Chapter 214: Wanting to Have It Both Ways

Shazhu walked into Zhongyuan, Jia Zhangshi came running over all flustered, and said shamelessly:

"Shazhu, Shazhu, let me discuss something with you."

Shazhu: "Go ahead, go ahead."

Jia Zhangshi: "I've already discussed this with Bang Geng's mother."

"Would it be okay for you to live in the Deaf Old Lady's house in the back courtyard?"

After the Deaf Old Lady passed away, she left the house to Shazhu.

Qin Huairu had already set her sights on this house.

Shazhu said with a troubled look: "This, this really won't work."

"I'm not trying to scare you."

"Now, whenever I go into that house,"

"the old lady's shadow is always swaying before my eyes."

Hearing this, Jia Zhangshi couldn't help but shudder all over.

Shazhu then said: "Really, I'm not trying to scare you."

"That scene the day she left is unforgettable; this, this really won't do."

Jia Zhangshi said with a sullen face: "No, listen to me."

"Xiao Dang and Huaihua have grown up; now me, them, and Huairu, the four of us are crammed on one kang bed—it's really too crowded."

"Besides, Bang Geng has been back from the countryside work assignment for over a month."

"The kids have grown up; although we partitioned off a small room with some things, we can only fit a small bed in there."

"It's too much of a grievance for Bang Geng to live there."

"This also affects his future chances of finding a partner, right?"

"Your room is big; we could divide it into two larger rooms—me and Huairu in one, Xiao Dang and Huaihua in the other."

"As for Bang Geng, I just want him to live alone in our house; then, when his future partner comes over and sees how big the house is, wow, wouldn't that be a match for Bang Geng?"

"I, damn it, am already forty-one and still haven't found a partner."

"And that little brat Bang Geng has already found one?"

The more Shazhu thought about it, the angrier he got; he frowned and asked:

"Has Bang Geng found a partner?"

Jia Zhangshi: "Not yet, I'm talking about the future."

Shazhu: "Then let's talk about it later."

Jia Zhangshi: "No, it's really inconvenient for us now; the kids have all grown up."

"After all, Bang Geng is a boy, right?"

"Living together with us women is really inconvenient."

Shazhu: "Then let Bang Geng live in the back courtyard."

"To be honest, I'm really afraid."

"Besides, I don't want to see Xu Damao either."

Jia Zhangshi became a bit unhappy: "What are you afraid of? Did you do something wrong to her?"

Shazhu sulked: "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Jia Zhangshi: "Well, then what are you afraid of?"

"If you don't do shady deeds, you don't fear ghosts knocking on the door."

Shazhu: "That may be the saying, but I'm still afraid. Besides, I don't want to see Xu Damao either."

"Just seeing that person annoys me."

Jia Zhangshi: "You've studied martial arts with Lin Shengli; you could easily beat Xu Damao now—what are you still afraid of?"

"Besides, he's just an ordinary projectionist; he's no longer a leader at the steel mill."

"If he sees you now, he should be the one who's afraid—why are you afraid of him?"

Shazhu: "I'm not afraid; I'm just annoyed to see someone like him."

Saying that, he waved his hand and then said:

"Really, if this counts as me letting you down."

"I just really can't, really can't, ah."

After saying that, Shazhu walked toward his own home.

Jia Zhangshi watched his back, face sullen, and muttered to herself:

"How, how am I supposed to tell Bang Geng this? Bang Geng, once he gets involved with Shazhu, just explodes."

After returning home, Jia Zhangshi told Qin Huairu what Shazhu meant.

Qin Huairu thought for a moment and said: "Let's see how it goes; if it really doesn't work, we'll let Bang Geng live in the back courtyard."

Jia Zhangshi suddenly slapped her forehead and said: "I think it's good for Bang Geng to live in the back courtyard."

"After all, Shazhu's house is the He family's ancestral home; Shazhu might be reluctant to give it up."

"But the Deaf Old Lady's house is different, and it's not small either."

"If we live there, we won't move anymore; from now on, that house will be Bang Geng's."

Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu's ideas coincided.

However, Qin Huairu still wanted to take over Shazhu's house more.

Shazhu's house is a bit bigger.

Of course.

She would not let anyone know her thoughts.

Even Jia Zhangshi wouldn't allow it.

Thus, she put on a stern face and said:

"Mom, we can't think like that, especially we can't go outside and say it."

"This Deaf Old Lady left this house to Shazhu."

Jia Zhangshi gave Qin Huairu a look, snorted, and said nothing.

She merely thought to herself:

"Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? Wanting to have it both ways, hum."

Evening.

Qin Huairu's home.

The family was having a meal.

Xiao Dang came up holding a lunch box and said:

"Look, look, what is this?"

Huaihua exclaimed excitedly: "Great, it's sausage!"

Bang Geng's face sank, and he let out a muffled grunt.

Needless to say, he knew it was Shazhu who brought it back.

Xiao Dang sat down, looked at Bang Geng, and asked:

"Brother, won't you try some?"

Bang Geng glared at Xiao Dang, said nothing, but lowered his head and drank his congee.

Xiao Dang smiled, picked up his chopsticks, picked up a piece of sausage, and placed it in Bang Geng's bowl.

Can't let everyone look down on us.

Bang Geng furrowed his brows, displeased, and asked:

"What, I'm talking to you—what do you want to do?"

Xiao Dang wasn't angry either: "What are you glaring at?"

"I'm just looking out for you."

"Three years in the countryside, suffering hardship."

"I feel for you, why are you so ungrateful?"

Bang Geng gave a cold snort, took the sausage out and put it back in the lunch box, then continued lowering his head to drink his congee.

Actually, Bang Geng really wanted to eat the sausage.

After three years in the countryside, including over a month back, he hadn't seen much meat.

He had been craving it terribly.

But he felt he needed to have some backbone.

Qin Huairu let out a light sigh and said: "Alright, hurry up and eat."

"As soon as we're back, we start arguing."

Saying this, she looked at Bang Geng and continued:

"Bang Geng, Mom wants to discuss something with you."

Bang Geng said coldly: "No."

Qin Huairu: "You know what I'm talking about, yet you still won't go?"

Bang Geng: "Grandma already told me."

"Have me move to the Houyuan to live—I won't go."

Qin Huairu: "But you know our current situation, don't you?"

"I, your grandma, and your two sisters are crammed on one kang, very inconvenient, very tight—you know that, right?"

Bang Geng: "What do you mean? Then I'll go out and find a place to live myself."

"No problem, as long as you say the word, I'll go find a place to live on my own."

Qin Huairu let out a long sigh and said: "I don't mean that."

"Bang Geng, listen to Mom: actually that house isn't your Shushu's."

"It was left to the Eldest Uncle by the Deaf Old Lady."

"So you're not living in your Shushu's house."

Bang Geng said coldly: "Just keep talking, don't think I don't know anything."

"The Eldest Uncle hasn't had any contact with the Deaf Old Lady for ages—how could she still have left it to him?"

"Say something believable, okay?"

"Stop lying all the time."

"I'm not a little kid anymore."

Qin Huairu let out another long sigh and said:

"It's not like that; they've always been in touch, just not letting anyone know."

If you don't believe me, I'll call Eldest Uncle over, you can ask him.