Chapter 42 Buying a House (Part 2) After a few years of reform and opening up, by then...

Yao Taotao has also considered this issue.

However, the old house is too far from the non-staple food factory. If we really move there, it will be very inconvenient for the two men in the family to go to work.

Besides, it is by the river, quite far from the main urban area, and it would be troublesome for them to buy groceries and do odd jobs there.

So she gave up the idea, but now that her fourth sister brought it up, she had to explain.

Yao Mengmeng pondered for a moment and asked, "Shouldn't the food factory provide staff quarters for my two brothers-in-law?"

Yao Taotao was helpless: "There's not enough to go around. I don't know what's going on at the food factory, but it's not doing very well. We want to build a new dormitory, but we don't have enough money."

"Then let's see if other factories have any extra dormitories and rent one for a while. This place is so shabby and the people living here are just idlers. There's no guarantee of safety." Yao Mengmeng was really worried. The environment here was much worse than she had imagined.

Yao Taotao had never thought of this method. It was a good idea, but her family had no money.

I couldn't help but sigh: "Let's talk about it later."

"What do you mean by later? Even if you've been beaten to death, what about later? If you ask me, you should just be thick-skinned and go to Zhizhi to ask her to borrow some money. If all else fails, you can mortgage the old house of the Cao family to her. She still has you in her heart. You've been beaten like this, I don't believe she will remain indifferent." Yao Mengmeng wanted to persuade her. Wasn't her second sister's attitude good enough when Uncle Jingzong came back that day?

Cooperate in everything, don't make any noise or quarrel, and let their beastly parents get the punishment they deserve.

It wasn't the sisters who swapped the children, so there was really no need to cut off all contact with Zhizhi.

Anyway, she had no complaints about her parents being sentenced to death. It was better for them to die so that no one would exploit her and her sisters anymore.

Yao Taotao didn't want to embarrass Yao Zhizhi, so she shook her head and said, "Forget it."

"What do you mean forget it? You're too embarrassed to speak up, right? Okay, I'll go!" Yao Mengmeng went out with the child in her arms to negotiate with Ma Sanjie.

No matter how valuable the house is, it cannot be more important than her sister's life. She doesn't believe that Third Sister Ma can have a grandson just by guarding the house!

He talked a lot, leaving Ma Sanjie overwhelmed and in the end she didn't say anything in rebuttal.

Yao Taotao listened in the room and felt a headache. Unfortunately, her ribs were bandaged and she couldn't move. She could only shout at the top of her lungs for Lao Si to come back.

It was useless. This young man had already convinced Sister Ma San with just a few words and left without looking back.

Go straight to Ba Tiao Hutong.

When I arrived in the yard, I didn't see Yao Zhizhi, but I saw Yao Weihua playing games with his little nephew.

He found some discarded parts, bottles, jars, wool and other things, and made some toys. He also got a few bamboo sticks and tied them together with ropes. He hung a few small toys under each bamboo stick and fixed them with the thickest and longest bamboo stick so that they could be held in the hand.

At this moment, he was like fishing, shaking the toy stand in his hand, sometimes moving it closer to his nephew, sometimes moving it away.

The little guy stretched his arms and legs, his eyes full of excitement, trying hard to reach one of them.

When he couldn't reach it, he got angry and whined. I wonder if he was accusing his bad uncle of bullying the child.

Yao Weihua would not keep feeding him toys all the time. Occasionally he would let him catch two, then take them away later and feed the little brat other toys.

The little gadgets collide with each other, making jingling and clanging sounds, which are simply great tools for coaxing children.

Even her little dog Jindou became excited after seeing this. He whimpered and leaned towards the cradle, wanting to play with Little Star.

Yao Mengmeng was helpless: "Cousin, can you let Jindou touch it a few times?"

Yao Weihua was very disgusted and ignored her.

Yao Mengmeng could only sigh and stand there staring blankly while holding the child.

But adults know how to restrain themselves, but children don’t, let alone a baby of only half a year old. Jindou got anxious and couldn’t touch the cute little toy, so he burst into tears.

