Chapter 1690: Tie He Lian and Old Chen

Tie He Lian rode her tricycle, coming down from the mountain in a rush once again.

Old Chen was using a machine to churn the fermenting fertilizer; the smell in the air was not pleasant at all, but because they were in a hollow by the river, it hadn't spread out.

Having done this for a long time, he had gradually grown accustomed to it.

He just looked at the tricycle, which clearly wasn't piled high with withered branches and rotten leaves, and felt a bit curious:

"Didn't you say you were going to the peach orchard today to tidy things up properly? How come you're back so soon?"

The fruit orchard also required regular pest control and weeding.

Some weeds could shoot up a good length in three days; if you dragged your feet for two days without clearing them, not only would pests multiply, but it would also affect ventilation, making the trees more prone to disease.

This year, there were no fishing enthusiasts coming to do volunteer work, and the scale of the mountain had grown, so time had to be spent every day having employees tidy up.

But now.

There weren't many peach leaves, withered branches, or weeds in the tricycle bed; instead, there were more of the withered branches and wild grasses that had been piled to the side for fermentation.

That was why Old Chen asked his question.

Tie He Lian let out an "Aiyo" and hesitated: "I'll go later. Isn't another batch of ducklings about to hatch? I'm keeping an eye on things here."

Old Chen:???

It was early morning, the prime time for work. There was an incubator for the ducklings; what else was there to watch?

Hmph.

He thought to himself that Tie He Lian must be trying to slack off.

But he hadn't exactly been a model of diligence himself, so he wasn't one to talk.

In fact, once Tie He Lian entered the incubation room, sweating from the heat while watching the duck eggs about to break their shells, a smile she couldn't suppress appeared on her face.

Aiya!

Aiya!!!

Although her own marriage was unfortunate, watching people who looked like fairies fall in love made her heart feel sweet.

Sure enough, this sort of thing felt better when others were doing it.

Especially among the overlapping peach leaves, the young couple walking hand-in-hand on the grass, their pant legs dampened by the light dew, the two of them occasionally reaching out to brush aside peach branches, turning their heads to avoid them, their faces carrying soft, gentle smiles as they whispered something...

Aiyo, with her old face and thick skin, she felt like she shouldn't even be watching by accident.

It was strange to say, but when watching those TV dramas where men and women hugged and kissed, she didn't get this feeling at all!

The middle-aged woman didn't know what "ambiguous tension" was, but her pounding heart already let her know this feeling.

It was wonderful!

If her daughter could find a partner like this in the future, how great that would be!

But after fantasizing about the future for a while, she realized the duck eggs had been turned once, so she walked back out.

Blown by the cool river breeze, her mind instantly returned to business.

—She had saved up some money recently and was planning to buy a car.

When she took the bus in the morning, she heard the driver say that some of the new young staff at the clinic also wanted to buy one.

She heard that young people would look up all sorts of data online; although she had a driver's license, she didn't understand that, so she would have to ask around during lunch.

Tie He Lian timed it, and after another half hour or so, she continued riding her tricycle up the mountain.

Once the work had soaked her clothes with sweat, it meant it was time for breakfast.

She entered the canteen and, sure enough, saw the new faces from the clinic.

Just as she wanted to go over and say hello, she saw the other party already scooping food into their bowl with a large ladle, then rushing out without a moment's delay, lid snapped shut.

Tie He Lian:...

She still wanted to ask about the car!

Little did she know, Dr. Wu, on his first day of work, also had his own unspoken grievances.

The township clinic he had imagined should have been exceptionally leisurely, with few visitors.

But that imagination had already been shattered when they came for their interview yesterday.

But after all, it was the first day!

And most of the people were Proprietor Song's friends and family, so how could that count?

But why were there even more people today!

The difference was that today was Saturday, so fewer villagers came, which meant Dr. Wu gradually became idle.

But Dr. Guo was exceptionally busy.

In the entire clinic, all three physical therapy beds were packed with people.

Moxibustion, acupuncture, cupping, scraping...

Everyone was spinning around in a flurry!

Occasionally, when there was a minor issue, he attempted to take over, but who knew the patients didn't want him:

"I came specifically to see Dr. Guo. Dr. Guo, please don't have this new doctor handle me."

Dr. Wu:...

Reasonably speaking, his academic qualifications were actually higher than Dr. Guo's! He had even rotated in the emergency room for half a year!

But in this village clinic, no one cared about that.

Thus, his leisure seemed out of place.

In the end, he was also pressed into service, standing there, laboriously watching over silver needles or fire cups for others...

Sigh! After years of bitter study, he had still taken a few wrong turns!

But despite all the words, once he thought about the free room and board, and the canteen dishes that were exceptionally delicious whether meat or vegetable, he twisted the throttle of his electric scooter with even more vigor!

On the other side, Tie He Lian, who hadn't asked anything, could only regretfully return to the riverbank.

Old Chen saw this and asked her: "Are you really going to buy a car?"

Yeah.

Tie He Lian nodded: "I've asked around; a used car can be bought for ten or twenty thousand yuan. I'm not picky about it being old, as long as it runs."

"When my daughter comes back or something, I can drive to pick her up."

The two of them worked together after all; although Old Chen was a bit fond of taking advantage of others, generally speaking, he didn't have any major flaws.

After getting to know each other, they were very clear about each other's situations.

Tie He Lian originally thought Old Chen could give some reference, after all, he was so skilled at riding a motorcycle—they were both vehicles, so it should be the same principle.

