CHAPTER 17.2
The New Year is coming soon, and the occasional sound of firecrackers can be heard on the street. Li Xia gave them pocket money, and the three children happily ran to buy firecrackers to play with. Li Xia was cooking in the kitchen, and when she came to see them, she gave the children a piece of sweet potato.
”Oh, Mom, I forgot to tell you. My grandma came to look for you yesterday, but she left after waiting for you for a long time.”
”She didn’t tell you why she wanted to see me?”
Yi Yi, who was led in by Shen Hui, answered: “She wants to live in your previous house. I heard them talking.”
The house that her mother-in-law transferred to her has five rooms, three main rooms and two side rooms. The space of nearly 100 square meters is definitely enough to make people jealous in this era, but no matter how jealous she is, it is not her turn to make plans, right?
Housing is tight in the provincial capital now, and it is hard to find a rental house. She felt that something that shouldn’t have happened had happened. Just after breakfast, Mrs. Fang came again. This time the old couple came together. She was carrying something in her hand and went up to Yi Yi to hug the child and ask about his well-being.
After some polite conversation, he told Shen Haiyang that he wanted to rent his old house. “It’s two yuan a month. We don’t live here for free. Is that okay with you?”
Shen Haiyang still looked gentle: “That house belongs to my wife, you ask her. She is the one who makes the decision.”
They didn’t want to confront Li Xia, but they had to confront her. The old couple smiled at their former daughter-in-law, no longer having the momentum they had before.
”Li Xia, even though you two are divorced, we still have Huihua and Yiyi, right? Let’s not be biased, we are the grandparents of the two children after all. Especially since Yiyi is still with his father, he sent him to me to take care of him when his father couldn’t take care of him. My place is really small, and his second uncle and third uncle are getting married, and there is no place to put the beds at home. Yiyi can only sleep in a box with me when he comes. If you rent the house to us, it will be spacious for Yiyi to come.”
How dare you say that you let my son sleep on a box? There are three bunk beds at home, why do you have to let my son sleep on a box? He fell down at night without any cover.
”The house has been rented out, so forget it.”
”Who? Who rented it?”
Li Xia was about to say, “Why do you care if I want to give it to whoever i want?” But an old neighbor came to the gate. Liu Biao, who was preparing to build a house in the east, was stopped by her. The man replied from a distance, “Rent it to me.”
Old Lady Fang turned around and recognized him from a short distance away: “How much?”
”Six yuan.”
Old Mrs. Fang gritted her teeth and stamped her feet: “I’ll pay six yuan and one dime.”
Liu Biao sneered: “Oh, who cares about your dime?”
”Well, I’m taller than you anyway.”
Without Li Xia saying anything, Liu Biao started bidding. “I’ll bid seven yuan.”
Old Mrs. Fang was so overwhelmed by his sudden increase of 90 cents that her face turned red and her neck became thick with anxiety. “I’ll pay 7.1 yuan.”
”Eight.”
”Eight yuan ? That’s too expensive.”
”I am happy with it, it is none of your business.”
Without Li Xia’s intervention, Liu Biao had already pissed off Old Lady Fang. She had no good impression of either of the two, as they had bullied her before. So she spoke up at the right time.
”Eight yuan for the annex and nine yuan for the main house. It’s just right for you two families to split.”
This time, both families looked at her at the same time. You are too mean. We are in a hurry to use the house and you are taking advantage of the situation? She was dissatisfied in her heart but dared not offend her. After all, she said that she was not in a hurry on the day of moving, and she was reluctant to let others live in her house. She didn’t like the rent at all, let alone rely on it to make a living.
”Li Xia, you are also the mother of my grandson, so we are related…”
”Forget it, don’t try to be my relative.” After saying that, seeing that they were silent, she prepared to ride her tricycle. “Forget it if you don’t want to rent it. I won’t wait for the rice to cook anyway. Let’s go, I have to go out too.”
” I will rent it.”
Liu Biao was determined to stay single because of the housing problem. He finally met a man who said he would rent a house, but he had been looking for a suitable house for several days. He finally found one, so he couldn’t let it go even if it was expensive.
”Nine yuan, I want the main room.”
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Fang quickly said, “The main house is much bigger than the annex, and the lighting is better. The main house is nine dollars and the annex is eight dollars. The annex is a bit expensive, so I’ll give you three yaun less. How about five yuan?”
”Nine dollars for the main room and eight yuan for the annex.” She raised her hand to stop Old Lady Fang: “If you don’t want to rent it, forget it. I said I won’t give it any less.”
She didn’t want to rent to the Fang family in the first place. Although she is now open-minded and doesn’t care about anything, she still doesn’t want to have anything to do with them. But the old lady confronted her in front of her tricycle, so she had to ask for a high price to scare them away. First, she said that she would rent the main house to Liu Biao, and then she raised the price to try to drive the old lady Fang away.
”Li Xia, look at this…”
”Get out of the way. If you don’t want to rent it, leave. I still need to go out.”
” I want to rent it.”
”One deposit and three installments, if you rent, pay the money and sign the contract.”
