Chapter 90: Renting a Courtyard

In fact, Factory Director He was not as stingy as he made himself out to be; besides the two job positions, there was also a cash reward of fifty yuan, which likely also carried the intent of winning her over.

Since Factory Director He had offered it, An Yinan just accepted it with a smile.

Deputy Factory Director Feng gave An Yinan a major privilege that truly moved her, and it was also the reason An Yinan thought they could continue to cooperate in the future.

Deputy Factory Director Feng gave An Yinan the privilege of picking through flawed fabric as she pleased.

She didn't know about others, but she had bought flawed fabric before; it was perfectly fine for making clothes, and the quality of the fabric was very good. If one were to look for these old fabrics in later generations, it would be quite troublesome.

She also wanted to take this opportunity to hoard more fabric; whether she could use it or not, she would just hoard it first.

After coming out of the Textile Factory, Liu Mei and An Yinan discussed it and went straight to the State-run Restaurant.

Because An Yinan had ordered meat buns, breakfast early this morning was meat buns and millet porridge.

An Yinan didn't have much else, but she did have quite a few odds and ends of daily necessities; however, she hadn't brought her back basket today, so it was inconvenient to take them out.

Next time she came to the County, she could bring some for everyone. Working so hard so early, a large part of it was for her own reasons.

"Three hundred meat buns. It's cold now, so whatever we have will keep well, and everyone steamed a few extra." Liu Mei took three large white bags from the back kitchen. Now the white bags were almost running out; she really had given this little girl too much.

"Thank you all. Next time I come, I will definitely bring you gifts," An Yinan said.

When everyone heard there were gifts, their eyes were filled with excitement; after all, the soft towels from last time had left a deep impression on them.

The towels bought at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative would more or less have loose dye, and they would also shed lint. At the very beginning, right after wiping one's face, one could feel a pile of fuzz.

But the towels An Yinan brought over not only had no loose dye at all, but they didn't shed any lint, and they felt soft when wiped on the face.

After An Yinan said goodbye to everyone at the State-run Restaurant, she wanted to rent a courtyard.

She had recently discovered that it was quite inconvenient to store many things in the small woods; it would be better to have a house of her own, where she could have people transport things in, and it would also provide a public address.

An Yinan circled the alley a few times but didn't find a very suitable place, which was when she thought of Chen Shao; she should go ask Uncle Chen.

As an outsider, her access to information was not very fluid.

"Eh? Rare. How come you little girl came to the City again today?" Chen Shao was still sunning his books; the sun had been quite good these past few days, and he needed to hurry and sun these books.

"Uncle Chen, do you know where there is a suitable courtyard? I want to rent one." An Yinan started straightforwardly. Uncle Chen knew her income and her background, so there was no need to hide anything.

Chen Shao thought for a moment, "I actually do know of two places, but why are you renting a courtyard? Did you have a falling out with someone in the village?"

Thinking of An Yinan's age, she was at the prime of her youth, and it was normal to have a falling out with others.

He was just afraid the little girl would suffer; after all, looking at her thin arms and legs, her strength was naturally very small, and if it came to a physical altercation, he was afraid she wouldn't be able to beat others.

This inherent impression also led to his shock later when he went to Quanshui Village and heard that An Yinan earned nearly one hundred Work Points in a single day.

An Yinan shook her head, "Sometimes large-scale translation requires a quiet environment. There are too many things going on in the village, and it's too noisy. Renting a house in the County makes it more convenient to do things."

Once Chen Shao heard that, he was relieved that nothing had happened.

"Let's go. Those two places aren't far from the Xinhua Bookstore. I'll take you to see them." Chen Shao put away his books, asked an acquaintance to help watch the shop, and then took An Yinan to the rental locations.

"This courtyard was confiscated and only recently released. The owner is an old man. He's old and doesn't want to move around, so he just wants to rent the courtyard out. However, he doesn't take money, only grain," Chen Shao introduced.

The courtyard had been damaged a bit, but the courtyard walls, the gate, and the things inside the house were not bad; with a little repair, one could move in.

And for An Yinan, this was a place to put on a front; it didn't matter if it was a bit dilapidated inside.

"What about the other place?" An Yinan still wanted to take a look; since there were two places, she wanted to choose.

The two walked for another ten minutes or so and arrived at the second place.

The second place was a bit small, but it was kept very well.

"One house was divided into two courtyards. The owner wants to rent out half of the rooms. They can separate the courtyard, and everything is already in the house; you can just move in with your luggage," Chen Shao introduced simply. He actually hoped more that An Yinan would choose the second one. Although it was only one room and one kitchen, at least there was no need to furnish it, and for a young girl, having more people around was safer.

But An Yinan directly rejected this house. She was renting a house in the County to keep things under wraps; under the watchful eyes of everyone, how could she hide anything? That would be like covering one's ears while stealing a bell!

"I want to talk to the owner of the first courtyard," An Yinan said.

Chen Shao frowned but did not object, "Have you thought it through?"

An Yinan nodded, "You know my translation habits; I need extreme quiet. You saw that courtyard too—there are children across the way, and it's a bit noisy, which will interrupt my train of thought. Besides, I won't be living in the courtyard; I'm just coming over to translate, so as long as it's quiet, that's fine."

Chen Shao nodded. If she wasn't living there, there was no problem with one person having a whole courtyard, and it could indeed guarantee quiet.

The first courtyard was indeed more suitable than the second.

"Alright, then I'll take you to meet the owner." Chen Shao thought to himself that if it didn't work out, he would come by and wander around from time to time to let those with ulterior motives know that there was someone looking out for the household.

The owner was an old man who actually didn't live far away. The old man's clothes were a bit dirty; he held a broom in his hand and was sweeping the street. The expression on his face was somewhat numb, and there were frostbite cracks on his hands.

"Old man, this is my niece. She wants to rent your courtyard," Chen Shao walked over and said to the old man who was sweeping.

The old man looked up at An Yinan, but there was no expression on his face; he only stopped the sweeping motion in his hands.

"Three catties of fine grain or five catties of coarse grain per month. No bargaining." The old man's voice was somewhat cold; even toward Chen Shao's enthusiasm, he showed no expression at all.

An Yinan nodded, "That's fine. Where do you live? I'll come to deliver the grain to you this afternoon."

The old man pointed to a courtyard behind him, "It's right here. After you deliver the grain, just go straight over. You need to take care of the things yourself; I don't provide anything."

An Yinan noted down the address of the courtyard and then nodded, "I understand."

Chen Shao asked doubtfully, "You're giving her the key just like that? I'll stand as guarantor."

The old man nodded and picked up the broom again, starting to sweep the street.