But she saw Old Chen looking at her mysteriously:

"You really haven't heard?"

Heard what?

Tie He Lian was a bit bewildered.

"It's about our Proprietor wanting to acquire land in town to build houses!"

She had definitely heard of that.

Everyone in Yunqiao Village had heard of it.

It was strange to say; clearly, that land hadn't officially been acquired yet, but everyone spoke with such certainty, as if it were a settled matter.

"Then why are you still buying a car?"

Old Chen said to her: "Aren't you divorced? When your daughter comes back, she'll have the house money from her father and such, so you don't need to worry. You should put some thought into your own retirement!"

"This manual labor of ours can't be done until we're seventy or eighty."

The Proprietor did pay for the five social insurances and one housing fund, but because they were older, they would have to pay a huge sum to make up the pension insurance!

The two of them were hesitant because of this and hadn't taken action yet.

Tie He Lian frowned: "What does this have to do with our Proprietor's house? Do you want to buy one?"

Old Chen was able to secure such a stable job among the many unemployed people in town; his ability aside, his news and ideas were exceptionally different.

"Haven't you noticed? There are more and more out-of-town patients at Dr. Guo's side in our village."

"Every time I walk through the parking lot, I count them. It's only past nine today, and 11 out-of-town cars have already driven over."

And they were all from outside the province.

"You say, for so many people, if they have those difficult, major illnesses that require recuperation, don't they need to find a place to stay?"

A homestay would work, but even Zhang Zhang Yanping's discounted homestay rooms cost 3,000 yuan a month.

There were many empty houses in the village, but city people were used to living in cities and might not be able to adapt.

Mainly, most families hadn't renovated their houses yet; except for the Old Song family, the newest house built was over a dozen years old.

But town was different.

Not only was there a bus back and forth, but driving was also convenient.

Although the two of them lived in town, they lived in ordinary old houses, which couldn't compare to those apartment buildings.

"Anyway, houses are cheap now, and Proprietor Song said it's being built as employee dormitories, so we should get some discount if we buy."

"When the time comes, I'll see the market situation. If there are still so many patients, I plan to buy one."

He didn't count on appreciation, but when people get old, if they have a large sum of money in hand, they can't bear to hide it away if their children have some difficulties.

Giving to one and not the other easily leads to disputes.

Back and forth, I'm afraid the money will be drained before one can even stop walking.

If they really encounter a major event, they'll have to beg their children instead.

Old Chen couldn't stand that!

He calculated in his heart: "When the time comes, if I have such a house, the rent doesn't need to be much; wouldn't 800 yuan be enough for my food and drink?"

Of course.

There were also situations where he would lose more and more.

But wasn't the house still just a shadow?

Him thinking about it first and preparing the money was never a bad thing.

Tie He Lian wanting to spend twenty thousand yuan to buy a car at this time made him feel her head wasn't clear—

What's the car for? Taking the bus every day means no worries and no maintenance costs.

Picking up her daughter and such, how convenient is it to take a car in the city now!

Furthermore, the child is in college; how many times does she come back throughout the year?

Small people also have the survival wisdom of small people.

Old Chen's ideas might not be visionary, but he thought much more than Tie He Lian.

"Also," Old Chen taught her: "Look at us, we've worked ourselves to the bone our whole lives and haven't earned much money. But look at our Proprietor's friends; every one of them has ability."

"You say, the money of those rich people grows very fast. If we can't make up our minds, we should just look at what those rich people do."

If the house is in high demand, we must buy one no matter what.

If it's not in high demand... then for us small families, we'll just wait and see.

In short, spending twenty thousand yuan to buy a car, and then if the air conditioner breaks and needs repair, that's several hundred.

Adding gas, cleaning and maintenance, and what-not inspections, I heard you also have to pay for insurance...

"You say, for this car, you have to spend 10,000 yuan throughout the year, right?"

If you have to worry about gas money every time you drive somewhere, then frankly, it's better not to buy the car.

In short, Old Chen's survival wisdom was that he strongly advised against this.

Tie He Lian was greatly shocked.

Everyone is a working person; how can he think of so much?

To be honest, because she went to her ex-husband's workplace to beat him up and snatched the house and a large sum of money for her daughter, everyone who saw her had to praise her a couple of times...

She felt very satisfied in her heart!

Old Chen wasn't very honest, and she actually grumbled about him a couple of times.

But now, she really had to look at him with new eyes!

But as she pondered and pondered, Tie He Lian suddenly frowned and asked Old Chen again:

"But I heard you were looking at a used motorcycle recently, and it still cost over 10,000 yuan!"

Old Chen's expression stiffened.

"That's a motorcycle, that's different. Besides, I was just looking; I didn't buy it."

Can a man not have any hobbies?

Hmph!

In short.

He emphasized angrily: "I was just looking; I didn't buy it."

Tie He Lian looked at him with little trust:

"You'd better not buy it. Have you forgotten that when you first rode your motorcycle to work, the Proprietor wasn't happy about hiring you."

For this, he even bought him short-term insurance separately; now taking the bus is much more stable, right?

"The insurance for your riding is more expensive."

It was bought together for the employees, and calculated individually, it didn't cost too much, but in this matter, one shouldn't worry about scarcity but about inequality.

Others had specifications of several dozen or a hundred yuan, but his was more expensive, so it wouldn't be appropriate for others to hear that.

Old Chen:...

Old Chen didn't make a sound.

?? It's here, it's here! ===== CHAPTER 1691 =====