Zheng Dali knew his daughter-in-law was a strong-willed person, and he didn't know how to persuade her, so he could only look at his son: "Zheng Yang, say something! Our family is not short of money. Your salary is not low. Why do you still make Ruyu go through all this trouble?"

Zheng Yang poured his father a cup of tea before saying, "Dad, don't worry. We know what's going on. Policies are changing too fast these days. You older folks can't understand the current situation. Don't worry, I'm here for you. If Ruyu wants to do it, let her do it. If it doesn't work out, she can come back. It's not like I can't afford to support her."

"Sigh, I'm getting old. You two can figure it out yourselves." Zheng Dali had no doubts; this was something he and his wife had already discussed.

The old man sighed and stood up. Zheng Wanxing and Zheng Wanyi ran out and each hugged one of his legs, acting coquettishly: "Grandpa, you're not old at all."

Zheng Wanyi looked at her grandfather earnestly and said, "Grandpa, I hope you live to be a hundred years old and watch Tian Tian grow up and go to college."

Zheng Dali laughed heartily, squatted down and hugged his two granddaughters: "Good, good, Grandpa isn't old, Grandpa will definitely watch you get into university."

Having gotten past her father-in-law's objection, Jiang Ruyu didn't rush to resign. Instead, she looked for a shop. She wanted one that was close to home and not too small. Besides braised dishes, she also planned to sell braised pork noodles, dumplings, and the like. There were quite a few unemployed young people in the city, so finding helpers would be easy.

Jiang Ruyu and Zheng Yang searched for several days and finally found a street-facing shop on West Street, about five miles from their home. It was a three-room-wide bungalow with a small courtyard in the back. There were side rooms in the courtyard, and running water was available. The house wasn't very big, but it was enough for their needs.

The landlord was an old man who had just been exonerated. When they came to inquire about renting a house, the old man, who was like a rigid old scholar, thought that the couple in front of him did not look like they were poor. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Actually, I want to sell this house. I am going to Hong Kong and I don't have time to take care of this house. I wonder if you can buy it?"

Jiang Ruyu's eyes flashed. Buy a house? She hadn't really thought about that, but if she could buy one, it would definitely be better. Not to mention that house prices would definitely rise in the future if things continued to develop like this, she was afraid that even if she had the money, she wouldn't be able to afford one.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yang carefully examined the house. The three single-story houses were all made of blue bricks and gray tiles, and the interior was clean and tidy. Zheng Yang became interested. The houses they lived in were all public, and they paid a few yuan in rent and utilities every month. After all, they were not their own houses.

"Sir, can this house be transferred to your name? How much does it cost?" Zheng Yang and his wife exchanged a glance and understood that they both wanted to buy it, so they asked without hesitation.

The old man's eyes lit up, and he didn't beat around the bush: "If you can come up with the money right away, we'll say we're relatives, and that way we can transfer the property. I won't ask for more than two thousand yuan, no bargaining."

Two thousand yuan isn't a small amount, but Zheng Yang felt it was acceptable for a house of this size: "Do you have a property certificate for this house?"

"I don't have a property ownership certificate, but I do have a property deed."

"If the ownership can be transferred, I'll buy it."

"I guarantee the transfer will be completed. I've already checked. I have a nephew who works at the housing authority, so you can rest assured." The old man just wanted to get rid of the things he couldn't take with him. The house wasn't selling for a high price, but at this time of year, nobody would be willing to spend so much money to buy a few dilapidated bungalows.

Jiang Ruyu and Zheng Yang followed the old man to the housing management bureau. The old man went in and called someone out. In front of both parties, he explained that the transfer of ownership was possible and that the deed could be replaced with the newly issued property certificate.

Hearing that the transfer of ownership was indeed possible, Zheng Yang and Jiang Ruyu were tempted, but neither of them had brought that much money with them and hadn't thought about buying a house: "How about this, we don't have that much money with us right now, let's meet here at 2 pm this afternoon, I'll bring the money, and we'll transfer the ownership, okay?"

"Sure, this afternoon it is, a little longer won't make a difference." The old man had no objections.

After Jiang Ruyu returned, she told Zheng Dali about buying a house. Zheng Dali had already let them do whatever they wanted, and upon hearing this, he simply said, "I still have money here, you can use it to buy the house."

“Dad, we have money. We got a great deal on this house. It’s a three-room bungalow with two side rooms and a small courtyard. It only cost two thousand yuan. It’s not expensive, and it’s a detached house.” How could Jiang Ruyu possibly take her father-in-law’s retirement money?

"It's not expensive, the key is that it's a detached house." Zheng Dali knew that Jiang Ruyu's grandfather had spent several hundred yuan to buy those houses. More than thirty years ago, that money wasn't gold yuan notes, it was real silver dollars.

At 2 p.m., Jiang Ruyu met with the old man at the entrance of the housing management bureau. After a brief greeting, they went into the housing management bureau, completed the property transfer, obtained the certificate, paid the money, and the old man gave them all the keys.

Jiang Ruyu and Zheng Yang immediately went to buy a few locks and went to the newly purchased house. The house was quite clean, but it had been rented out before, and all the furniture was gone. Since Jiang Ruyu didn't intend to live in the house, they changed the locks and went to Huangchenggen.

The area around the capital was a melting pot of all sorts of people. The two of them went there to take a look. It was a second-hand market with all kinds of furniture. Jiang Ruyu bought six long tables, each with four stools, as well as several square tables to store things, and cabinets and other items, all made of solid wood.

I picked and chose and bought a bunch of second-hand furniture for thirty or forty yuan, and had the stall owner deliver it to my house on a tricycle.

After a busy afternoon, Jiang Ruyu ate and washed up, then lay in bed and told Zheng Yang her plans: "I'm thinking of renovating the shop first, painting it white, replacing the windows to make them bigger and brighter, replacing the doors, and knocking down the wall in the middle to make it feel more spacious. I'll also build a counter to sell drinks and stuff."

Zheng Yang listened and remembered: "Okay, I happen to know someone in a building materials factory. It'll be easy to get some cement or something from him. I'll find someone to tidy up the house and yard for you."

"Okay, do you know anyone at the slaughterhouse?" Jiang Ruyu mainly wanted to make braised food, and most of the braised food used offal, which was cheap and tasted good when braised.

"Hmm, there's someone I know in the underworld, you want to buy pig offal?"

"Yeah, and pig heads and pig tails too."

"Okay, I'll ask around for you."

Jiang Ruyu nestled in Zheng Yang's arms and asked him, "Why didn't you try to stop me from messing around? Aren't you afraid someone will report me? And then you'll get implicated."

Zheng Yang kissed her: "I think what you're doing is great. The policies aren't stable yet, otherwise I would have liked to start my own business. Let's work hard for two years and earn some savings for the kids. Then we can retire early and have a good rest."