Yao Weihua was annoyed, so he picked up a puppy made of wool and threw it to Jindou. There was a bell in the puppy's belly, which made a jingling sound when it was shaken.

Jindou was so happy that tears were still on her face, but she was already giggling.

Yao Weihua rolled his eyes, turned his back and continued to tease his little nephew.

Soon Yao Zhizhi came back, carrying paints, chatting and laughing with Qi Changxiao, while Qi Changxiao carried the drawing board, full of joy.

The publishing house took a liking to his draft and was willing to give him a chance.

These days he has done nothing else but provide illustrations for books published by publishing houses.

After entering the yard and seeing Yao Mengmeng, the couple chose to remain silent.

What's going on? No need to ask, it's probably about Yao Taotao.

Yao Zhizhi put down the paint, leaned over and picked up Little Star: "Brother, you take a break, I'll go in and feed her."

"Okay, I'll go cook." Yao Weihua put down the toy stand, rolled up his sleeves and went to work.

Yao Mengmeng was left alone in the yard, feeling awkward whether to leave or stay.

But thinking about my second sister being beaten like that...

She still gritted her teeth and went in.

She stood at the door, her face burning, and spoke with difficulty: "Zhizhi, I want my second sister to rent a house. The staff dormitories of the non-staple food factory are not enough, but the woolen mill next door has extra dormitories. We can live there safely for a little money. Well, they have no money. Can you lend them some money? Don't worry, it's not for free. They are willing to mortgage the old Cao family house to you. If they can pay back the money within three years, the house will still be theirs. If not, it will be yours in the future. The house is quite big and nice, but the location is a bit remote. If my cousin wants to start a family here, he can consider living there. After all, he makes bamboo products, so he doesn't have to rush to other places to work, so the location is not that demanding."

Yao Zhizhi didn't say anything.

She asked her mother-in-law about the Cao family's house.

The ancestor of the Cao family was a wealthy local squire. Later, when the revolution broke out, several of the family's children were ambitious people, so they coaxed and persuaded their father to donate the family property.

The organization took their contributions into consideration and left the main courtyard of the old house to the squire's eldest grandson.

That is Ma Sanjie’s man.

Houses were added to other courtyards and allocated to some workers for living. The other families in the Cao family were all allocated such additional houses.

Unexpectedly, Ma Sanjie's husband died early, so the other families joined forces and drove out the mother and her two children.

The person was released, but the property rights still belonged to them, mother and son. Ma Sanjie had been guarding it and refused to give in all these years, and would rather live in a slum than give in.

Now, her daughter-in-law was almost beaten to death, and Sister Ma San was a little shaken.

It would be such a shame if my daughter-in-law, whom I finally married, died.

After all, living people are more important than houses, so she gave in and was willing to mortgage her property, borrow money, rent a house and move out.

Yao Zhizhi weighed the pros and cons silently, and after a long while she finally spoke: "You go back first, I'll think about it."

"Then tell me if you've thought it through. Second sister is so pitiful. It's a good thing she's not pregnant, otherwise there would be two deaths this time." Yao Mengmeng was still frightened when she saw her sister being beaten like that.

Yao Zhizhi didn't respond to her.

Yao Mengmeng didn't want to continue pestering him, so she had to go out with Jindou in her arms.

When they got to the yard, they saw Yao Weihua killing fish and quickly went over to persuade him: "Cousin, isn't this a win-win situation? You can have an extra house to live in, and my sister can live a peaceful life. If you start a family here in the future, you won't have to worry about not having enough space. What do you think?"

Yao Weihua frowned. This made some sense, so he asked, "Where is the location?"

"I don't know the details. I'll ask my sister's mother-in-law to come and tell you." Yao Mengmeng felt there was a chance and forced a smile.

Yao Weihua was angry. She didn't even ask about the location, so what was the point of talking? He didn't bother to pay attention to her. He lowered his head to scrape off the fish scales, cut open the fish's belly, and kill the fish.

After Yao Mengmeng left, Yao Weihua didn't say anything. He went to the non-staple food factory that afternoon and called Cao Guangyi out.

