Chapter 414: The 90s Contrast System (17)

"Is this news reliable?"

Zhu Weiguo couldn't help but tighten his grip on the unlit filter cigarette in his hand.

Zhou Ru also suppressed her excitement as she looked at her stepdaughter.

Zhu Meijiao nodded: "I was waiting for a three-wheeled taxi when I heard a man who looked like a Cadre whispering about it with people from our village. I've had sharp ears since I was little; I couldn't have heard wrong."

"That's fantastic!"

Zhu Weiguo and Zhou Ru looked at each other, their eyes filled with anticipation and joy.

They had both heard the news about a village south of the city that had undergone collective relocation in the first half of the year, instantly transforming from just getting by to becoming millionaires. They never expected their luck to be so good that He Wan Village would be next.

If they really were relocated, their family of three, plus the homestead, could be compensated with quite a bit of money; perhaps they could even get over a million.

Amidst her joy, Zhou Ru stated her position: "I'll go back to my maiden home tomorrow to transfer my household registration."

She paused, then asked tentatively: "Does your sister's registration need to be moved here too?"

Logically speaking, the compensation standards for farmland relocation are different from those for homesteads. Homesteads are calculated based on area and surface attachments, having nothing to do with how many people are in a household. Only farmland is determined by the number of people on the household register; the more people in the same household, the higher the farmland relocation compensation fee.

But how could Zhu Meijiao possibly agree to let Xie Yang's household registration be moved in?

She would rather lose the farmland compensation for one person than let Xie Yang take a single cent of advantage from the Zhu Family.

"Auntie Ru, it's not that I'm unwilling, but moving a household registration is a big deal. You married my dad, so it's only natural you can move it to our village, but Sister is, after all..."

She paused, and with a tone of acting for the family's good, she said:

"We should still be cautious, lest others guess and follow suit. If the higher-ups discover our village suddenly has so many extra people and have to pay out so much more compensation, and they get angry and cancel the relocation, wouldn't that be a case of the loss outweighing the gain?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Meijiao is the one who thinks things through! You truly are an educated person!" Zhou Ru nodded in agreement, "I'll listen to you; I'll only move my own."

Zhu Meijiao took the opportunity to say: "I feel like Sister hasn't been in a good mood lately. Could it be that she misses her maternal grandparents and uncle too much? When I was sick before, I used to miss my maternal grandparents so much I wished I could sleep with my grandmother every night."

Zhou Ru sighed: "Your sister, after being out for a year, has become sharp-tongued and does whatever she pleases. Even if you didn't mention it, I was planning to send her back to Zhou Family Village. There will be a lot to deal with when the demolition starts, so I want to avoid her causing us trouble."

Even if Meijiao hadn't mentioned it, Zhou Ru had indeed planned to send Xie Yang back to Zhou Family Village for a while.

This girl had been spending too much money lately, constantly running out to buy things on credit.

Every chicken, duck, Fish, and goose raised in the village had been bought on credit by her.

If this continued, who could afford it?

Furthermore, didn't she complain that the Zhu Family wouldn't let her live in the sunny room? Didn't she have her eye on the sunny room in the old house? Then she could move back and live there!

Just like that, the family of three hid from Xie Yang to hold a family meeting.

After reaching a consensus, Zhou Ru went to find Xie Yang.

【Host, System knows why she took the initiative to persuade you to move back to the old house. It's because Zhu Meijiao heard a rumor that He Wan Village is being demolished in its entirety. Zhou Ru is in a rush to return to Zhou Family Village to move her registration, and since she doesn't want you to benefit, she wants to send you back to Zhou Family Village.】

Xie Yang: "???"

The entire He Wan Village is being demolished?

Zhou Ru wants to move her registration to the Zhu Family?

There was no mention of this in the memories the original owner left behind from her past life!

Wait!

Could it be that the words she said to Yang Taohua were spread as a rumor?