Didn’t scare her off the lease? For now, she was anxious to go to the hospital to accompany the man for rehabilitation. Let’s temporarily stabilize her and send her away. She gave Shen Haiyang paper and pen, and the man listened to her and wrote the contract. Liu Biao paid thirty-six, and his monthly salary was almost gone. Old Lady Fang also paid thirty-six.
The rent was more than 200 yuan a year, which was about the salary of an ordinary worker. She took out the money that the client had sent back and gave it to Shen Haiyang to settle.
”Why so many?”
Li Xia smiled and said, “My plan has begun. The south-facing house in Beijing is rented out as a storefront.
The price is higher than the housing. Wait, the rent will change every year. But the contract with the Fang family is only temporary. I don’t want to argue with old lady Fang. I will find a chance to find Fang Zhongcheng and let him deal with his mother. “
Shen Haiyang smiled and gave her a thumbs up: “You have good vision. From now on, I will let you manage our family’s money.”
“I want to open a store that sells home appliances.”
In the 1980s, the home appliance industry was just emerging. Televisions, refrigerators, fans, washing machines, etc. began to slowly enter people’s lives. Buying televisions has become popular in the city, and this industry is now basically controlled by the state. Private small businesses have just started, and if you want to do this, you have to wait until the late 1980s. After a few years of accumulation, small vendors have money in their hands and the conditions have been formed.
“Can’t get the goods?”
Li Xia nodded. “I definitely can’t get the goods. I just have this idea, but the timing is not right yet.”
”Yeah. I’ll support you when the time is right.”
”Aren’t you afraid of losing money?”
”Our country now has a population of one billion. If every family has a TV or fan, the market will be huge. And buying TVs is a trend. As long as we can sell them, we will definitely not lose money.”
Li Xia gave him a thumbs up, helped him onto the tricycle, and the two of them went to the hospital for rehabilitation as usual. “You three stay at home and behave yourself. I’ll buy you some cooked food when I come back.”
”Okay.”
Fang Ruyi stayed here until New Year’s Eve. During this time, Fang Zhongcheng did not come to pick up the child, and Li Xia did not look for him. The whole family prepared new clothes for the New Year and bought firecrackers for the children.
She used to live in the same courtyard with other people. It was lively among the neighbors, but it seemed like someone was watching her no matter what she did. Now she lives alone in her own house, and it is much more convenient to do anything. No one is watching what she eat, wear, or do anymore. She likes this privacy.
”What are you going to make for New Year’s Eve dinner? I saw you bought chicken and meat.”
Shen Haiyang could walk steadily without crutches, and practiced back and forth on the ground. Li Xia poured him a glass of water and put it on the table, then tied an apron and prepared to cook.
”Red-braised pork, scrambled eggs, pork with vinegar, braised tofu, black fungus and yuba, cold rice noodle soup, and chicken soup.”
(Red-braised pork)
(scrambled eggs)
( pork with vinegar)
( braised tofu)
( black fungus and yuba)
(cold rice noodle soup)
( chicken soup)
“So rich.”
Although most of the dishes are vegetarian, having six dishes and one soup for the New Year is already very good. Shen Haiyang likes his wife’s cooking very much. Before, his mother cooked, and now his wife has taken over his mother’s cooking and become the hostess of the family.
”Let me help you pick the vegetables.”
”Well, sit there and help me pick the fungus and wash the vermicelli.”
She helped him to the kitchen, she cooked and the man helped. The children were laughing and setting off firecrackers in the yard, and soon the three of them started quarreling.
Li Xia wiped her hands on her apron and ran out in a hurry. “What’s going on?”
Shen Hui complained: “Yi Yi is playing dirty and changing his ways midway. This is not the first time he has done this, he does this every time, and my firecrackers go into his pockets.”
Huihua was silent at the side. When she saw her mother looking over, she looked up and smiled at Shen Hui. “Brother, I’ll return the cracker to you. Don’t be angry.”
It turned out that the kids were playing a game, and the loser gave the winner firecrackers. Yiyi was a sly kid since he was young, and he cheated in the middle of the game and annoyed his brother.
Before Li Xia could speak, HuiHua had already acted as a peacemaker to coax the two of them. “Okay, don’t be angry. I’ll give you everything I have.”
Yiyi saw that his sister gave all her share to his brother, and he stretched his neck to look at it with envy. As soon as Shen Hui turned his head and said he didn’t want to play with him anymore, the little guy quickly rushed over and grabbed his brother’s hand.
”Brother, good brother, let’s play together.”
”Then are you still cheating?”
”No more cheating.”
”Then give me back what you just cheated on me.”
”Don’t you have a sister?”
”Don’t you want to play? Why don’t you give me some of yours?”
”All right.”
Huihua wanted to say that it was not necessary, as long as they had fun. Seeing her mother gesturing at her, she nodded and took the firecracker from her brother.
The children solved the problem by themselves, and the adults didn’t say anything. Li Xia was about to turn around and go back to the house when a man and a woman came in through the door. The man was Fang Zhongcheng, and the woman was someone she didn’t know, and she was dressed very fashionably.