"Take me to see your old house." Yao Weihua was simple and direct, without any nonsense.

When Cao Guangyi saw him riding a bike, he turned around and asked for leave, and went to the old house together.

It is located on the riverside, to the north and slightly east, and is indeed a bit far from the south of the city. It takes more than an hour to ride a bike there, and it takes three hours to go there and back every day. I can't go back for lunch at noon, otherwise there won't be enough time.

But this house is really nice.

It has a square layout, a large area and many houses.

If I really become his sister, I will definitely have the opportunity to do other things in the future.

However, there are also hidden dangers, because the house is currently occupied by the Cao family.

After much thought, he decided to inquire about the legal risks and then consider whether to persuade his sister to take over the house.

Back in the south of the city, he went to the housing department to inquire about the relevant laws.

In short, there were no laws related to mortgages in those days. Even if two citizens with full civil capacity made a mortgage agreement, it might not be effective.

The best way is to transfer the ownership directly through sale.

But this will probably cost a lot of money.

Yao Weihua asked the staff to help estimate the price.

"At least four or five thousand."

Four or five thousand, his sister can't come up with so much money at once.

Things are at a standstill here.

Either you borrow money directly or transfer the property directly, both sides will suffer losses.

After much thought, he came up with a compromise.

He called Third Sister Ma over and asked, "I'll give you five hundred first, and then spread the remaining four thousand over several years. Is that okay? My sister is writing for a newspaper, my brother-in-law is an illustrator for a publishing house, and I'm also making bamboo products. Our family's income is very stable, so we should be able to pay off the house in about five years."

Sister Ma San was a little tempted. Four thousand five hundred was her son's salary for twelve and a half years without eating or drinking.

With such a sum of money, not only can I rent a better house, I won’t have to worry about raising grandchildren.

I don’t have to owe Yao Zhizhi any favors anymore, which is great.

She went back to discuss it with her son and daughter-in-law.

Now, the only difficult question is: how to deal with the Cao family who occupied the house?

Yao Weihua didn't think it was difficult. His sister always had the ability to know the dirty things those dirty people did. She could find some handle to use and then "persuade" them to leave one family at a time.

Yao Zhizhi was at a loss for words: "Brother, do you really want me to buy this house?"

"Yes! You'll know when you go and take a look. It's a great place to live in. If your parents come to visit you in the future, they can stay there too. We can go together then to save the trouble of running back and forth."

Yao Zhizhi didn't comment and decided to go and see for herself first.

The next day, she and Qi Changxiao went there. Wow, no wonder the estimated price was four or five thousand.

That's already polite enough. If she were to say, it's worth tens of thousands.

It’s a pity that it’s a bit far from where she lives. What’s the point of buying it?

The system thoughtfully offered advice: "Host, host, I suggest you listen to your third brother. This location is actually quite good, along the river, with beautiful scenery. In a few years, reform and opening up will begin, and this house will be in high demand. Furthermore, if a cross-river bridge is built here in the future, the house will be even more valuable."

Yao Zhizhi was moved, okay.

Then buy it and think of a way to "persuade" the Cao family members to leave one by one.

Three days later, Yao Zhizhi prepared the cash and household registration documents, and went to the housing department with Ma Sanjie and her son to handle the formalities.

Yao Weihua was worried his sister would suffer a loss, so he quickly checked the contract. "After deducting the one hundred yuan my sister lent Yao Taotao for hospitalization, there's still a total of three thousand nine hundred yuan left for the house payment. I'll give you sixty yuan a month for a total of 65 months, a little over five years. Come on, sign."

Sister Ma San and her two sons calculated it several times and found that it was correct. This was very good. In the next five years, it would be equivalent to the monthly income of four people in the family. Even if the two daughters-in-law could only do odd jobs, it would be enough to support the children and pay the rent.

After the formalities were completed, the house belonged to Yao Zhizhi and Qi Changxiao.

Yao Weihua was very happy and always felt that he was helping his sister to gain a huge potential treasure.

Although he couldn't explain why, he just felt that way.

Back home, Yao Zhizhi confessed to him about the system, including its talk of reform and opening up, the resumption of the college entrance examination, and the relaxation of individual economic restrictions...