This...

Xie Yang twitched the corner of her mouth; she couldn't be blamed for this.

She had clearly told Yang Taohua not to spread it.

In fact, Yang Taohua hadn't spread it; she had only quietly told her own father, asking him to go and work on her grandparents' thinking.

The work was done, but Yang Laotai couldn't keep her mouth shut and let a few things slip at her youngest son's repair shop.

It was overheard by someone with ulterior motives, and it evolved into the great news that "He Wan Village is about to undergo total demolition."

"Did you remember everything I told you?"

After talking for a long time without hearing a peep from the dead girl, Zhou Ru irritably urged her again:

"You're coming back to Zhou Family Village with me tomorrow. You've been clamoring to go back and live in the old house, haven't you? Now you've got your wish, haven't you?"

Xie Yang wasn't as anxious as she was: "If you want me to move back tomorrow, that's fine, but give me back my wages. Otherwise, I'm not moving."

"!!!"

Zhou Ru had no choice but to discuss it with her husband and stepdaughter.

Zhu Weiguo didn't have any money on hand either.

Zhu Meijiao had even less money; she still had to ask the family for her own living expenses.

But she wasn't willing to let Xie Yang stay at home eating and doing nothing, watching the progress bar shrink shorter every day.

Sending Xie Yang back to Zhou Family Village to fend for herself in those three dilapidated rooms might just save the progress bar.

Even if it couldn't be saved, out of sight was still better than the current situation.

So she persuaded her father and stepmother: "Dad, Auntie Ru, it's only seven thousand, just give it to her. Once the demolition compensation comes down, we'll have a hundred times seven thousand."

"Fine!" Zhu Weiguo stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, and said, "I'll go find the foreman and borrow some."

That evening, Xie Yang received the seven thousand yuan in wages that Zhu Weiguo had advanced from the foreman.

"Are you satisfied now?"

Zhou Ru threw a paper-wrapped bundle of money into her arms with a straight face:

"Get up early tomorrow and come back to Zhou Family Village with me. Since you don't treat this place as home, then go back and live in the old house yourself. Whether you use this money to treat an illness or spend it all on your laziness, do whatever you want, just don't come looking for me when it's gone. I can't afford a daughter like you."

Xie Yang nodded: "I return those exact words to you. Whether you cherish Zhu Meijiao like the apple of your eye or treat me, your own daughter, like an outsider, it's all up to you. Just don't come looking for me when you're old; I can't afford a mother like you."

"You!"

"Bang!"

The answer to Zhou Ru was the crisp, clean sound of a door slamming shut.

Watching the attic door close, Zhou Ru's chest heaved with anger.

This daughter was beyond saving!

Originally, she had only wanted her to live in the old house for a while, and once the demolition was settled and things were arranged, she would let her move back.

No matter what, since she had brought her along when she remarried into the Zhu Family all those years ago, the Zhu Family would always keep a room for her; this was what Weiguo had promised her back then.

Now it seemed, it would have been better to let her fend for herself in the old house!

Seeing her just made her angry!

An ungrateful Wolf that couldn't be tamed or warmed!

She was truly just like her heartless and cold-blooded father!

In her own room, Zhu Meijiao clearly heard the argument between Xie Yang and Zhou Ru.

Although she was unwilling to have seven thousand yuan taken away by Xie Yang, the moment she thought about how her family would soon face demolition—with several mu of land per head, plus one and a half mu of homestead land, and comparing it to the demolition standards of that village south of the city—her family could receive at least five units of Relocation Housing, or if they chose compensation instead of houses, they could get six or seven hundred thousand.

Thinking that before long her family would leap into the ranks of the wealthy, Zhu Meijiao's mood was extremely joyful.

Now she just hoped that after Xie Yang returned to the old house in Zhou Family Village, her life would be full of dissatisfaction, and she would once again become her foil, bringing her a steady stream of Contrast Value energy.