houses.

Is this the gap between people?

The Jia family was still worrying about whether they could keep their house, while over there Shazhu had already earned over six hundred dollars from the house.

Ah.

A sigh.

It came from Qin Huairu's mouth.

「Mom, on my way back today I saw someone advertising a rental— the room is a bit smaller than our Jia family's house, the location isn't great, and it's five dollars a month. 」

Jia Zhangshi understood Qin Huairu's meaning.

Nothing more than: they can't keep the Jia family house and don't want to go back to their rural hometown, so they can only rent a place to live.

Five dollars a month.

That's indeed expensive.

But there's nothing we can do about it being expensive.

Who let the Jia family have no money and no ability?

「Huairu, you know— the mother of Erlazi? 」

「What's wrong? 」

「His mother makes cloth shoes to earn money, she can subsidize the family with over ten dollars a month; if we really have no other choice, Mom can make shoes to earn money, Bangeng will need money when he comes back, Xiao Dang will need money when he comes back— right, after you're done, take some time to go see Bangeng, check what went wrong there, why everyone else has come back but Bangeng hasn't, even if he married a wife, they should at least give us an explanation— we can't let our Bangeng spend his whole life in the countryside. 」

「Let's do it in a few days—I'll take a day off. 」

「If that really doesn't work, we could bring that widow back. 」

Jia Zhangshi made two preparations.

That widow initially chose Bangeng for these reasons:

One reason is that Bangeng is easy to manipulate and fell into their trap without thinking; the other is that she wanted to follow Bangeng back to the city to enjoy a good life.

An arm can't twist a thigh.

They wouldn't let Bangeng come back alone.

So they could only come back as a couple.

At worst, we could try to break up Bangeng's marriage and drive the widow out of the Jia family.