Yao Weihua smiled: "It seems my intuition was right! I bought the right house!"

"Brother, aren't you surprised? Changxiao and I both have this thing." Yao Zhizhi thought her brother would be shocked.

Yao Weihua sneered and said, "I've noticed something's wrong with you two for a long time. But, you're my sister. Even if you're a monster, I'll protect you and keep your secret. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried, I'm..." Forget it, Yao Zhizhi didn't explain. She didn't expect that her third brother was so receptive. It was good.

When the mother-in-law came back in the evening and saw the brand new property ownership certificate, she was a little surprised. Yao Zhizhi quickly confessed all the secrets to her.

Tang Fengyuan sighed silently: "I've noticed it a long time ago. Why are you only saying it now? Do you think your mother is just here to eat and do nothing?"

That’s right, she could even notice the problem with her background. How could such a mother-in-law be so dull?

Yao Zhizhi smiled and took her arm and ate.

A few days later, Ma Sanjie signed a rental contract with the woolen mill and rented two staff houses for ten yuan a month. The family moved into the dormitory of the woolen mill, and the two couples lived separately.

The location is very close to the non-staple food factory and is only two streets away from Yao Zhizhi's place, so it only takes a few minutes to get there.

Yao Zhizhi would go to the Cao family's old house whenever she had time to see who had the melon.

Come back in the evening to summarize and find the easiest breakthrough point.

However, Yao Zhizhi had to write manuscripts and breastfeed, so it was unrealistic for her to be away from home for such a long time. Yao Weihua was also very busy weaving bamboo products.

He simply found that group of idle scoundrels, spent a little money, and asked them to go and cause trouble for the Cao family.

So from that day on, the Cao family's old house became lively.

Today, the father-in-law was caught cheating, tomorrow the sister-in-law was caught stealing her sister-in-law's money, and the day after tomorrow the mother-in-law was caught hiding her son's salary by her daughter-in-law...

It's a chaotic situation, with new things coming to light every day.

A few days later, the Cao family was in a panic, and the gangsters spread rumors again - the gossip about your family was leaked by his family, and the gossip about his family was leaked by your family.

For a time, the Cao family members were fighting each other fiercely. In less than half a month, three families moved away out of anger.

The last one left is troublesome, like a dog-skin plaster that cannot be broken even by thunder.

Yao Zhizhi was too lazy to bother and went straight to Director Cao: "I bought this house and asked your parents to move out."

Director Cao knew that she had something on him and even knew that their factory was undercapacity. If he really made a fuss about it, he would probably lose his job, so he had to go back in person and persuade his parents to leave.

Yao Zhizhi picked a day when her mother-in-law was resting, and the whole family went there to clean up and decorate the place.

"This yard is so big. When the door is closed, the kids can make as much noise as they want." Tang Fengyuan fell in love with this place at first sight. No wonder his daughter-in-law was willing to buy it. It's so nice.

The Yangtze River is just outside, and the scenery is beautiful just a few minutes' walk away.

After cleaning up and changing the door lock, Yao Zhizhi and others left.

What if someone occupies the house when no one lives there?

It was easy. Tang Fengyuan went to the Dongcheng Police Station, said hello, and asked her colleagues to keep a close eye on the situation and inform her if anything happened.

Soon, the second trial began.

Yao Taotao was injured and absent, so Yao Yingying and Yao Mengmeng came.

The two sisters looked at Yao Zhizhi but did not come forward to say hello.

The long trial dragged on for another three or four days.

In the end, the original verdict of death penalty was upheld.

On December 5, the death sentences of Yao Erdan and Wang Fang entered the review process.

At the latest next summer, the two will be reincarnated.

Yao Zhizhi hopes that it will be quick and that there will be a result before Xiao Xingxing turns one year old.

After leaving the court, Yao Mengmeng watched Yao Zhizhi go away without calling her.

After Yao Zhizhi disappeared, Yao Mengmeng sighed, "Go back, sister, and take good care of my second sister."

"How is the third sister doing recently?" Yao Yingying is the eldest sister after all, so she still has to care about her younger sister.

Yao Mengmeng shook her head. "She's weird. She's quiet, doesn't talk, and just works. I wanted to introduce her to someone, but she refused. It's so annoying."

"That's fine. You go to work and let her stay at home to take care of the kids so she won't go hungry." Yao Yingying had no other choice. If it really didn't work out, she would wait until Jindou was older before introducing a date to Ningning. Jindou couldn't live without someone right now.

*

Women's prison.

The prison guard called Yao Jingjing out, saying someone was visiting.

Yao Jingjing walked into the visiting room dejectedly and looked at the woman opposite her with a bewildered look on her face: "Do I know you?"

The woman smiled and said, "My last name is Huang. My uncle and Duan Cheng's father were comrades in arms. They asked me to bring 500 yuan. If you're willing to abort the child, I'll give you the money."

Yao Jingjing grabbed five hundred yuan and threw it in the woman's face: "Tell Duan Cheng, won't he run away? He'll never get rid of me in his lifetime. I'm the one who's going to bear this child!"

Huang Jiaying was very angry, but he held back his outburst. He bent over to pick up the scattered Big Unity coins on the ground and counted them carefully. "I advise you not to do this again."

The subtext is, don't refuse a toast and then drink the wine for punishment.

Yao Jingjing sneered, "I have nothing left but this child. My biological parents' original sentence was upheld in the second trial, and they received the death penalty. I heard this case is quite a sensation, and there are even reporters who want to interview me. Do you think if something happens to me, will anyone suspect the Duan family?"

Huang Jiaying was silent. This woman was not completely brainless. She even knew how to use public opinion to save her life.

Forget it, it’s not her child anyway, she just came here to pass on the message.

She took the money and stood up, still feeling a little unbalanced. "Duan Cheng is such a disaster for you, but you're so unlucky for him. Well, congratulations, good things are ahead."

Soon, the Duan family received the news. Yao Jingjing sent a letter to the newspaper, which was deliberately sensational. She talked about how Duan Cheng never left her and how he loved her. However, her status has plummeted now and she has to separate from Duan Cheng. She can only endure and wait for Duan Cheng for his future.

She will give birth to her and Duan Cheng's child well and protect the fruit of their love.

This ability to confuse right and wrong is really brilliant, and Political Commissar Duan was so angry that he went straight to the emergency room.

Fortunately, he was fine, but after he was released, he was too embarrassed to stay in the army, so he applied for medical retirement.

On the day the Duan family moved out of the compound, heavy snow was falling from the sky.

Political Commissar Duan's face was pale. He refused Duan Cheng's support and walked alone in front, feeling lonely and dejected.

His unfilial descendants have really caused him so much suffering!

I can only raise my grandson well, so that he won’t become like Duan Cheng and be infamous forever.

A few days later, the new political commissar and his family moved in.

After cleaning up, the political commissar and his family came over to say hello to the Yao family.

Yao Jingzong only knew that an old revolutionary named Ning was coming, but he had never seen what he looked like.

Now that someone has come over on their own initiative, I quickly started to greet them.

Since they were all soldiers, they had a lot of common topics. After chatting for a while, Political Commissar Ning and his family went back.

We went home and cooked some dumplings, and at the dinner table we discussed buying some New Year's goods tomorrow, as the New Year is coming soon.

While packing her luggage that night, Political Commissar Ning's youngest daughter took out a letter and said, "Dad, I almost forgot about this letter from my uncle that I received before we moved."

Political Commissar Ning took it and took a look, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief: "This kid has had a wonderful encounter. He will be able to return to the city soon."

Soon, it’s New Year’s Eve.

There was a heavy snow in Yicheng, and everything was covered in white, which looked really beautiful.

Yao Zhizhi and Qi Changxiao were busy making a snowman in the yard when someone came to the gate.

Wearing a tweed coat and carrying a suitcase, he looked at them silently.

Yao Zhizhi turned around suddenly, noticed the strange man, and subconsciously tugged at Qi Changxiao's sleeve: "Changxiao, is he your relative?"